Police link terror suspects to Rogo memorial Silver lining...

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August 30, 2015

No. 503

Finance Cabinet Secretary says the government has run out of options about how to raise money for court

ordered pay increment. PAGE 4

With tensions building ahead of the memorial of murdered radical Sheikh Aboud Rogo in Mombasa on August 27, about 20 terror suspects were arrested and weapons discov-ered in Garissa town.

One cache was found buried in a house near the livestock market, less than three kilometres from the Ga-rissa University College where ter-rorists massacred close to 150 peo-

ple. Experts now worry if the new activities could signal an imminent attack – they say they believe an at-tack may have been planned for the month of August.

The arrests are also being in some quarters as a breakthrough against Al-Shabaab and its allies.

Police link terror suspects to Rogo memorial

POLITICS: Wiper party holds a two-day retreat from today as calls for leader Kalonzo Musyoka to declare his candidacy for 2017 presidential race intensify, Pages 10 & 11

Teachers strikelooms as Rotichrules out paying hiked salaries

Britain’s Mo Farah on the ground after winning gold as Kenya’s Caleb Mwangangi Ndiku celebrates his silver medal in the fi nal of the men’s 5000 metres race in Beijing yesterday. [PHOTO: AFP]

Silver lining... EDUCATION

STORY ON PAGES 2

Health teams will visit your house to vaccinate your child against polio. Polio and other vaccines are safe and effective.

Campaign Areas: Garissa, Homabay, Lamu, Mandera, Marsabit, Migori, Narok, Siaya, Tana River, Turkana and Wajir.

/ NATIONAL NEWS Sunday, August 30, 2015 / The Standard

On the eve of the third anniversa-ry of the unsolved murder of radical Sheikh Aboud Rogo in Mombasa on August 27, 2012, about 20 terror sus-pects were arrested and weapons discovered in Garissa town.

Significantly one cache was found buried in a house near the livestock market, less than three kilometres from the Garissa University College where terrorists massacred close to 150 people.

The arrests have alarmed counter terrorism officials in Coast, Nairobi and North Eastern, especially who wonder whether to declare the latest findings as a breakthrough against Al Shabaab and its allies or if this sig-nals that terrorists are expanding their networks.

The arrest of eight Tanzanians in Liboi mid last week, apparently, as they tried to enter Southern Somalia and the earlier capture of two wom-en (including a Tanzanian) among other suspected terrorists in Garissa County reinforces the dogma that young women are increasingly re-sponding to the call to jihad.

“We have been following leads for at least one month,” says North East-ern’s regional commander Muha-mud Saleh referring to the August 22 and 23 nocturnal raids in Liboi that netted the terror suspects and weap-ons caches buried in what police now suspect to be safe houses that were being used to plot attacks.

Sources indicate that count-er-terrorism detectives have not come up with a clear picture of what these men and women were up to al-though one official told The Stan-dard on Sunday that “the women were (jihadist) brides and were off to be married in Somalia,” a phenome-non that has been growing since the first arrest of young women from Zanzibar and Malindi on a similar mission at El Wak in April.

Mass murderIt has also emerged that following

these arrests, alerts were sent out to Mombasa, Nairobi and Garissa.

Saleh said authorities believe these detainees were planning an at-tack in Kenya this August but he did not provide more details about the nature of ambush. A detective dis-closed that most of suspects hail from outside Garissa and had been inserted by unknown masterminds

ByB STANDARD TEAM

Terror suspects during the hearing of their case at a Mombasa court. INSET: Radical Sheikh Aboud Rogo who was killed in Mombasa on August 27, 2012. Though dead, reports still link terror networks to him. [PHOTO: FILE]

to cause mass murder. “They have told us they were waiting for orders on targets and when to attack,” said the detective.

The detective also disclosed that most of the suspects held what are believed to be false Kenyan ID cards and that four of the men detained were the “commanders” of a massive terror plot that appears to have been averted or postponed.

Meanwhile, several detectives have revealed that investigators have formed preliminary observations that many loopholes still remain,

No respite: Reports cite numerous loopholes in fight against terrorism, less than four months after the Garissa attack

Terror suspects now linked to slain Rogo

IdeologBy still lives on

UN report shows despite being dead, Rogo and Makaburi still inspire attacks across Kenya. That’s why their names remain on a UN sanction list despite being dead.Western intelligence officials believe the two deceased’s assets or associates still fund Al Shabaab.A 2013 UN report monitoring terrorism in Somalia compiled after Rogo’s death suggested that although terrorists may die, they still exert influence from the grave through ideology, assets or associates.

less than four months after the Ga-rissa University College massacre.

Although they believe a major at-tack has been averted, they also know unless the loopholes are sealed, another plot will be in prog-ress soon.

The detectives point to growing militant activity in Lamu and south-ern parts of Garissa county where militants, detonate explosives, am-bush police and the military. These attacks began in Korahindi in Ijara on May 12 this year and have spread eastwards to Yumbis in Fafi sub-county of Garissa then south in-to northern Lamu. Investigators sus-pect the aborted plot in Garissa had been planned to coincide with the third anniversary of Rogo’s death. They say Coast and North Eastern should be viewed as one region when studying terrorism with a spe-cial interest in Rogo and the late Sheikh Sharif Abubakar alias Maka-buri.

“We are trying to find out if the suspects arrested in Garissa are linked to what is happening in La-mu’s,” says Saleh. Exponents of the hypothesis that the suspects in Ga-

rissa wanted to avenge Rogo’s and Makaburi’s assassinations point to several recent facts of history and apparent coincidences related to the April 1 carnage at the Garissa college and the insurgency in Lamu.

Big rolesThese exponents are boosted by

a 2013 UN report and March 2015 re-port by the United Kingdom which showed that Rogo and Makaburi were playing big roles in Al Shabaab activity in Kenya despite being dead.

Makaburi features first and Rogo 12th in the latest report by the British on it Foreign and Commonwealth website on March 3, approximately a month before the Garissa attack which was masterminded by Garissa native Mohamed Kunow alias Gamadheere.

This report shows despite being dead, Rogo and Makaburi still in-spire attacks across Kenya.

Makaburi was killed on April 1 last year and Rogo slain on August 27, 2012. They were friends and co-suspects on various alleged ter-rorist plots in Mombasa and Nairobi. In July 2012, both were placed on UN

and US sanctions lists and Rogo killed after about three weeks. Before his death, Rogo praised the July 1, 2012 attack on a Garissa church in which 17 worshipers and a Muslim policeman were killed.

The report does not state why Makaburi and Rogo remain on this list sparking an impression that Western intelligence officials believe the two deceased’s assets or associ-ates still fund Al Shabaab.

Significantly, key slain terrorists like Fazul Harun Abdullah are not on this list suggesting their influence and networks are now defunct.

A 2013 UN report monitoring ter-rorism in Somalia compiled after Ro-go’s death suggested that although terrorists may die, they still exert in-fluence from the grave through ide-ology, assets or associates.

It concluded that Rogo was “kept on the list pending clarity about his assets and given the ongoing inves-tigations into Al Hijra and the activ-ities of Mr Rogo’s former associates.” The UN report identified Rogo’s as-sociates as Makaburi and detained British terror suspect Jermaine Grant.

NATIONAL NEWS / Sunday, August 30, 2015 / The Standard

y B JACOB NGETICH and JONATHAN KOMEN

Uhuru’s ‘magic’ word to Bett before the historic triumphIt was a long wait for Africa until

Nicholas Bett won the 400 metres hurdles in a global championship race, the feat previously achieved 43 years ago by Uganda’s John Akii-Bua, in the 1972 Munich Olympics.

Bett’s win was not just a personal and global achievement, but the ful-fillment of a promise made to sever-al people, starting with none other than the Head of State.

When the national team was in-troduced to President Uhuru Ken-yatta at the Moi International Sports Centre Kasarani after the selections, Nicholas Bett received unusual at-tention from the President Uhuru Kenyatta.

Uhuru hugged Bett and then whispered to him.

His father, Joseph Boit, says he did not ask his son what the Presi-dent had told him. But Bett’s mother, Esther Boit, was very curious.

“I wondered why the President singled out Bett from the whole team. Their conversation was the first thing I asked him about when he came home from Nairobi,” Mrs Boit told The Standard on Sunday in an interview at the family’s home in Lemook Village, Uasin Gishu, yester-day.

Sibling championsWhether by design or default, Es-

ther says, the President had a special message for her son: “Young man, re-member the Kenyan flag must al-ways fly high. That’s what I expect from you.”

Bett promised to play his part.And he did not disappoint as he

sprinted ahead of the star-studded field, winning Kenya’s first gold med-

Beijing outing: President had singled out the athlete during introductions to the national team

advantage in that he is very good at clearing the hurdles,” he says. “Just wait; Koech could pull another sur-prise in the Rio Olympic Games next year.”

The two young men have come a long way, but their mother says they still wake each other for training and enjoy the same diet of traditional vegetables and ugali.

“I noticed their talent and their love for athletics when they were young. When Bett was 12-years old, he could challenge Koech on the racetrack. They prepared a track around the compound and I made hurdles for them using twigs,” says Boit, the Athletics Kenya Uasin Gishu County branch vice chairman.

“I encouraged them to take up hurdles because I knew they could make it. This is a technical event that needs a lot of preparation and few people excel in it.”

The brothers’ promise was evi-dent to outsiders, too.

Poor show“After they sat their Form Four ex-

ams, I received a call from the Kenya Defence Forces coach, who wanted to take them to the barracks in Nanyuki for athletics as they await recruitment.

“But two days later, coach Isaac Kirwa of the Kenya Police came to our home and said he wanted to take my sons to the camp in Embu. I agreed. And that’s how they ended up being recruited,” says Boit.

Bett is a traffic policeman based in Kisumu while Koech is an officer attached to the Anti-Stock Theft Unit in Gilgil.

Interestingly, Bett’s house is dif-ferent from those of other world beating athletes, which are decorat-ed with trophies and pictures hang-ing on the walls. There is no picture apart from the accreditation badge for the 2014 Commonwealth Games in Glasgow, Scotland.

His wife, Gladys, beams: “Bett bought us a TV decoder so that we could watch the competition. I warned him not to let us watch him staging poor shows, and he did not disap-point. I am happy that I will be prepar-ing food for a world champion.”

Kenya‘s Nicholas Bett celebrates after winning the fi nal of the men‘s 400m hurdles during the 2015 IAAF World Championships at the Bird‘s Nest National Stadium in Beijing on August 25. RIGHT: Bett during the historic run. [PHOTO: AFP]

special, but this time he jokingly warned Koech to watch out,” the runners’ mother remembers.

But Boit, a former sprinter and long jumper, says he was confident from the beginning that his son would perform well.

“He went to the world champion-ships while ranked fourth in the 400m hurdles in the world this sea-son. I had hopes that he would win a medal,” says the father.

However, he admits being con-cerned about Koech, who was on the come-back trail after a two-year calf strain injury.

“Koech is faster and even beats Bett sometimes. But Bett has a slight

al in 400m hurdles at the Birds Nest Stadium in Beijing, China, on Tues-day evening.

With that win, he also fulfilled a promise to his parents to bring home the gold.

Bett and his brother, Haron Koech, represented Kenya in the event, but the elder sibling bowed out in the semi-finals.

“Before the two boys left home, Bett told us he would not come back empty-handed and that he felt strong enough to finish in the top three. At first, I didn’t think about it too much, but after two days, his statement began to ring in my mind. Bett had never vowed to do anything


Treasury runs out of options as teachers await Sh17b pay hike

Cornered purse holder: With less than 48 hours to honour court’s decision, a teachers’ strike looms

The four options that the Trea-sury was looking at to raise the Sh17 billion to pay teachers are unfeasi-ble, the National Treasury Cabinet Secretary Henry Rotich has said.

Given these harsh realities, the Treasury chief says the government’s remaining option is to maintain the ‘status quo’. This in effect means that the government will not comply with a High Court decision to give teach-ers a pay rise of at least 50 per cent—a decision that was upheld by the Supreme Court.

So if the teachers do not back down on their threat to go on strike from Tuesday, learning in public schools will be paralysed when school begins.

Mr Rotich says the Government would have considered raising taxes but Kenyans are not ready for that. The second option was to increase domestic borrowing, but the man in charge of national Budget says this is already stretched.

The Treasury says borrowing would be much harder especially in an environment of high interest rates. “Besides we cannot borrow to finance recurrent expenditure,” Ro-tich told The Standard on Sunday.

There is also no scope for a cut or restructuring of expenditure, what was the most popular option on the table, on grounds that the Budget implementation has just begun.

“This (a budget cut) is only done midterm in the financial year when slow moving expenditure can be identified. Remember it was not even possible to accommodate the Sh3.3 billion to counties when Sen-ate changed the Division of Revenue Bill without cutting budget for Par-liament, Executive and Judiciary,” Rotich argued.

Parliament on recess“The options are all tight. Ken-

yans must understand that in all op-tions there are consequences,” Ro-tich says.

By ruling out the four options, the Treasury has thrown the spanner in the works and unless State House in-tervenes, nothing is stopping the 280,000 teachers from downing their tools come Tuesday.

State House Spokesperson Mano-ah Esipisu did not respond to our text messages nor return our calls on whether the President will intervene to avert another industrial action. Meanwhile, the Deputy President William Ruto has already hinted on the State’s hard line position.

“The dispute is between the Ken-

ByB Paul Wafula

ByB augustine OduOr

More than 200,000 teachers could quit if their salaries are not adjusted. A report by the Kenya National Union of Teachers (Knut) says 76 per cent of teachers in public schools wish to leave the profession because their ‘profes-sional and personal needs’ are not met.

Knut secretary general Wilson Sossion said this would further widen the teacher gap that cur-rently stands at about 80,000.

The report dubbed ‘Trends of the needs of teachers in public schools in Kenya, 2015,’ mirrors findings of another study con-ducted last year by Education In-ternational that revealed nearly half of teachers want to quit the profession because of ‘unfavour-able working conditions.’

The study categorised teachers personal needs to include salaries, allowances and recognition of their efforts by the society.

Professional needs have been classified to include capacity building, promotions, availability of proper teaching and learning tools and security of the teachers in schools.

The study says 35 per cent of teachers surveyed rated provision of their personal and professional needs as ‘poor.’

Irregular attendanceAnother 25 per cent said the

provision of the needs is ‘inade-quate’ while 16 per cent said the services are ‘not provided at all.’

“The effect of this is that teach-ers do not complete the syllabus in time, they lack knowledge and teaching skills and this leads to poor quality and delivery of ser-vices,” reads the document.

The report cites rape, kidnap-ping, and vandalism as challenges that lead to lack of concentration among teachers as another conse-quence of failure by the govern-ment to meet their needs.

“Overall, these lead to truancy, seeking transfers, dropping out and irregular attendance of teach-ers to class,” reads the report.

Mr Sossion said the union is disturbed by the findings but not-ed it was not entirely unexpected.

“We knew teachers are not happy but the extent of discontent has shocked us. Now we know why the absenteeism in schools is on the rise,” he said.

Some 5,681 respondents were interviewed. Of these, 3,532 teach-ers were interviewed for the study. Another 903 were heads of schools. Some 1,246 parents and schools Boards of Management (BoM) were also interviewed.

Broken down, 448 teachers were from pre-school institutions with 2,242 from primary schools. Some 807 secondary school teach-ers were interviewed and 35 from tertiary institutions.

ya National Union of Teachers (Knut) and Teachers Service Commission (TSC) and not between the national government and Knut. TSC is an in-dependent commission like Judicial Service Commission and the Public Service Commission because they get money from Parliament just like we get money to run the govern-ment,” said Ruto in an interview.

He stressed that since the Budget was passed in June, Parliament must look at it again and see what can be re-allocated because TSC got Sh170 billion to pay teachers, the biggest al-location, but they now urgently need another Sh17 billion.

“It is not easy because they must get money from some items, be it the Judiciary, Parliament, national gov-ernment, commissions and other ar-eas to adjust the budget,” said Ruto who asked TSC to see how it can re-work its own budget.

The challenge is that Parliament has gone on recess while schools are re-opening on Monday and the threat of a countrywide teachers’ strike is now looming. When the gov-ernment has an emergency spend-ing, it is usually the development projects that are the easy targets.

In the budget-making process, government, just like any public company is required to make provi-sions for unfavourable court out-comes such as this one.

Parliament has already raised questions why government did not provide for such an outcome given that the matter was in court and the

All eyes are on The National Treasury as it figures out how to raise the Sh17b for teachers’ salaries. [PHOTO: FILE/STANDARD]

Knut SG Wilson Sossion.

Study: 200,000 teachers may quit over poor

salaries

decision would go either way.But in case the government

squeezes some money from any-where for the initial Sh1.4billion, it will be impossible to get it to the teachers accounts in less than 48 hours remaining. Given the bureau-cracy in government and the time it takes for money to move from the government accounts to banks and then on ward transfer to teachers, it is impossible for teachers to have the money in their accounts by midnight tomorrow.

Last week’s court ruling has em-boldened unions, putting next weeks opening of schools in jeopardy.

A defiant Knut Secretary General Wilson Sossion, who is revelling in beating the government a second time in court, has issued Monday midnight ultimatum.

Far-reaching implicationsStudents will once again have to

deal with a disruptive school open-ing season as government and teach-ers unions face off in an all now too familiar third term industrial action.

The Deputy President also said the Ministries of Education and Na-tional Treasury have been asked to address the matter.

“We ask teachers to be patient as this matter is addressed. The Teach-ers Service Commission has to con-sult,” he said in an interview.

However, Mr Ruto said the pay rise would be addressed alongside the implication it could create to the larger public service.

The Deputy President said the TSC and Parliament have to exercise their roles because the budget had already been passed.

Parliament’s Budget and Appro-priation Committee is also in the dark on where the money would come from and is also waiting for di-rection from government.

The Committee’s Chairman Mu-tava Musyimi hit out at the Ministry of Education, Treasury, TSC and the Salaries and Remunerations Com-mission (SRC) failed to put in place measures to respond to any outcome regarding the teachers’ pay.

The committee accused these State organs of doing little to come up with a solution. This was after it shelved a planned crisis meeting to discuss the teachers’ pay dispute as they await the Treasury’s proposals to plug the deficit brought home by the hefty pay.

“There is no money. There are se-rious fundamental questions that we must ask ourselves. The country is heavily indebted and we must weigh our options,” Musyimi said.

The irony is that the committee is the one that approved the Budget and it also had a chance to provide for such an outcome given that it has the mandate to make such adjust-ments.

Talks between Knut and TSC, the teachers employer, collapsed last week after a meeting that was snubbed by the The Kenya Union of Post Primary Education Teachers.

Schools re-open from tomorrow and strike could see pupils and stu-dents lose out on learning time, which could harm their performance at national examinations.

Private schools have not been af-fected, because teachers in those schools are not unionised. The TSC had urged teachers not to go on strike when schools reopen as nego-tiations over their salaries go on.

Mr Sossion asked the National Assembly to push the Treasury to re-lease the money by midnight, August 31 to avert the strike.

The options are all tight. Kenyans

must understand that in all options there are consequences Treasury CS Henry Rotich

Treasury CS Henry Rotich.


Blame game as health crisis hurts

Governors have opposed the proposed Health law, saying it contravenes the Constitution as it fails to recognise the existence of the two levels of government.

The county chiefs criticised the Health Bill, 2015, arguing that consultation with county govern-ments was not exhausted during it’s drafting. They maintained that health is a fully devolved function and accused the government of trying to seize county healthcare services.

Under the Fourth Schedule, counties are assigned county health facilities and pharmacies, ambulance services, promotion of primary health care, licensing and control of undertakings that sell food to the public, veterinary ser-vices (excluding regulation of the profession), cemeteries, funeral parlors and crematoria and refuse removal, refuse dumps and solid waste disposal.

The governors stressed that the proposed law contravenes Article 6 (2), 189, 186 of the Constitution and the Fourth Schedule.

“Counties should not be viewed as mere stakeholders but ought to respected as legitimate actors in the statutory develop-ment process,” said Bomet Gover-nor Isaac Ruto. He added: “Coun-ties and the Ministry of Health are like the co-joined twins, joined at the hip in so far as health service delivery is concerned.”

Kericho governor Paul Chepk-wony said Article 187 of the con-stitution stipulates how either lev-el of government can surrender function to another. “Level Five hospitals have already been trans-ferred to counties and to attempt to take them back to the National level, through a statutory classifi-cation is a direct attack on devolu-tion,” warned Prof Chepkwony.

He added: “The draft Bill ap-pears to undermine the functions, procurement and financial auton-omy of counties in the health sec-tor. The constitution assigns the National facilities to the govern-ment and they existed before the promulgation of the constitution.”

The governors fault the Bill, saying it is not systematic, and does not correctly reflect the insti-tutions and functions of devolved units by failing to harmonise the relationship between the National government and the counties.

“The Council of Governors wants the Bill reviewed, redrafted in acceptable perspective and where necessary delete offending clauses. Counties are a critical player in the health sector,” said Kisii Governor James Ongwae.

Patients continue to suffer coun-trywide as the impasse between county governments and health practitioners hits hard Kenya’s most vulnerable populations.

Government data shows more than 420,000 people seek treatment from public hospitals on a daily ba-sis.

The ongoing crisis in the health sector continues to jeopardise the well being of Kenyans as many are turned away from public hospitals and forced to seek treatment in cost-ly private facilities.

And, health union officials say, if a long-term solution is not found, the faces of Kenyans in pain and ag-ony seeking treatment and instead being turned away from government hospitals, will just be another bur-den the country will have to bear in the foreseeable future.

A combination of factors includ-ing meager allocation of funds, an inept county government system and ego, on the part of Governors have since devolution of health held the wellness of Kenyans hostage.

“The counties cannot manage the health sector. They have neither the expertise nor the capacity to run a sector as vital as this one,” said Seth Panyakoo, Secretary General of the Kenya National Union of Nurses.

This is not the first time that health practitioners have gone on strike in the brief history of devolu-tion. “We told them then that they were not ready to take on the burden of the health sector. We were right then. And we remain right today,” Panyakoo says.

According to the 2013 Kenya Household Health Expenditure and Utilisation Survey over 58 per cent of outpatient hospital visits by Kenyans in 2013 were to public health facili-ties, with public health centres and dispensaries accounting for about 40 per cent and public hospitals ac-counting for just over 18 percent of these visits.

It is these facilities that have been hardest hit by the ongoing impasse. In 2012, the government threatened to sack more than 25,000 striking workers before the two sides reached an agreement.

On Friday, Nyeri County Govern-ment officials threatened to sack all striking health workers if they do not resume work.

Health Executive Secretary Charles Githinji said on Friday after-noon that the county government is taking disciplinary action-which in-cludes sacking up to 450 striking nurses.

In Meru, County Health executive William Muraah has threatened nurses intending to go on strike with the sack. “If anyone does that they should show cause why their em-ployment should not be terminated. It is not an empty threat, we mean it. It is policy,” Dr Muraah said, adding that the county had already paid the August salaries and was processing more that would be in the bank ac-counts by Monday.

In Nandi, Governor Cleophas Lagat said a delay in the release of funds caused the recent uproar in the health sector.

“Delay in release of cash to the county caused the problem that we had in our county, we have however,

y B ROSELYNE OBALA

y B STANDARD TEAM

Governors unhappy with

Health Bill

solved the situation,” said Dr Lagat.In Nakuru, just like in other parts

of the country, health practitioners on their part led by the South Rift Kenya Medical Practitioners and Pharmacists Dentist Union (KMP-PDU) Secretary General Oruko Siti-ma said delayed salaries, promo-tions, payment of arrears, missing allowances, lack of training and lack of inter-county transfer mechanism were the major causes of the issues beleaguering the health sector.

Dr Sitima observes that poor hu-man resource management has been major cause of seven strikes experi-enced in Nakuru since devolution.

Approximately 38 doctors in Na-kuru and another 126 have resigned from public facilities to take up more rewarding offers in private hospitals. Early this month, 2,400 health care workers and 150 doctors downed their tools, a move that caused deaths of 12 patients who were not attended to in public hospitals.

However, through consultative meeting, doctors and nurses have agreed on return to work formula calling off the strike that had para-lysed operations. So far, the Nakuru County Government has agreed to

effect the promotion of doctors in September and arrears of the officers already promoted by the Public Ser-vice Commission of Kenya (PSC) in October payroll.

Deputy Governor Joseph Ruto said the county has been able to pro-mote 144 staff, 169 ESP that have been absorbed and fully in payroll, permanent and pensionable. The employees were however interns sent by PSC to the county for promo-tion, he acknowledged.

Pressure from the striking work-ers has forced governors, who have vehemently fought to have the health sector devolved to them, into a corner. Their only way out of this gross injustice to their populace has been to apportion blame to the na-tional government.

On Friday Deputy President Wil-liam Ruto responded in an interview with the media. “The health sector is facing many problems but claims that national government is under-mining devolution because we want to take over health facilities are not true,” Ruto said.

Although governors are keen to hold on to the docket in accordance with the principles of devolution,

Devolution woes: Delayed salaries of health workers, promotions and payment of arrears

Health workers in Nyeri County took to the streets to protest delayed salaries and promotions on August 18. They later called o� the strike. [PHOTO: KIBATA KIHU/STANDARD]

We told them they were not ready to take on the burden of the health sector. We were right then and now - Seth Panyakoo

some professionals outside the med-ical field believe health, just like se-curity, should be a prerogative of na-tional government.

Among the holders of this line of thought is Central Organisation for Trade Unions Secretary General Francis Atwoli. “The Cabinet Secre-tary for health just like the governors have failed in this issue and its time health was taken away from county governments,” he said. As the leaders engage in blame game, Kenyans con-tinue to suffer.

“And the crisis shall go on. The counties do not have the capacity to run our public health system. We are signatories to the Abuja declaration that demanded the health sector gets a minimum of 15 per cent of the na-tional budget. Currently we are get-ting 2.8 per cent of this budget,” Pa-nyakoo said.

The Director of Medical Services Nicholas Muraguri however says that funding is not an issue. “The World Health Organisation recommends that we spend a minimum of 60 USD per patient per year. Right now, Ken-ya spends 67USD per patient per year. So funding is not an issue. The issue is how the county health funds are utilized,” Dr Muraguri said.

For Panyakoo, the solution lies in the formation of a body that will be charged with handling the human resource aspects within the medical field.

— Reports by Jacob Ngetich, Mercy Kahenda, Daniel Wesangula

Mission hospital

All others

Chemist/pharmacy/shop

Private clinic

Private hospital

Public hospital

Public health

centre & dispensary

Mission healthcentre & dispensary3.5%

MAIN PROVIDERS OF OUT PATIENT HEALTH SERVICES, 2013

2.8%

13.1%

9.8%

7.2%

18.3%

40.1%

5.2%

Governor Ruto


You erred, Raila tells Jubilee on sugar imports

It’s a bitter pill: Former PM says alleged deal likely to impoverish local cane farmers and only benefit cartels

Orange Democratic Movement leader Raila Odinga has accused the Jubilee administration of planning to cripple local sugarcane factories through the sugar deal allegedly signed with Uganda.

Addressing the ODM Bungoma branch members at Centrica Hotel in the county yesterday, Raila termed the sugar deal a big joke, saying sug-ar produced in Uganda cannot even feed its populace.

“This is a way of impoverishing the local farmers. The alleged deal is only meant to benefit the sugar bar-ons through a registered cartel,” he said.

The Opposition leader said ineffi-ciency in addressing the plight of cane farmers is likely to give way to cheap sugar to flood the markets, and in turn render the local indus-tries redundant.

ByB TITUS OTEBA

County Assemblies to call for a refer-endum to address contentious issues in the Constitution.

“Okoa Kenya referendum is real. We will ensure the Constitution is amended so that pressing issues, for instance, unemployment, devolu-tion and poor governance are ad-dressed,” he said.

Those who attended the closed door meeting were Busia Women

This, he said, is because local farmers would not be able to sell their produce due to saturation of the local market by cheap products allegedly from Brazil.

The Coalition for Reforms and Democracy (CORD) planned rally to address the sugar deal at Bukembe market yesterday was called off after Raila confirmed it was postponed due to unavoidable circumstances.

Last stagesHe said their intended host, Kan-

duyi MP Wafula Wamunyinyi, was unwell, therefore they had to call off the rally.

While addressing ODM delegates, Raila said CORD remains united as a family, noting that they will continue working together to ensure unity and peace prevails upon all party leaders as they strive to serve wananchi.

“As a family, all party leaders and supporters will work to strengthen

ODM party leader Raila Odinga and Secretary General Ababu Namwamba af-ter meeting delegates in Bungoma town, yesterday. [PHOTO: TiTus OTeba/sTaN-DaRD]

This is a way of impoverishing

the local farmers. The alleged deal is only meant to benefit the sugar barons through a registered cartel.” - ODM leader Raila Odinga

our house. That is why as a party, ODM has laid down structures to help us grow as we support our part-ners,” he noted.

ODM Secretary General Ababu Namwamba said they are in the final stages of verifying signatures collect-ed and by September 10, they will hand it over to the Independent Electoral Boundaries Commission, which would then forward it to

Rep Florence Mutua, MPs MP Jakoyo Midiwo (Gem), Fred Outa (Nyando), former Kanduyi MP Alfred Khang’ati, Bungoma County Assembly Majority Leader Majimbo Okumu among oth-er leaders.

Bungoma County ODM Chair-man and Sirisia MP John Waluke, was conspicuously absent, however the leaders said he was held up with other official duties.

The Sirisia MP has been seen ad-vocating for Jubilee government to fund projects in his constituency, which he said is has been marginal-ised.

However, Ababu downplayed the issue saying, Waluke is still their loy-al member, who should steer the branch well to ensure the growth of the party.

Raila later addressed residents at Bungoma bus terminus and called on them to support ODM in all their endevours.

Sunday, August 30, 2015 / The Standard


Kenya will seek to attract more in-vestors and tourists from Europe and the rest of the world during the Kenya Week activities on the sidelines of the ongoing World Expo in Milan, Italy.

East African Affairs, Commerce and Tourism Cabinet Secretary Phylis Kandie said Kenya is looking forward to a successful Kenya Week where the spotlight will be on Kenya and the im-mense opportunities available for both investment, trade and tourism. “Kenya’s participation in the global event which has been running for six months now will reach its climax

when President Uhuru Kenyatta pre-sides over the Kenya Week celebra-tions in a key note address to a busi-ness forum slated for September 8, 2015,’’ she said. The Kenya Week, Kandie said runs from September 7 to September 12, and will showcase the country to the world and in particular the Italian community.

“The objective is to maximise the country’s exposure and appreciation of opportunities to the world through the theme, “Kenya: Land of Unlimited Possibilities.” Opportunities to be showcased include investment, tour-ism, mining, agriculture, oil and gas, infrastructure, ICT and value addition

prospects in the leather sector,’’ Kandie said.

She said the leather industry is ripe for investment by Italian firms creating major potential for employ-ment creation.

The unique six month-long expo, held every five years, attracts huge global attention due to the large num-ber of exhibitors, visitors and partici-pation of 150 countries, with over 20 million visitors expected at the global meeting. On Thursday 10 September, Expo Milano 2015 will host the “Kenya Expo Run”. For the first time in histo-ry, the Universal Exposition opens its gates to running enthusiasts, becom-

ing the arena for two special road runs: a 10km international competi-tive race and a 3km amateur run.

The Export Promotion Council CEO Ruth Mwaniki said Kenya has traditionally been an important tour-ism and investment destination for Italians. “This is demonstrated by their numerous investments in Ma-lindi, Watamu and Diani, which are also frequented by many Italian tour-ists,’’ she said.

Ms Mwaniki who is heading the Kenyan delegation exhibiting at the forum said many Italians “are inter-ested in Kenyan cuisine, particularly coffee, chapati and Tusker beer.”

Uhuru rallies leaders to revive Pan-Africanismy B NZAU MUSAU

President Kenyatta and Liberia President Ellen Johnson Sirleaf during the 23rd Summit of the Heads of State and Government of the APRM in South Africa. Kenya will host the APRM meeting on September 11. [PHOTO: FILE/ STANDARD]

President Uhuru Kenyatta is set to consolidate his budding Pan-Afri-canist credentials when he hosts more than 15 African Heads of State in Nairobi to revive the fledgling Af-rican Peer Review Mechanism (APRM).

In a growing pattern of a Presi-dent who has set his sights farther, Kenyatta is championing the revival of the APRM, an initiative which ap-pears to have lost steam through in-action of governments and criticism of scholars.

He has convened an extraordi-nary summit of the committee of Heads of State and governments of the 35 member club who review each others’ democratic, economic and corporate governance. The meeting is set for September 11.

Kenyatta was elected chair of APRM Forum during the 23rd sum-mit of Heads of State and govern-ment held in South Africa in June. His election was proposed by South Africa President Jacob Zuma and seconded by Uganda’s Yoweri Musev-eni.

Liberia’s Ellen Johnson Sirleaf chaired the forum before Kenyatta. At the South African summit, she had complained the Ebola outbreak had distracted her leadership and want-ed another term but Zuma and com-pany would hear none of it.

“President Uhuru Kenyatta is an immensely popular Pan-Africanist among his peers. His sociable and down-to-earth approach to tackling seemingly monumental challenges has endeared him to his peers and African masses alike.”

“We were, therefore, not sur-prised when his peers unanimously voted him into that position. Clearly, they were not wrong in putting their confidence in him because he hit the ground running. Now we are at the throes of a special summit which we are confident will be a turning point for the APRM and its transformative agenda,” Devolution Cabinet Secre-tary Anne Waiguru told The Standard on Sunday yesterday.

She said Kenya’s diplomatic pro-file among the community of Na-tions has also been boosted even as more high profile meetings are held in the country.

“In addition, the heroic perfor-mance of our athletes only serves to cement our position up there,” Ms Waiguru added. Since election under

the yoke of International Criminal Court (ICC) charges, Kenyatta adopt-ed a nationalistic and pan-Africanist foreign policy which appears to have outshone his peers.

In October 12, 2013 during an ex-traordinary African Union Summit in Addis Ababa, Kenyatta gave one of the most fiery pan-Africanist speech-es of recent times describing the West as declining imperial powers crushing on “pits of penury.”

“The spirit of African pride and sovereignty has withstood centuries of severe tribulation. I invoke that spirit of freedom and unity today be-fore you. It is a spirit with a voice that rings through all generations of hu-man history. It is the eternal voice of majestic spirit which will never die,” he said.

Through diplomatic and political pressure by the AU and Kenya, his ICC case began to crumble and was eventually withdrawn. All through, the president endeared himself to the AU and bestrode the continent like a colossus. Expected to attend

the Nairobi meeting is President Te-odoro Obiang Nguema Mbasogo who is reputed by his peers for his “wealth of experience” having been the President of Equatorial Guinea since 1979 when Kenyatta was a teenager.

President Abdel Fattah El-Sisi of Egypt has confirmed attendance. El-Sisi first came to power in 2014 af-

ter ousting Mohamed Morsi but was later elected. Morsi has since been sentenced to hang for plotting jail-breaks and attacks on police.

Museveni of Uganda, President Paul Kagame of Rwanda and Presi-dent HaileMariam Desalegn of Ethi-opia are also expected to be the country for the forum.

Nigerian President Muhammadu Buhari will attend as will Abdeaziz Bouteflika of Algeria. Bouteflika is serving his fourth term of presiden-cy. Other Heads of State set to attend the extraordinary summit to revive APRM are Djibouti’s Ismail Omar Guelleh, Zuma and Sirleaf.

Bouteflika - who survived the Ar-ab spring- is set to present a paper on the “philosophy of APRM” while Kagame is set to be the main discus-sant of the presentation.

Sirlef will present on the “role of APRM in monitoring of AU agenda 2063 and post 2015 sustainable de-velopment goals” which will be dis-cussed by Desalegn.

Mbasongo, the foremost “legend”

of African leadership will talk about resource mobilisation for APRM which will be discussed by President Macky Sall of Senegal. Derby will present a paper on “enforcing com-pliance with APRM principles” which will be discussed by Djibouti’s strongman Guelleh.

Zuma will discuss integration of APRM into the AU alongside El-Sisi of Egypt. Museveni and Buhari, both military men who turned out to be presidents, will review the APRM “tool and methodology.”

Kenyatta the host, will present an overall overview of the concept of re-vitalizing the APRM which will be discussed by Kagame.

“APRM seems to have lost its mo-mentum, since it is voluntarily ac-ceded into, so far 35 countries are members of the APRM with only 17 countries having been reviewed. The loss of momentum is attributable to various challenges currently con-fronting the Mechanism.”

“This is the reason why President Kenyatta, the current Chairperson proposed and offered to host an Ex-tra-Ordinary Summit to deliberate on strategies for revitalising the Mechanism,” Waiguru said.

At the end of each session, the Presidents are expected to make rec-ommendations on the way forward.At its prime in 2006, Kenya was re-viewed in a highly publicised process which was led by former South Afri-can first lady Graca Machel. Kenya’s second country review has dragged on for years now.

Waiguru says Kenya benefited a lot from the first review. She says arising from the review, Kenya has undertaken monumental gover-nance transformation which com-menced with the promulgation of a new Constitution five years ago.

y B PHILIP MWAKIO

APRM’s role: Presidents of the 35-member club review their democratic, economic, corporate governance

Kandie: Kenya to lobby global investors at Italian event

The spirit of Af-rican pride and sov-ereignty has with-stood tribulation. I invoke that spirit of freedom, unity today before you-President Uhuru

Devolution CS Anne Waiguru

Kandie


As the Wiper Democratic Party (WDP) retreats to Maanzoni Lodge today, several things will occupy the attention of party leaders.

Of concern will be a renewed push by Wiper’s elected politicians who have asked party leader Kalonzo Muskoya to state unequivocally that he will be running for the presidency in 2017.

On the surface, Wiper’s secretary general Hassan Omar calls the two-day retreat in Machakos County a routine affair.

“We must rejig our stamina as the Opposition. We must appreciate that there are challenges in society and we must be steadfast as we head to the crucial stage in preparing for the next polls. We need to assess where we are as Opposition, are we satis-fied, what more needs to be done,” said Mr Omar, the Mombasa Senator.

But for MPs Stephen Mule (Ma-tungulu) and Richard Makenga (Kai-ti), there will be nothing routine about this meeting.

“We know members are meeting to discuss party affairs. However, we cannot avoid the issue of the presi-dential contest at this crucial time,” said Mr Mule.

Omar, however, wants this dis-cussion made later after the other corporate members of the Coalition of Reforms and Democracy, the Or-ange Democratic Movement and Ford Kenya have held similar re-treats.

“All individual parties of CORD have agreed to hold their separate meetings before we have a two-day retreat as the Opposition,” said Omar.

This is the point of departure be-tween Mule and Omar.

“Our focus should be on the 2017 polls. The party leader should not settle for anything less than the pres-idency as we should take a stand on the matter before the coalition meet-ing on September 6 and 7,” said Mule. He, however, cautions; if Ka-lonzo fails to heed their advice, “the roads will still lead to Gatundu in 2017 and this is not a threat but a fact.”

Makenga concurred. “Our people must first be in solidarity to cooper-ate with others before we can have our way. Our party is strong in

ByB Roselyne oBala and daniel nzia

Wiper leader Kalonzo Musyoka addresses wananchi during the launch of the voter and identity card registration at Mlolongo. [ PHOTO: FILE/STANDARD]

CORD,” said Makenga. During the retreat, Machakos

Governor Alfred Mutua will be on the mind of party luminaries even if they do not say so openly. The Mach-akos Governor has launched a pro-gramme he calls Maendeleo Chap Chap, an initiative he says is de-signed to empower people of Ukam-bani.

Some at Wiper think Mutua has been a divisive element whose agen-da is to undermine party leader Ka-lonzo.

“We are not going to waste the party’s time discussing Jubilee de-

Power play: Party has organised a two-day retreat to take stock of performance and challenges in Opposition politics

Wiper leaders clash over bid to tame rebels

in their own words“We must rejig our stamina as Opposition. We must appreciate that there are challenges in society and we must be steadfast as we head to the crucial stage in preparing for the next polls. We need to assess where we are as Opposition, are we satisfied, what more needs to be done.” Wiper secretarBy Hassan omar

“Our focus should be on the 2017 polls. The party leader should not settle for anything less than the presidency as we should take a stand on the matter before the CORD meeting slated for September 6th and 7th,” Matungulu MP stephen Mule

tractors, this is wrong for the party,” Omar said.“We are going to take stock of our performance as a party; dwell on our achievements and fo-cus on the coalition agenda. We will be seeking to explore possible set-backs backs to strengthen the Coali-tion’s affairs,” said the secretary gen-eral.

Omar also dismissed reports that Mutua had been crowned the Kamba elder after it emerged that some el-ders in Ukambani had also dis-missed these reports.

However, there are some politi-cians like MPs Makali Mulu (Kitui Central) and Benard Kitungi (Mwin-gi West) who want greater account-ability from politicians who under-mine the Wiper leadership.

“The governor is a member of the Wiper Summit, which is the highest decision-making organ of the party, anyone who messes with the Consti-tution and the political parties’ Act, should be punished,” said Mulu.

He continued, “We would be de-ceiving ourselves if we fail to delib-erate on these concerns.”

Wiper vice chairman Mutula

Kilonzo Jnr said some leaders will rue the day they undermined Wiper which enjoys unwavering support in the region.

“Devolution is structured to meet the needs of every county uniquely. What Mutua is doing is causing con-fusion,” said Kilonzo Jnr, the Makue-ni Senator in reference to the Mach-akos Governor’s meeting with some leaders from Makueni and Kitui.

Mutua has studiously maintained that Maendeleo Chap Chap is a ve-hicle to empower local people.

“The Maendeleo Chap Chap and unity movement is not political but aims at tackling the problems that bedevil the community. It is for Kam-ba unity and development. Those who claim it is designed to divide Kenyans do not know the concept,” Mutua said.

Pundits says some of the prob-lems that Kalonzo’s outfit is experi-encing is because the party leader has never served as a member of the Opposition before.

However, Omar and Mulu dis-missed such claims. They say there is no official opposition as the new

constitution has created the county governments.

“We have a pure presidential sys-tem of governance. We are all in gov-ernment either at the national level or county level. Our letter heads read the government of Kenya and we ap-preciate what the Constitution has done,” said Omar.

Mulu added, “ What matters is that we are fully in CORD and should make the best opportunity out of it. Address the wrongs in society and empower our people.”

Senator Hassan Omar

Senator Johnstone Muthama

Matungulu MP Stephen Mule

Amani National Congress has em-barked on a recruitment drive in Western region to popularise the new outfit ahead of 2017 elections.

Speaking in Kakamega yesterday during a meeting with officials and opinion leaders, ANC leader Musalia Mudavadi said the move is geared to-wards establishing strong grassroots structures to make the party more competitive in the political arena. “ANC is a newly registered party and we have started an early systematic and continuous recruitment of mem-bers. It is very critical because you

cannot conduct good politics without strong structures at the grassroots,’’ noted Mudavadi. He said most mem-bers elected on parties affiliated to the AmanicCoalition including UDF in the 2013 elections would be al-lowed to complete their tenure but their party of choice will be ANC in the next polls.

“ANC originated from Amani coa-lition and we are in agreement with political the parties Act that politi-cians affiliated to the latter complete their terms and vie on ANC in 2017 elections,’’ he added.

The former deputy premier claimed his meetings are not political,

adding that rallies being held in the region by politicians on the on-going sugar debate will not yield any solu-tion.

“We better get MPs focus on legis-lation and pass laws that will force the Government to take the agriculture sector seriously. What will matter is not the pronouncements during the rallies but tangible solutions for farm-ers and the sugar sector,’’ said the for-mer Sabatia lawmaker.

Mudavadi argued that unless farmers are supported and the cost of production goes down, they won’t en-joy the fruit of cane farming. “We must support farmers produce other-

wise the take away will continue be-ing small if we don’t do anything as a nation to address the cost of produc-tion,’’ said Mudavadi.

Mudavadi did not shy away from acknowledging the voter apathy in western Kenya. The region has expe-rienced a low turnout among eligible voters in the recent past.

“Western residents must realise that voting is their civic duty and take it seriously. We need to bring the numbers into action like in Central and Rift Valley regions because we have been ridiculed as people who register but don’t vote on material day,’’ he said.

ByB GRace Wekesa

Mudavadi launches Amani recruitment drive ahead of 2017

Mudavadi


y B ERASTUS MULWA

2017: With the backing of several MPs, he is seen as one to edge out Kalonzo as Ukambani kingpin

Mutua faces battle with Wiper loyalists

When Machakos Governor Alfred Mutua kicked off his Maendeleo Chap Chap cam-paign last week, he seemed unstoppable. But his movement appears to have met some obstacles.

He first convened a publicity meeting at Athi River and together with other leaders promised to hold a series rallies to cover the three Ukambani counties.

And on Thursday last week, the gover-nor’s communication officer sent an invita-tion to media houses, indicating the Maendeleo Chap Chap movement was to hold its second Ukambani rally in Kitui town the following day.

“A major political announcement will be made at the Kitui People’s Park where Mu-tua, suspended Land CS Charity Ngilu, MPs and MCAs will attend. Kindly provide cov-erage,” the text message read.

On the same day, Mutua, also on his Twitter handle, stated that the Akamba el-ders had given him the green light to spread his Maendeleo Chap Chap crusade in Ukambani.

However, things took a different turn when the Kitui meeting was cancelled on Friday morning and those who were to at-tend were asked to travel to Machakos to at-tend another meeting. An MCA who attend-ed the function later in the day noted: “It was changed at the last minute because Mu-tua would have encountered a hostile re-ception in Kitui.” There was no official com-munication from the Mutua team why the meeting was cancelled.

Well receivedThe Maendeleo Chap Chap initiative has

not been well received by some leaders from the region (See separate story).

However, Mutua’s supporters want him to stake a greater claim in the region’s lead-ership. MPs Vincent Musyoka (Mwala), Ra-chael Nyamai (Kitui South), Joe Muthambu (Mwingi Central) Regina Ndambuki (Ki-lome) and John Munuve (Mwingi North) at a meeting in Athi River called on Mutua to ‘immediately convene’ a meeting of key leaders from the three Ukambani counties (Machakos, Makueni and Kitui) to chart the region’s political destiny.

The legislators had argued that Mutua had shown signs that he can redeem the community from the bondage of poverty and political oblivion.

Soon after the Athi River rally, Mutua convened his first meeting with leaders

from Makueni at the Machakos People’s Park, where Maendeleo Chap Chap philos-ophy was declared a political movement.

That was followed by another rally hosted by Ms Ndambuki at Sultan Hamud, and the yesterday’s gathering of ‘leaders’ from Kitui County, whom Mutua hosted in Machakos.

Kalonzo’s allies have described these ini-tiatives as ‘stage-managed’ events, quite similar that a ceremony in which Mutua was crowned a Kamba elder at Masii Secondary School.

That was followed by another rally host-ed by Ms Ndambuki at Sultan Hamud, and the yesterday’s gathering of ‘leaders’ from Kitui County, whom Mutua hosted in Mach-akos. But two incidents appear to have com-plicated Mutua’s plans to sell his develop-ment ideology in Ukambani.

Yesterday, the chairman of Kamba Coun-cil of Elders Boniface Kilonzo dismissed the purported endorsement of Governor Mutua as the Kamba leader.

In an interview with The Standard on Sunday, Kilonzo said the council, which consists of 22 clans, is not a political move-ment, and is not, therefore, mandated to de-clare political allegiances on behalf of the people. “Those reports were completely false. No such declaration was made, and as a council we will issue a comprehensive statement soon to state our position on the matter,” noted Kilonzo.

Despite the setback, MPs Victor Munya-ka (Machakos Town) and Musyoka , Mutua’s key allies, maintained the governor had the right to traverse any area within or even be-yond Ukambani.

Mutua on the other hand has stated that he is not dividing the community: “I am committed to changing the way politics and development is being done here.”

Those reports were completely false. No such declaration was made, and as a council we will issue a statement soon

Governor Alfred Mutua (right) greets leaders from Makueni on arrival at the Machakos Peo-ple’s Park for a rally. [ PHOTO: FILE/ STANDARD]

— Boniface Kilonzo, Kamba Council of Elders chairman

ANNOUNCEMENT

1. COMMENCEMENT DATES – 2015/2016 ACADEMIC YEAR

The University of Nairobi wishes to inform all fi rst year (2014 K.C.S.E.) students (fresher) that the commencement date for the 2015/2016 academic year is 14th September, 2015.

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(i) ALL STUDENTS except Diploma students, shall each pay tuition Fees of Kshs. 16,000/= per year, before or on the registration day, made up as follows:

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Nairobi account number 03-073-1100187.

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UNIVERSITY OF NAIROBI


Kenyan jailed 15 years for funding terrorismA Kenyan man was sentenced to 15 years in

prison by a judge in Miami after pleading guilty to funneling about 12 million ($11,600 dollars) to US-designated terrorist organisations in Af-rica and the Middle East.

US District Judge Ursula Ungaro on Friday sentenced Mohamed Hussain Said, 27, for con-spiring to provide material support to al Qaeda

in Iraq/Nusra Front, and Al Shabaab.Said was arrested along with Gufran

Ahmed Kauser Mohammed, a 31-year-old naturalised US citizen born in India, in Sau-di Arabia in August 2013 and turned over to US authorities.

A 15-count indictment alleged they used online chat rooms popular with Islamic ex-

tremists to help fund and recruit fighters for Nusra Front, which is fighting to topple Presi-dent Bashar al-Assad’s Government in Syria.

The pair sent money using Western Union to Nusra and al Shabaab, a militant group fight-ing to impose a strict interpretation of Islamic law on Somalia, according to the indictment.

“Said also offered to make available poten-

tial martyrs for ambitious al Qaeda-style at-tacks against United States interests,” prosecu-tors wrote in court filings.

Said pleaded guilty in May to conspiring to provide material support to a foreign terrorist organisation.

— Reuters

Police in Rabai, Kilifi County, are investigating the mysterious murder of a 75-year-old man suspected to be a witchdoctor. Rabai OCPD John Masila said the deceased was walking to his daughter’s home in Mwele Rabai at around 9.00pm when unknown men shot him in the head on Thursday and disappeared. The motive of the assailants has not yet been established, however, Masila says police will conduct investigations as soon as possible to unearth the motive of the assailants. Aged men in Kilifi allegedly associated with witchcraft have in the recent past been killed under unclear circumstances.

Mombasa County Government will establish a city polytechnic for specialised training in deep sea fi shing. Governor Hassan Joho said this yesterday at the Mombasa International Show after entering into a pact with the Kenya Commercial Bank Foundation (KCB). KCB Foundation has o� ered an interest free loan of Sh30 million as the county also matched it up with a similar amount. KCB Foundation Executive Director Jane Mwangi said the initiative would help the fi shermen acquire ultra-modern deep sea vessels to improve their ventures. Mr Joho said: “We are here to transform lives, ensure our people benefi t from their basic natural resources which is rich marine harvest from the sea’’.

Gunmen kill Kilifi witchdoctor

County signs boats deal with bank

Briefl y

Workers want State to take back Health

The Central Organisation of Trade Unions (Cotu) has called upon the government to take back the health sec-tor following increasing cas-es of striking medics.

Secretary General Fran-cis Atwoli has in the wake of the on-going crisis warned of a bigger problem if the current impasse is not re-solved urgently.

Cotu is now calling upon the national government to embark on retake the de-volved health services

However, the govern-ment has been categorical that it will not interfere with the sector.

Whereas the Deputy President William Ruto con-curs that the health sector is facing many challenges, he assured Kenyans that Nairo-bi will not interfere with the running of devolved func-tions despite claims by the Opposition and some gover-nors that the central govern-

ment was undermining devolution.

But Atwoli questioned the capability of some gov-ernors to manage health, saying they were to blame for the current crisis, which has seen hundreds of pa-tients go through untold suf-fering.

Atwoli was speaking at Great Rift Valley Lodge in Naivasha during a consulta-tive meeting between Cotu and National Hospital Insur-ance Fund (NHIF) over the recently introduced rates.

He expressed concern that NHIF had reneged on some agreements it entered into with Cotu during their meeting in Mombasa.

NHIF CEO Simon Kirgot-ty said there were anomalies in fully implementing the agreemen, but was quick to add they are ready to ad-dress any pending issues.

He said NHIF is working to ensure all Kenyans re-ceive better medical health care.

y B ANTONY GITONGA


VACANCIES AT THE JUDICIARY TRAINING INSTITUTE (JTI)

The Judicial Service Commission is established under Article 171 of the Constitution ofKenya and one of its core functions is to prepare programs for continuing education andtraining for Judges, Judicial Offi cers and staff. This function is exercised through the JTI.The Commission invites applications from qualifi ed persons for the following positions inthe Institute:-

1. Deputy Director, Judicial Education and Curriculum Development – PLS 16 (1 Position)2. Deputy Director, Finance and Administration – PLS 16 (1 Position)3. Deputy Director, Research and Policy– PLS 16 (1 Position)4. ICT Offi cer – PLS 10 (1 Position)5. Supply Chain Offi cer I – PLS 10 (1 Position)

Appointment to the above positions will be on contractual terms for 3 years (Renewable)subject to satisfactory performance.

Visit our jobs portal: http://jobs.judiciary.go.ke for detailed job description, requirementsfor appointment and instructions on how to apply. All applications should be received NOT LATER THAN 26TH SEPTEMBER, 2015 AT 5.00 P.M.

Only shortlisted and successful candidates will be contacted for interviews.The Judicial Service Commission is an Equal Opportunity Employer.

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Commission Secretariat: Mayfair Centre,Ralph Bunche Road, Upper Hill, Nairobi, 5th Floor

/ EDITORIAL Sunday, August 30, 2015 / The Standard

The National Assembly has demonstrated yet again its little regard for the spirit and letter of the Consti-tution. By moving one step closer to enacting dra-conian legislation that would gag the media and shield Members of Parliament from public scrutiny, the proposed Parliamentary Powers and Privileges Bill would introduce a crime of defamation of Par-

liament. Under the provisions of the proposed law, publishing of actions of legislators the Speaker deems to be scandalous will be criminalised. Journalists found guilty of contravening these provisions proposed by Eldas MP Adan Keynan may be ordered to pay a fine of Sh500,000 or serve a two-year jail term; or be sub-jected to both penalties.

Last week, MPs voted in support of the obnoxious Bill whose passage could signal the end of publishing information high-lighting corruption among legislators, thereby limiting the free-dom that the media enjoy, and the public the right to informa-tion as guaranteed in the Constitution. Publishing reports such as those highlighted previously indicating that members of the Public Accounts Committee and the Agriculture Committee re-ceived bribes to shield public officers, could then attract severe sanctions.

From its phrasing, the Keynan Bill attempts to control flow of information to the public by requiring prior permission from the Speaker and chairpersons of committees before broadcasts of House proceedings can be permitted.

This is not the first time that Members of Parliament have moved to pass self-serving and retrogressive legislation. MPs have previously dismantled strict provisions designed to enforce discipline in political parties; for instance legal provisions that discourage politicians from hopping from one political party to another to seek nomination for candidacy have been severally watered down. Similarly, the dilution of the Integrity and Leadership law has al-lowed charlatans to gain access to public office, and it is not in-conceivable that growing corruption in State institutions is the unfortunate consequence.

Only last week, an attempt by MPs to amend the law to ex-tend the term of the current Parliament failed after they sought to move the election date from August to December 2017. But the Speaker has allowed for the motion to be reintroduced, meaning the legislators could marshal the numbers required to open the window to allow for the changing of the election date. Legislators would obviously benefit from earning pay for anoth-er four months. In another self-serving move last week, legislators passed a mo-tion on an immunity law that would shield them from prose-cution if they break the law in the course of duty. These are just some of the transgressions we have witnessed from the Eleventh Parliament.

Laws that limit the freedom of the press should worry us all. Reporters Without Borders, an international organisation that defends the freedom to be informed, in its 2014 index, ranks Kenya 90th of 180 countries, a drop from position 71 in 2013. Another international NGO, Freedom House, ranked Kenya as ‘partly free’ and says recent legislations have increased the threat thresholds.

The media in Kenya is under siege like never before largely through legislation such as the Prevention of Terrorism Act, Se-curity Laws (amendment) Act 2014, The Kenya Information and Communication Amendment Act 2013, The Media Act 2013, and the published broadcast regulations by the Communications Authority. These laws undermine the democratic culture that relies on knowledgeable citizens whose access to a broad range of infor-mation enables them to participate fully in public life. The Na-tional Assembly must not deny Kenyans the right to informa-tion. It must not stand in the media’s way to hold public officials accountable, whether they are legislators, members of the Judi-ciary or functionaries in the Executive. We must continue to en-courage a thriving and a free press as canvass for support to stop the passage of this unconstitutional Bill.

Kenyans feel the impact of the 2010 Constitution

Five years after its promulgation, our Con-stitution has had a tre-mendous impact on the socio-political life

of Kenyans. Although Parliament is yet to align all our statutes to it within the five-year transition, the legal and regulatory landscape has changed in many respects. The application of the Constitution during this period has however exposed areas that need greater clarity, and realignments. Hence, the growing calls for amend-ments to fine-tune it. Regrettably, Kenyans don’t trust the political class and would rather they don’t fiddle around with it.

The greatest impact is on the po-litical environment and our gover-nance system that still requires to be internalised, both by the players, and the public. Although there is a bi-cameral parliament and a clear sep-aration of powers in our presidential system, the political class still trans-acts business using the old script. Old habits die hard! The Executive too has had challenges embracing checks and balances, and practicing good governance. We still have roadside declarations, displays of the usual doses of executive impunity, intoler-ance for basic freedoms, corruption and disregard for the rule of law when it suits them.

Undoubtedly, the independence and robustness of the Judiciary is one of the key payoffs of the new law. It has issued unprecedented orders and

Proposed law to gag the media in the House retrogressive

rulings that have profoundly shak-en both the Executive and the Leg-islature to the satisfaction of the ordinary Kenyan. In spite of its re-ported dalliance with graft in some instances, it has generally held out the hopes of Kenyans. Nonetheless, attempts to water down its impos-ing stature over other arms of gov-ernment have steadily grown.

For most Kenyans though, devolution is the biggest political and economic payoff in the new law. In a recent Ipsos poll, over 80 per cent of all Kenyans fully sup-port devolution. To a large extent, this government has rolled out devolution and the benefits are steadily becoming evident across the country. Challenges abound though, particularly the lack of good governance in many coun-ties that has allowed corruption and mismanagement to thrive. In recent weeks, poor management in the counties has manifested it-self largely in the delivery of health services. Key oversight institutions required to ensure checks and bal-ances have had to tone down their

role lest they be accused of stifling devolution.

Not surprisingly, the Ipsos poll also revealed that in North Eastern, only 57 per cent of the population support devolution, well below the 80 per cent average in other re-gions. I can think of a number of reasons for the dampened mood there. Foremost is the huge unmet expectation from devolution. The dilapidated main B9 trunk road linking Garissa, Wajir and Man-dera has degenerated into a cattle track. Education in the region is in the doldrums, going from bad to worse. Security is nearly as bad as it was during the early emergency years of the Shifta war. Although all these roles are for the national gov-ernment, residents’ expectations were that with devolution, their lot would be better nonetheless.

Of course there are other rea-sons too for the depressed view of devolution in this region, including poor and alleged inequitable dis-tribution of resources, misplaced priorities and corruption, real or perceived.

As we turn the page, the Coun-cil of Governors needs to critically re-examine its performance and focus on enhancing service deliv-ery. The national government too needs to fully embrace change, especially in areas of good gover-nance, and end extra-judicial kill-ings and forced disappearances.

Kenyans feel the impact of progressive 2010 Constitution

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The Standard is printed and published by the proprietors, The STandard group

Managing Editor: Enoch Wambuaregistered at the the g.p.o as a newspaper.

Devoluti-on is the biggest political and eco-nomic payoff in the new law

STANDARDTHE

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– The writer is the Mandera County Senator.


The writer is Dean and SUNY Distin-guished Professor at SUNY Buffalo Law School and Chair of the KHRC.

The chickens of the In-ternational Criminal Court have come home to roost for TNA’s Uhuru Kenyatta and URP’s Wil-liam Ruto. The last two weeks have been tur-

bulent for Kenya’s numero uno and numero dos. I wouldn’t sleep easy if I was one of the duo. I would toss and turn — anxious and uncertain about the next treacherous curve in the ICC’s winding road. The leviathan of the ICC — once deemed dead — has come roaring back. All bets are now off. No one knows — or can predict with any legal certainty — when the next shoe will drop. I know this much — the noose of the ICC just grew tighter round Mr Ruto’s neck. Nor is Kamwana out of the woods.

Let’s start with the indomitable Mr Ruto. Before the ICC’s latest rul-ing, which knocked the daylights out of Mr Ruto’s defence team, the case against the son of Cheruiyot was limping on a single broken leg. That’s because witnesses against him had either recanted their state-

ments, refused to testify, disap-peared, or been allegedly sent to their maker. I had put the chances of his conviction at below 20 per cent. But then ICC Prosecutor Fatou Ben-souda scored with a tough header in the 75th minute. The Gambian legal pugilist convinced the judges of the ICC that Mr Ruto’s witnesses had been interfered with to his ben-efit. The result is devastating for Mr Ruto. Karim Khan, his legal counsel, huffed and puffed.

Mr Khan, who has a proclivity for histrionics and blather, will doubt-lessly appeal the ruling. And why not? He’s got nothing to lose and is getting paid. But methinks that won’t be money well spent. That’s because the court’s ruling was le-gally foolproof. Ms Bensouda was able to show a systematic and me-thodical pattern of tampering with witnesses. The judges held that it’s factual nonsense that so many pros-ecution witnesses would recant, or turn hostile, without any plausible explanation. Equally unbelievable is that none of the defence witnesses have similarly recanted, or turned hostile. That asymmetry was telling. The inference is that Mr Ruto’s side was involved in sinister shenani-gans to coerce, bribe, disappear, and tamper with witnesses.

What’s terrible for Mr Ruto is the statements of the five critical but hostile witnesses were admitted into

evidence for their truth. Ouch. That means they can’t be rebutted, or in-terrogated. Frankly, it would’ve been better for Mr Ruto’s side to have the witnesses testify and then confront them on cross-examination. That opportunity is now lost. The ICC has set this historic precedent with the ruling — don’t kill, disappear, or coerce witnesses to recant their statements if they’ve already signed them voluntarily. Statements of dead witnesses will now speak from the grave. That’s heady legal stuff. The Kenya government’s push to amend ICC rules — to allow excusals and trial by video-link [Skype] — has come back to bite Mr Ruto.

Let me turn to Mr Kenyatta’s case. Three important events had convinced the Jubilee crowd that Mr Kenyatta’s case was dead and buried — Ms Bensouda’s withdrawal of the case, President Barack Obama’s infa-mous trip to Kenya, and the chum-my visit with Mr Kenyatta at State House of ASP President Sidiki Kaba. But then in boxing jargon, the ICC Appeals Chamber delivered a left upper-cut. The apex court of the ICC reversed the Trial Chamber’s rul-ing not to refer Kenya to the ASP for non-cooperation. It called the ruling legally defective, patently illogical, factually unsupported, and juris-prudentially warped. The Appeal Chamber just stopped short of ques-tioning the Trial Chamber’s integrity

and competence. The harsh rebuke doesn’t augur well for Kenya.

But the Appeals Chamber did something more worrying for Mr Kenyatta. It accused the Trial Cham-ber of conflating Mr Kenyatta’s case with Kenya’s referral to the ASP. In my view, this opens the legal door to re-start Mr Kenyatta’s case if Ken-ya is forced to produce the crucial evidence Ms Bensouda had sought. Failure to do so would invite UN Se-curity Council sanctions and revert Kenya to a pariah state. That’s why I would ask Jubilee to stop bloviat-ing about an ICC ploy for regime change. Mr Kenyatta himself told Mr Kaba that Kenya believed in the rule of law, and would cooperate ful-ly with the ICC. It’s time to put the money where the mouth is.

I’ve argued for years that the wheels of justice sometimes are slow. That doesn’t mean justice will never be done. I believe everyone — including Mr Kenyatta and Mr Ru-to — is innocent until proven guilty. But that requires justice be allowed to take its course. That’s why those who believe in the rule of law must welcome the twin ICC rulings on Mr Ruto’s case and on Kenya’s non-co-operation with the ICC. Let the chips fall where they may. Ahoy!

tending to almost every corner of the globe. And sadly, it seems to be an industry driven by some less-than-noble objectives.

Back in 2008, The Washington Times carried an article questioning some of the behind-the-scene activ-ities of Planned Parenthood, which runs the biggest chain of abortion clinics in America, and indeed worldwide, including in Kenya. For example, it was reported that of the six American women who had died after taking the abortion pill RU-486, four got the pill from a Planned Parenthood clinic.

Complications arose primarily from the clinics’ non-compliance with laid down procedures for dis-pensing the drug. Even more dis-turbing was the finding that there may be racial targeting in abortion services, with some analysts plac-ing higher percentages in minori-ty neighbourhoods, and especially among blacks.

Interestingly, this seemed to have been corroborated by a well-docu-mented study in which a research-er from the University of California (UCLA), hired a professional actor to call Planned Parenthood clinics around the country, offering dona-tions to “lower the number of black people” by targeting black babies for abortion. She found that clinics in seven states agreed to take the mon-ey, and not one of the employees ob-jected to the caller’s racist remarks

or purposes. Some have linked this to Margaret Sanger, the founder of Planned Parenthood, who not on-ly associated herself with Ku Klux Klan, but apparently aligned herself with eugenicists. By definition, eu-genicists is a set of beliefs and prac-tices which aims at improving the genetic quality of the human popu-lation. As a social philosophy, it ad-vocates for the promotion of higher rates of sexual reproduction for peo-ple with desired traits, or reduced rates of sexual reproduction and sterilisation of people with less-de-sired ones, or both.

Baby Moses escaped it in the days of Pharaoh of Egypt, but Hitler ap-plied it in the Nazi days. Simply put, eugeni-cists is a form of human GMO, in which abor-

tion could play a critical role. It is these issues and more, that have re-kindled the current abortion debate in the US. In a report by Fox News last week —August 18, 2015 — an un-dercover video showed how the bod-ies of children killed in abortion clin-ics were being chopped up and sold as body parts.

Furthermore, multiple under-cover videos apparently revealed more evidence about the sale of baby body parts by Planned Par-enthood. However, Miranda Blue argued in defence that Planned Par-enthood donates the foetal tissue

for medical research with the pa-tient’s consent. When challenged about the costs for various foetal tis-sue parts which Deborah Nucatola, Planned Parenthood’s senior direc-tor of medical services, discusses in the undercover video; the rebuttal proffered by Jessica Mason Pieklo, a Senior Legal Analyst with RH Re-ality Check, is interesting. “Those are costs related to transportation, processing, preservation, and other expenses associated with biomedi-cal research and practice.” Whatever the case, chopping up live human persons and “donating” the parts for cash is not only callous but satanic. And yet, this chain of clinics boasts of an annual income of well over $1 billion and, being a non-profit, its president receives an annual “com-pensation” of almost $1 million.

It is clear that there are several factors here that Kenya must inter-rogate before we officially enter into partnership with these groups. It is curious that Mr Macharia intends to rename the abortion document, ‘Policy Standards and Guidelines for Preventing Maternal Mortality’. This is like wrapping the murderer’s gun with a towel. The abortion route is simply callous murder.

With ICC ruling on case, Ruto not out of the woods

OTP demonstrated that witnesses were influenced

OPINIONTAKE IT OR LEAVE IT

Twitter@makaumutua

Rethink proposed abortion guidelines

According to the Cabinet Secretary for Health, the Government plans to re-introduce guidelines to legalise “safe” abortion. We seriously hope the government does not

succumb to pressure and enjoin the nation to an agenda whose real in-tentions are not clear. As the abortion debate has been raging locally, an-other very interesting one has been going on in the USA.

At the centre of the US debate is, first, whether there can be such a thing as safe abortions. But second, and even more critical in the discus-sions, is the “real” motivation behind the hard push for abortion on de-mand.

Whereas the pro-abortionists have always argued for the protec-tion of the welfare and life of the woman, independent studies are showing that this could perhaps be but a façade. Behind this veil lies a well-organised multi-billion dollar industry that has its tentacles ex-

Dr Oginde holds a PhD in Organisa-tional Leadership and is the Presiding Bishop of Christ is the Answer Minis-tries (CITAM)

David [email protected]

Makau Mutua

The Standard on Sunday of Au-gust, 16, 2015 published a story under headline ‘State in slumber as drums of war sound in Tana.’

The writer attempted to anal-yse the recent conflict between two communities in Tana River

by looking at other factors that may have fu-elled the conflict. However, at the time the story was published all those who fled their homes had been re-settled and Tana River County Governor Hussein Dado had spent four days in the ar-ea to ensure normalcy has returned.

There are many factors that have influ-enced the peace and stability in the county for the last two and half years.

Most authors who write on Tana River fail to note that for past two years the county has not had ethnic conflict that has led to blood-shed until the recent incident which has since been resolved. Governor Dado and his deputy Jire Siyat af-ter taking the oath of office in 2013 declared peace as their first priority.

This was informed by the fact that, with-out peace no meaningful development can take place. The first challenge they faced was putting together a cabinet.

The governor appointed two of his lead-ing opponents and a relative of another lead-ing opponent to the cabinet and a depart-ment of Cohesion and Special programme was formed. The county rolled out a cohesion pro-gramme, putting together measures to en-sure that blood will never be shed again.

To this end, selected village elders and opinion leaders were taken to Rwanda to witness the gory effects of inter-ethnic ri-valries.

Those who visited Rwanda brought back humbling stories of the ugly fruits of negative ethnic-ity after visiting genocide sites, victims and mass graves.

The peace building initia-tives also encompass resilience

enhancement and forgiveness among com-munities and initiatives that reduce con-flict over resources such as building of earth dams and boreholes.

The county government is an-all-inclu-sive unit whose employment is sensitive to all communities, small or big. Seven members of the county Public Service Board (CPSB) come from different commu-nities in the county, which eliminates the likelihood of nepotism during job appoint-ments.

In a recent ethnic audit report by Nation-al Cohesion and Integration Commission (NCIC), a section of which was quoted by story carried by this paper in May this year, Tana River County was recognised as one of the counties that have complied with the law on ethnic representation in public service.

Tana River County has 26 ethnic groups represented in its government and the coun-ty’s public service board was recognised among most ethnically representative.

Section 65 of County Governments Act requires county governments to ensure at least 30 per cent of public positions are filled by people not from the dominant eth-nic community in the county. This has been achieved.

The writer is the Director of Communications, Tana River County

Peace efforts yielding fruits in Tana River

GUEST COLUMN

Galgallo Fayo


OPINION

non-devolved education was doing splendidly and the national govern-ment’s referral hospitals at Kenyatta and Moi were offering services with excellence.

The converse is true. The reality is that the challenges that affect the counties have little to do with coun-ties as such but are problems of gov-ernance and management at both levels.

Back to counties, the Ipsos poll comes at a time when the damning audit reports on the county financial management are still live memories. The MCA fights in Makueni, Mach-akos and Kisumu occurred not too long ago. At the national level, the jurisdictional fights between various institutions continue, thereby prej-udicing critical reform programmes. Insecurity continues to terrorise Kenyans. It is no wonder then that listening to many on the social me-dia platforms, there is a view that we made a monumental error in chang-ing our governance framework.

This Constitution, it is pontificat-ed, is too expensive, too idealistic, too civil society laden and not cast in reality. Indeed had you not been in

Kenya before 2010 you would imag-ine we were doing so well until this Constitution came to subvert our positive trajectory.

Let me emphasise that I am not so woolly-eyed that I am not aware of the Constitution’s challenges; it has several. The increasing autoc-racy of Parliament and the failure to imbue the principles of integrity and accountability in governance, all these are real challenges. Devo-lution has many defects, including the overwhelming numbers of rapa-cious MCAs and the failure to attach much focus on improving service delivery as opposed to investing in vote-friendly projects.

But on the whole, the Constitu-tion and devolution have contin-ued to deliver and the people in the mashinani know that. The problem is that the conversation on the Con-stitution and devolution is largely owned and driven by a middle class which I am now convinced is many times out of touch with the reality of Kenya. Secondly, because the mid-dle class did not suffer as much from the dysfunctional Kanu regime, we do not realise just how important

the movement to a new framework meant to other Kenyans. It’s not that Kenyans don’t see the challenges of the current framework, it’s that they have lived through the hopelessness of yesteryear. These Kenyans are the majority of 78 per cent reported by Ipsos.

One of the realities the middle class fails to recognise is that but for this Constitution this country would inevitably have headed to civil war, ICC notwithstanding; we are see-ing civil war in many parts of Africa, despite the threat of ICC! What has helped us move forward are new principles of equity in resource allo-cation, new structures of governance including devolution, strengthened institutions, including the Judiciary, and a less imperial Presidency.

The challenge for us in the next few years is to consolidate the gains we have had so far and learn from the mistakes we have made. One, for instance, hopes the next elections will produce more credible leader-ship at the National and County lev-els so as to move us forward.

We must empower the people more with civic education so that they can effectively participate in governance. We must reform our in-stitutions so that they deliver. But unlike the Children of Israel in Num-bers 14, we must never long for the slavery of Egypt so we can eat cu-cumber and garlic.

role in ensuring cane farmers have fertilisers as well as accessible roads from farms to factories. It is also ex-pected to levy reasonable taxes to allow the viability of the industry. In addition, the government is expect-ed to enforce laws and regulations governing sugar production, distri-bution, storage and importation.

In fact, a greater functional re-sponsibility of the government in the sugar sector is to prevent illegal importation of cheap sugar into the country, yet it has largely failed to seal the loopholes thereby facilitat-ing the continued entry into Kenya of cheap sugar.

This has been the case despite the existence of safeguard measures for our domestic industries that need international protection until they become stable. The loser has been the local millers.

Interestingly, those involved in the cheap sugar import are cartels comprising unscrupulous busi-nessmen working in cahoots with high-ranking government officials, leading politicians as well as senior civil servants.

The country is awash with reports of billions of ill-gotten money by cartels controlling sugar import and sale in the local market. Such car-

tels normally evade tax payment to KRA. It is the duty of the government to ensure that applicable laws and regulations are strictly applied to cushion the local sugar millers from unscrupulous dealers and importers. Further, the government must take the blame for its failure to review the taxation structure of the sugar in-dustry to enable the local consumers access the commodity at a reason-able price.

It is the duty of the govern-ment to ensure that applica-ble laws and regulations are strictly applied to cushion the local sugar millers from unscrupulous dealers and importers. Further, the gov-

ernment must take the blame for its failure to review the taxation struc-ture of the sugar industry to enable the local consumers access the com-modity at reasonable price.

It must be pointed out that the government stands accused of delay-ing the restructuring or divestiture of the sugar sector. This could be partly due to socio-economic interests as well as corrupt dealings of high rank-ing officials who are part of the cartel controlling sugar production, impor-tation and distribution. This cartel is capable of causing artificial sug-ar shortages (due to hoarding) and thereby leading to exorbitant sugar prices in the local market.

It is therefore the responsibility of the government of the day to ensure that the Kenyan sugar sector which contributes 15 per cent of agricul-tural GDP, provides income to over 250,000 small scale farmers is pro-tected and made sustainable.

It is a plain fact that people from Western , Nyanza and Coast regions substantially depend on the sugar industry for their livelihood.

The industry offers employment to thousands of youths from these regions. Thus, messing up the sugar sector for purposes of gaining eco-nomic rent by the high and mighty is therefore an act of economic sab-otage.

State, cartels to blame for sugar woes

The woes of local sugar millers, small scale sug-ar farmers and consum-ers is no longer news in Kenya. Nearly every year, they face recurrent problems and this has

been the case for decades. Yet the industry supports over nine million people across the country.

In spite of the fact that cane farmers, local sugar millers, the wholesalers and consumers do cite specific problems they face in the sector, such problems are somehow inter-connected.

They include, issues relating to infrastructure, pricing, taxation, regulations, importation and dis-tribution of sugar. And the Govern-ment is expected to play a major

Back in the 90s, I visited all ma-jor slaughterhouses in Kenya and even more in Uganda. Not because of some insatiable ap-petite for beef but because I had a lucrative order to export cow horns that would potentially

earn me millions. So while others were troop-ing to slaughterhouses to ferry meat, my sole purpose was to purchase horns!

Indeed, green money can be made in the most unlikely of ways. But for that to happen, we must think as if no box ever existed.

Cow horns are a major ingredient for but-tons. Since virtually all the seven billion peo-ple in the world own clothing with buttons, cow horns are critical players in clothing the world. Besides , orns can be crafted into personal stamps, jewellery, cutlery, eyeglass frames and a host of other beautiful prod-ucts. A pair of high-end cow horn frames can cost a whopping Sh 1.5 million, ironical-ly making them worth at least one hundred cows! When you throw away the convention-al box in business, you can race like Usain Bolt, to a healthy bottom line.

However, there can be no sweet success without sweat. Bolt, rehearses so hard that sometimes he ends up vomiting on the track as he trains. The same is true of our great ath-letes like David Rudisha.

Such efforts are the cornerstone of suc-cess in business. Once applied, the sky will be the threshold as opposed to the limit.

The key lesson from horns lies in throw-ing away the conventional box. Take any con-ventional business, turn it on its head and you will come face to face with unconven-tional business opportunities.

Whereas everyone is buying matatus to transport people, invest in bicycles and rent them out on a daily basis. But who would want to rent a bike? You may ask. If some-one wanted to buy horns

from me two decades ago, someone will defi-nitely want to rent your bikes today — if you work hard and smart.

Turn the office rental sector on its head by investing in short term office rental schemes that cater for people who want to rent space on short term basis. This is exactly what the Storefront did in North America and is now worth billions of shillings. It helps people find temporary brick and mortar spaces also known as physical pop-up spaces.

Such unconventional approaches are of-ten founded on sustainability, which empha-sizes optimal usage of resources and minimal wastage. So when we translate an otherwise ‘worthless’ cow horn into a lucrative raw material, we are tapping into sustainability. This proves that when you throw away the conventional box, not only will you possibly smile all the way to the bank; you will also potentially contribute to regeneration as op-posed to depletion.

Think green, act green!

The writer is the founder and chairperson, Green Africa Foundation and and runs a blog on con-servation—www.isaackalua.com

The writer is a management consultant in Nairobi

The writer is an advocate of the High Court of Kenya

Despite hiccups, 2010 law offers ray of hope for Kenya

Don’t be cowed, sell horns to grow rich

The Ipsos poll detailing the public’s views on the Constitution and par-ticularly on devolution were gratifying to ma-ny of us who recognise the fundamental way in

which the new law has transformed Kenya for the better. What is amaz-ing is that the overwhelming support for the Constitution and for devo-lution comes despite the incessant reports on the Constitution’s and devolution’s alleged defects.

This has been the month of the health crisis, when health workers went on strike demanding salaries and promotions. There were accom-panying loud calls to take health back to the national government. I am always amazed that people make such proposals without bat-ting an eyelid while newspapers abound with reports of the signifi-cant challenges facing the national government in functions it has not devolved, including education, se-curity including the referral hospi-tals! I would for example support the clamour for roll back of health if

to ensure that laws are strictly applied to cushion the local sugar millers from unscrupulous dealers

SUNDAY HARDBALL

Isaac Kalua

Eliud Owalo

Kamotho Waiganjo

Devolution lauded for improving service delivery in the grassroots

It is the duty of the government

[email protected]

One of the realities the middle class fails to recognise is that but for this Constitution this

country would inevitably have headed to civil war, ICC notwithstanding; we are seeing civil war in many parts of Africa, despite the threat of ICC!

[email protected]

GREEN MONEY

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Further, the composition of the police force is also very clearly laid out in Article 243. It states: “There is established the National Police Service which shall consist of: (a) the Kenya Police Service; (b) the Administration Police Service”. In the event that there is need for any other “police services”, Article 247 states that “Parliament may en-act legislation establishing other police services under the supervi-sion of the National Police Service and the command of the Inspec-tor-General of the Service”.

Where, in all this, does the en-tity called the County Commis-sioner, or the Regional Commis-sioner if you will, come in? Has Parliament enacted any legislation bringing in the County Commis-sioner as part and parcel of the apparatus on National Security System? How about the creeping role of the National Youth Service in all this? But let us, for a moment, stick to the Commissioner. I may be dumb, but quite honestly I have looked through the Constitution and other laws and found this creature nowhere.

At the county level we have a big problem with the command structure in the security docket. Who is the final authority on se-curity matters at the county level? Is the County Police Command-er, the County AP Commander or County Commissioner the boss on security matters? Where does each one of these offices derive their powers from? I am quite sure that both the Police and AP Command-er come under the Inspector-Gen-eral of Police. How about the County Commissioner? He is an employee of the Office of the Pres-ident, hence answers directly to

Confusion in the police command structure contribute to insecurity

Under the law the County Commissioner has no role to play in managing security

far from the case. I always believed the main criteria during the 2013 election would be an examination of who was best placed to midwife the country into the new dispensation. In true Kenyan fashion we went and made the ICC the core issue and elected people who never believed in the Constitution and in fact had actively campaigned against it. We are therefore generally responsible for the death of the dream of August 27, 2010.

Executive undermining the Constitution at every turn

STRAIGHT TALK

To tell you the truth I am extremely frus-trated by this inse-curity issue. I don’t know whether it is I who is going crazy or

whether certain things just hap-pen not to make sense any more these days. Quite honestly certain decisions made in government baffle me. Isn’t it obvious—and what I think is obvious may be contestable—that we have a con-stitution very different from what we were used to since indepen-dence. But the government seems to make decisions and create in-stitutions as if nothing happened on August 27 five years ago. Let me explain.

Chapter 14 of the Constitution dealing with National Security at Article 239 establishes the fol-lowing national security organs: (a) the Kenya Defence Forces; (b) the National Intelligence Service; and (c) the National Police Ser-vice. The principles of National Security are clearly laid out in Ar-ticle 238 and the National Security Organs are expected to “promote and guarantee national security in accordance with the principles mentioned in Article 238 (2).” (see Article 239:2).

This week marked five years since promul-gation of the Consti-tution. At birth it was hailed as a forward looking law and we

genuinely believed we had crossed the Rubicon and were destined for the proverbial Promised Land. A land where the rule of law would be supreme, human rights would be more than platitudes, the cor-rupt would face the music, and we would have control over our im-mediate destinies by dint of the devolved governments.

Alas! Half a decade later, this is

Anyang‘ Nyong‘o

Edwin Sifuna

[email protected]

The writer is the Senator of Kisumu County

Who is the final authority on security matters at the county level? Is the County Police Commander, the County AP Commander or County Commissioner the boss on security matters? Where does each one of these offices derive their powers from?

the President. But why does the Pres-ident need a civilian to be the overall command on matters of security at the county level when he is the Com-mander-in-Chief of these security forces? What happens to the com-mand chain of the Inspector-General of Police?

If you ask me, I think these con-fusing command systems are the ma-jor cause of confusion in the security docket purely from a layman’s point of view. And the confusion one of-ten hears that intelligence informa-tion was given in time but no action was taken comes from this labyrinth of authority systems which become dysfunctional at one time.

For example, I am quite sure that the tragedy in Garissa University would have been avoided if fewer cooks were allowed in the kitchen preparing, transmitting and exe-cuting intelligence information. Let each organ in the national security system do its work professionally. Mr President, you are the Command-er-in-Chief of these organs; get them to work professionally.

In Kisumu, for example, we have a big problem with security. Rising up early in the morning to go work has

become a life threatening hazard. You are likely to be slashed to

pieces by some God forsaken crimi-nal who is never traced or brought to justice by the police. Reports has it that this phenomenon started soon after the NYS boys arrived in town. Otherwise why do these killer gangs get away with murder so easily?

Which brings me to the insecu-rity emanating from Somalia and the logic of building a wall along the Kenya-Somali border to keep us secure. Wrong. The wall by itself will not do much. The security ar-rangement along the border is more important coupled with a well-coor-dinated surveillance system. In any case the thing is not a wall: which makes me much happier.

From what I have gath-ered, it is a series of concrete barriers, fenc-es, ditches and obser-vation posts overlooked by CCTV stations that

is expected to stretch from the In-dian Ocean to the town of Mande-ra where Somalia and Kenya meet with Ethiopia. But if we bring in the confusion currently prevailing in the command system of our securi-ty system all this infrastructural in-vestment may come to naught.

That is just my layman’s point of view; let the experts take it or leave it. But our defence and foreign rela-tions committees of the two houses of Parliament should undertake a joint mission to this border and ver-ify what is being done. Who is doing the work? How was the contractor identified? What is the quality of work? Let us not wait until the Audi-tor General begins telling us tales of woe a year from today.

Finally, on the issue of guns. When I was at the Alliance High

School in the 1960s, Mzee Jomo Kenyatta used to go around Cen-tral Kenya receiving Mau Mau fighters surrendering their guns and promising to join normal life in a liberated Kenya. These were our heroes coming home to enjoy the fruits of what they had fought for. But one month ago I saw the Deputy President in North Rift asking bandits to register their guns with the government. I was wondering how can a Kenyan be asked to register an illegal firearm? I thought the DP could have done better: follow Mzee’s footsteps to ask these illegal firearm owners to surrender their weapons and join us in the honourable task of nation building.

Which reminds me. On the sec-ond of February 2010, a huge se-curity operation was carried out at businessman Israel Munir’s home in Narok where 31,000 bullets were recovered following a shooting scene that could have passed for a Hollywood gangster movie. The journalists who covered the event reported that police first laced meat with sleep-inducing drugs and threw it over the fence into the compound where Munir’s 50 dogs lay waiting to pounce on tres-passers.

The moral of this story; our security forces are sophisticated enough to recover illegal arms in all ways, including James Bond-type of actions. The truth is; they will not always exhaust these methods due to vested interests! But registering illegal arms is the most perplexing one.

While the current government is good at making all the right nois-es and conjuring an impression of progress, in reality this is almost never the case. By sleight of hand and connivance, it has sought to en-gage reverse gear even as it claims to be eager to implement the Consti-tution. Examples of such instances are plenty.

We all remember the Kasara-ni concentration camp commis-sioned to ‘process’ certain Kenyans who had been profiled and stereo-typed. So much for that robust Bill of Rights. As for upholding the Consti-tution and the rule of law, the Pres-ident has led the way in assailing it. For example, when he was present-ed with a list of Judges for appoint-ment, he chose to engage in extrale-gal vetting of the list.

Tragically, our understaffed Judi-ciary had to wait for nearly a year as the President engaged in vetting that the Constitution had clearly taken out of his hands. There are at least a couple court orders he chose to ig-nore. President Uhuru’s government has actively sought to muzzle both

the civil society and the media. In-stead of promoting the freedom of expression, the government has instead arrested bloggers and in time honoured fashion trans-ported them in the dark of night to caged confinement. While an-ti-government bloggers are being molested, those that wax lyrical defending the regime are free to engage in hate speech in the guise of political analysis. Only the naive can believe that the reason no media house would broadcast live from Uhuru Park during the Saba Saba rally last year was logistical. It was in a word blackmail. Even now a Bill to gag the media is being pushed through Parliament where the tyranny of numbers will surely see it into law.

As for our false expectations that the new Constitution would enable the relevant organs deal a death blow to corruption, these have been viciously discount-ed. Apparently, in the hands of a Jubilee government the current Constitution is a more versatile enabler of old style smash and gr-

ab graft. While we have heard of many corruption scandals (and there are many more we never hear about) we know that not a single man or woman is in jail be-cause of them. The only music the corrupt are facing is that yes-men choir that sings in tune every time corruption within government is unearthed.

While much has been said and written about the President’s per-sonal integrity, in the end, if he continues to shield high priests and priestesses of graft, he too vi-cariously takes part in the gravy train.

As for devolution, it has re-mained our beacon of hope even in the face of open sabotage by the national government. Two and a half years of Jubilee has seen our Constitution limping. In another five years it will be well and truly neutered.

OPINION

[email protected]

While the current government is good at making all the right noises and conjuring an impression of progress, in reality this is almost never the case. By sleight of hand and connivance, it has sought to engage reverse gear even as it claims to be eager to implement the Constitution. The writer is an advocate of the

High Court of Kenya


Events in History

New leadership would be good for Ukambani

Teachers have worked hard for

salary hike

Let our leaders avoid toxic

politics

Make agricultural shows investment fairs to tap more

Pokot youths using Facebook for dirty politics

Human nature is such that man is afraid of change. This is because there exists comfort in what he already knows, and if things can stay the way they are, then why not.

However, the most dynamic thing in life is change. Sometimes it comes naturally, but in today’s world, it is of-ten prompted by people.

It is this kind of fear that makes people reluctant to move from the largest mobile service provider in Kenya to the smaller providers who tend to offer seemingly more attrac-tive options. The ultimate question is, what if it is the wrong move? What if where they move to is worse than where they have been?

Can the options really be cheap-er than these data bundles we seem

to pay through the nose for? Valid questions, but Kenyans seem to feel that the risk to try the unknown is not worth it. That is why I do not blame the people from Ukambani when they seem not too keen on trying out Dr Al-fred Mutua as a possible tribal leader.

The emergence of the Machakos Governor as a leader in the Ukambani frontier is mostly seen as radical and somewhat fast in terms of leadership style; something different to what the people of Ukambani are used to.

The Khunian Theory of change says people are likely to continue utilising an apparently unworkable paradigm until a better one is accept-ed. This is exactly what is happening in Machakos. It is this scenario that is making the current leadership un-

easy. It is sad that a section of Kambas are blinded by fear that they prefer to wallow in poverty than see change in the kind of leadership they have.

They prefer what they know, since they consider it safe, in spite of the possible progress that might come with change. Development is change.

The older generation needs to change its belief that nobody else can provide an alternative and apt leader-ship.

Fear inhibits potential; we must learn to see the potential in every-thing and not just dismiss it because of the fear of the unknown. Politics is a game of chance. Let’s chance.

{Boniface Manyala and Mercy Njagi, Nairobi}

I have long eluded to weigh-in on the disdainful remarks and liter-ary imbroglio in a Facebook political page in Pokot County called Pokot Spot-Ketecha korenyo.

It is shocking how some leaders, held in high esteem, have chosen to reduce themselves by engaging in abuses with their electorate. They have become masters of hate, incite-ment and planters of discord and dis-unity.

These separatist kings have found every reason to bury logic and glorify reductionist ethnic effrontery, guided by self-styled conceit.

While all the commentary on their injudicious remarks may make the participants on the page feel the buoyancy of an uncommon national attention, they must not consider that as brilliant and as part of nationhood.

They must know that our forefa-thers never harboured bad will for this county like they do. If they had, we would not have any sense of liber-ty in Kenya.

Youths who are used to causing mayhem, havoc and discord should spend time developing themselves and not concentrate on mudslinging political cyber-crimes that may make their future dim and unknown.

To use language and position to classify and profile sections of a na-tion is to strive to oppress them, de-mean them, skin them and reduce them into mash in the race of time.

{Samuel Lopuo, West Pokot}

Quotes on Law

Having inherited a divided nation from the British imperialists, the late Mzee Jomo Kenyatta’s Government had an uphill task of uniting Kenyans. The subsequent Kanu-Kadu merger was widely seen as the first major step of righting the many wrongs the then ‘fleeing’ Britons had dotted, adorned and embraced the country with.

However, the alleged land-grab-bing and subsequent assassinations of key political figures would later cre-ate a firm basis for perennial internal conflicts that we are yet to resolve.

We further worsened an already dire situation by expanding and insti-tutionalising the inherited endemic tribal-oriented governance, deeply enshrined state-sanctioned corrup-tion and impunity.

‘It is our time to eat’ syndrome be-came a phenomenon that has refused to go away. The country was literary thrown to the dogs. The multiparty struggle, though founded on genu-ine political grievances, was largely defined by negative ethnic machina-tions. There were active forces within the Opposition busy marshaling the support of their ‘subdued’, indoctri-nated and brainwashed army of fol-lowers to oust the Kanu combatants (mainly drawn from the Rift Valley and Central Kenya regions).

Unfortunately, such a culture will continue defining the Kenyan po-litical landscape for years, if radical changes do not happen. Fast-for-ward to the 2007/2008 post-election

Why Kenya needs to be healed from infamous historical ills

Letters should be sent to: The Editor, P.O. Box 30080 - 00100, Nairobi; or e-mailed to: [email protected]. The views expressed on this page are not necessarily those of The Standard. The Editor reserves the right to edit the letters. Correspondents should give their names and addresses as a sign of good faith.

READERS’ DIALOGUE

Change is the law of life. And those who look only to the past or present are certain to miss the future. John F Kennedy

Law and order exist for the purpose of establishing justice and when they fail in this purpose they become the dangerously structured dams that block the flow of social progress. Martin Luther King, Jr

There is a natural law of karma that vindictive people, who go out of their way to hurt others, will end up broke and alone. Sylvester Stallone

In law a man is guilty when he violates the rights of others. In ethics he is guilty if he only thinks of doing so. Immanuel Kant

It is not wisdom but Authority that makes a law. Thomas Hobbes

2014: In the face of signs that Russian troops and equipment are aiding rebels in eastern Ukraine, the EU proposes further sanctions against Russia; President Vladimir Putin denies the charges while calling for independent statehood of the region 2014: Legislators in California pass a ban on disposable plastic grocery bags; if approved by Governor Jerry Brown, the ban will be the first implemented across a state, though many cities across the US already have such bans in place2012: A large crude deposit of oil is found by Permex, Mexico’s state-owned oil company, in the northern state of Tamaulipas; deposits could contain 250 - 400 million barrels of oil 2012: A report on the nuclear programme of Iran released by the IAEA, highlights concern over Iran’s nuclear program as the country reportedly has doubled its number of centrifuges as the Fordow facility 2011: New England’s state of Vermont experiences the worst flooding in 100 years 2011: The National Diet of Japan, Japan’s bicameral legislature, approves Yoshihiko Noda as its new Prime Minister 2010: In Chile, 33 miners trapped half a mile beneath the surface make contact with their families for the first time in three weeks since the incidentally

The recent teacher’s win of a 50 to 60 per cent salary increment in the highest court in the land is a culmi-nation of a long and ardous fight that has drained many and the Supreme Court’s announcement is nothing but exemplary.

The teachers win is big. After be-ing awarded the same in two junior courts, the final hammer on the order to the Government’s ear to dig deeper into its pockets has just sounded. And no, it is not softly but with a thunder-ous bang of approval.

It will be interesting to see how this is executed, however painstaking it may be. The law should be obeyed because it is final and independent and autonomous. And is it true that the law is a means to an end?

Failure to obey a ruling by the Su-preme Court will only set precedent to negativity in the future, and many other aspects of society are bound to be affected.

For now, pupils and students can rest easy as the earlier announced strike has been called off.

Let our children complete their academic year in peace. Let the Na-tional Government that we so look up to, express its good will by doing the right thing.

{Moturi Kabete, Nyamira}

Every electioneering season, poli-tics of the day tends to destabilise the country’s economy. Our confronta-tional politics is the cause of an unsta-ble economic environment. Political temperatures do create an unpredict-able environment. Will the situation be different next time round?

The tourism sector is the biggest victim of bad politics. Tourists shun destinations perceived to be insecure.

We must have a different approach to politics to make the country a safe destination. I urge stakeholders to speak out against confrontational and toxic politics. The positive recovery efforts so far should not be sacrificed at the altar of primitive politics.

{Benard Amaya, Via Email}

Agricultural shows were estab-lished to showcase the country’s farm products, and a good job has been done based on this, bearing in mind that the better part of our economy is agro-based.

Over the years, a window of op-portunity has been created through which farmers and agricultural firms can display their products. Howev-er, today many are questioning their relevance in a market and society that has since changed.

Following the just concluded Global Entrepreneurship Summit in Nairobi, the business community is talking about transforming the shows into trade exhibitions.

Trade fairs have wider mandates and will enrich the traditional shows. Kenya has embarked on a prosperity journey and such avenues will help in attaining the noble goal.

In my opinion, switching to trade exhibitions will stimulate enterprise culture. Each region in Kenya will be accorded an opportunity to showcase its economic potential.

That is a brilliant way of tapping our immense and diverse potential. Mombasa and Nairobi international trade fairs have pioneered the grand idea. Others should follow suit.

{Benard Amaya, Via Email}

violence: it was the perceived notion that President Mwai Kibaki’s regime was disproportionately distributing the national cake towards its own, and this helped fan ethnic animosity. The world had then helplessly watched as neighbour turned against neigh-bour and communal violence gripped the once known ‘island of peace in a stormy sea’.

We learned our lessons the hard way and vowed that never again, as a people, would we allow ourselves to tread alongside that ‘less-taken road’.

It is heartbreaking to note that prior to the 2013 General Election, our political elite was at it again. Par-ty coalitions were quickly formed, thanks to readily available tribal par-ties whose only winning formula was apparently spearheading and spread-ing hate speeches against opponents unsurprisingly drawn from perceived political ‘sworn adversaries’.

Once again, the country almost slipped back... we breathed a sigh

of relief when Kenyans refused to slaughter each other again. It was a turning point for a young and prom-ising nation. Lest we forget, our diver-sity can be a strength that can propel us economically to heights we never imagined. The day we will harness the temerity and impertinence espoused in our cultural diversity and open re-solve to co-exist peacefully as a peo-ple, this country will go places.

The day we will refuse to succumb to tribalism and negative ethnicity sentiments responsible for denying more deserving and competent Ken-yans lucrative job opportunities, this great country will ascend to prosper-ity.

The day we will realise, as a people, that corruption is a self-inflicted can-cerous wound that is in dire need of urgent collective treatment, our ailing infrastructure will join the best in the continent and so shall our ever strug-gling economy.

{Concerned Kenya, Via Email}

ByB GilBert Kimutai and charles nGeno

Political differences between Deputy President William Ruto and Bomet Governor Isaac Ruto hit boil-ing point yesterday when the two faced off at a fundraiser in Bomet County.

Governor Ruto publicly told off the Deputy President during the function accusing him of using local MPs to undermine his leadership.

He said local legislators allied to the DP, are touring the county fre-quently hurling insults at him and questioning how he was managing the county.

“These MPs are always moving around the county throwing insults and spreading propaganda claim-ing you have sent them. This is to-tally unacceptable,” Ruto said.

At one point during his address, Governor Ruto threatened to lead a mass walkout after a group of youths started heckling him and cheering the Deputy President.

“You better tell those hecklers to keep quiet or we bring the function to an end. We deserve respect,” said a furious Ruto.

In a highly charged function filled with political undertones, Ru-to said he would not allow the Na-tional Government to dictate how the county would be managed. However, when he rose to speak, the Deputy President dismissed Gover-nor Ruto’s walk out threats.

Empty threatsTerming the threats as empty,

Ruto (Deputy President) said he was at home and will not be intimidat-ed. “I am at home here in Bomet and nobody will threaten me with non-issues like ending a peaceful meeting for political mileage. We should ignore such prophets of doom propagating divisions and forge ahead with development,” the Deputy President said.

In a veiled attack against the vo-cal governor, the Deputy President accused him of being an agent of di-vision within the community.

“It is sad that when we are preaching unity, some people are busy tearing us apart. We will not listen to those diving us on the basis of North and South Rift. I remain in charge,” the Deputy President said.

He vowed to spearhead a trans-formation of United Republican Party (URP) ahead of the 2017 elec-tions. Earlier during the function, supporters of Governor Ruto heck-led leaders who dared mention him in bad light.

The face off between the two Ru-tos yesterday during the fundraising

WeekConflict: Governor accuses DP of using local elected leaders to undermine his leadership

Battle of Rutos as supremacy wars intensify in Rift Valley

ReviewPolitics, Opinion, Analyses & Special Reports

on SundaystandardTHE

Deputy President William Ruto with Sandra Cheptoo, 7, in Bomet yesterday. [PHOTO: DPPS]

in aid of the Joyful Women Organisa-tion, brought to the fore supremacy battles over control of the expansive Rift Valley. Politicians also joined in this tirade as they defended their generals.

“I respect Governor Ruto so much but he should try and confine him-self to issues on governance of the county and stop trying to stop the Deputy President from taking over from President Uhuru Kenyatta come 2022,” Kabete MP Ferdinand Waititu said.

DP in chargeBacking the deputy president,

Waititu advised the Bomet governor to be patient and wait for his term.

“Hold your horses, your time will come. For now, support the Deputy President since we have decided. Nothing will change overnight and make you ahead of him since you are only managing a county and Deputy President in charge of the entire na-tion,” Waititu said.

Those present at the event in-cluded Sotik MP Joyce Laboso, Cecil-ia Mbarire (Runyejes), Paul Bii (Chepalungu) and Senators Kembi Kithura (Murang’a) and Wilfred Le-san (Bomet).

Also in attendance were Members of Bomet County Assembly led by Speaker Geoffrey Kipngetich. Lead-ers also spoke against plans by the International Criminal Court to use recanted statements in the case fac-ing Ruto at The Hague.

Elsewhere, two URP MPs claimed that the government is not doing

abdikadir: We are on track, p28

Man detained over Sudan arms cache seeks compensation, p29

EXCLUSIVETODAY

WHEn POLLs WErE HELd

2013WHEn rUtO Is tO rUn

2022

enough to help the Deputy President in his ICC case. Bomet East MP Ber-nard Bett and his Bomet Central counterpart Ronald Tonui said since President Uhuru Kenyatta’s case was dismissed, the government had tak-en a low profile on the case.

Bett said it is wrong for their coa-lition partners to talk of supporting Ruto in 2022 yet not showing any willingness to help in the case.

“The high level of diplomacy that was witnessed when the President faced similar charges is now totally lacking. We are reading this with a lot of suspicion,” said Bett.

He claimed the State Law Office was silent even after the court stated that it was going to use recanted statements against the DP.

“As leaders from the URP wing, we are very apprehensive about the total lack of commitment from the gov-ernment side. Indeed, the whole gov-ernment should be showing solidar-ity with the DP at this moment but that is not the case,” said Bett.

They hinted that leaders from the entire Rift Valley will convene a spe-cial prayer meeting for the DP in a venue to be disclosed next week.

He said the prayer forums will be similar to the ones witnessed before the ones held immediately for the six Kenyan leaders who were mentioned and later on summoned by the court.

Tonui said it is saddening to see Abdalla engage in attempts to bring peace in South Sudan while doing lit-tle for the DP.

“We want to be told under what circumstances was article 68 which

allowed the use of recanted state-ments signed. We are told that the Ministry of foreign affairs signed it and should thus give us the details,” said Tonui.

And on Friday, Ruto’s wife, Ra-chel, said she was optimistic that her husband would be vindicated in the case against him at the ICC.

Mrs Ruto thanked Kenyans for their continued prayers over the same, pointing out that the Deputy President was falsely accused.

She said it has been a tough jour-ney but she trusts in God and all will be well. “Thank you and continue praying for us. It is not an easy thing especially if you know you are being accused falsely,” she said adding. “No sooner than we know, it is going to be behind us”.

She said Kenyans know what hap-pened in 2007-2008 post election vi-olence that led to the ICC.

Mrs Ruto spoke at Sosiot Girls Secondary School, Kericho County where she was the guest of honor during the 25th celebration of Africa Gospel Church (AGC) National Women conference.

There is unease in some quarters of Jubilee coalition after Internation-al Criminal Court allowed the ad-mission of recanted statements from five witnesses in the case against Deputy President William Ruto.

The use of recanted testimonies places Ruto in an awkward position because it prolongs the case when all indications that Jubilee will begin to sharply focus on the General Elec-tion once the year rolls over.

Jubilee leaders are also alive to the fact that Ruto’s continued ap-pearance at The Hague would pro-vide his critics and rivals with am-munition against him in his Rift Valley home turf.

The ICC dropped charges against President Uhuru last year, leaving Ruto and radio presenter Joshua Sang fighting crime against human-ity charges at The Hague in relation to the 2007-2008 electoral violence. More than 1,200 people were killed and 600,000 displaced in the clashes.

Majority Leader in the National Assembly Aden Duale argues that the ICC is playing to the gallery of cer-tain individuals keen on scuttling the Jubilee Government.

Some Jubilee leaders have been of the view that Ruto’s continued ap-pearance at the court, long after President Uhuru Kenyatta’s case was withdrawn, could be misunderstood to mean that the Jubilee administra-tion has abandoned him, creating some discontent in Rift Valley ahead of 2017.

President Uhuru and his deputy had in 2012 entered into a memoran-dum of understanding stating they would support each other up to 2022, when Uhuru will complete his two terms (hoping he will be re-elect-ed in 2017) and in return back Ruto for the presidency.

Reconcilliation“Their political alliance in 2012

papered over the lack of a deeper and more sustainable political reconcili-ation between the Kikuyu and Kalen-jins. And this will suffer due to the ICC,” Molo MP Jacob Macharia said of the ICC development.

Macharia, however, added Jubilee leaders had been holding meetings to confront the issue.

MPs aligned to the Deputy Presi-dent are also confident that the URP leader will overcome the ICC hurdle.

Among these is National Assem-bly Deputy Speaker Joyce Laboso, whose opinion is that Ruto will get the support of local people. Others who have voiced their support are MPs Asman Kamama (Tiaty), Grace Kiptui (Baringo), William Cheptumo (Baringo North) and Sammy Mwaita (Baringo Central).

ByB steve mKaWale

Unease in Jubilee over ICC verdict

/ WEEK IN REVIEW Sunday, August 30, 2015 / The Standard

Freed ex-soldiers begin painful journey to rebuild their lives

y B MWANGI MURAGURI

Fresh start, but... Court martial had sentenced 25 to life terms for desertion during wartime

And George Mutabari, who has a son and a daughter, describes life in jail as “hard” adding that his heart sunk when the court pronounced that the former soldiers would spend the rest of their lives in jail.

“My transport business was al-most on its knees by the time I was released. I’m trying to get three of my lorries that had stalled back on the road,” said Mutabari who quit the service on September 2007.

He thanks his wife for taking care of the family while he was in jail.

“The case was malicious and it is only fair if we are compensated,” Mutabari says, adding that although the military authorities returned his civilian ID card, he was yet to receive the Green Book.

The High Court ordered that all pending documents be released within 14 days.

On Monday, at approximately 8.30pm, they walked out into loving hands of their relatives and friends. Like all trained soldiers, the 25 who included one officer, praised prison authorities for treating them with re-spect, wore stoic faces and vowed to chart fresh beginnings.

However, after speaking to several as they left prison, it was clear that be-yond the cool demeanour lay stories of trauma from prison life and lives turned upside down by the course of the trial.

They insisted that the charges against them had been orchestrated, and had far-reaching effects on their lives, including wrecking marriages and finances.

The 25 had been jailed by three military tribunals that sat at Mtongwe Naval Base between March last year and early this year, sparking a series of court battles.

Initially, they were charged with desertion, which carries a two-year term on conviction, but this was later substituted with the greater charge of desertion during wartime, which at-tracts a life term. They had allegedly deserted the Kenyan military in 2007 and 2008 to work for US security firms in Afghanistan, Iraq and Kuwait.

On August 21, the record number of former naval servicemen were freed by the High Court in Mombasa. However, they spent another week-end in prison and returned to the High Court for orders compelling court officials to serve the prison with release documents.

Although most would not show it openly, they were evidently bitter with people in the military whom we can-not name for legal reasons.

Lieutenant Jeffrey Pepela, 32, was the only officer among those released and one of the few willing to go on re-cord about how his life changed after the sentences were pronounced.

“My wife eloped with another man when she heard that I had been hand-ed a life sentence by the military court,” says Pepela. “I want to start all over again but l am in no hurry to get

into another relationship,” says Pepe-la, who was the officer in charge of the Malindi naval station at the time he left the navy in October 2007.

He admits that most relatives and neighbours now confess they never thought he would be freed.

Given up“Many people had given up on ev-

er seeing me a free man. Some meet me and ask: Is this you or a ghost?” he says laughing.

Pepela says prison officers treated the ex-servicemen with respect “and not as terrorists as it had been report-ed”. He recalls that Ramadhan offered a welcome break from the monoto-nous prison diet as Muslim well-wish-ers brought the inmates meals.

Another ex-soldier who refused to be named, said his wife left his house as soon as he was arrested. “I gathered

that she had a new man in her life and confirmed my worst fears when she turned up in court with a strange man beside her in the public gallery,” he said.

Yet another claims his wife sold his property on learning he had been condemned to life in imprison.

Moses Simiyu, who served as a nurse and who left the navy in Sep-tember 2007, agrees that other prison-ers and the warders treated the ex-sol-diers well, but adds that the 18 months in jail had wrecked his investments.

“I was managing several business-es but they all crumbled during my time in jail,” said Simiyu.” I was also heartbroken to hear how my daughter was taunted by other children, telling her that her father was a jailbird.”

However, he is full of praise for his wife, whom he describes as the source of his strength.

Waiguru: Civil servants won’t be sackedy B ANTONY GITONGA

The Government has denied alle-gations that civil servants who did not meet the criteria put up during the Biometric survey will be sacked.

Devolution and Planning Cabinet Secretary Anne Waiguru said no work-er had been sacked yet as they were finalising the Capacity Assessment and Rationalisation of the Public Ser-vice Programme report.

Waiguru said the programme, once complete, will have to be dis-cussed by the national and county governments before being made pub-lic.

The report will be debated by the Summit of the Council of Governors, which is chaired by the President. The

CS urged Kenyans to be patient and wait for the outcome.

Waiguru was speaking to the press when she toured various develop-ment programmes being undertaken by National Youth Service (NYS) in Gilgil town.

She said the projects had been a success, noting that in areas where they have done it before, youths had become self-reliant.

Key areasThe CS said under the slum up-

grading programme for four areas in Nairobi; Kibera, Korogocho, Mukuru and Mathare, hundreds of youths benefited from the scheme having saved Sh470 million that they would invest to set up businesses.

Waiguru noted that after the proj-ects, the Government would also send trainers to help the youth as they ven-ture into their businesses.

She said the NYS would work with the youth in rehabilitating roads at the largest informal settlement in the area while a multipurpose social hall would also be renovated.

In Gilgil, she announced goodies for hundreds of jubilant youths who lined up the streets of the sleepy town to receive her saying that green hous-es would be constructed for them to start agribusiness.

Other projects include the open-ing up of a Huduma Centre Gilgil, which she said would be complete by December ahead of its commission-ing by the President later that month.

Former servicemen Romano Ntong’ondu (3rd left) and Jonathan Murimi (2nd right) and a colleague (left) celebrate with relatives outside Shimo La Tewa Prison after their release last Monday. [PHOTO: MAARUFU MOHAMED/STANDARD]

Three top o� cials of Lake Victoria South Water Services Board have been suspended to pave way for investigations into alleged misappropriation of funds. The three, including the CEO, Engineer Moses Agumba Orot, were suspended after a board meeting on Thursday. Others were Auditor Mark Mwango and Human Resource Manager Samuel Kigen. “We have set up an ad-hoc committee to investigate the three. They can hold o� ce while the probe is underway,” said the board’s chairman John Koech. Engineer Sammy Mburu, who previously held the chief manager technical services position was appointed acting CEO.

Kitui County Government has termed as “widespread untruths” that Deputy Governor Peninah Malonza’s car was impounded and clamped. The Government said Ms Malonza’s o� cial car, a Toyota Land cruiser Prado Registration Number KBW 893 V, is still in her possession. A terse statement issued by head of Public Relations and Communications, Munyasya Musya, said the Pickup KBY 118C that was retrieved (from the deputy governor) is a pool car used for carriage of light luggage and other specifi c activities. “This vehicle is at the disposal of all executives and senior o� cers in the county government, who use it on an ad hoc basis as need arises,” Mr Musya said.

The National Police Service Commission has named new county police commanders in a mini reshu� e. Most of those a� ected were recently reinstated to the police service after vetting. The changes were announced by Deputy Inspector General of Police Grace Kaindi. The newly posted county commanders include Tito Kilonzi (Mombasa), Sharif Abdala (Elgeyo Marakwet), Joseph Limo (Kisumu), Nelson Njiri (Kajiado) and Kalicha Roba (Embu). Patrick Mwakio was posted to Nairobi as deputy county commander to replace Limo, while John Koki was taken to Nyeri as regional head of personnel.

Water CEO, o� cials suspended over graft

Row over car assigned to Kitui county o� cial

Police commanders in a mini reshu� e

Briefl y

y B JOB WERUIt was one step to freedom for for-

mer alcohol addicts who joined a road race at Mukurwe-ini constituen-cy in Nyeri County, and vowed not to turn back to illicit brews.

Residents led by area MP Kabando wa Kabando (pictured) also vowed to destroy all illicit brew dens, saying they had dev-astated many lives.

Mr Kabando said the CDF is sponsoring all those youths who dropped out of school due to alcoholism. Some 25 former addicts have also been enrolled into the NYS pro-gramme. After the road race yester-day, he said no second generation li-quor would be allowed into the

region. “We do not want empty threats from any businessman who is selling unwanted alcohol. If you want to take us to court, just go and let the courts summon us, instead of send-ing us short text messages saying you

want to sue us,” he said.In what was dubbed ‘Bri-

gade Against Drug Abuse’ (Ba-da) declaration, Kabando said they will employ the moral law, which requires one to respect the desires and aspirations of the majority. “let the beer man-ufacturers and sellers know

they are the minority and they should respect our decisions. We will torch down your premises if you continue taking us back,” he said. The residents said they were behind President Ken-yatta’s call of eradicating illicit brews.

Addicts hold rare road race

WEEK IN REVIEW / Sunday, August 30, 2015 / The Standard

Elgeyo Marakwet dreams big with ICTElgeyo Marakwet has set up Information Com-

munication and Technology (ICT) centres at a cost of Sh24 million in a bid to enhance information dissemination to improve service delivery.

The move is also aimed to help residents access information faster, unlike before when they had to travel elsewhere in search of Internet services.

ICT and Public Service Executive Stephen Bi-wott says the centres will be will be based in the four sub-counties of Iten, Kapsowar, Chepkorio, Tot and Kapcherop.

The ICT centres have been fitted with comput-ers, Internet services, photocopying machines and printers where residents will access services free of

gaging leaders, including the governor, in talk shows over topical issues.

These programmes will allow resi-dents to follow and monitor the county’s development agenda and give their feed-back.

“We have had challenges of public participation concerning various bills or budget making-process. We hope resi-dents will exercise their rights through the centres,” says Biwott.

He said the top-down communica-tion hierarchy will be reversed, courtesy of the programmes, to give residents a bigger say on development and other is-sues affecting them.

charge. “Procurement, jobs, financial man-agement services and tenders are being ad-vertised online, making it hard for a majori-ty of residents to access such information,” notes Biwott.

Big screensThe centres will be manned by the youth

as a way of empowering them through job opportunities and access to information.

The centres will also be fitted with big screens, which will be beaming live cover-age of the assembly proceedings and other county events.

Plans are also under way to set up a radio station through which residents will be en-

We will support more doctors to be trained as cardiothoracics

County Briefs

Students joy as Vihiga County government increases bursary allocations to needy students from sh 4 million to Sh 5 million. The funds will cater for their education needs. Education Executive member Nixon Amendi said that last year’s allocation of Sh 4 million was not enough for all needy students in each of the county wards.“We have increased the kitty from Sh4 million to Sh5 million in each ward to help more students achieve their dreams and be responsible citizens through education,” said Amendi.He said that the county has already disbursed Sh 5 million each to all the 25 wards in the county to increase the number of bursary fund benefi ciaries.

Students benefi t from Sh5 million bursary funds

Devolution Work@STANDARDTHE

- Mombasa Governor Hassan Joho

BY CHARLES NGENO

Uasin Gishu County government has employed 365 health workers that will be deployed at all health centres in the region to boost healthcare service provision.County Public Service Board Chairperson Joseph Tanui said the move was ignited by a massive shortage of medical personnel in the area and will go a long way in improving health care.“The health sector has not been maximally e� cient in service provision because there was huge disparity on the ratio of health workers to patients, the additional employees will help bridge that gap and improve on care giving,” said Tanui.

Uasin Gishu recruits more health workers

Narok County Executive Member in charge of Health Vivian Sereti receives drugs from the Kenya Medical Supply Agency last month. The drugs will be distribut-ed to health centres. [PHOTO: CHARLES NGENO/STANDARD)

Residents of Nkoilale at the periphery of the Masai Mara Game Reserve are all smiles after the Coun-ty Government opened Nkoilale Health Centre. The centre, which will be

offering inpatient, outpatient and ma-ternity services, will help save time and

BY CHARLES NGENO

Residents who were hitherto forced to travel for over 80kms to seek healthcare say this would now be a thing of the past

lives as the sick were hitherto forced to travel for over 80 kilometres to Narok town in search of healthcare services.

Many have welcomed the Sh45 mil-lion health facility, with several women terming it a relief from the long dis-tance they had to take to access medi-care.

According to Mary Pariken, 42, a mother of five, pregnant women have been relying on traditional midwives. “We are now benefiting from the fruits of devolution. Seeking the services of traditional midwives will now be a thing of the past,” said Pariken.

And Rose Naabala is happy that she can now attend crucial maternity clin-ic unlike in the past when she could not raise fare to Narok. “We have been relying on the wisdom of old wom-

en, but at times deaths have occurred because of lack of information,” said Naabala. She said the cleanliness at the facility has been boosted by regu-lar piped water. She said the Govern-ment’s free maternal service will now benefit them and called on the County

Sigh of relief as Sh45m facility is launched

Government to post more personnel . Outgoing County Executive Member in charge of Health CEC Vivian Sereti said the County Government has posted enough drugs and qualified personnel. “Out of the Sh53 million worth of drugs purchased by the County for 103 health centres, this facility will receive drugs worth Sh500,000,” said Sereti.

She said the County will endeavour to provide quality health services to its people. Sereti appealed to the public to take advantage of the medicine by vis-iting the health facility when sick.

“The drugs have been supplied by the Kenya Medical Supply Agency and Medivet - bodies credited to supply medicine in the country; we are sure what they have given us today is of high quality,” she said.

Work

Sigh of relief as Sh45m

We have been relying on the wisdom of old women - Rose Naabala, resident


The County Government of Homa Bay has finalised a programme that will see all its 260,000 households connect-ed to clean water supply.

Governor Cyprian Awiti announced early last week that his Government had sunk 45 bore holes and was work-ing on more to provide water to homes, schools, markets and hospitals. Twenty three of these boreholes have been fit-ted with solar pump system.

Each of the boreholes has a water kiosk and a 10,000 litre plastic tank with three taps.

The other 22 bore holes have hand pumps. Most parts of the county have faced persistent water shortages, forc-ing women and children to walk long distances in search of the commodity. This is despite the fact that the county is situated near Lake Victoria.

But Mr Awiti said the crisis would soon end as he commissions more water projects across the county. He spoke on Friday as he commissioned the Sh7 million Ogande water project in East Kanyaluo, Karachuonyo Sub-county. The project is a joint initiative between the Community Develop-ment Trust Fund and his government. It will serve 2,000 households.

Awiti said the County Government had injected Sh2 million into the proj-ect and thanked the European Union for supporting the project through the Community Development Trust Fund .

The governor said his Government has allocated Sh356 million to water provision services in the 2015/2016 fi-nancial year. He said water and health

Homa Bay water project boon for economy

top his list of priorities this financial year and promised to save women from trekking long distances in search of water. “From next week, I will com-mission 15 more water projects across the county. We have sunk boreholes and fitted them with solar water pumps,” said the governor.

“The ultimate goal is to ensure all the county’s 260,000 households have access to clean water.

I have been spending sleepless nights agonising over how each family can access water,” said Awiti.

He added: “This is a year of water. I no longer want to see women walk-ing long distances with yellow jerri-

By JAMES OMORO

Governor says this is a year of water and he no longer wants to see women walking long distances with yellow jerricans in search of water

Reprieve as Lamu County revamps key hospital

County gives scholarships to students to study in China

It has been a huge shot in the arm for the ailing health sector in Lamu County.

However, after the county last month passed a Budget of Sh2.46 bil-lion for the 2015/16 financial year, the health sector was allocated Sh400 mil-lion to fully equip health facilities, hire more doctors and salvage and rehabil-itate dilapidated structures.

The county’s three major hospitals; King Fahd Hospital, Mpeketoni and Faza hospitals; stand out as the model in the rehabilitation programme un-dertaken by the county government two years ago.

King Fahd Hospital, the only re-ferral facility in the island, previously received two expectant mothers in a month.

A majority of expectant mothers preferred traditional birth attendants to King Fahd because the institution

had filthy toilets, which were often locked either because of their sorry state.

However, the story has since changed for the better since devolu-tion came into force.

King Fahd has in the last month received 91 mothers after the county government repaired the institution and bought 100 modern delivery beds.

According Lamu Governor Issa Ti-mamy, his government has set aside Sh15 million to rehabilitate King Fahd. New doors have been fixed, better beds and bedding have been acquired and it has been stocked with adequate drugs as well.

Mpeketoni and Faza hospitals have also received drugs and equip-ment including x-rays and laboratory equipment.

Residents can now get these ser-vices, unlike before when they were forced to travel to Malindi to seek treatment.

By ROBERt AMAlEMBA

The Kakamega County government has taken two students of Musingu High School to China to study engi-neering under a full scholarship.

Steve Masheti and Marvin Abuli scored As in last year’s KCSE exams and were last week handed scholaship doc-uments at an event held at Musoli Pri-mary in Ikolomani constituency.

The scholarships are as a result of an engagement between the Chinese government and Kakamega County which includes education exchange programmes.

Governor Wycliffe Oparanya en-courage the two beneficiaries to con-centrate on their studies and avoid en-gaging in time wasting activities like is the norm with many who land lucrative

scholarships abroad but end up drop-ping out.

“This project has so far seen over 40 students benefit since I launched it dur-ing my time as Planning minister and MP for Butere. It has benefited many students who are currently serving the nation at different levels... that’s why I feel it should go on at a larger scale,” Oparanya said.

He, at the same time, promised to visit the beneficiaries annually.

He said to have a bright future, stu-dents should always strive to work hard in their studies to make a difference and build the nation.

Oparanya said education is the key to the success of a nation and that Ka-kamega should wake up if it wants to be a model county during this era of de-volved system of government.

By pAtRick BEJA

Answer: The county government has already distributed maize beans and cooking oil in 38 affected wards of all our 45 ward. The food distribution has mainly covered lower parts of the county neighbouring Tharaka area and Isiolo which were hit by food shortages. Because those areas experienced a bad harvest and we realise some households have exhausted their resources, we continue working through chiefs and ward administrators to identify those in need of assistance.

—Meru Governor Peter Munya

Answer: Answer: The festival gave us an opportunity as a county to showcase our culture and promote tourism by bringing attention to the scenic regions around Lake Turkana. Besides great educational significance, the festival also affirmed that Turkana is a peaceful county and is an investment destination. -Turkana Governor Josphat Nanok

Answer: The county has just distributed a Sh20 billion bursary for secondary, college and university students. Each of the 10 wards was allocated Sh2 million in bursaries. So far 3,000 students have benefited from the county government bursaries. In the current financial year, the county government is set to distribute Sh50m or Sh5m per ward to secondary, college and university students. —Lamu Governor Issa Timamy

Answer: The county government, working in conjunction with the Agence Francais Développment, have launched a pilot Kisumu Urban Project whose main objective is to improve the living conditions of residents of Kisumu’s growing population. Agence Francais Développment will provide support to the tune of Sh4.8 billion.

—Kisumu Governor Jack Ranguma

Answer: Public Participation in the management of county governments is enshrined in the Constitution. As a government, we often hold public forums to seek views from the people, especially during the budget-making process. We are just about to roll out the next round of public forums in all the eight sub-counties. We urge members of the public to use these forums to tell us issues affecting them and to propose projects they want funded. We are also planning Town Hall meetings to constructively engage with the tax payers.

—Homa Bay Governor Cyprian Awiti

Answer: We do not have specific project meant for the youth only but they are the most beneficiaries of all projects initiated by the county government whether in health, infrastructure and other areas. All programmes launched by the county government factor in the youth because most of them are employed to work in those projects.

—Kakamega GovernorWycliffe Oparanya

Answer: We are putting up a new county referral hospital, which will have a capacity to handle 2,000 patients every day. We recently purchased drugs worth Sh35 million and will be automating our distribution processes to curb the theft of drugs. Automation will allow us to track the flow of drugs from the time they are stocked to the time they are dispensed to patients.

—Trans Nzoia Governor Patrick Khaemba

Question: Why have victims of famine in Buuri not received relief food?

Question: What are the benefits that the county residents expect from the recent cultural festival?

Question: Lamu County has lagged behind in education for many years. What is the county government doing to uplift the standards of education?

Question: The population for Kisumu is growing rapidly. How can the county contribute to improving the living conditions of this growing population?

Question: Local residents would like to have public forums through which they can discuss issues affecting the county. Can this be considered?

Question: What plans does your county government have for the youth as most of them complain they are not considered in the county budget and development plans yet they are the majority?

Question: Health facilities in Trans Nzoia are still woefully inadequate. How can residents of be guaranteed of better health services?

Devolution Work Devolution Work@ @

Your Questions Answered

Ask your Governor

How can the county help vulnerable groups in Kisumu such as needy children and marginalised women get a formal education?

When will the county improve the drainage system in urban areas to avoid flooding when it rains heavily?

How can the county government help members of the Makonde community get ID cards?

The mopping up of firearms in the county has been ongoing for a long time now. How successful has the operation been?

When will the county hire health workers to replace those who have left owing to insecurity? What is it doing to assure those serving of their security?

The untreated water in Bodhai camp has led to the outbreak of diseases, and diarrhea has been endemic in the region. What interventions should residents expect?

What plans does the county government have to rid market centres in Baringo of illicit brews?

What is the county government doing to reposition Siaya so that it attracts more tourists?

Send your questions, observations and comments to:The Editor, Standard on Sunday P.O. Box 30080, Nairobi, Kenya or e-mail [email protected]

John Adongo, Kisumu County

Peter Munene, Kirinyaga County

Flora, Mwamburi, Kwale County

Peter Towett, Samburu County

Ibrahim Dubow, Mandera County

Musa Mohamed, Lamu County

Mary Barsosio, Baringo County

George Omondi, Siaya County

Write to us

Homa Bay Governor Cyprian Awiti commis-sions a Sh7 million project in East Kanyaluo, Karachuonyo Sub-county. [PHOTO: JAMES OMORO/STANDARD]

I have been spending sleepless nights agonising over how each family in the county can access water. — Governor cyprian Awiti

From next week, I will commission 15 more water projects across the county. We have sunk boreholes and fitted them with solar water pumps.

ernment partnered with an interna-tional NGO — World Vision, to under-take a Sh200m water project expected to benefit up to 100,000 people. The Kodera-Rachuonyo Gravity Water Scheme would serve residents of Ka-sipul, Karachuonyo and parts of Ran-gwe Sub-counties where residents have been trekking for several kilome-tres in search of water.

He said availability of clean water across the county would help reduce water borne diseases rampant in the area.

“With clean water, we will be able to reduce the disease burden in the coun-ty by up to 60 per cent. This is why we

BACKGROUND Homa Bay County has sunk 45 bore holes and is working on more to avail water to homes, schools, markets and hospitals.

The project is a joint initiative between the Community Development Trust Fund and the County Government of Homa Bay.

It will serve 2,000 households.

The ultimate goal is to ensure all the county’s 260,000 households have access to clean water.

cans in search of water. We are drilling boreholes and protecting spring water source across the county.”

Besides the bore holes, the County Government is currently working on five flagship water projects with sup-port from the National Government and various non-governmental organ-isations (NGOs).

These include - Kodera-Karachu-onyo Water project, Rangwe Water Supply, Sindo Water Project and West Karachuonyo Water Project .

The Government is also planning to construct 25 water pans and dams across the county.

Two months ago, the County Gov-

are aggressively working on the water projects,” said the governor.

Early this week, the County Government got a boost in its fight against the pollution of Lake Victoria when it commissioned a Sh215 mil-lion sewer treatment plant in Homa Bay. The plant is funded by the World Bank through the Lake Victoria Envi-ronment Management Programme (LVEMP II) Kenya.

The Cabinet Secretary for Envi-ronment and Natural Resources, Prof Judy Wakhungu who officially com-missioned the sewer plant said her ministry had mobilised additional funds in expanding the sewerage treatment plant to other areas which were not covered by the current phase in the entire Homa Bay town.


TNA divided over decision to acquit Kuriay B KAMAU MAICHUHIE

I don’t see what the hullabaloo is about. The

ruling is subject to ratifi cation by the National Oversight Board.” — TNA executive director Joseph Mathai

The National Alliance Party (TNA) is on the spot for easily letting off the hook Gatundu South MP Moses Kuria, who has been facing charges of incitement.

The party’s disciplinary commit-tee also gave a clean bill of health to Priscilla Nyokabi, who had been ac-cused of contributing to the Interna-tional Criminal Court (ICC) process that led to President Uhuru Kenyat-ta’s indictment during her time at the helm of Kituo cha Sheria.

But in a surprise move, the party suspended Nominated Senator Joy Gwendo and de-whipped her from all senate committees, citing disrespect.

Kuria, the controversial first time lawmaker, came under the spotlight after he was recently allegedly cap-tured on video urging youths in his constituency to attack anyone op-posed to National Youth Service pro-jects.

The TNA disciplinary committee subsequently summoned the embat-tled MP over allegations of incitement to violence.

However, in its decision, the dis-ciplinary committee early this week said the video presented before it as evidence had been “edited and was unreliable” and hence did not pro-vide adequate grounds for the party’s sanctions.

The committee, however, tasked Kuria to publicly clarify his contro-versial comments within 14 days at a public forum in his constituency.

This verdict comes hot on the heels of a promise by the party to take drastic and punitive measures against errant members.

Observers are now questioning whether the party was serious in its promise to take serious action or whether it was just a public relations gimmick aimed at keeping the uproar over Kuria’s remarks at bay.

Had he been found guilty, the Ga-tundu South MP, who is facing similar charges before the courts, would have faced stringent disciplinary action, including possible expulsion, sus-pension, removal from parliamentary committees or even payment of fines in addition to issuing an apology.

The decision by the party’s dis-ciplinary committee to let him walk Scot free has raised a storm within TNA, with some officials welcoming the ruling and others questioning it.

Those supporting the MP’s acquit-

tal say it was in the best interest of the party while those opposed said the decision would set a bad precedent and encourage impunity.

However, speaking to The Stand-ard on Sunday, TNA executive di-rector Joseph Mathai said the dis-ciplinary committee evaluated the evidence provided before it and found it lacking.

He asked those opposed to the ruling to hold their horses since the committee’s decision was not final. ”I don’t see what the hullabaloo is about. The ruling is subject to ratifi-cation by the party’s National Over-sight Board,” said Mathai.

He said democracy was one of TNA’s ideals, adding that nobody would be prevented from appealing the ruling.

The executive director was, how-ever, quick to dispel the notion that the party was in support of the in-citing remarks allegedly made by the MP.

“Nobody can support such re-marks, more so from a leader, that caused such public outcry. It is only that we did not find enough evidence

to warrant us to take action,” he said.Kiambu TNA Secretary Gener-

al Solomon Ndung’u echoed those sentiments, saying there was nothing wrong in the disciplinary committee clearing the legislator of incitement charges.

“I do not agree with what the MP said. As a party, we have held lengthy discussion and told him to be ex-tra-careful in his remarks. We have agreed he should only make remarks that promote peace and unity among Kenyans,” said Ndung’u.

However, Gladys Chania the Kiam-bu TNA coordinator, differed sharply with her two colleagues, saying she was disappointed with the ruling.

“The verdict by the disciplinary committee was wrong. The fact of the matter is that the Gatundu South law-maker erred. There is video footage of the MP making the inciting remarks. I call on the party chairman to appeal the ruling, failure to which we, the party officials not comfortable with it, will do so,” said Chania.

She added that the party should not continue to condone such reck-less remarks by the party leaders since they also reflected negatively on Pres-ident Uhuru Kenyatta.

An MP from Kiambu county who requested anonymity said they were equally shocked and disappointed by the ruling.

“We thought the party would take an appropriate action against the MP since it was not the first time he had been accused of incitement. It is a pity that the party let such an opportunity slip away and sent the wrong message

to Kenyans, that it was somehow sup-porting the remarks,” said the MP.

James Mwangi, a political analyst, said the party committee’s verdict was a political suicidal since it betrayed the expectations of many party sup-porters and Kenyans in general.

“The party should have at least cracked the whip on the controversial lawmaker to be seen as serious. The decision has set a bad precedent and may only serve to enhance impunity among the political class since they know they can say anything and get away with it,” Mwangi told The Stand-ard on Sunday.

And Martin Mbugua, an activist, is also of the opinion that the party erred in letting the lawmaker off the hook without the slightest punish-ment.

“The verdict is no doubt raising eyebrows. The committee ought to have imposed at least some punish-ment on the legislator to save face,” said Mbugua.

Opinion in Gatundu South is also divided, with the locals supporting and opposing the committee ver-dict in equal measure.

“The remarks were unwarranted and uncalled for. We at least expect-ed some form of action taken against the MP but we are disappointed by the outcome,” said Peter a Ng’ang’a, a resident.

Occupational hazardsMercy Wanjira, another resident,

however disagreed, saying the re-marks were necessary to scare away the critics of the Government, who seemed not to appreciate anything done for the people.

The embattled Gatundu South legislator defended himself and wel-comed the acquittal, saying he had finally been vindicated.

The fiery lawmaker said he did not believe in violence, adding that he would not even wish it on his worst enemy.

“I have been vindicated of any wrongdoing by the ruling. I was quot-ed out of context by the media but I view it as part of the occupational hazards that I will encounter in the course of my career,” Kuria said in an interview.

He alleged that a scheme had been hatched by a group of people he did not name to dim his political career by using all manner of accusations to ensure his downfall.

“My political critics will be in for a rude shock since I came into this po-litical career knowing very well what the game would entail. Those plan-ning to appeal the ruling do not worry me since they are just a few busy bod-ies,” Kuria said.

Efforts by The Standard on Sunday to get a comment on the matter from TNA chairman Johnson Sakaja were futile as the MP failed to pick up our calls or reply to our texts.

Party politics: Disciplinary committee dismissed video presented as evidence of incitement because it had been ‘edited’

Gatundu South MP Moses Kuria (left) with Kabete MP Ferdinand Waititu at Ruiru stadium recently. [PHOTO: KAMAU MAICHUHIE/STANDARD]

DAYS WITHIN WHICH MP SHOULD CLARIFY HIS COMMENTS

14NUMBER OF LEADERS ACQUITTED

2

Joy Gwendo Priscilah Nyokabi


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Globally renowned camel derby kicks life into dusty Maralal TownRebranding: Once part of the far-flung Northern Frontier District, Samburu County has been brought into the limelight once more by an annual festival that draws visitors, and their money, from all corners of the world

A young Swiss woman, accompa-nied by her boyfriend, makes a trip to Kenya. Her vacation takes an interest-ing turn when she becomes infatuat-ed with a Maasai warrior on the last day of her two-week vacation. She im-petuously dumps her boyfriend, sells all her possessions for a life with her lover in a remote village in northern Kenya.

This is the plot of the 2005 film un-der the German title Die Weisse Mas-sai (The White Masai). The movie, which opened to mixed reviews, was directed by Hermine Hunterbeburth and starred Nina Hoss as Carola and Jacky Ido as her ‘Maasai’ husband, Le-malian.

The sentimental film might pass for fiction, but is actually based on the memoirs of Corrine Hofmann, a Ger-man-born writer living in Switzer-land, who enjoyed phenomenal suc-cess with her autobiographical title from which the film borrows.

Of note is that the reference to a Maasai warrior in both works is a fac-tual, albeit intentional, error. The homme fatale was actually Samburu, a community culturally related to the more easily recognised Maasai.

Barely a fortnight ago, The Sunday Standard was walking in the footsteps of Corrine Hoffman, drawn by the an-nual camel derby, Samburu County’s signature event. The event that draws participants from across the globe is flagged off at Yare Club and Camp, four kilometres south of Maralal town.

Maralal, a dusty town located about 350 kilometres north of Nairo-bi, is the headquarters of Samburu County. Locals say it was named for the shiny tin roofs of the White set-tlers.

Buffer zoneThe roughly eight-hour journey,

admittedly, was not as tough as I had envisioned. On second thought, the pit-stops in Naivasha, Nyahururu and Rumuruti towns and sightings of wild game that included a stripped hyena and an elephant walking her calf probably made the experience more tolerable.

During the colonial period, Sam-buru District was part of the larger Northern Frontier District (NFD), an area that was essentially closed off from the rest of the country in order to serve as a buffer zone between Ke-nya and Ethiopia to the north. The co-lonial regime’s primary interest was to maintain security in this region, and, consequently, efforts at establishing markets or otherwise encouraging de-velopment were limited.

As a result, the NFD lagged behind the rest of the colony in terms of the spread of formal education, develop-ment of infrastructure and delivery of services and earned the infamous Northern ‘Forgotten’ District tag.

During the camel derby season, however, the county is anything but forgotten. Business is booming and accommodation facilities post record bookings.

Samburu County encompasses an area of roughly 21,000 kilometres square and is the tenth largest of Ke-nya’s 47 counties in terms of size. Samburu’s outline forms a triangle with the Ewaso Nyiro River as its base

ByB Thorn Mulli in the south Lake Turkana (the fa-mous Jade Sea), the Great Rift Valley as its western edge, and the boundary with Marsabit and Isiolo Counties to the east.

The vastness of Samburu land of-fers an unrivalled collection of im-pressive natural landscapes, ranging from volcanoes and deserts in the Su-guta Valley to semi-arid grasslands, bush and sand rivers in the great plains, and ancient mountains with impressive granite features. Ololokwe, Ol Lenkiyo (or Mathew’s Range), Ndo-to and Ngiro mountains form islands of thick indigenous forest surrounded by semi-desert.

Samburu County lays claim to or shares four of the 50 Treasures of Ke-nya—Buffalo Springs and Shaba Na-tional Reserve; Ol Lenkiyo, Ndoto and Ngiro Mountains; Lake Turkana; and Kirisia Hills and the Escarpment.

Noteworthy is the fact that the en-dangered Grevy’s zebra thrives in this region. The striped animals are a sur-real sight, grazing alongside cattle and sheep.

Big gameNatural beauty fades easily if sus-

tainable practices do not shield it, a fact that Samburu County knows only too well. In 1886, the first Europeans to travel through Samburu County, on their way to Lake Turkana, were the Hungarian Count Samuel Teleki and his Austrian companion Ludwig von Höhnel, who named the lake after Prince Rudolf, then archduke of the Austria-Hungary Empire. The name stuck until the 1970s, when it was of-ficially renamed Lake Turkana.

Big game hunters who set camp at the animal-rich banks of the Ewaso Nyiro followed. They all described Samburu country as teeming with game, especially buffaloes and rhinos.

At the turn of the century, it be-came renowned as ‘big game country’ and attracted such famous hunters as Arthur Neumann who set up a camp on the site where Samburu Lodge now stands. This would be my first stop.

Frequented by Sir Wilfred Thesiger (best known for his 1959 travel book Arabian Sands and for many years the only building of significance in Mara-lal, the lodge was deemed of such eco-logical significance that early in the 20th century it was gazetted by an Act of Parliament. This brought the Mara-lal National Sanctuary into existence.

Sadly, the property fell to ruin after many years of neglect. However, a British charity, Africality, assumed the lease in 2014 and through private in-vestment, now operates the lodge as a not-for-profit enterprise with the objective of countering the poaching of endangered wildlife.

The lodge is built of cedar and stone, and overlooks Maralal. Five square kilometres of lush woodland and pasture straddle the hillside, with leopards and other mammals living in the natural caves. A guided walk, in-cluding a rock climb, provides an op-portunity to savour this unspoilt en-vironment.

The lodge is also home to the first wildlife orphanage in Samburu Coun-ty. Neten and Lesoro, two orphaned cheetahs, are the first beneficiaries of this programme.

“We feed them varying amounts once daily, at differing times of day,

cluded the camel’s demeanour, breathing rate, temperature, skin con-dition, and signs of disease or pests including anthrax, camel pox, rabies and ticks.

At the flagging off Moses Le-nokulal, Governor of Samburu Coun-ty, explained that the event has over time provided ground for enhancing cohesion among the diverse yet tradi-tionally warring communities. It has also been an annual platform of cre-ating awareness on the desertification of Kenya, promoting local enterprises and showcasing the beauty of Samb-uru.

The latter point was reiterated by Kenya Tourism Board managing di-rector Murithi Ndegwa, who encour-aged Kenyans, and indeed the world, to use the camel derby to explore the Northern Tourism Circuit. He was elated at the 18 nationalities present in this year’s edition.

Chief guest Judith Wakhungu, Cabinet Secretary for Environment, commended Samburu’s wildlife con-servation efforts, singling out Sera conservancy’s (300,000 hectares of trust land owned by community group ranches from Samburu, Mars-abit and Isiolo) successful transloca-tion of ten rhinos. These are the first rhinos north of Isiolo in 25 years.

The theme of the derby, held on August 14-16, was ‘Promoting conser-vation and tourism through sports and culture’.

Strange phenomenonThe camel races were broken into

two main events spread over two days. The novice race was for foreign-ers who wished to ‘spectate’ in style. This was a 10km race starting at the Yare Club where amateurs hired a camel and handler for the day. The elite camel race, on the other hand, was a 21km half-marathon where lo-cals race with no handlers or assis-tants allowed. There was also a triath-lon involving a camel race, bicycle, and foot run divided over three kilo-metres each.

It is interesting to note that camels in the region are never ridden except during this annual event since camels are used as pack animals.

Another strange phenomenon is that since inception, the event has been marked by a downpour and it was not any different in this edition as the skies opened on Saturday after-noon. However, this did not dampen the spirits of jockeys and their fans.

There was chaos at the starting line as some amateur jockeys lost control of their excited camels. But as they headed off in whichever direc-tion their camels chose, the profes-sionals advanced at breakneck speed on the course lined with cheering supporters.

Silmon Thomas won the amateur race, Arnes Lungupae came first in the pro race and Joseph Lesingiran was the winner of the wheelchair race.

The Maralal Camel derby is more than just a race. The sideshows are an additional underlining of just prove how important the festival is. From blacksmiths showcasing the ancient iron smelting art, to souvenir ped-dlers selling various wares and enter-tainment providers having a field day, the derby is an entertaining festival of fun and local competition that brings this small desert town to life.

Maralal is that it is where Mzee Jomo Kenyatta, Kenya’s first president, was detained for 130 days prior to his re-lease on August 14, 1961. Upon con-viction and sentencing at Kapenguria on April 8, 1953, Kenyatta remained in prison in Lokitaung until 1959. He was then detained in Lodwar under house arrest for two years. On April 4, 1961, the founding president of Kenya and his family were flown to Maralal where he was still under restriction order.

Kenyatta House, built in 1959 half-way between Lodwar and Nairobi, was the colonial government’s way of easing the detainee back into society. Unlike in Lodwar, where access to him was controlled, at Maralal, Mzee was allowed visitors.

Phillip Letunda, the assistant cura-tor, and one of the six staff responsible for the premise, explains that Kenyat-ta was free to walk around with his So-mali bodyguard to the town downhill, interact with locals, and shop from his

with occasional fasting days to mimic their diet and feeding habits in the wild in preparation for their return to the wild,” says Africality founder Humperdinck Jackman.

Within the lodge, where a cocktail party, preceded by a tree planting ses-sion, in honour of the derby was host-ed, is Samburu World restaurant, which seats 50 people. The Africality bar that boasts of being the best stocked in northern Kenya has no less than five single malt whiskies and 15 vodkas, wines, cocktails and assorted beers from around Africa.

Those planning on an overnight stay can try the 14 luxurious Swiss chalet style rooms, each with a fire-place and a private balcony.

Apart from the sanctuary, visitors can visit Samburu National Reserve, first established in 1948 as part of the enormous Marsabit National Reserve, then becoming a separate entity in 1962.

Another interesting fact about

government allowance. He was, how-ever, denied any transport on wheels.

Here, he met world press for the first time in eight years and gave his first international press conference dubbed the Maralal Press Conference on April 11, 1961 — eight years after he had spoken at his Kapenguria trial.

It is in this three-bedroomed house, from whence the peak of Mount Kenya is visible on a clear day, that the final touches of Kenya’s inde-pendence were decided. The current president, Uhuru Kenyatta, is also cheekily rumoured to have been con-ceived in this house. A young cypress tree he planted in July, 1, 2007 when he was the official opposition leader, finds its rooting in between the kitch-en door that still hosts the original boiler and oven and a two-roomed, white wash, servant’s quarters.

But if this house represents Sam-buru’s glorious past, then the camel derby is a celebration that links histo-ry with the present.

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Forty camels were cleared to com-pete in this year’s race that was the 26th edition of the Maralal Interna-tional Camel Derby. Only one camel fell short of the criteria checked by Dr Daniel Machari, the county’s director of veterinary services. Speaking to The Standard on Sunday at the Camel Clinic a day before the race, the Mach-aria explained that the derby pro-motes better camel husbandry and the benefits of these spitting, kicking yet essential creatures in arid environ-ments.

Some of the things he checked in-

1. Amateur camel riders take off at Yare Club, the starting point of the race.2. Children enjoy a merry-go-round ride during the three-day event.3. Traditional song and dance was in plenty.4. A portrait of Kenya’s founding father Mzee Jomo Kenyatta hangs in Kenyatta House in Maralal, Sambu-ru County. 5. The winner of 10km race, Silmon Thomas (right), and second runners-up Aville Mollino pose with their Midas-touch handler, Lamayan, during the award cer-emony. Silmon generously gave her cash prize of Sh70,000 to the handler.6. Neten, an orphan cheetah who found refuge at Maralal Lodge, which hosts the first wildlife orphan-age in Samburu County. 7. Blacksmith Joseph Kaiyai Lelenguya forges an iron spearhead the same way his ancestors did.8. Newlyweds Kakasho and Maria Losoipa pose for their first photo as husband and wife flanked by their best man (right).9. Kakasho Losoipa slays the ‘marriage’ bull according to Samburu custom. 10. Moses Lenokulal, governor of Samburu County, leads the derby participants in tree planting.[PHOTOS: COURTESY/THORN MULLI/STANDARD]


gains so farAbdikadir Mohamed says the steps

Kenyans have taken to implement the Constitution are commendable. He has even cited devolution as an aspect which is fairing on well so far. He notes: “Devolution has help diffuse power and resources”.

CHaLLEngEsHowever, he at the same time

highlighted Chapter Six on leadership and integrity as an area in which as a country we have performed poorly.

So far so good, but we can do more, says Abdikadir

Question: Five years after promulga-tion of the Constitution, what is your general and brief assessment of the implementation process?Answer: We have fared well, I think. It was not a small undertaking, espe-cially after what the country en-dured in 2007. The national psyche was very low for such a major proj-ect. Five years down later, the impact is clear. The landscape has been completely dominated by Katiba. All our major institutions are complete-ly different; Parliament, Judiciary and Executive. Broadly the impact the katiba had on these institutions is undoubted.Parliament has been faulted for fail-ing to pass necessary Bills to imple-ment the Constitution. What is your assessment of the 11th Parliaments performance in the im-plementation of the Constitu-tion?

Parliament has done fairly well. It usually gets to hold the wrong end of the stick because, typically, the pro-cess of legislation ends there. The delay is usually on the Executive side, although the buck stops with Parliament. However, we haven’t do-ne well on land sector. This is the biggest outstanding issue in my opinion.Which is the one aspect of the Katiba you feel is working well, one that ex-emplifies Kenyans expectations?

There are quite a number, for in-stance devolution has been transfor-mative. With devolution, you realise you no longer have to vote for a par-ty to be assured of the basic mini-mum resources in your county. Pow-er has also been diffused. It is no longer a case of winner take all. The

current power ar-r a n g e m e n t ,

for example, the national Executive is run by Jubilee. However, major counties like Nairobi, Kisumu, Mombasa, and Garissa among oth-ers are being run by CORD leaders. The same also applies to both Parlia-ment and the Executive. There is a perception that the drafters did not create a good platform from where the Opposition can play their poli-tics, especially those who lose pres-idential contests. The reality of our politics is that we have very popular politicians outside the legitimised political arrangement. It is all pre-mised on misunderstanding of the system we agreed on. We separated the arms of government completely. But it does not mean if you are not in Parliament or Executive you can-not be a leader. I think Raila Odinga

has demonstrated this very well; the country is willing to lis-

ten to him from outside. He is in the papers every day.

What is your assessment of the quality of Bills we have

been passing to implement the Constitution?

There is no doubt we are having drafting quality problem. You can-not speak of quality in the sub-

stance because substance is what people agree to. The law-making process is long, tedious, meander-ing, and noisy sometimes. Whether Parliament captures the will of the people is a different matter.Have you noticed any part of the Con-stitution which requires amendment and what is it?

I am actually a bit sur-prised we have not

amended the Constitu-tion this far. Quite a

number of constitu-tions get amended

fairly quickly af-ter their imple-

m e n t a t i o n . O bv i o u s l y

there are few tech-nical is-s u e s w h i c h need cor-re c t i o n . That the Constitu-tion will

Five years since its promulgation, some aspects of the Constitution have been difficult to implement. Abdikadir Mohamed, the Presidential Advisor on Constitutional Affairs, spoke to writer Nzau Musau on the gains, setbacks and the journey ahead

be amended is a question of when not if and hopefully for the better.Do you think the election date should be moved from August to December as MPs are currently trying to push?

I do not think it is a good idea. The August date was agreed on by Ken-yans through a referendum. Besides, the whole matter brings up so many uncertainties which are not neces-sary at this point in time.New katiba, new ethos. Have we trans-formed our mindsets and aligned our behavior to the requirements of the Constitution?

If there is a major disconnect be-tween the high standards the consti-tutions set in terms of transforma-tion and where our Chapter Six compliance is, it boils down to eth-ics. The Constitution has, again rare among constitutions, listed values that we need to ascribe to. If there’s one chapter of the Constitution we have performed dismally, it would be Chapter Six on leadership and integ-rity.Public participation, integrity, vet-ting... have these concepts gained traction?

Public participation yes, but vet-ting no. I think we haven’t lived up to the expectations. For example the idea of judicial vetting was a short sharp exercise that would renew the Judiciary. I am disappointed we still have that vetting institution five years later. It looks like they have de-cided to perpetuate themselves which does not say a lot about them-selves.There are claims that the Jubilee you serve is clawing back on the promise of the Constitution. The controversial security law is a case in point.

The bureaucracy in the Executive is the most opaque. There is no doubt in my mind that there are ma-ny in that bureaucracy who have not internalised the new set-up. Having said that, I have no doubt where the President stands. He lives by the new system. Parliament- I will let MPs and public judge on that- but I think broadly, except for the delays in the laws, they have done what was ex-pected of them.Some people have claimed the katiba is too “activist”.

I think it is more of an excuse for not doing ones work than any seri-ous thought or weakness of Katiba. I have heard Judiciary being criticised of being too lenient.

Do we want to change the Consti-tution to guilty-until-proven-inno-cent? Judiciary comes at the tail end of the long process. You need excel-lent investigations, prosecution, in-telligence- all which help the Judicia-ry come with the right decision. Our

institutions should work. The best answer to terrorism, for example, is good intelligence and sound polic-ing. In any case, the best bulwark against terrorism is public. You need them on your side. You lose them if you decide to replace terrorism with tactics which are not far from terror-ism.The turf wars between the Senate and the National Assembly. Why didn’t you clearly define their distinct mandates to avoid all this?

The issue is that we had two ma-jor sides negotiating the Constitu-tion. One school of thought was for very strong Senate while the other was for a single chamber, in other words no Senate. Through compro-mise what resulted is a Senate with a limited mandate. Typically when that happens, those institutions which lose out tend to expand their mandates while others push back. These are institutional tensions, which if done in a healthy manner, are actually useful. And they flow and ebb sometimes one way or the other. The promise of katiba appears to be quite distant, how far do you think we need to move, how fast? We have got to the point, actually. The Constitution is working. Look at any institution and you will notice a dramatic change of both form and substance. Every aspect of our life as a nation has been touched. Look at us from a regional perspective in all scales. We have set a high bar. Are we there yet? The answer is no, princi-pally because as a society we should always aspire for more, for better.Is Jubilee government committed to full implementation of the Constitu-tion? Do you get that sense of commit-ment as you work with it?

I work for the Presidency and I know the President is committed to this. He is already doing a lot to fulfill part of his duty. But you know these things must be done anyhow. For ex-ample the Bills must be passed and if they are not there are attendant consequences for that. It’s not really a question of how one is committed or not. There are prescriptions. But as I said, I believe there is a lot to be done. Everyone has a duty to make it real.Where do you see Kenya in the next five years?

We will be more mature. We will have found the equilibrium. I hope we can be a good example in the re-gion, that however difficult the dem-ocratic process is, we are determined to take the road less traveled and push further these ideals. This region needs a beacon of a well-run govern-ment with progressive living, free-dom and security, all in good bal-ance.

WEEK IN REVIEW / Sunday, August 30, 2015 / The Standard

Man seeks Sh46m for detention over arms

y B DANIEL WESANGULA

Enemy territory: Yussuf and his turn-boy were detained by South Sudan military for six months

A multi-million shilling claim, a foreign government, an internation-al aid agency and an arms cache are what are causing Kala Maalim Yussuf sleepless nights.

Mr Yussuf is seeking legal action to gain what he says is owed to him by a transport contractor hired by the United Nations Mission in South Su-dan (UNMISS).

Also on his claims list is damages for allegedly being held wrongfully in a foreign jail.

According to court documents filed at the Milimani Commercial Courts, it all started in February last year when Taslim Transporters hired Yussuf’s truck to undertake urgent business in Africa’s youngest state, South Sudan.

“We were told that the goods were to be moved from Juba to Bentiu, which by then had security con-cerns,” Mr Yussuf told The Standard on Sunday.

Like any wise goods transporter, Yussuf inquired what the goods in transit were.

“We were informed that we would be moving an array of building ma-terials, including building blocks and prefabricated panels,” he says.

Eager and willing to hold up his end of the bargain, Yussuf, accompa-nied by his turn-boy Ibrahim Ahmed Yussuf started their journey from Ju-ba hoping to be in Bentiu in good time.

But on March 1 last year, as they passed a military roadblock in Rum-bek, approximately 377km northwest of the capital Juba, they were arrested and their vehicle impounded. And that is when the drama began.

Volatile region“The army asked us what we had

carried in the containers. We told them and showed the manifest,” he says. But the army refused to take Yussuf’s word.

First, at the time of their assign-ment, Rumbek was experiencing conflict, the army and the rebels were fighting over control of territo-

ries. Second, as far as they were con-cerned, only military personnel and aid workers with escorts were al-lowed passage into the volatile re-gion.

Bentiu, their intended destina-tion, is an oil-rich region which has been hotly contested between the government and rebels. Control of the town has changed hands several times in the span of the violence that plagued the country since December 2013 when President Salva Kiir ac-cused his sacked deputy and one time confidant Riek Machar of an at-tempted coup.

“They insisted we open up our containers for an impromptu in-spection,” he says.

As is normal with such missions, Yussuf had to call the contractors and inform them of the goings on. The container would not be opened unless a representative from Taslim Transport Company, or the owners of the cargo, UNMISS, were pres-ent.

Two days later a delegation from UNMISS arrived at Rumbek and the compulsory search was conducted.

The media reported about the in-tercepted truck prompting the South Sudanese government to issue an of-ficial statement. Brigadier General Malaak Ayuen Ajook, a government spokesman, confirmed the truck would be held until the government and UNMISS complete investiga-tion.

“It is the policy of UNMISS that

during the crisis in South Sudan all arms and ammunition for peace-keeping contingents are flown into respective areas of deployment and not taken by road. .. the weapons be-long to a Ghanaian battalion of peacekeepers that was on its way to Bentiu, capital of Unity state,” UN-MISS spokeswoman Ariane Quentier said at the time.

The arms were in a shipment of “general goods” in which “several containers were wrongly labeled and inadvertently contained weapons and ammunition. This is regretta-ble,” the UNMISS statement said.

Unknowingly Yussuf and his turn-boy had all along been moving an as-sortment of weapons across a nation at war with itself. The two were duly arrested and detained by the South Sudan military from March 3 to Au-gust 31, 2014.

“I suffered emotional and psy-chological pain...I was unable to see my family during this period. I was not allowed to communicate with anyone outside the detainment ar-ea,” Yussuf says.

Yussuf? Which Yussuf?And now, the two have sued the

transport company that hired Yus-suf’s truck for damages and compen-sation over lost work days totaling to more than Sh46 million. “We slept

outside most of the days and when they thought we needed to be placed indoors, we were all crammed in la-trines,” he says.

But Taslim Transporters, the com-pany Yussuf accuses of breach of trust, deception and defaulting on terms and conditions of an agree-ment, says they have never dealt with him.

“As far as I am concerned, my company has had no dealings with the said individual. I knew him through an acquaintance but we do not and have not had any business dealings with him. I am sorry for what he went through and I pray that he finds closure. But Taslim has nev-er had such dealings with him,” Mr Sahal Ahmed, the director of the company, said.

Yussuf insists that Sahal’s compa-ny knowingly contracted him to car-ry contraband goods and as a result put his life and that of his assistant in danger.

Among the documents filed in court is a manifest and a delivery note from transporting and logistics company Kenfreight. In the court pa-pers, Yussuf alleges Taslim was sub-contracted by Kenfreight and then contracted him for the job.

“All we want is fair compensation for what we went through,” he says.Yussuf’s matter continues in court.He still insists someone owes him more than an explanation.

• According to court documents Taslim transporters hired Kala Maalim Yussuf’s truck to undertake urgent business in Africa’s youngest state, South Sudan• Yussuf was informed that they were moving an array of building materials, including building blocks and prefabricated panels from Juba to Bentiu• But on March 1 last year, Yussuf and his turn-boy were arrested at a military roadblock abd detained until August 31.• Yussuf had unknowingly been moving an assortment of weapons• But Taslim says they have never dealt with Yussuf

FROM COURT FILES...

Kenya at the weekend received special attention at the just-conclud-ed World Assembly for Women con-ference in Japan for promoting girls’ education and recognition of women in politics.

Delegates who converged at a special panel on girls and education praised Kenya for promoting gender equity and also implementing a con-stitution that appreciates the poten-tial and contribution of women pol-iticians.

First Lady Margaret Kenyatta, who was among the panelists, listed several deliberately pro-active inter-ventions by the government that

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Kenya wins praise at Tokyo global women talkshave made Kenya a fairly success story in the area of girl-child educa-tion.

But Sri Lanka beats many other countries, with former State Minis-ter of Children Affairs Ms Rosy Sena-nayake reporting the country has a 93 per cent literacy level.

On political representation, par-allels were drawn between the pop-ulous 168 million West African na-tion Nigeria, which has fewer female political leaders compared to Kenya with 40 million people.

A senior government delegate from Nigeria said the number of fe-male leaders i has been dropping while Kenyan women are pushing for more slots as provided in the new

Constitution.The First Lady told the panelists

that Kenya’s greatest pillar on girl-child education is the constitution, which recognises the importance of education as a basic right for all its children.

Equal enrollmentShe said Kenya has for many

years recognised that education and training, equitably between girls and boys is a key catalyst towards the re-alisation of its past planning goals and especially Vision 2030.

She said Kenya has nearly achieved equal enrollment at prima-ry school level except in arid and semi-arid areas.

The delegates said half the world’s population is denied its basic funda-mental right because it cannot ac-cess an education. Majority of these people are women.

On Friday, the the conference was told that a large army of 62 million women are illiterate, globally.

Solutions to address equity in ed-ucation in countries lagging behind on the matter, said the delegates, lies on ensuring security of girls in school by providing them with dor-mitories and boarding facilities among other interventions.

Prime Minister Shinzo Abe opened the panel session and also closed the two-day conference.

First Lady Margaret Kenyatta with the PM of Japan, Shinzo Abe during a reception hosted in honour of women leaders attending the World Assembly for Women in Japan.

August 30, 2015Standard on SUndaY

Investors lose Sh470 billion in six months as companies bleed

BB Paul Wafula

Investors have lost about Sh470 billion on the stock market since prices of shares started falling six months ago, bruised by a volatile Kenyan currency, inflation and high interest rate regime. The losses have seen companies listed on the Nairobi Securities Exchange (NSE) bleed bil-lions of shillings in market value.

Data from the NSE shows that market capitalisation—the market value of all outstanding shares -- has shrunk by 20 per cent from Sh2.4 tril-lion in March to Sh1.9 trillion by the end of Friday. March was the peak of this year’s performance. Since then, it has been on a downward trend, leaving investors poorer.

This has seen some scramble to exit the market in net sales that have further put pressure on the stock market. An analysis of the losses shows that shareholders in the top 20 companies classified under the NSE 20 Share Index have borne the big-gest brunt of the bear market, a con-dition in which the prices of securi-ties are falling, and widespread pessimism causes the negative senti-ment.

The dip has wiped off about Sh400 billion from the top 20 companies among them the blue chips like Safa-ricom, Equity Bank and Kenya Com-mercial Bank (KCB). The top three biggest losers are British American Investments Company (Britam), Athi River Mining (ARM) and Kenya Air-ways, which in the period recorded significant drops in profits or booked losses on exchange rates.

Britam, which announced a 77 per cent drop in profits on Friday, has suffered the biggest losses in the pe-riod in percentage terms. The finan-cial services provider shed off 45 per cent of its value in four months from a high of about of Sh31 billion in March to Sh25 billion. The firm told investors that its exposure on the stock market made it book unrealised losses of Sh843 million in the first half of the year ending June 2015.

This compares to the Sh2.8 billion it earned in a similar period in 2014. “The decrease in our profits is a result of the downturn performance of the securities market, which impacted negatively on the fair value gains from the financial assets. This down turn also affected other blue chip companies listed in the Nairobi Secu-rities Exchange,” the firm’s Managing Director Benson Wairegi told an in-vestor briefing on Friday. Its exposure is mainly due to its stake in Equity Bank and Mortgage firm Housing Fi-nance in which it is the single largest institutional investor.

The second biggest loser is Athi River Mining, which has lost 44 per cent of its value from Sh43 billion at

Bear run: The dip has wiped off Sh400 billion from the top 20 companies among them the blue chips like Safaricom, Equity Bank and Kenya Commercial Bank

Firm adopts single name for

affiliatesRSM Ashvir has re-branded to

‘RSM’ following the global announce-ment by its international network, RSM International, that all its mem-ber firms across the globe adopt a sin-gle and unified global brand with ef-fect from October 26, 2015.

RSM International is the seventh largest audit, tax and consulting net-work globally and is represented by RSM Ashvir in Kenya, Tanzania and Uganda.

RSM Ashvir has four offices in East Africa with a staff force of more than 140 and has been a member of the RSM International network since 2009. RSM International was voted in 2014 as the Global Accounting Net-work of the Year.

— By Standard reporter

Insurer pre-tax profit up 16 pc

Jubilee Holdings recorded a 16 per cent increase in half year pre-tax prof-it to Sh1.79 billion up from Sh1.5 bil-lion in 2014.

East Africa’s biggest insurer also increased its gross written premium revenue by Sh1.3 billion to Sh16.4 bil-lion. Investment income recorded a 7.3 per cent growth to Sh650 million in the first half of 2015 despite the drop in the stock market activity.

Jubilee Holdings Chairman Nizar Juma attributed the growth to the company’s consistent focus on the evolving needs of the markets.

“We are pleased with our results in an increasingly challenging environ-ment, where loss ratios are on the rise partly caused by an increased inci-dence of fraud within the industry. This has necessitated that we manage our performance proactively and effi-ciently” said Mr Juma.

—Dominic Omondi

Mombasa automates

permit issuanceThe County Government of Mom-

basa has moved to automate its Single Business Permit (SBP) issuance. Un-veiling the system, Governor Hassan Joho said the e-business permit sys-tem promises to increase and im-prove how the county delivers ser-vices.

“For our customers it means that time and money spent is greatly re-duced,’’ Joho said. He added the sys-tem allows one to make submissions, track the status of application online, and one is notified on the status through a web and SMS-based sys-tem.

The Single Business Permit system will be piloted in Mombasa sub-coun-ty for three months before it is repli-cated in other areas.

—Philip Mwakio

the beginning of March to Sh24 bil-lion billion by Friday.

The sinking of Kenya Airways into a Sh25.7 billion record loss also hurt the share price of the national carri-er, coming in as the third biggest los-er in market capitalisation. The air-line has seen its market value wiped off by Sh6 billion, a 42 per cent drop. Value wise, Safaricom has lost Sh60 billion since March, the biggest amount to be wiped off by a single company. It was followed by Equity Bank, which has lost Sh55 billion in the period, while its financial rival Kenya Commercial Bank (KCB), came in third having lost Sh44 billion in the period.

These losses are likely to have a bearing on the economic growth of the country this year as well as reduce the number of jobs created. Analysts have described the situation as dire, attributing the losses to a stronger US economy that has seen investors take off from the Kenyan market. “We have never had anything like this. What is happening can be explained

in two ways. One is the general per-formance of the economy, high inter-est rates and a collapsing economy,” Johnson Nderi, a manager corporate Finance and Advisory at ABC Capital Limited told Weekend Business.

“But this is the first time that the performance is linked to the profits of companies. Companies have not been doing so well in the period,” Mr Nderi added. Other factors are price correction and the capital gains tax.

Analysts at Standard Investment Bank (SIB) say that investors are now turning to T-Bills that are offering a more decent return as investors now shift to guaranteed return from debt instruments. The raising of interest rates in the US has also seen investors pulling out of emerging markets.

Only Sasini Limited, an agricul-tural firm has shrugged off the mar-ket turbulence to grow their value on the NSE among the top 20 compa-nies. The firm’s market capitalisation has grown by 15 per cent to Sh4 bil-lion, from the Sh3.5 billion.

The bear run at the stock market

is estimated to have cost about 14 Kenyan billionaires Sh19.6 billion of their wealth on paper since the be-ginning of the year, with most of their stock holdings recording double-dig-it declines. Some of the big losers so far include Peter Munga, Pradeep Paunrana, Baloobhai Patel and Gide-on Muriuki, have taken a hit from their large holdings in insurers, banks, manufacturers and other blue-chip companies.

The performance mirrors the dif-ficult operating environment in the first half of the year in which half of the 32 listed firms have reported slowdown in profits or even sunk in-to losses. Transportation and ware-housing firm, Express Kenya, warned of a significant drop in earnings, crowning a disastrous run for big Kenyan firms so far this year. Tran-scentury reported a Sh676 million loss that the management attributed partly to devaluation of the shilling, which led to increased finance costs.

Transcentury was also exposed to the plant upgrade of East African Ca-bles’ copper factory in Nairobi, where it has a controlling stake.

EA Cables issued a profit warning on Tuesday citing the impact of the reduced production as a result of the plant upgrade that was compounded by foreign exchange losses.

Foreign currency Executives of oil marketer, Total

Kenya, have also reported a drop in profits but were quick to caution that the ‘continued volatility of petroleum prices and depreciation of the local currency against the US dollar’ is a risk they would be looking out for in the second half.

Crown Paints, the listed paint maker, has booked a huge slump in earnings to record Sh25 million prof-it the full year ended June, against Sh109 million posted last year.

However, there have been win-ners of the high interest regime among them cement maker Bambu-ri, advertising firm ScanGroup and Safaricom, all of whom have signifi-cant cash on their balance sheets. The weak currency has handed ex-porters such as the British American Tobacco (BAT), whose exports make up over half of sales, significant for-eign exchange gains.

Also listed companies in the agri-cultural sector who grow crops for ex-port are set to reap some gains from a weaker currency.

Kenya Airways, ARM, East African Portland Cement, Mumias Sugar Company and East African cables are however the main loser of the high interest rates given that the hold sig-nificant debt or are significantly ex-panding. Those in debts denominat-ed in foreign currency are also likely to get hurt by the volatility of the Ken-yan currency.

NSE 20 Companies March 2, 2015. august 28, 2015.

Sasini Limited 3,534,860,250 4,070,790,675

Kenya Airways 14,815,043,447 8,529,873,500

Nation Media Group 48,832,452,074 31,109,477,190

WPP Scangroup Ltd 19,132,687,651 12,597,264,642

Centum 39,926,506,500 31,941,205,200

Kenya Commercial Bank 177,561,547,674 133,109,672,608

Cooperative Bank 108,787,287,564 86,540,898,422

Stanchart 108,824,148,928 72,652,485,790

Barclays 93,422,419,200 69,795,237,600

Equity 198,098,570,570 142,556,915,270

CFC Stanbic 51,391,812,940 35,578,947,420

EABL 239,604,629,868 213,509,076,120

BAT 86,600,000,000 74,600,000,000

Athi River Mining 43,336,562,500 24,392,293,750

Bamburi Cement 57,347,565,450 55,895,728,350

KenolKobil 15,085,552,300 12,436,382,140

Kenya Power 34,833,686,753 28,881,712,266

KenGen 26,929,927,836 16,487,710,920

Britam 56,698,663,262 31,014,653,408

Safaricom 627,023,948,200 566,925,806,200Table showing market value of firms under NSE 20 Share index in March and august 28. Below: Bloomberg graph tracking performance of the NSE-20 Share IndexSep oct Nov Dec Jan Feb Mar April May Jun Jul Aug

5,000.00

4,000.00

4,500.00

08/28 4, 101.67


y B GRAHAM KAJILWA

Japan protests at State’shandling of port tender

The expansion of the Port of Mombasa is facing headwinds after Japan, the main financier, raised concerns over delays on part of Gov-ernment in processing a loan agree-ment entered in March this year.

Japan International Cooperation Agency (Jica), which coordinates of-ficial development assistance, also fears the Government plans to disre-gard an agreement on the construc-tion of phase two of the project.

Jica protested over the slow pace of the Government in committing on the project for phase two, which in-volves the construction of Berth 22.

In a letter dated August 7 2015 to the Principal Secretary, Ministry of Transport and Infrastructure, senior representative of Jica Koji Noda ex-pressed concerns over delays to-wards processing a loan agreement signed on March 9, 2015. “Jica is deeply concerned about the slow pace towards loan agreement effec-tuation whose dates are given as within 120 days from the signing date. The loan agreement was signed on March 9, 2015,” Noda said in the letter copied to National Treasury Principal Secretary Dr Kamau Thug-ge and Kenya Ports Authority Man-aging Director Gichiri Ndua.

Jica said despite extending the deadline after the expiry of 120 days stipulated on the loan agreement, Kenya has still not heeded. The ex-tension is coming to an end early Oc-tober this year. “There are still a lot

of steps to go before the deadline hence we are afraid that the current slow pace of processing the matter by the ministry will negatively im-pact the project,” reads the letter. “We request for a meeting to enable smooth implementation of the proj-ect by the executing agency, KPA.”

This is the second time the Japa-nese agency is expressing displea-sure over port expansion plans.

In June, Jica protested against the manner in which the National Trea-sury had meddled in the process of selecting an international company to operate the second container ter-minal at the Mombasa Port. In a let-ter dated June 3, 2015, the chief rep-resentative of Jica, Mr Hideo Uguchi complained over major alterations on the requirements over the ongo-ing procurement process.

Misleading information And he warned that this could af-

fect Japan’s aid: “Any cancellations at this stage will affect future assistance to Kenya.”

The financier claims a misleading amendment in the addendum that the winning port operator for phase one may be invited to develop phase two. “Jica not only financed phase one, but also signed a loan agree-ment with KPA in March 2015 for the construction of phase two. More so, Japan has already received an official request to finance phase three which is under positive consideration,” reads the letter in our possession.

The addendum proposes that the

conceding authority should deter-mine the financing mechanism for the two phases which may include the Build Operate and Transfer (BOT) model under Public Private Partnership: “This is a misinterpre-tation of the current commitments by both governments as the conces-sion plan clearly states that BOT for the port is not a viable option.”

Kenya signed a Sh25 billion loan with Jica for the second phase of the Mombasa expan-sion project in March 2015 as part of Sh50 billion commit-ment by the Government of Japan to fund the facility.

The same month, Presi-dent Uhuru Kenyatta, on a visit to Tokyo, agreed with the Prime Minister Shinzo Abe to accelerate cooper-ation in infrastructure de-velopment in Mombasa.

This money is expected to finance the construction of a new container terminal by recla-mation of the West Kipevu to create additional three berths. With the new terminal, the access road is ex-pected to hold 750,000 twenty-feet equivalent of containers annually.

KPA Managing Director Gichiri

Ndua referred this writer to Treasury for comment. When con-tacted National Treasury Henry Rotich termed the changes through addendums a normal process in any

WEEKEND IN BUSINESS

tendering process. “This is a nor-mal practice to clarify issues to bid-ders,” said Rotich.

He said so far six addendums have been done to clarify emerg-

ing issues in the tender for selec-tion of the operator of the second container terminal. “All the issues raised by Jica have been clarified,”

he told Weekend Business, blam-ing the current standoff to vested interests in the projects at the port.

Japan is Kenya’s single biggest lender and source of Official Devel-opment Assistance with most of the money lent to Kenya on concession-ary terms. Already, the Japanese have been involved in the design of the Hoima-Lokichar-Lamu crude oil pipeline and are also involved in the expansion of the Mombasa Port.

Kiambu County is set host a new 70 room hotel, Selian Hotel & Spa, which will open for business in the first quarter of 2016.

Mr Fred Maina, Chief Executive Officer of Icon Hotel Group Africa (IHGA), the brand fo-cused in hospitality management with foot-print across East Africa, said that they are tap-ping into potential that exists in counties.

“We are devolving hospitality to the county level. And Selian Hotel & Spa is the beginning as we hope to spread out to other counties go-ing into the future,” Maina said.

The company has identified the vast un-tapped potential in hospitality leisure and tour-ism, opportunities that counties present. “We hope to leverage on our regional expertise to develop hospitality solutions for our target markets within Kenyan counties,” he said.

He said in their strategy, they will deploy video conferencing/telepresence in meeting conference rooms and high-speed internet ac-cess in all areas within the hotel. In addition there will be a wellness centre and spa.

He announced that to grow their brand, they are looking at possibilities of partnering with various counties, institution or individuals in joint ventures.

“In such co-operation, we shall provide project design, construction and post commis-sioning management expertise and markets, while partners will provide the land where we can then invite the participation of financial partners,’’ he said. Maina said that buoyed by prospects of a resilient Kenyan tourism indus-try, they are confident about the future of Ken-yan tourism sector.

“Through our diverse hospitality activities we intend to be among the front runners in

Firm taps into counties with hotel in Jujay B PHILIP MWAKIO

driving the emerging hospitality transforma-tion in Kenya and around the region,” he said.

IHGA is also involved in hotel management and consultancy services in Tanzania’s tourism capital of Arusha, Tanga and Kigali, Rwanda.

In Tanzania, IHGA through its hospitality management and consulting subsidiary Icon Hotels & Resorts Tanzania (IHRT), has been in-volved in the development of key hotel projects like the Palace Hotel and the about to be com-pleted four star Parrot Hotel opening in No-vember this year.

At the coastal town of Tanga, they are work-ing with King Fisher Beach & Conferencing Re-sort in Pangani and the exclusive mountain re-sort, Magorotto eco-lodge. In Kigali, Rwanda they are working with La Pallise and Grand Leg-acy Hotel.

Artists impression of the proposed Selian Hotel & Spa in Juja

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Techie wins Sh500,000 in

app competitionThree students have won cash

awards in a mobile app challenge. Samson Amenia (Egerton Universi-ty), Dismus Kiplagat (Mount Kenya University) and Mary Wangechi (University of Eldoret) scooped cash prizes of Sh515,000, Sh206,000) and Sh103,000, respectively.

The competition, under Africa Tech Challenge programme saw hundreds of young tech savvy youth enter their mobile applica-tions. The winner Samson Amenia, 22, praised the competition, say-ing: “The training was intense, we were introduced to new capabili-ties that we didn’t know much about. The mentorship offered by individuals in the technology field also gave us great hope.”

To determine the finalists, elimi-nation method was used to choose participants who showed resilience in completing assigned tasks on time and satisfied criteria set by judges.

The finalists then presented their work before a panel of seven judges who chose the best apps. AVIC International Holding Corpo-ration andGear Box gave the cash prizes during the event held at Ken-ya Teachers Training College in Gi-giri, last week.

ByB James WanzalaByB Kevin Yao

China official blames Fed for global market rout, not yuan

The global stock market rout of the past week was sparked by concerns over a possible interest rate rise by the US Federal Reserve and not by the de-valuation of China’s yuan currency, a senior Chinese central bank official told Reuters.

Yao Yudong, head of the bank’s Re-search Institute of Finance and Bank-ing, said the US central bank should delay any rate hike to give fragile emerging market economies time to prepare. He said Beijing’s decision to let the yuan fall in value against the dollar should not make it a scapegoat for the sell-off. “China’s exchange rate reform had nothing to do with the global stock market volatility, it was mainly due to the upcoming US Federal Reserve monetary policy move,” Yao said. “We were wronged.”

Yao’s comments, which came on the same day that state media issued com-mentaries defending China’s policy making, show Beijing’s sensitivity to suggestions it may have fumbled eco-nomic policy. The ruling Communist Party has drawn much of its legitimacy in past decades from fostering eco-nomic growth and raising incomes, and wants to be seen as a responsible play-er in the global economy.

Yao said China’s economy remains

Yao Yudong, a senior Chinese central bank official, says China‘s devaluation of its yuan currency should not be made a scapegoat for the recent global stock market rout. [PHOTO: REUTERS]

on a sound footing, though some emerging market economies face a possible financial crisis stemming from liquidity stresses if the US raises rates.

“So we hope the Federal Reserve could further delay its interest rate rise, giving emerging markets ample time to prepare. The Fed should not only con-

sider the US economy, but should also consider the global economy, which is very fragile,” he said.

The Fed, which has been prepping investors for a possible rate hike, de-clined to comment. Fed policymakers acknowledge their actions can stir glob-al markets, but argue they need to stay

focused on growth at home. “This isn’t about us. This is about developments abroad and I think what we have to as-sess is how those developments abroad potentially could impinge on us,” New York Federal Reserve Bank President William Dudley said on Wednesday as he acknowledged the market turmoil had made a US rate hike in September “less compelling.”

Policy insiders have told Reuters that China has been so surprised by the global reaction to its yuan devaluation that it’s likely to keep the currency on a tight leash in the near-term to head off any currency war that could spark a broader financial crisis. China had said the revamp in its foreign exchange re-gime that opened the gate for the yuan’s sharp decline was an effort to let market forces play a greater role in setting the currency’s value.

Officials in Washington, who had long pressed Beijing to move toward a more market-determined exchange rate, greeted the shift with some skep-ticism and indicated they would watch to make sure it was not meant simply to prop up China’s exports. Yao said the yuan is likely to see two-way moves in the near term and may resume its ap-preciation over time.

“ We cannot rule out the possibility of yuan appreciation after 2-3 years.” The surprise devaluation of nearly 2 percent on August 11 stoked global concerns about slowing growth in the world’s second-biggest economy, com-ing just days after poor trade data.

But Yao shrugged off concerns about a possible ‘hard landing’ in Chi-na, saying growth was still underpinned by more resilient services and con-sumption. “China’s economy is in good shape. I’m very confident full-year growth will reach 7 percent,” he said.

—Reuters

WEEKEND IN BUSINESS

Nigeria has uncovered a spy cell run by militant Islamist group Boko Haram at the international airport in the capital Abuja apparently aimed at selecting targets for attack, the country’s national security agency said.

In a statement late on Friday, the Department of State Services (DSS) said it discovered the ring on Mon-day and was working with aviation authorities to pre-empt any attack.

President Muhammadu Buhari has made halting Boko Haram’s six-year-old insurgency a priority, but a

Reuters tally shows the jihadist group has killed more than 700 peo-ple in Nigeria in bomb attacks and shootings since he came to office on May 29.

The DSS said it had arrested a 14-year-old boy who said he had been instructed to spy on the air-port’s security procedures, including passenger screening and boarding processes, and report what he had learned.

It said the man who directed the boy had not been located.

“The service, in liaison with the aviation security of Nnamdi Azikiwe International Airport, Abuja, dis-

US-Israel ties will improve after Iran deal is in place, says Obama

Nigeria uncovers Boko Haram spy ring at airport

quently spouts anti-American and anti-Israeli rhetoric.

“It is precisely because we’re not counting on the nature of the regime to change that it’s so important for us to make sure they don’t have a nucle-ar weapon,” he said. Friday’s webcast was hosted by the Conference of Presidents of Major American Jewish Organisations and The Jewish Feder-ations of North America. Organisers said thousands of people participat-ed and questions submitted online were selected by the moderators.

Israel Prime Minister Benjamin

President Barack Obama is com-paring tensions between the US and Israel over the Iranian nuclear deal to a family feud and says he expects quick improvements in ties between the longtime allies once the accord is implemented.

“Like all families, sometimes there are going to be disagreements,” Obama said Friday in a webcast with Jewish Americans. “And sometimes people get angrier about disagree-ments in families than with folks that aren’t family.”

The president’s comments came as momentum for the nuclear accord grew on Capitol Hill, where lawmakers will vote next month on a resolution to disapprove of the deal. Sen. Tom Carp-er, D-Del., became the 30th senator to publicly back the agreement, saying Friday that it was a good deal for Amer-ica and for allies like Israel.

If Senate Democrats can amass 41 votes in favor of the deal, they could block passage of the disapproval res-olution. Obama has vowed to veto the resolution if it passes, and Dem-ocrats could hold off Republican ef-forts to override his veto if they get 34 votes — just four more than they have now.

The looming congressional con-frontation has sparked a summer of intense debate between supporters and opponents of the nuclear accord. The deliberations have also divided Jewish Americans, with leaders of

Threats: N Korea has declared its troops are in full war readiness to go to battle if Seoul doesn’t back down

President Barack Obama expects quick improvements in ties between longtime allies the US and Israel once the accord is implemented. [PHOTO: AP]

Briefly

WASHINGTON, SATURDAY

ABUJA, REUTERS

Like all families, sometimes there are going to be disagreements — President Barack Obama

many organisations expressing con-cern about long-term damage to the community. The president encour-aged skeptics of the agreement to “overcome the emotions” that have infused the debate and evaluate the accord based on facts. “I would sug-gest that in terms of the tone of this debate everybody keep in mind that we’re all pro-Israel,” he said. “We have to make sure that we don’t im-pugn people’s motives.”

While Obama was measured in his remarks Friday, he has spoken passionately about the nuclear ac-cord in the past, accusing those who oppose the deal of supporting war over diplomacy. Earlier Friday, his spokesman equated an anti-deal ral-ly Republican presidential candi-dates Donald Trump and Sen. Ted Cruz plan to hold next month to a “pro-war rally.”

Obama also infuriated congres-sional Republicans earlier this month when he compared opponents of the agreement to Iranian hardliners who chant “Death to America” in the streets of Tehran. Don Stewart, a spokesman for Senate Majority Lead-er Mitch McConnell, R-Ky, said Fri-day that Republicans were still wait-ing for the president to retract that assertion.

The US negotiated alongside Brit-ain, France, Germany, Russia and Chi-na for nearly two years before finalising a landmark accord to curb Iran’s nucle-ar program in exchange for billions of dollars in sanctions relief.

As he has in previous speeches and interviews, Obama sought to re-fute criticism of the accord point by point. He disputed the notion that Iran would funnel the bulk of the money it receives from the sanctions relief into terrorism, saying Iranian leaders are more likely to try to bol-ster their weak economy. He also said the agreement wasn’t built on trust-ing Iran’s Government, which fre-

BEIJING: Seven workers were killed and two injured after exposure to poisonous gasses at a paper mill in central China, authorities said Saturday, in the latest in a spate of deadly accidents to strike the country involving dangerous chemicals. The accident occurred Friday after an employee fell into a pool filled with poisonous waste paper pulp during a cleaning operation, a statement from the Anxiang county government in Hunan province said. His co-workers rushed to help him but were overcome by the noxious gasses, the statement said. It follows China’s worst industrial accident in recent history, a massive explosion at a warehouse in the port of Tianjin that killed at least 145. (AP)

Egypt says verdict expected in Al-Jazeera case

7 killed, 2 injured in poison exposure at mill

IN THE NEWSFrench journalists ‘blackmailed King of Morocco’P.34

WorldNEWS OF THEBlogs, archives, reader

forums and more: www.standardmedia.co.ke

August 30 2015 Standard On SUndaY

Netanyahu, one of the fiercest critics of the nuclear agreement, took part in a similar webcast hosted by the same organisations earlier this month. While Obama and Netanyahu have never had a warm relationship, the US president’s pursuit of diplo-macy with Iran has deeply strained ties between the leaders.

Obama said once the nuclear ac-cord is implemented, he expects “pretty quick” improvements in US-Israeli relations.

— AP

rupted a spying network mounted by the Boko Haram terrorists,” DSS spokesman Tony Opuiyo said in the statement.

“The service is working closely with major aviation stakeholders, es-pecially the Aviation Security De-partment, to forestall any possible attack and to ensure adequate secu-rity at the airports.”

Boko Haram, whose insurgency mainly focuses on the northeast, has carried out some attacks in Abuja in-cluding the bombing of the UN headquarters in the city four years ago, which killed 23 people.

The insurgents have waged a

bloody campaign to create a state adhering to strict Islamic law in the northeast of Africa’s most populous state that has left thousands dead and forced around 1.5 million people to flee their homes since 2009.

Boko Haram scattered earlier this tear after an army counter-offensive ousted it from most of the territory it had gained.

But the jihadists have since re-turned to a strategy of selective at-tacks in which they have bombed or fired on targets in public places such as markets and places of worship.

— Reuters

CAIRO: Egypt’s state news agency is reporting that a verdict is expected soon in the case of three Al-Jazeera English journalists. MENA reported the verdict was to be issued Saturday in the long-running trial criticised worldwide by press freedom advocates and human rights activists. The three Al-Jazeera journalists — Canadian national Mohammed Fahmy, Australian journalist Peter Greste and Egyptian producer Baher Mohammed — were detained in December 2013 while working for the Doha-based network. (AP)

BEIRUT, SATURDAY: A ceasefire in a Syrian town near the Lebanese border and in two villages to the north has broken down after renewed heavy shelling, the Syrian Observatory for Human Rights monitoring group said on Saturday. The truce between the Syrian army and the Lebanese group Hezbollah on the one side, and Syrian insurgents on the other, came into effect on Thursday in the western town of Zabadani and the Shi’ite Muslim villages of Kefraya and al-Foua in the northwest. Local ceasefires in Syria’s four-year conflict have tended to be fragile, and UN attempts to forge larger truces in other parts of the country. (Reuters)

Syrian ceasefires break down as shelling resumes

PARIS: Calls for tighter security on the railways are to be discussed by European ministers and officials, following the foiled attack on a high-speed Amsterdam-Paris train last week. Passengers overpowered a heavily armed man and pinned him to the floor. French prosecutors have filed charges against Ayoub El-Khazzani, 25. UK Home Secretary Theresa May is among those attending the talks in Paris. France is understood to want tighter security measures. (BBC)

France attack: Talks in Paris to debate security

MIAMI: Tropical Storm Erika was soaking Haiti with heavy rain and strong winds on Friday as it swirled across the Caribbean but showed signs of losing steam as it headed toward south Florida, the US National Hurricane Centre said. Twenty people were confirmed dead on the island of Dominica, Prime Minister Roosevelt Skerrit said in an address carried on television and online late Friday. Rescuers were still searching for others reported missing. (Reuters)

20 dead as storm loses strength near Florida

/ NEWS OF THE WORLD Sunday, August 30, 2015 / The Standard

The UN has said “much more is required” to prevent the deaths of migrants fleeing to Europe after hundreds were re-ported dead in recent days.

Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon called for a “collective political response” to avert “a crisis of solidarity”.

He called on states involved to “expand safe and legal chan-nels of migration”.

On Thursday 71 people, thought to be Syrians, were found dead in a lorry in Austria. Some 200 others are feared dead after two boats sank off Libya.

Ban said he was “horrified and heartbroken” at the latest loss of life.

“A large majority of people undertaking these arduous and dangerous journeys are refu-gees fleeing from places such as

Syria, Iraq and Afghanistan,” he said. “The international com-munity must also show greater determination in resolving conflicts and other problems that leave people little choice but to flee,” he added.

Ban called on nations to observe international law on asylum requests, and not to “force people to return to places from which they have fled if there is a well-founded fear of persecution... This is not only a matter of interna-tional law; it is also our duty as human beings.”

He said: “This is a human tragedy that requires a deter-mined collective political re-sponse. It is a crisis of solidarity, not a crisis of numbers.”

Ban also urged more action against people smugglers, a call echoed by White House spokes-man Josh Earnest.

“The violence and instabili-

ty in North Africa and the Mid-dle East isn’t just destabilising the immediate region but is starting to have a destabilising impact on other regions of the world too, including in Eu-rope,” Earnest said.

Some 200 people are feared to have drowned after two boats capsized on Thursday as they tried to cross from Zuwara, west of Tripoli in Libya, to Italy.

About 100 bodies have al-ready been found and Libyan workers are continuing to search for 100 other people who are still unaccounted for.

Some survivors were res-cued having spent the night in the water, clinging to life jack-ets.

While most of the victims of Thursday’s capsizes are thought to be from Syria and African countries, a Bangladeshi diplo-mat told the BBC that at least five Bangladeshi nationals, in-

cluding a six-month-old baby, were among the dead.

Police in Italy detained 10 suspected traffickers after a separate incident in which 52 people were found dead in the hold of a ship off the coast of Libya on Wednesday.

Meanwhile, Hungarian po-lice said they had arrested four people over the discovery of the bodies of 71 migrants, thought to be Syrians, in an abandoned lorry in Austria, near the Hun-garian border.

The victims were 59 men, eight women and four children who are thought to have been dead for about two days.

Officials said the victims probably died after suffocating in the vehicle, before it crossed into Austria from Hungary. Among the victims was a girl aged between one and two years old.

— BBC

NEW YORK, SATURDAYThe UN Security Council has

warned the warring sides in South Sudan they face an arms embargo and other sanctions if they do not implement a peace deal due to come into force on Saturday.

In a unanimous statement, the council called on both par-ties “to adhere to the permanent ceasefire immediately”. Presi-dent Salva Kiir signed the agree-ment on Wednesday but ex-pressed reservations about it.Rebel leader Riek Machar signed the deal a week earlier. At

least seven previous ceasefires have been agreed and then shat-tered within days or even hours.

Under the agreement, the rebels will be given the post of first vice-president, a position Machar held until 2013 when he was dismissed by President Kiir.

The Security Council ex-pressed its “readiness to consid-er appropriate measures” if the deal was not implemented, in-cluding “an arms embargo and additional targeted sanctions”.

The statement also expressed concern “with any statement by any party suggesting a lack of

Defying authorities, tens of thousands of Malaysians wearing yellow T-shirts and blowing horns gathered Saturday in Kuala Lumpur for a major rally to demand the resignation of embattled Prime Minister Najib Razak. The crowds were undeterred by heavy police presence after authorities declared the rally illegal, blocked the organiser’s website and banned yellow attire and the logo of Bersih, the coalition for clean and fair elections that’s behind the weekend rallies. Najib has been fighting for political survival after leaked documents in July showed he received some $700 million in his private accounts from entities linked to indebted state fund 1MDB. He later said the money was a donation from the Middle East, fired his critical deputy and four other Cabinet members as well as the attorney general investigating him. Protesters in yellow Bersih T-shirts and headbands converged at five different locations and were marching to areas surrounding the Independence Square, where celebrations to mark Malaysia’s 58th National Day will be held Monday. — AP

Two French reporters have been arrested and accused of attempting to blackmail the king of Mo-rocco, lawyers say. Eric Laurent and Catherine Graciet, who are writing a book on King Mohammed VI (inset), were reportedly detained after being handed cash by a Moroc-can official. A lawyer for the Moroccan Government told France’s RTL radio that Laurent contacted the royal pal-ace in July to demand €3 million (£2.2m; $3.4m).

Laurent allegedly warned the palace about damaging revelations in the book. The publishing company Edi-tions du Seuil confirmed that the pair, who have already written one book about the Moroccan monarch, were working on a second volume due for publication early next year. Moroccan website Le360.ma, which has close ties to the palace, reported details of how Moroccan rep-resentatives held two meetings with Laurent that were monitored by police. The journalists were then arrested after leaving a restaurant with an alleged down payment, the report said. Moroccan law prohibits criticising the king, with a possible penalty of up to five years in prison for anyone who does so. — BBC

UN top council now warns South Sudan rivals of tough sanctions

Tens of thousands rally in Malaysia, demand Najib

French journalists ‘blackmailed king of Morocco’

Migrant deaths: UN chief warns of ‘crisis of solidarity’

Bringing order: Ban says “collective political response” to avert catastrophe is needed

NEW YORK

South Sudan President Salva Kiir (C) signs a peace agreement in the capital Juba, on Wednesday [PHOTO: AFP]

commitment to implement the agreement”.

On Wednesday, the US wel-comed the deal but said it did not “recognise any reservations” that President Kiir had highlight-ed at the signing ceremony.

Fighting between forces loyal to the two men over the past 20

months has left tens of thou-sands of people dead and forced more than 2.2 million from their homes.

The leaders of Kenya, Uganda and Ethiopia all helped to broker the agreement and witnessed the signing in South Sudan’s cap-ital Juba. — BBC

LADIESCONVENTION

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Celebration of a life Well livedWe announce the promotion to glory of Margaret Wambui Gathekia,Wife to the late Gathekia Ndegwa from Ting’ang’a, Co- wife to Peninah and Wanjiru Gathekia. Mother to Teresiah Njoki Nderitu, Hannah Muthoni and Felister wanjiru Kamau Mother in law to Peter Nderitu Kahara and H.N. Kamau (Fanikiwa). Grandmother to Wambui, Gathekia, Wairimu, Wothaya, Macharia and Njoki among others. Family relatives and friends are meeting daily at Fanikiwa’s residence Gathanga and Hannah Muthoni’s home in Ting’ang’a. The cortege leaves Nazareth hospital on 1/9/2015 at 9am for a funeral service at Thaara Catholic church Ting’ang’a from 11am. Thereafter she will be laid to rest at her farm in Ting’ang’a.

“......and after my skin has been thus destroyed,yet in my flesh I shall see God” Job 19:25

Margaret Wambui Gathekia

Celebration of a life Well livedIt is with deep sorrow that we announce the death of Francis Onsase Manengo, formerly of The Carnivore Restaurant, Nairobi, which occurred on Sunday August 23 at Kenyatta National Hospital.

Son of the late Andrew Manengo and Magoma Manengo. Beloved husband of Mellen Kwamboka Onsase. Father of Fenta Nyanchoka, Danford Okindo, Moreen Nyaburi and Arnest Manengo. Brother of Thomas Ombongi, Elizabeth Kerubo, Anthony Ong’ong’o, Polycarp Matara and Beatrice Bosibori. Son in law of late Patrick Okindo Momanyi and late Hellen Kemunto Okindo of Bogusero Ingege. Cousin of Samuel Bundi, late Wilfred Miyungu, late Turkana Ouru, James Nyamweya, Lucas Omanga and late Joseph Mayora. Uncle to Henry Mochama, Jared Momanyi, Mwalimu Miyungu, Jevans Nyabiage and others.

Friends and relatives are meeting daily at his home, Fort Jesus, Kibera and Skyvilla Club, opposite Equity Bank, Kibera. Main fundraising will be held on Tuesday 1/9/2015 at Garden Square, Nairobi from 5pm.The cortege leaves Chiromo Mortuary on Thursday 3/9/ 2015 at 8am and burial will take place at his rural home Boroko, Bomariba, Suneka Division, Kisii County.

May God rest his soul in eternal peace.

Francis Onsase Manengo

9th March 1956 - 23rd August 2015

SPY cheating partner 0788404275

PUBLIC NOTICEPHYSICAL PLANNING ACT,

CAP 286CHANGE OF USER

The registered owner of the plot LR No. 6039 Kiambaa/ Kihara located at Gachie, proposes to change its use from Agriculture to Residential-multidwelling subject to approval by the Kiambaa Sub County. Any individuals, institutions, organizations or member of the public with comments or objections to the proposal should forward them in writing within fourteen (14) days of this notice to:

The AdministratorKiambaa Sub CountyP.O Box 2344-00900

Kiambu.

Sirgoi House 2nd floor next to JKUAT and opposite

Juma Hajee Arcade on Oginga Odinga StreetP.O. Box 320-30100 Eldoret.

L1/PROPERTIES FOR SALE

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No one’s death comes to pass without making some impression, and those close to the deceased inherit part of the liberated soul and become richer in their humanness.

- Hermann Broch

Though nothing can bring back the hour of splendor in the grass,

of glory in the flower, we will grieve not, rather find strength in what

remains behind.

~William Wordsworth

Celebration Of A Great Educationist

Johnstone Nyongesa Namulala

1927-26/08/2015

It is with humble acceptance of God’s will that we announce the passing on of Johnstone Nyongesa Namulala, Retired Education Officer which occurred on 26th August 2015He was the third born child of the late Namulala Wanjala and the late Sarah Khwaka beloved husband to Susana Lusike Nyongesa and Florence Nyongesa. He will forever be remembered by his devoted Children Margaret, Jonathan, Loice, Eliud, Peter, Nathan, Robert, Vivian, the Sarahs, Geoffrey, Carol, Ann, Pauline, Jimmy, Norah. Treasured by grandchildren, great grandchildren, caring in-laws, countless friends, relatives and families who were blessed to know him.

Friends and family will be meeting at Railways club Nairobi, Kokeb Restaurant In Nakuru, Kitale, Kaptanai and his home in Kolani.

Burial will be on the 5th September 2015 his home in Kolani village, Chwele Bungoma County.

In God’s arms you rest,in our hearts you remain forever.The righteous shall be in everlasting remembrance.

PSALMS 112:6

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FeverPitchSunday, August 30, 2015

5 Pages of Sizzling Sports Coverage!

Blogs, archives, reader forums and more:

www.standardmedia.co.ke/feverpitch

FeverBriefs

Football Kenya Federation delegates relaxed eligibility rules for candidates contesting for top positions in this year’s elections. The move will now allow retired referees, coaches and former players to vie for the top positions.On the matter, delegates agreed to adopt Fifa’s provision which says in article 24 that a candidate for the office of the President shall have played an active role in Association Football (eg as a player or an official within Fifa, a Confederation, Association, for two of the last five years before being proposed as a candidate for President). Those who have been actively involved as officials or as a player for the last two years will be eligible to contest.Sam Nyamweya, the FKF president also confirmed that a proposal requiring candidates for the President and Vice President be chairman of a top league side was adopted. “We have opened it up to former players, referees and coaches but retain the requirement for those contesting for the top positions to still be chairmen of either a KPL or an FKF PL club,” he said.The delegates rejected the proposal to appoint Kenya Rugby Union chair Richard Omwela to chair an electoral board that is supposed to supervise the elections. Also rejected was the name of Moni Wekesa.The meeting instead appointed a task force that will ensure the electoral code is adhered to. The FKF’s financial statement was also adopted but with reservations and a task force made up of George Odhiambo (KCB), Joseph Andere (Agro Chemicals) and South Rift chair David Burnei appointed to look at the contentious issues in it.

FKF POLL: Ex-players, refs, coaches can contest

Chemelil upset ‘Ingwe’, Bandari fall to champs and Stima shine

Abouba Sibamana (right) of Gor Mahia FC controls the ball against Shaban Kenga (left) of Bandari FC in their Kenyan Premier League match at the Mombasa City Stadium, yesterday. [PHOTO: GIDEON MAUNDU/STANDARD]

AFC HIT AS GOR SOAR

Godfrey Walusimbi scored twice as Gor Mahia, the runaway leaders of Kenyan Premier League improved their unassailable lead and unbeaten record by beating Bandari 2-1 in a tough match at the Mombasa County Stadium.

Unless miracles happen, Gor Mahia have “mathematically” won the league for the third year running as they only need one win from the remaining six assignments.

Despite parading his best arsenal, Bandari’s coach Twahir Muhiddin side lacked the confidence of beating the defending champions from the word go.

Playing without the on-form Mi-chael Olunga who is in South Africa for trials with Bid Vest Wits, Gor Mahia played like true champions, swinging the ball in all departments to dominate the proceedings.

Enock Agwanda, who took Olunga’s role, could have put Gor ahead in the fourth minutes, but blasted his shot wide. Bandari’s task to contain Gor’s marauding strikers looked tougher with Meddie Kagere, Agwanda and Godfrey Walusimbi greeting custodian Wilson Oburu time and again.

Walusimbi set the stadium into prolonged celebrations in the 24th minute when he made a solo effort to convincingly struck a neat volley, which Oburu failed to hold as it rolled into the net as the 2015 Cecafa Club Championship finalists took a 1-0 lead at half time.

Bandari replied in the 62nd minute through a penalty after Haroun Shakava handled the ball in the box. Anthony Kimani stepped forward and put the scores at par.

Walusimbi was the man-of-the-match after he tucked home the win-ning goal in the 71st minute off Ag-wanda’s pass.

Meanwhile, Meshack Karani struck a brace as a resurgent Chemelil Sugar beat AFC Leopards 2-1 in a KPL match at the City Stadium yesterday.

Karani capitalised on Martin Kizza’s defensive error to put the visitors ahead in the 17th minute. The former Mathare United man snatched the ball from the Ugandan, shrugged off Eric Masika’s challenge before slotting the ball past Lucas Indeche.

Head coaches for both sides Zdravko Logarusic (AFC) and Mike Mururi (Chemelil) were missing on the bench with assistant Ezekiel Akwana (AFC) and Chemelil interim coach Hil-lary Ouma guiding their clubs.

Leopards Ivorian Laminne Diallo missed a precious scoring chance from Michael Khamati’s pass which he headed wide a few minutes later in the second minute.

And just after the break, Karani doubled the lead from Joshua Ayoo’s corner kick in the 55th minute. This came moments after Khamati com-bined well with Diallo, but the former fluffed his chance and Diallo had been denied by the Millers’ custodian Jairus Adira on a one on one situation.

In the 65th minute, Bernard

By ErnESt ndunda

Mang’oli had a chance to pull a goal back for the struggling Leopards but his efforts went over the bar before Indeche came off his line to save Oyoo’s cross.

However, after numerous raids, Leopards efforts paid off thanks to substitute Duncan Otieno’s 70th minute goal.

Meanwhile, Wesley Kemboi and Baron Jobita scored a goal each as Western Stima stunned Nairobi City Stars 2-1 at the Nyayo National Sta-dium on Friday night.

In an earlier match at the same venue, Tusker shared the spoils with Ushuru after the clash ended in a

barren draw.In Nakuru, visiting Thika United

beat Nakuru All Stars to collected three vital points in a KPL match at Afraha Stadium yesterday.

Eight minutes after the kick-off, Thika United grabbed the match opener through striker Kennedy Otieno whose fierce shot beat All Stars custodian Shaban Odhonji all the way.

But, All Stars forward John Ndirangu cancelled the lead in the 23rd minute. The visitors piled on pressure with Joseph Kuria scoring the winning goal two minutes into the second half.

RESULTS:

BANDARI 1 GOR MAHIA 2 AFC LEOPARDS 1 CHEMELIL 2CITY STARS 1 WESTERN STIMA 2 TUSKER 0 USHURU 0NKR ALL STARS 1 THIKA UNITED 2

FEVER PITCH / Sunday, August 30, 2015 / The Standard

HARD-EARNED WINArsenal had to work hard to find

a way past 10-man Newcastle as a second-half own goal from Fabricio Coloccini secured a narrow 1-0 Pre-mier League victory yesterday.

Arsene Wenger’s side maintained their 100 per cent away record but struggled to make the most of their 74-minute numerical advantage fol-lowing an early red card for Newcas-tle striker Aleksandar Mitrovic at St James’ Park.

They finally broke the deadlock when an angled drive from Alex Ox-lade-Chamberlain deflected in off Coloccini seven minutes after the re-start to secure a second win of the season for the north London club going into the international break.

The hosts remain without a

By THE SQUIRREL

Maasai King’s new habitat is with Joe Karari. Could be the dawning of a different horse, especially if he is returned to sprinting - already stamped as his forte. Would not rec-ommend him for the Caliph Handi-cap this afternoon, as Military Song, Twilight Hour, and, Manzhouli, should stitch this race between them.

Sounds like Lesley Sercombe will be re-appearing in the near future as a jockey/assistant trainer. Richard Kibet has been a marvelous repre-sentative for the stable in Lesley’s ab-sence. Kibet has Electric Ruler, Blue Arrow, Needsumluck, Cherry Bay, and, Bwana Simba, as fortification to find at least one winning post.

In the Tankard Trophy, Barbados is on a roll upwards. But, a canyon of River King, Ari G, and, King of Bur-ma, can prevent further escalation if Barbados is not astute. The card is definitely full of either or’s.

Horses that were bought at Sales in South Africa this month, are ex-pected to arrive early October, pend-ing formalities.

Jose Mourinho suffered only his second defeat in his 100th home league game in charge of Chelsea as Crystal Palace claimed a shock win at Stamford Bridge.

After a goalless first half in which Chelsea dominated possession, Pal-ace took the lead when Bakary Sako drove in after Yannick Bolasie’s low cross.

Chelsea responded when substi-tute Radamel Falcao headed in his first goal for the club. Palace regained the lead immediate-ly as Joel Ward stabbed in a late win-ner.

Chelsea, the reigning Premier League champions, are now eight points behind leaders Manchester City after four games.

They have been far from convinc-ing so far this season having collect-ed just four points, with just one of those picked up on home soil.

Arsenal’s French striker Olivier Giroud (left) vies with Newcastle United’s Spanish striker Ayoze Perez during the English Premier League match at St James’ Park in Newcastle-upon-Tyne, north east England, yesterday. Arsenal won the game 1-0. [PHOTO: AFP]

Coloccini own goal helps Arsenal shatter spirited Newcastle United

LONDON

LONDON

12.30 PM: FIRST RACE - The Caliph Handicap: Distance 1,200m. A handicap for three year olds and over rated 30 and below at closing.1 (5-7-1) Military Song (D. Miri) 60.0 4 2 (1-8-2) Manzhouli (P. Mungai) 57.0 2 3 (1-3-3) Twilight Hour (R. Kibet) 54.0 5 4 (5-8-w) Baba Mustafa (D. Tanui) 52.0 H1 5 (9-5-5) Maasai King (J. Lokorian) 52.0 3 FORM GUIDE: Manzhouli (3/2) Military Song (SAF) (3/1) Twilight Hour (4/1) Baba Mustafa (6/1) Maasai King (8/1)

1.05 PM: SECOND RACE - The No Trumps Handicap: Distance 1,200m. A handicap for three year olds and over rated 17 and below at closing. Unrated maidens will be eligible and will be handicapped 4kg less than thetop weight.1 (4-6-5) Joie d’Vivre (K. Mbugua) 60.0 H5 2 (3-w-4) William Tell (J. Muhindi) 59.0 1 3 (1-4-5) Cherry Bay (R. Kibet) 58.0 6 4 (9-6-4) Espionage (D. Tanui) 57.0 3 5 (4-4-10) Royal Silk (P. Mungai) 57.0 4 6 (5-7-5) Drumlargan (D. Miri) 56.0 2 FORM GUIDE: William Tell (3/1) Joie D’vivre (7/2) Espionage (4/1) Cherry Bay (SAF) (9/2) Drumlargan (6/1) Royal Silk (SAF) (8/1)

1.40 PM: THIRD RACE - The Corinthian Handicap: Distance 1,600m. A handicap for three year olds and over rated 19

and below at closing.Unrated maidens will be eligible and will be handicapped 6kg less than the top weight.1 10-5-3) Doubloon (D. Kiprotich) 58.0 5 2 (6-14-3) Wesasha (J. Kultiang) 58.0 1 3 (6-1-11) Golden Cloud (M. Mburu) 56.0 6 4 (2-1-3) Hebrews (P. Lesengei) 56.0 3 5 (5-3-1) Electric Ruler (R. Kibet) 55.0 4 6 (2-2-4) War Horse (M. Kariuki) 55.0 2 FORM GUIDE: Electric Ruler (SAF) (2/1) Hebrews (Zim) (5/2) War Horse (3/1) Doubloon (5/1) Wesasha (SAF) (8/1) Golden Cloud (20/1)

2.15 PM: FOURTH RACE - The Tankard Trophy: Distance 2,400m. An open handicap race for three year olds and over.1 (4-5-2) Spring Run (K. Nganga) 64.0 6 2 (3-3-2) River King (J. Muhindi) 57.0 4 3 (2-6-2) King of Burma (P. Kiarie) 51.0 3 4 (6-2-1) Ari G (P. Lesengei) 50.0 2 5 (1-1-1) Barbados (L. Karanja) 50.0 5 6 (2-3-6) Rifle Range (J. Lokorian) 50.0 1FORM GUIDE: Barbados (SAF) (3/2) King Of Burma (SAF) (3/1) River King (4/1) Ari G (6/1) Rifle Range (12/1) Spring Run (20/1)

2.50 PM: FIFTH RACE - The Tenderfoot Handicap: Distance 2,060m. A handicap for three year olds and over rated 15

and below at closing.Unrated maidens will be eligible and will be handicapped 2kg less thanthe top weight.1 (3-1-2) Needsumluck ( R. Kibet) 60.0 7 2 (2-4-3) Royal Glint (P. Mungai) 59.0 H 1 3 (5-1-2) Burnt Ivory (M. Mburu) 54.0 H 6 4 (4-5-4) Red Empress (J. Muhindi) 53.0 2 5 (3-4-2) Dragonara (D. Tanui) 52.0 H 3 6 (7-4-6) A N Dangerous (L. Karanja) 50.0 H 8 7 (9-2-3) Kijana (J. Lokorian) 50.0 H 4 8 (4-w-4) Rikki Tikki Tavi (P. Lesengei) 50.0 9 9 (5-4-2) Try To Catch Me (P. Kiarie) 50.0 H5FORM GUIDE: Burnt Ivory (4/1) Red Empress (SAF) (4/1) Need-sumluck (5/1) Dragonara (5/1) Kijana (6/1) Try To Catch Me (Zim) (8/1) Royal Glint (10/1) Rikki Tikki Tavi (12/1) Armed N Dangerous (20/1)

3.25 PM: SIXTH RACE - The Bess Maiden: Distance 1,600m. A maiden race for three year olds and over at starting. To carry 58.5kg. Mares and fillies 57kg. First time starters and three year olds allowed 2kg.1 (w-3-3) Bay Express (M. Kariuki) 57.0 5 2 (3-7-6) Milly Million (M. Mburu) 57.0 H 7 3 (2-3-5) Takeachance (P. Kiarie) 56.5 1 0 4 (4-2) Blue Arrow (R. Kibet) 55.0 8 5 (9-2-2) Caitlin (J. Muhindi) 55.0 9 6 (w-4-3) Field Cat (J. Lokorian) 55.0 3

7 (6-7) Frisco (D. Tanui) 55.0 1 8 (4) Lets Dance (J. Kultiang) 55.0 4 9 (5-w-w) Olympic Gold (D. Kiprotich) 55.0 1 1 10 (8) Queen’s House (D. Miri) 55.0 2 11 (-) Black Pepper (P. Mungai) 54.5 6 FORM GUIDE: Blue Arrow (4/1) Bay Express (4/1) Caitlin (5/1) Takeachance (6/1) Lets Dance (SAF) (8/1) Milly Million (SAF) (9/1) Field Cat (10/1) Frisco (12/1) Black Pepper (20/1) Queen’s House (25/1) Olympic Gold (50/1)

4.05PM: SEVENTH RACE - The Scout Handicap: Distance 1,000m. A handicap for three year olds and over rated 10 and below at closing.Unrated maidens will be eligible and will be handicapped level with the top weight. 1 (w-1-4) Bwana Simba (R. Kibet) 58.0 1 2 (1-4-w) Simply Ravishing (P. Ngugi) 57.0 4 3 (w-7-4) Wildest Dream (P. Mungai) 56.0 3 4 (3-9-6) Jabal Aswad (M. Kariuki) 55.0 5 5 (5-2-1) Pelican Street (D. Tanui) 55.0 H 7 6 (8-9-6) Sand Island (J. Lokorian) 54.0 2 7 (2-7-5) Murrayfield (P. Kiarie) 51.0 H 6 8 (4-4-4) Belo Horizonte (L. Karanja) 50.0 8FORM GUIDE: Pelican Street (5/2) Bwana Simba (3/1) Simply Ravishing (5/1) Belo Horizonte (SAF) (6/1) Murrayfield (8/1) Jabal Aswad (10/1) Wildest Dream (16/1) Sand Island (20/1)

RACE CARD

league win so far, leaving them on two points from their opening four games as they succumbed to an eighth consecutive defeat to Wenger’s men.

Even in defeat, Steve McClaren’s team emerged with credit for a dogged rearguard display fuelled by a sense of injustice following what they felt was a harsh sending-off for their Serbian international.

In only his second Premier League start since a $21.5 million move from Belgian side Anderlecht, Mitrovic was ordered off for a

16th-minute challenge on Arsenal midfielder Francis Coquelin, whose overly-dramatic reaction appeared to play a part in referee Andre Marri-ner’s decision to brandish a straight red card.

It was a clumsy attempt to win the ball, seemingly worthy of a yellow card. But having been booked on two previous occasions this season shortly after coming on as a substi-tute, the 20-year-old’s reputation ap-pears to have gone before him in a contest that saw McClaren’s side pick up six other cautions.

Arsenal, who saw Mesut Ozil (knee) join fellow-German interna-tional Per Mertesacker (chest infec-tion) on the sidelines, should have made their numerical superiority pay before half-time.

Theo Walcott, however, was guilty of a glaring miss, spooning the re-bound over the bar from close range after Tim Krul beat out an Alexis San-chez shot from distance into the path of the England forward, who should have scored as he followed up inside the six-yard box.

Arsenal’s territorial dominance had already seen their strong penal-ty appeals go unanswered, when Newcastle midfielder Florian Thau-vin barged into Hector Bellerin in the area to bring an abrupt halt to a 20-pass move from the visitors.

— AFP

Ambiguous card for Punters to appreciate

Chelsea and Liverpool stunned

SELECTIONS

12.30 PM TWILIGHT HOUR, Manzhouli1.05 PM WILIAM TELL, Cherry Bay1.40 PM ELECTRIC RULER, Hebrews2.15 PM BARBADOS, River King2.50 PM DRAGONARA, Red Empress3.25 PM BLUE ARROW, Let’s Dance4.05 PM PELICAN STREET, Bwana Simba

EPLRESULTS

Newcastle 0–1 ArsenalAston Villa 2–2 SunderlandBournemouth 1–1 LeicesterChelsea 1–2 Crystal PalaceLiverpool 0-3 West HamMan City 2–0 WatfordStoke 0–1 West Brom

/ FEVER PITCH Sunday, August 30, 2015 / The Standard

SUM FORCED TO SETTLE FOR BRONZE

Usain Bolt secured a sweep of the sprint golds at the world championships for the third time when he helped Jamai-ca’s relay team to a fourth successive 4x100m title yesterday.

The 29-year-old, who had already won the 100 and 200m events, ran the

anchor leg as the Jamaicans took gold in 37.36 seconds at the Bird’s Nest Stadium.

The United States team featuring Jus-tin Gatlin, who won silver behind Bolt in both individual sprints, botched their fi-nal handover but crossed the line second in 37.77 with the bronze going to hosts

China in 38.01.It was a record-extending 11th world

gold for Bolt, who also won three sprint titles at the 2009 and 2013 world cham-pionships. His team mates Nesta Carter, Asafa Powell and Nickel Ashmeade helped extend Jamaica’s dominance of the sprint relay to a sixth straight major global championships, including the last two Olympics.

At the same time, Jamaican women, anchored by Shelly-Ann Fraser-Pryce, clocked the second fastest time in his-tory to retain their 4x100m relay title at the world championships.

Veronica Campbell-Brown, Natasha Morrison and 200m silver medallist Elaine Thompson ensured Fraser-Pryce had a good lead when she took the baton and the 100m champion stormed across

Bolt secures third world sprint sweep as Jamaica win 4x100m relays

SELECTED RESULTS

BEIJING

2015 IAAF World ChampionshipsAUG 22 -30


Kenya’s defending champion Euince Sum ended up having to settle for the bronze medal on this occasion after a tense and enthralling three-way battle down to home straight as Marina Arzamasova re-turned the world 800m title to Europe yes-terday.

Sum came to Beijing after a six-race un-beaten streak this season, but she was beat-en in her semi-final race, showing signs of vulnerability, when Canada’s Pan American Games champion Melissa Bishop and the 2014 European champion from Belarus out-sprinted her on the homestretch.

However, in the final, the Kenyan chose to follow a similar race pattern, leading from the gun, and perhaps it proved her undoing. The only thing she did differently was start-ing a little more conservatively, at 59.1sec over the first 400m versus 57.4 two days ago as she, probably, tried to conserve more en-ergy for her finishing kick this time.

However, at this pace, her rivals had no problem staying with Sum. Morocco’s Ra-babe Arafi was a few metres behind the pack for the half of the first lap, but quickly moved back up, joining the rest of the final-ists in contention for the medals.

In the meantime, Sum stayed in the lead, and slightly picked up the pace after the bell, but Arzamasova, Bishop and France’s Renelle Lamote stayed on her shoulder, al-most exactly like in her troublesome semi-final heat.

The key events in the race unfolded on the last bend, as the Belorussian power-fully moved forward and overtook the lead.

Most importantly, after making her move on the outside of Sum, Arzamasova managed to cross to the inside, quickly and safely, without risking on getting herself in-to a collision.

Sum had no space in front of her to quickly respond to Arzamasova’s move, and tried to go wide, but this only opened the inside to Melissa Bishop, who had plenty of energy for the finishing spurt.

In her desperate dash to the finish line, Sum could not match her rivals’ pace and finished third in 1:58.18.

The resemblance to the semi-final race, however, was not complete, as Arzamasova was in charge, clocking 1:58.03 for the win, while Melissa Bishop finished second in 1:58.12 after clocking the fastest second lap in the race at 58.73.

The Belorussian added the world title to her European title and the world indoor championships bronze medal from 2014, while for Bishop this silver is her first suc-cess on a global stage.

Both Arzamasova and Bishop won the first ever world championships medals in the 800m for their respective countries.

—IAAF

Marina Arzamasova of Belarus leads

Melissa Bishop of Canada and Kenya’s

Eunice Jepkoech Sum in the women’s

800m fi nal at the National Stadium in

Beijing, yesterday. [PHOTO: REUTERS]

The Jamaican relay team Nesta Carter, Asafa Powell, Nickel Ashmeade and Usain Bolt pose for photographers after winning the fi nal of the men’s 4x100m yesterday. [PHOTO: AFP]

02:30 W Marathon Final 13:30 M High Jump Final 13:45 W Javelin Throw Final 14:15 W 5000M Final 14:45 M 1500m Final 15:05 W 4x400m Relay Final 15:25 M 4x400m Relay FinalTODAY‘S PROGRAMME

800M WOMEN FINAL

1 Marina Arzamasova BLR 1:58.032 Melissa Bishop CAN 1:58.123 Eunice Jepkoech Sum KEN 1:58.184 Rababe Arafi MAR 1:58.905 Shelayna Oskan-Clarke GBR 1:58.996 Nataliia Lupu UKR 1:58.997 Joanna Józwik POL 1:59.098 Renelle Lamote FRA 1:59.70

WOMEN HIGH JUMP FINAL

1 Maria Kuchina RUS 2.012 Blanka Vlašic CRO 2.01 SB3 Anna Chicherova RUS 2.014 Kamila Licwinko POL 1.995 Ruth Beitia ESP 1.996 Marie-Laurence GER 1.99 PB7 Jeanelle Scheper LCA 1.92

50KM WALK MEN

1 Matej Tóth SVK 3:40:322 Jared Tallent AUS 3:42:17 SB3 Takayuki Tanii JPN 3:42:554 Hirooki Arai JPN 3:43:445 Robert He� ernan IRL 3:44:17 SB6 Lin Zhang CHN 3:44:39 PB7 Wei Yu CHN 3:45:21 PB8 Andrés Chocho ECU 3:46:00 AR 4X100 WOMEN RELAY

1 JAM 41.07 CR2 USA 41.68 SB3 TTO 42.03 NR4 GBR 42.10 NR5 GER 42.64 SB6 CAN 43.05

4X100M MEN RELAY FINAL

1 JAM 37.36 WL2 CHN 38.013 CAN 38.134 GER 38.15 SB5 FRA 38.236 ANT 38.61USA DQ R170.7GBR DNF

the line in 41.07 seconds.The United States finished second

in 41.68 with the early pace of the Ja-maicans giving anchor Allyson Felix, the 400 metres champion in Beijing, no chance of catching Fraser-Pryce.

Trinidad and Tobago won the bronze in a national record of 42.03 ahead of Britain, whose 42.10 was al-so the best time ever run by the na-tion’s top women sprinters.

Only the 40.82 recorded by the Americans to win gold at the 2012 London Olympics was faster than yesterday’s winning time.

Meanwhile, American Ashton Ea-ton retained the decathlon world title and broke his own world record with a score of 9,045 points. His previous world record was 9,039, set at the USA

Olympic Trials in Oregon in 2012.The silver medal went to Canada’s

Damian Warner, with a national re-cord total of 8,695 and German Rico Freimuth took bronze on 8,561.

There had been little doubt through the second day’s events that Eaton would win gold and it was all about whether he could better his world record.

The Olympic gold medallist from Oregon had set up his charge towards the record in the 400 metres, the fifth event of his 10 disciplines on Friday, when he ran 45.00sec, the fastest ever by a decathlete during a multi-event.

Eaton finished the first day on 4,703 points, well ahead of medal challengers Warner Freimuth and the second German, Kai Kazmirek. His

procession towards the gold contin-ued yesterday with a 13.69 second 110m hurdles, a 43.34 metre discus throw, 5.20 metres in the pole vault and a 63.63 metre javelin throw.

The 27-year-old needed to run 4:18.25 or faster in 1,500m to score the 824 points needed to break the re-cord.

After two gruelling days and the nine previous events, he set off with a carefully-paced run and after a hard-fought final lap he stopped the clock at 4:17.52, to add 829 points to his tally.

Eaton is married to the Canadian heptathlete Brianne Thiesen-Eaton, who won the world silver medal this week.

— Agencies


SUM FORCED TO SETTLE FOR BRONZE

Usain Bolt secured a sweep of the sprint golds at the world championships for the third time when he helped Jamai-ca’s relay team to a fourth successive 4x100m title yesterday.

The 29-year-old, who had already won the 100 and 200m events, ran the

anchor leg as the Jamaicans took gold in 37.36 seconds at the Bird’s Nest Stadium.

The United States team featuring Jus-tin Gatlin, who won silver behind Bolt in both individual sprints, botched their fi-nal handover but crossed the line second in 37.77 with the bronze going to hosts

China in 38.01.It was a record-extending 11th world

gold for Bolt, who also won three sprint titles at the 2009 and 2013 world cham-pionships. His team mates Nesta Carter, Asafa Powell and Nickel Ashmeade helped extend Jamaica’s dominance of the sprint relay to a sixth straight major global championships, including the last two Olympics.

At the same time, Jamaican women, anchored by Shelly-Ann Fraser-Pryce, clocked the second fastest time in his-tory to retain their 4x100m relay title at the world championships.

Veronica Campbell-Brown, Natasha Morrison and 200m silver medallist Elaine Thompson ensured Fraser-Pryce had a good lead when she took the baton and the 100m champion stormed across

Bolt secures third world sprint sweep as Jamaica win 4x100m relays

SELECTED RESULTS

BEIJING



Kenya’s defending champion Euince Sum ended up having to settle for the bronze medal on this occasion after a tense and enthralling three-way battle down to home straight as Marina Arzamasova re-turned the world 800m title to Europe yes-terday.

Sum came to Beijing after a six-race un-beaten streak this season, but she was beat-en in her semi-final race, showing signs of vulnerability, when Canada’s Pan American Games champion Melissa Bishop and the 2014 European champion from Belarus out-sprinted her on the homestretch.

However, in the final, the Kenyan chose to follow a similar race pattern, leading from the gun, and perhaps it proved her undoing. The only thing she did differently was start-ing a little more conservatively, at 59.1sec over the first 400m versus 57.4 two days ago as she, probably, tried to conserve more en-ergy for her finishing kick this time.

However, at this pace, her rivals had no problem staying with Sum. Morocco’s Ra-babe Arafi was a few metres behind the pack for the half of the first lap, but quickly moved back up, joining the rest of the final-ists in contention for the medals.

In the meantime, Sum stayed in the lead, and slightly picked up the pace after the bell, but Arzamasova, Bishop and France’s Renelle Lamote stayed on her shoulder, al-most exactly like in her troublesome semi-final heat.

The key events in the race unfolded on the last bend, as the Belorussian power-fully moved forward and overtook the lead.

Most importantly, after making her move on the outside of Sum, Arzamasova managed to cross to the inside, quickly and safely, without risking on getting herself in-to a collision.

Sum had no space in front of her to quickly respond to Arzamasova’s move, and tried to go wide, but this only opened the inside to Melissa Bishop, who had plenty of energy for the finishing spurt.

In her desperate dash to the finish line, Sum could not match her rivals’ pace and finished third in 1:58.18.

The resemblance to the semi-final race, however, was not complete, as Arzamasova was in charge, clocking 1:58.03 for the win, while Melissa Bishop finished second in 1:58.12 after clocking the fastest second lap in the race at 58.73.

The Belorussian added the world title to her European title and the world indoor championships bronze medal from 2014, while for Bishop this silver is her first suc-cess on a global stage.

Both Arzamasova and Bishop won the first ever world championships medals in the 800m for their respective countries.

—IAAF

Marina Arzamasova of Belarus leads

Melissa Bishop of Canada and Kenya’s

Eunice Jepkoech Sum in the women’s

800m fi nal at the National Stadium in

Beijing, yesterday. [PHOTO: REUTERS]

The Jamaican relay team Nesta Carter, Asafa Powell, Nickel Ashmeade and Usain Bolt pose for photographers after winning the fi nal of the men’s 4x100m yesterday. [PHOTO: AFP]

02:30 W Marathon Final 13:30 M High Jump Final 13:45 W Javelin Throw Final 14:15 W 5000M Final 14:45 M 1500m Final 15:05 W 4x400m Relay Final 15:25 M 4x400m Relay FinalTODAY‘S PROGRAMME

800M WOMEN FINAL

1 Marina Arzamasova BLR 1:58.032 Melissa Bishop CAN 1:58.123 Eunice Jepkoech Sum KEN 1:58.184 Rababe Arafi MAR 1:58.905 Shelayna Oskan-Clarke GBR 1:58.996 Nataliia Lupu UKR 1:58.997 Joanna Józwik POL 1:59.098 Renelle Lamote FRA 1:59.70

WOMEN HIGH JUMP FINAL

1 Maria Kuchina RUS 2.012 Blanka Vlašic CRO 2.01 SB3 Anna Chicherova RUS 2.014 Kamila Licwinko POL 1.995 Ruth Beitia ESP 1.996 Marie-Laurence GER 1.99 PB7 Jeanelle Scheper LCA 1.92

50KM WALK MEN

1 Matej Tóth SVK 3:40:322 Jared Tallent AUS 3:42:17 SB3 Takayuki Tanii JPN 3:42:554 Hirooki Arai JPN 3:43:445 Robert He� ernan IRL 3:44:17 SB6 Lin Zhang CHN 3:44:39 PB7 Wei Yu CHN 3:45:21 PB8 Andrés Chocho ECU 3:46:00 AR 4X100 WOMEN RELAY

1 JAM 41.07 CR2 USA 41.68 SB3 TTO 42.03 NR4 GBR 42.10 NR5 GER 42.64 SB6 CAN 43.05

4X100M MEN RELAY FINAL

1 JAM 37.36 WL2 CHN 38.013 CAN 38.134 GER 38.15 SB5 FRA 38.236 ANT 38.61USA DQ R170.7GBR DNF

the line in 41.07 seconds.The United States finished second

in 41.68 with the early pace of the Ja-maicans giving anchor Allyson Felix, the 400 metres champion in Beijing, no chance of catching Fraser-Pryce.

Trinidad and Tobago won the bronze in a national record of 42.03 ahead of Britain, whose 42.10 was al-so the best time ever run by the na-tion’s top women sprinters.

Only the 40.82 recorded by the Americans to win gold at the 2012 London Olympics was faster than yesterday’s winning time.

Meanwhile, American Ashton Ea-ton retained the decathlon world title and broke his own world record with a score of 9,045 points. His previous world record was 9,039, set at the USA

Olympic Trials in Oregon in 2012.The silver medal went to Canada’s

Damian Warner, with a national re-cord total of 8,695 and German Rico Freimuth took bronze on 8,561.

There had been little doubt through the second day’s events that Eaton would win gold and it was all about whether he could better his world record.

The Olympic gold medallist from Oregon had set up his charge towards the record in the 400 metres, the fifth event of his 10 disciplines on Friday, when he ran 45.00sec, the fastest ever by a decathlete during a multi-event.

Eaton finished the first day on 4,703 points, well ahead of medal challengers Warner Freimuth and the second German, Kai Kazmirek. His

procession towards the gold contin-ued yesterday with a 13.69 second 110m hurdles, a 43.34 metre discus throw, 5.20 metres in the pole vault and a 63.63 metre javelin throw.

The 27-year-old needed to run 4:18.25 or faster in 1,500m to score the 824 points needed to break the re-cord.

After two gruelling days and the nine previous events, he set off with a carefully-paced run and after a hard-fought final lap he stopped the clock at 4:17.52, to add 829 points to his tally.

Eaton is married to the Canadian heptathlete Brianne Thiesen-Eaton, who won the world silver medal this week.

— Agencies

Published and printed at The Standard Group Centre, Mombasa Road Nairobi - Kenya, by The Standard Group, P.O. Box 30080, Nairobi 00100, Kenya. Switch Board Tel. 3222111. Fax: 322027, 2229218, 2218965. News Desk Tel: 3222200, Fax: 0719012027. [email protected] MOMBASA: Tel: 2230884, 2230897, 2228204, 2228098. Fax: 2230814. NAKURU: Tel: 2214289, 2212914. Fax: 2217348. KISUMU: Tel: 2022820, 2021866. Fax: 2023451. ELDORET: 2030482,

2060292, 2060760 Fax: 2033438. NYERI: Tel: 2030068, 2030740. E-mail: [email protected] CIRCULATION: Tel: 3222701/03. Registered at the G.P.O as a newspaper.

Sum bags bronze as Bolt wins third gold, P.38-39

5 Pages of Sizzling Sports Coverage!

day, May 17, 2015

on Sunday 5 Pages of Sizzling Sports Coverage!

www.standardmedia.co.ke

STANDARDTHE FEVERPITCHSTANDARDTHE

August 30, 2015

Download free QR Readers from the web and scan this QR (Quick Response) code with your smart phone for pictures, videos and more

stories.

Goal-shy Arsenal labour to victory, P.37

Kenya’s Caleb Mwangangi Ndiku add-ed to Kenya’s medal tally at the ongoing IAAF World Championships in Beijing, China yesterday with a silver medal in the 5,000m race which was won by Britain’s Mo Farah.

Ndiku clocked 13: 51.75 for second place after making a valiant break with 800m to run. Kenya’s main rivals on the track Ethiopia could not add to their sin-gle gold medal won by Genzebe Dibaba in the 1,500m as they had to settle for bronze in this race courtesy of Hagos Gebrhiwet.

Mo Farah became the first man to win back-to-back world distance doubles when he stormed to 5,000 metres victory at Beijing’s Bird’s Nest stadium on Satur-day.

Despite missing out on the gold med-als yesterday, Kenya still remained top of the medal table with six gold medals, four silver and three bronze. 2013 world cham-pion Eunice Sum had added to the medal tally earlier with bronze in the 800m.

Kenya is likely to end the champion-ships on a high note today with more medals as there are still a number of events where Kenyans are tipped to win.

The women’s marathon where Kenya start as favourites was run early today.

On the track, the defending 1,500m world champion Asbel Kiprop is the red hot favourite to retain his title and he will have the supporting cast of Elijah Manan-goi, Silas Kiplagat and Timothy Cheruiyot who all booked a slot in today’s final after a good show in the semi-finals on Friday.

The 1,500m will be on at 2:45pm, but before that, Commonwealth Games 5,000m champion Mercy Cherono will be leading her compatriots Viola Kibiwott, Janet Kisa and Irene Chepet Cheptai in trying to stop Ethiopia’s Genzebe Tibaba and Almaz Ayana.

Dibaba will be going for a double after the 1,500m win.

Meanwhile, the 5,000m men race yes-terday was, however, about Farah. The Briton, rocked this season by doping alle-gations against his coach, put the row be-hind him as he produced a devastating final 80m to romp home in 13min 50.38sec.

The victory for Farah, who won the 10,000m on the opening weekend, seals a unique “triple double” of distance titles at consecutive world championships and the London Olympics.

“Tonight, I had to dig deep, it came down to the last 100m,” said the Soma-li-born Farah, 32. “I felt a bit tired going through the rounds and coming back again.

“It’s difficult as everybody has got great speed and there are a lot of guys capable of winning. They went for it. The import-ant thing was to win the race and I did that!”

Farah’s victory gave him an unprece-dented seventh successive distance win at world championships and Olympics, stretching back to his 5,000m gold at Dae-gu in 2011.

His double matched that of sprinter Usain Bolt, with whom Farah came through youth and junior ranks, after the Jamaican successfully defended his 100m and 200m titles.

BY BISMARCK MUTAHI AND AGENCIES

1 KENYA 6 4 3 13

2 JAMAICA 6 2 3 11

3 USA 5 5 6 16

4 GBR 4 1 0 5

5 POLAND 3 1 4 8

6 RUSSIA 2 1 1 4

7 CUBA 2 1 0 3

8 CHINA 1 5 1 7

9 CANADA 1 3 3 7

10 GERMANY 1 3 3 7

11 ETHIOPIA 1 2 1 4

12 NETHERLANDS 1 1 1 3

County All

‘Bu� alo’ fails to gore Farah in 5,000m, but more medals expected for Kenya today

NDIKU BAGS SILVER

Caleb Mwangangi Ndiku (left) with Mo Farah after the men’s 5,000m fi nal at the 15th IAAF World Championships at the National Stadium in Beijing, China yesterday. [PHOTO: REUTERS]

Pullout Section E WITH THE

STANDARD August 30, 2015

For the young and growing

extexteneration

Sunnyprints,Pg 11

My fashion, pg 8

/ TWINKLE Sunday, August 30, 2015 / The Standard

Advice to the youth

Group Managing Editor (Print): Kipkoech Tanui | Managing Editor: Enoch Wambua | Deputy Managing Editor: Fred Waga

Revise Editor Terry Mwenda | Editor: Thorn Mulli

Contributors: Calvin Odhiambo, George Olwalo, Lydia Limbe, Scarlet Nduta, and Rose Kwamboka.

Manager Print Creative : Dan Weloba | Creative Designer: Virginia Borura| Photograhy: Jenipher Wachie and Willis Awandu| Illustration: Harrison Muriuki, Erick Ngammau, and James Kamawira

E-mail: [email protected]; | Website: http://www.standardmedia.co.ke/mag;

All correspondence to Generation Next is assumed to be intended for publication.

Generation Next accepts no responsibility for unsolicited manuscripts, artworks or photographs. All rights on publication remain with the publisher.

To make the grade is to reach the required standard. Contrary to what you might assume, the origins of the phrase have nothing to do with sitting exams. ‘Grade‛ is short for ‘gradient‛. The expression derives from railroad construction in 19th century America, when careful calculations had to be made to ensure engines did not encounter sudden steep gradients.A phrase

week

Did youknow?

Thorn Mulli y B

CALV

IN O

DHIA

MBO

To ensure a healthy lifestyle, we need to be careful about what we eat and drink and remember to exercise our bodies. A healthy lifestyle is even more effective if embraced from childhood.

The body needs food to energise and work effi ciently, hence once you learn to carefully balance the amounts and types of foods eaten, all body organs function effectively. The cycle should start each morning by having a balanced breakfast. A healthy serving of carbohydrates, protein, and vitamins will go a long way in boosting energy levels needed for the day‛s activities. This is because body energy levels tend to be low after six to eight hours of sleep.

The body requires more than 40 nutrients each day. However, there is no single food that contains all the nutrients needed. It is, therefore, important to balance your daily choices by eating a wide variety of foods each day.

Feeling hungry in between meal-times is inevitable. Snacks are a good option of fi ll the gap, but they should never replace actual meals. Junk snacks such as biscuits, cakes and crisps are really tempting

options, but healthy snacking options include yoghurt, dried fruits, carrots, unsalted nuts and rice crackers.

Your body needs water, too, especially when the weather is very hot or when you have indulged in strenuous physical activity. One should take at least eight glasses of water a day. Other drinks such as tea, fruits juices and soft drinks should help ease the monotony of plain water.

Apart from eating and taking plenty of water, the body also needs to be active. Activities such as sports provide muscles and bones with a workout, making them active and healthy. Therefore, grow healthy by maintaining a healthy lifestyle at home and at school.

Thefun team

Editorial

One of the most celebrated writers of the 21st Century was American Samuel Langhorne Clemens, better known by his pen name Mark Twain. He was an American author and

humourist. He is best known for his classic American novels The Adventures of Tom Sawyer and its sequel, Adventures

of Huckleberry Finn that provided fodder for several animation and real-life fi lms.

In 1882, Mark twain was asked to write something to the youth of his country and he created a brilliant satirical

essay that reached out to the youth in an unconventional way. I picked a few point from his work to rope you to read

the original piece.

• Always obey your parents, when they are present. This is the best policy in the long run, because if you don‛t, they will make you. Be respectful to your superiors, if you have

any, also to strangers, and sometimes to others. If a person offend you, and you are in doubt as to whether it was intentional or not, do not resort to extreme measures.

• Now as to the matter of lying. You want to be very careful about lying; otherwise you are nearly sure to get caught.

• There are many sorts of books; but good ones are the sort for the young to read. Remember that. They are a great, an

inestimable, and unspeakable means of improvement.• Go to bed early, get up early -- this is wise. Some

authorities say get up with the sun; some say get up with one thing, others with another. But a lark is really the best

thing to get up withEnjoys this week‛s read!

Eat healthy to live long

/ Page 3TWINKLESunday, August 30, 2015 / The Standard

Mail your ‘Ask Sheila’ queries to : [email protected] to include your full names, age and location.

Dear Aunt Sheila,I have been feeling that I need more pocket money because I engage in extra-curricular activities such as sports and drama. I’m in Form Three but since Form One, my parents have been giving me Sh1,000 per term. Most of my friends get at least Sh3,000. How do I get more pocket money?Sandra Dear Sandra,It is good to take part in extra-curricular activities, which are great for overall growth and development. In regard to monetary issues, remember that money is a scarce resource that requires proper budgeting and prudent use. You should budget your pocket money to determine if you are extravagant. If the amount remains inadequate, you can then talk to your parents and help them understand your needs, for instance school trips, which require more money. That way they will have a tangible reason to increase your allowance. Lastly, avoid comparing yourself to your friends because we can never be equal.

TITLE: Mountain of Bones

AUTHOR: Meja Mwangi

PUBLISHER: East African Education Publishers Limited

REVIEWER: Paul Kariuki

In this adventure-fi lled story, two boys go looking for a missing dog. One of the boys Kariuki, an African, comes from school one evening to fi nd his friend, Nigel, who is European, waiting for him to go fi shing. Kariuki insists that he must fi rst go home to prepare his dog a meal and Nigel accompanies him.

When the meal is ready, however, they discover that the dog is missing. They set out to search for it at a dairy owned by Nigel‛s grandfather, where Kariuki‛s brother works.

Kariuki suspects that his elder brother, Hari, sold his pet dog, Jimi, and used the proceeds to drink beer with Muturi, an

Once upon a time, there lived a wise, healthy and generous imam. One day, a shepherd from a neighbouring village came to see the imam to ask him if he could keep a sack of dates in his storeroom until the next winter. The shepherd only had very poor quality dates, but because he was a poor shepherd, the dates were very important to him.

The imam asked the shepherd to write his name on the sack of dates so that he would be able to fi nd them when he wanted them.

When winter, came the shepherd returned to the Imam and asked him if he could go to the storeroom to collect his sack of dates.

The kind and generous imam told the shepherd that he could collect his dates any time he wished.

When he entered the storeroom, the shepherd found lots and lots of sacks of very good quality dates called fardh and his own little sack of poor quality naghal dates.

The poor shepherd could not resist the temptation! He took a bag of good quality fardh dates instead of his own poor naghal dates. He split the sack into two portions and put them on the back of his donkey. He then left the imam‛s storeroom as quickly as he could to return to his village.

When the imam went to the storeroom to get some of his own fardh dates, he was shocked to see the sack of naghal dates with the shepherd‛s name on it. He asked the guard if the shepherd had been there to collect his dates and the guard the answered in the affi rmative.

The imam instantly realised what the shepherd had done, but because he was a kind man, he said, “If the shepherd has taken my dates by mistake, may he enjoy them, but if he intended to steal my dates, may they turn to stone!”

If you go to the valley town of Wadi Mistal (a town in present-day Oman) you can still see the sack split into two large stones where they fell off the donkey‛s back!

Bookreview Mountain of Bones

Folk tales from around the world The shepherd’s dates, an Omani tale

Ask Sheila

old farm hand. Muturi, had after all, once threatened to do so in a fi t of rage.

When their search in the dairy proves futile, they extend their search to Majengo, a shanty town on the outskirts Nanyuki.

The expedition is not adventure-free. They meet a street boy named Shoto, who was once

Kariuki‛s deskmate at school, and who joins their search.

They also encounter glue-sniffi ng ruffi ans who rough them up. A fi ght ensures, but peace is eventually restored.

The trio also get naughty, stealing guavas from Mama Fatuma‛s garden. She is considered a dreaded ‘witch‛, but oddly runs away screaming at the sight of a little white boy!

Their search also takes them to a police station, where they report Jimi missing, and to Taka Taka, a dumpsite

outside Majengo, where smoke billows all day and sunlight is a fantasy.

Did Kariuki fi nd his lost dog? How did the mountain of bones come to be? Who is Lesson One and why is he feared? Read this entertaining and humorous book, highly recommended for upper primary school pupils, to fi nd out!

old farm hand.

Kariuki‛s deskmate at school, and who joins their search.

They also encounter glue-sniffi ng ruffi ans who rough them up. A fi ght ensures, but peace is eventually restored.

The trio also get naughty, stealing guavas from Mama Fatuma‛s garden. She is considered a dreaded ‘witch‛, but oddly runs away screaming at the sight of a little white boy!

Their search also takes them to a police station, where they report Jimi missing, and to Taka Taka, a dumpsite

outside Majengo, where smoke


Rukia Abdullahi Lohos, 14, from Garissa County beat Nairobi’s Stacy Ngesa to become the 2015 children’s national president in polls that were conducted by the Independent Electoral and Boundaries Commission (IEBC) at Nairobi Primary School.Rukia’s election broke a new barrier in the conservative north, where women’s political leadership was mostly limited to political party nominations before the position of Women’s Representative was introduced.Following her landslide victory, Rukia was sworn in to lead a ten-member cabinet with Geoffrey Odongo from Nairobi as her deputy.Rukia, 14, and the fifth born of six brothers and three sisters, bemoans the fact that only Garissa and Samburu counties from the North presented candidates in the election.Coincidentally, the children’s president and Stella Kamar, one of the other candidates, were classmates at Muslim Girls’ Primary School in Samburu for three years. However, Rukia later joined Tetu Primary School in Garissa; named after Simon Tetu, a district commissioner in the 1980s.Rukia recalls a child-centred workshop held before the elections, where each

COMPILED BY GEOFFREY ODHIAMBO

Re-introduction of corporal punishment will not be a solution because even when it was used in the past, indiscipline was not any lower. I think parents should stop delegating parental duties to house-helps and instead help teachers discipline their children.

Corporal punishment is not bad, but some people tasked with the responsibility of enforcing it, as seen in the past, tend to go overboard. Its re-introduction could lead to a surge in school dropout rates and more children running away from home.

Recently, the media has been awash with reports of student indiscipline. Students from Lukhokho Girls’ Friends School gave their views on whether

re-introduction of corporal punishment could solve this problem:

Garissa girl elected president, vows to inspire fellow children

The fact that corporal punishment was effective at one time does not necessarily mean it would work in the present day. Our generation operates differently and corporal punishment could worsen the situation and increase dropout rates.

Bringing back corporal punishment would be a tricky affair for the ministry of Education. This is because even though it could at some level help instil discipline, there is also the risk of raising a generation that views violence as a way to correct behaviour.

Teen talk

Feature

Snolvia Mukwanja Christine Masibo

Shilla LukunzaEsther Mutenyo

candidate expressed their concept of child-friendly schools by providing actionable steps of making them more inclusive, protective, healthy and equitable.‘’It was on this platform that we were given the opportunities to campaign for

what we stood for,” she says.She says her campaign was based on fighting for the rights of children, even as she admits that she could use all the help

she can muster.“Many girls in my region wake up at 4am, pray, prepare breakfast and sweep the house before preparing to go to school. Most girls rush home to cook lunch then return for afternoon classes. After the classes, the girls perform household chores until long after their brothers have slept.“This has to change. I hope that my election encourages and inspires many children from different regions of Kenya,’’ said Rukia.Interestingly, despite her momentous win, Rukia harbours no political ambition.‘’Though all lies in the will of almighty

Allah, I’d prefer to be a teacher and give knowledge to people who will

be important in future,’’ Rukia told Generation Next.She is sitting her Kenya Certificate of Primary Education exams later this year. For the girl who in the past regime served as the children’s

cabinet secretary for education, the election has proven that everything is

possible. She is hoping to join Alliance Girls’ High School next year.It is not every day that women are elected as leaders in the former Northeastern Province, but Rukia’s rise can help to change the political landscape despite her tender age.

Rukia Abdullahi (in red garland) celebrates with peers and her teachers after she was elected national children’s president. [PHOTOS: DENIS OCHIEN’G/STANDARD]

BY DENIS OCHIENG’


August 30, 2015

FABULOUS FUN AND GAMES


You will require:• A clean plate• Half a cup of milk• Food colour - as many cool colours as you like!• Dishwashing detergent• Cotton swab

Steps:1. Make sure that the plate is clean and dry before use. Pour the milk into it until the bottom of the plate is covered.2. Drop a few drops of food colour around the milk in diff erent spots. Be creative!3. Dip the cotton swab in the dishwas-hing detergent.4. Touch the milk with the swab cont-aining dishwashing detergent. Place the swab at the centre of the plate and see what happens when you put it on one side. You don‘t have to stir or move the swab at all; just sit back and watch the magic.

y B ROSE KWAMBOKA

[PHOTOS: COURTESY/ STANDARD]

y B LYDIA LIMBE

Rhinoceros horned viperMake colourful

artwork with milk

behind fallen logs, or even in holes. If anyone gets close and the snake feels threatened, it makes a hissing, sometimes shrill, sound.

These snakes are found in East, West and Central Africa. Unli-ke other snakes, the rhinoceros horned viper does not hatch eggs; it gives birth to live young ones, mostly between six and 35 of them, at one go.

However, do not think that because the newborns are small they are harmless; they are born with fangs complete with venom.

The length of the newly born rhino vipers is 18 to 25 cm long. A fully matured rhinoceros viper can be up to three metres long, with a thin neck and a stout body. They are also powerful swimmers. Note-worthy is the fact that females grow longer than males.

This writer fi rst saw it in Kakamega Forest - a large, dark green snake with beautiful light green, brown and black markings. It had three horn-like scales resembling rhino horns, which have earned the snake its name.

This reptile‘s skin is so rough and scaly that handlers sometimes have to wear gloves for protection.

These snakes feed on mice, rats, ro-dents, frogs and sometimes even fi sh. They hunt their prey by ambushing it.

A rhinoceros horned viper has small eyes set facing forward and curved fangs at the top of its mouth. The fangs are usually 1.5cm long. When the snake bites, the fangs dig deep into the victim‘s body, injecting venom directly into the bloodstream.

This snake is considered one of the most dangerous forest snakes becau-se its venom has the ability to kill a human within minutes. The venom shuts down the circulatory system, causing almost instantaneous death.

Even though they sound very scary, rhinoceros horned vipers are seden-tary and only strike when threatened. The usually rely on the colour of their bodies to hide – under piles of leaves,

What is happening?The food colour will start to swirl and move in diff erent directions, and the once-white milk will become a mag-nifi cent, colourful artwork. When we add food colouring to the milk, nothing happens, but when the dishwashing de-tergent touches the milk, the milk components begin to move in diff erent directions. The detergent reduces the milk‘s surface tension, which allows the food colouring to spread around the milk. Enzymes then start to react with the calcium, proteins and fats in the milk, which causes the colour pigments from the food colouring to get pushed around, resulting in a cool, colourful pattern and artwork.

Rhinoceros horned viper

behind fallen logs, or even in holes.

Forest - a large, dark green snake with beautiful light green, brown and black markings. It had three horn-like scales

scaly that handlers sometimes have to

Naturewalk

Dr Know


Colour by number

Maze

Colour meJoin the dots

Join the dots


Mombasa-based Tarzan Kids Acrobatic Youth Group displays their unique skills at the Pavil-lions along Mama Ngina Drive in Mombasa County on the fi nal day of the 2015 Mombasa In-ternational Cultural festivals. The boys from Kongowea Pri-mary School are aged between ten and 16.

[PHOTOS: MAARUFU MO-HAMED/STANDARD]

Children have techie fun during the opening of the LEGO Innova-tion Studio at GEMS Cambridge International School recently. [PHOTOS: ELVIS OGINA/STANDARD]

Peter Kamangara shares a moment with his two nieces Rayshelle Wambui (left) and Per-shelle Wanjiru who paid him a visit at the Kenya Remand and Allocation Prison recently. [PHOTO: ANGELA MAINA/STANDARD]

NAME: Ding ReecAGE: Two and a halfSCHOOL: Kids Village School, South CCLASS: Baby ClassFAVOURITE SUBJECTS: Draw-ing and EnglishFAVOURITE FOOD: PizzaAMBITION: To become a doctorCOMPILED BY WILLIS AWANDU/STANDARD

My fashion

Innings and

outings


Kenyans have been visibly excited by 23-year-old Nicholas Bett’s 400m hurdles gold medal at the International Association of Athletics Federations World Championships in Beijing. Here are some of the messages they have posted online:@PresidentKE Nicholas Bett, aged only 23, you have proved #KenyaIsMagical by winning the 400m hurdles gold #IAAFWorldAthletics@ketercharles Massive wins for Nicholas Bett, David Rudisha and an amazing run by Faith Kipyegon. Well done to #teamkenya@JNyiggih What a day for #TeamKenya right from Nicholas Bett win, Faith Kipyegon, Kemboi, Vivian Cheruiyot and Mutahi Ngunyi’s apology!@jere_kiplangat: Nicholas Bett was in farthest

Nicholas Bett makes history

Movie Review

The adorable yellow mini-dudes finally get their day on the silver screen, and they do not disappoint. The Despicable Me prequel is nothing short of laughs and

gags.It begins with the claim that minions have existed since the beginning of time, passing

from one master to another, hoping to finally serve the ‘greatest’ master. However, despite their good faith and intent, they end up being their master’s downfall.Unable to find a master, they retreat to the

icy Atlantic where they run out of bad things to do. But the spirit of adventure possesses three and they set out in search of new masters.Bob, Stuart, and Kevin soon find themselves at criminal Scarlett Overkill’s beck and call. What is their plan? Do they succeed? The adventure makes for a good way to spend an hour and a half.

Minions

By @sheilakimm

Social mediaBreaktime teasersHow do you fix a cracked pumpkin? Using a pumpkin patch.

How do you fix a broken tomato? Using tomato paste.

So why did the banana go to the doctor? Because it wasn’t ‘peeling’ well.

What subject in school is the fruitiest? History, because it is full of dates!

How do you make a strawberry shake? By putting it in the freezer.

Why was the tomato blushing? Because it saw the salad dressing.

What happens when you step on grapes? They wine!

What is a vampire’s favourite fruit? A neck-tarine!

lane, but has struck gold in 400m. Now that’s determination.@cjkaroney For the first time in the history of the world championships Kenya has produced a 400m hurdles champion. Nicholas Bett delivers. Well done.@jlsmur Nicholas Bett did well today by winning 400m hurdles. This means that soon a Kenyan will challenge Bolt, Gatlin and Powell #beijing2015Dennis_Wechuli1 Congratulations David Rudisha, Nicholas Bett, Faith Kipyegon. Kenya is a hotbed of talent/medals. #TeamKenya #Beijing2015. #SomeoneTellCNN@asugah Nicholas Bett has made Kenya proud.

Celebrity Psst...Jaguar launches foundation to mentor talented youth

Memory MazeAre you good at memory games? The Memory Maze is a fun little game bound to keep anybody occupied. Its challenge is to follow the ever-increasing random sequence while keeping in mind what you see. After seeing the different images, you need to remember the sequential order of the flashing lights up to 15 times so that you can win. This is a great game to play with friends during meet-ups or simply pass the time on long journeys. Better yet, the challenges have scores, which means that friends can try seeing if they can beat each other’s scores. Features: • Flashing sequence memory game. • Compact and small in size. • Great for long journeys. • Auto ‘Off’ feature. • Batteries included.

Breaktime teasers

Bubble nails, a fresh new twist to three-dimension (3D) nail art, have gone viral since making their debut on Instagram fashion pages.Often applied just like acrylics, this nail design often lasts longer and is bound to attract more attention, thanks to its unique vibe.For those not too comfortable with outstanding 3D bubbles, there are different bubble sizes to best showcase one’s personality. These include the bubble accessories that are added onto nails as art, or layering options that are not over the edge.Women may soon be able to reproduce this trendy designs from the comfort of their bedrooms. All one needs to do is to carefully watch how manicurists do it then have fun with it.

Trendville WiTH rOSe KWAMBOKA

Trendville BY SHeilA KiMAni

Bubble nailsHot on the street

T e c h i e

Huu Mwaka hitmaker Jaguar continues to cause ripples in 2015 as he predicted. From churning out new hits to philanthropic exploits and his appointment to the National Authority for the Campaign against Alcohol and Drug Abuse Board (Nacada) championing projects against drug abuse, Jaguar has been flying high.

This past week, he made headlines yet again for unveiling his youth project dubbed ‘Jaguar Youth Empowerment Foundation’ at the Kenyatta International Convention Centre. Speaking to Generation next, Jaguar intimated that this initiative is aimed at helping talented young people who need assistance and mentorship

to achieve their life dreams.Fellow artistes were present to show their support as were government officials. Among them were Nacada chairman John Mututho, Kabete MP Ferdinand Waititu, and Deputy President William Ruto, who was the guest of honour.


NELLY CELLINE AKUNGA, 21, was nominated in the Social Enterprise category of the 25 under 25 Awards. The event is organised by KCA University to recognise young innovative entrepreneurs. The founder of I-Inspire Kenya spoke to LYDIA JUMA about her initiative.

Step out of your comfort

Generation Next: Tell us a little bit about yourself and your nomination.Nelly Akunga: I am a Second Year student at Kenyatta University pursuing a Bachelor of Commerce degree. I am also the founder of I-Inspire Kenya, a non-profi t organisation through which tertiary-level students encourage their peers to become independent and innovative and get out of their comfort zones. Better education is the main focus. I also dabble in selling women’s clothes and jewellery. The business and organisation I run earned me a place in the competition featuring young entrepreneurs.

GN: What inspired I-Inspire Youth Kenya?NA: Having experienced fi rst-hand the hardship some rural residents endure, I felt the urge to at least ease the burden for my fellow youth by helping them realise their hidden potential. I know how lack of empowerment and mentorship can limit someone’s achievements. My goal was to simply put a smile on a young person’s face and make the youth realise their worth.

GN: How did you get the capital to start the organisation?NA: It doesn’t require much to start a social organisation. What is important is the will and heart to help. From the little profi t I get from my small business, I save at least Sh100 daily to help fi nance the activities of the organisation. In addition to

my personal savings, members contribute an agreed amount whenever we are handling a project. Finally, we also have

a member’s registration fee of Sh500.

GN: You attend mentorship,

leadership and entrepreneurial trainings. Are

these available to your team as well?

NA: Yes, they are. I have gone through

several leadership trainings and also organise trainings for my team. With the skills I have acquired, I am able to train

members.

GN: Tell us more about the forum coming up in September.NA: We call it Great Nyanza Leadership Forum. We have

decided to organise leadership forums in all 47 counties and

Nyanza is the region we are starting with. This forum will

bring together leaders and young people from di� erent parts of Nyanza as part of our vision to help the youth take up leadership roles.

GN: Which is the hardest decision the organisation has had to make and how did you evaluate it?NA: The hardest decision remains selecting the people to help, especially in the schools we have adopted. You fi nd that in a class of 234 students, for instance, almost everyone is sincerely needy and the organisation is not able to help all of them at the same time. We tackle this by engaging one-on-one with the students to know their background better, visiting them, and involving teachers and parents who tend to know the learners better.

GN: What are some of the challenges you face and how do you solve them?NA: One of our greatest challenges

is that most of our activities require facilitators who are skilled, or even professionals, in specifi c fi elds. Training members to meet this need is a very expensive venture.

GN: How do you source for members?NA: The members of the organisation are the main facilitators in our activities, but volunteers from outside have also been of help. Social media has been one of the ways of getting the volunteers because any time we have an activity we post the information on our Facebook page for the public. It is my vision to have the organisation expand its activities across Africa in the next three years. Adults willing to volunteer are encouraged to register with Sh500. Once one is signed up, their profi le is recorded and they are ready for duty.

GN: Do you harbour any other talents?NA: Yes, I do. I am also a good dancer and a singer.

GN: What would you like the public to know about I-Inspire Kenya?NA: I would want them to know that this movement comprises of young people who, despite being fi nancially unstable, have committed themselves to doing something positive for the society. The organisation is committed to empowering, mentoring and enlightening fellow youth through sacrifi cing time, money and any other thing that can help young people grow.

GN: What is your advice to the youth?NA: We all have a role to play in the society. We may never be told by anyone to do it, but we should bear in mind that the society needs us. We should be guilty if we grow old without doing anything that leaves an impact. Leave your comfort zone and go out to identify an area of need in the society then provide a solution.

Top gun


Heading down to the coast? Soak up the sun in pastel colours and fi tted shorts.

Add printed punch to your girly outfi t with a multi-coloured sling bag.

If you‛re always on the go, grab a vest and a fl ared skirt and rush out in effortless style.

This cool com-bination of blue pants and a white tee embodies the essence of a laid back look.

When you are out to make a statement, try the time-tested art of simplicity.

MODEL: Kathy COMPILER: Scarlet Nduta PHOTOS: Felix Kavii CLOTHES: Kogo Wear, Nairobi West, 0773850500

Stylelab

Now that the sun is out, it‛s time to be one

with our environment and adopt authentic African style. With

vibrant colours to match our

cheerful spirit, these are designs

meant for fashionistas

keen on comfort and reconnecting

with their roots.

Sunny prints


Established: 1986Population: 659 studentsPrincipal: Mrs Lucy MwangiStudent leader: Millicent MutheuMost entertaining student: Joyce WangoiFavourite sport: VolleyballBest performed subject: ChemistryFavourite teacher: Mrs Esther OchiengMost active club: Journal-ismFavourite slogan: Bread is lifeTop dormitory: KilimanjaroFavourite food: ChapattiWorst punishment: Filling a bucket using a spoonCoolest place: JunkieLatest dance style: Kudan-diaThis year‛s target mean grade: Above 8.5

Nembu Girls‛ High SchoolSchool profile

EVERY SUNDAY5:30PM

Tel: 020 2302871, 0712 375 788

Join Nancy and learn how to transform real estate into real advantage.

The Property Show gives you fresh perspective on how real estate is impacting the wider world.

This Sunday we keep you up-to- date with all the latest trends and hot topics in the world of property. We follow Kenya Power and Orange as they continue to expand their networks.

Our Accessory Spot brings a world of possibilities for your home.

For all this and much more only on your ultimate channel on all things property!

STANDARDWITH THEONLY

STANDARD ON SUNDAY, August 30, 2015

H U M O U R / L E I S U R E / A D V I C E / L I T E R A R Y D I S C O U R S E / M O T O R I N G / L I F E C O A C H

FASHIONBrand-new

mitumba to save the environment P. 7

JUST BLOG IT!

Blogging provides alternatives, and more variety in terms of

content. We are now spoilt for choice in

terms of what we want to consume from the media— Dr Nancy

Booker. P4 & 5

/ SUNDAY MAGAZINE Sunday, August 30, 2015 / The Standard

Fromtheheart With Anne Mukei

Moment with God WITH ANNE ANJAO-EBOI

Welcome

Published by: The Standard Group Ltd

Sunday Managing Editor: Enoch Wambua

Deputy Managing Editor: Fred Waga

Editor: Clay Muganda

[email protected]

Twitter: @mqhlay

Writers: Phoebe Jay, Jacqueline Mahugu, Faith Kariuki, Shamlal Puri, Anne Anjao-Eboi,

Anne Mukei, Tony Ngare, Mbugua Ngunjiri, Joe Ombuor, Benson Riungu, Joseph Maina.

Photography: Wilberforce Okwiri, Fidelis Kabunyi, Jenipher Wachie, Beverlyne Musili,

David Gichuru, Jonah Onyango, Maxwell Agwanda, Isaiah Gwengi, Titus Munala.

Manager Print Creative: Dan Weloba

Creative Designer: Virginia Borura

E-mail: [email protected]; Website: http://www.standardmedia.

co.ke/mag

All correspondence to Sunday Magazine is assumed to be intended for publication.

Sunday Magazine accepts no responsibility for unsolicited manuscripts, artworks or photographs. All rights on publication

remain with the publisher.

You have probably been on a long queue in a bank and the person behind you can’t seem

to wait. He/she will lean on you, push you, stand beside you as if doing all that will automatically haul him/her to the front.

I had an opportunity to listen to this rich man sharing secrets to acquisition of great wealth. He said the problem with most of us is that we are too patient.

Too patient with other people hence our state of poverty.

According to him, business is business.

If you must take anything on credit then do nothing short of paying at the exact date you agreed to pay. If you fail to do that then expect the creditor to auction your property.

Of course the rich man’s ver-sion of patience does not exist in any Holy Book.

Impatience is a vice that is not tolerated.

The Biblical version of patience is akin to a farmer who must pa-tiently wait for his crop to mature after clearing the land, tilling it, planting, weeding...

The good Book identifies some areas in which we need patience:

No one was ever truly happy in a casino. No matter how much money they kept winning. — Anne Mukei

Patience is the fruit of the Spirit

QUOTE OF THE WEEK

P.12

LITERARY DISCOURSE: MUST IT BE CALLED JOMO KENYATTA PRIZE FOR LITERATURE?: — Questions should now be asked why the award should continue carrying the Kenyatta family name, when in fact they contribute nothing towards it. — PAGE 8

DIASPORA & DESTINATION: VISIT PULSATING PARIS: — Paris is truly a city of dreams. For generations, it has mesmerised artists, writers and culture vultures with its iconic landmarks and architectural grandeur. — PAGE 10

Take note of warning signs

Parenting. I know some parents who have been through hell. Some have been nothing but good parents, available and training their children in the way they should grow.

Somehow, the devil, whose job is to steal, kill and destroy, gets a hold of these children and the family will know no peace until that devil is driven out of the home.

Some parents give up and drive their children away from home. Well, don’t. Try every possible thing you can do. I know parents who never gave up on their drug-addicted children who are now free and useful members of the society.

Suffering. Be patient in suffering especially when you suffer for good deeds. Suffering while performing good deeds is a gracious sight to God for which you have been called.

The word of God says we should rejoice in our sufferings, knowing that suffering produces endurance, which produces character which produces hope.

Those who wait on the Lord, the Scriptures say, shall renew their strength. Remember Abraham waited patiently for many years before he could bear the title “father of many nations.”

Patience is a fruit of the Spirit that we must all desire.

We have attended many seminars on how to beat poverty, have par-ticipated and lost in many get-rich-quick schemes but nothing seems to work.

Too impatient to bear with pover-ty, we hook up with people who fix us into illegal deals for that quick, huge buck. If this is you, please consider the word: Be still before the Lord and wait patiently for Him; fret not over the one who prospers in his way, over the man who carries out evil devic-es!...For the evildoers shall be cut off, but those who wait for the Lord shall inherit the land.

Doing good. Have you ever assisted someone you thought was ungrateful? You go out of your way to help but what you get are insults.

Well, tire not in doing good for you will reap the rewards of your goodness at the right time.

The person may not say thank you, but God will, and that is what matters.

Wealth acquisition. Loan after loan, year after year, yet things remains unchanged.

We still live in the same old house, probably still walk or drive the same car to work.

The other weekend, my family and I took a trip to the countryside.

About three months ago, we had taken a similar trip and had got stuck at an ungodly hour when our car experienced mechani-cal problems.

This time round, we were more careful and when our events of that day ended after nightfall, we opted to spend the night.

There was yet another function awaiting us in town the following day, and we woke up at the crack of dawn.

As much as I wanted us to make it in good time, I found myself applying imaginary breaks whenever I thought the driver was too fast or the car was losing control, and this kept him in check.

I am naturally a slow driver and I know most of my apprehension was needless, but one cannot be too careful.

In my decade of driving, I have realised that the possibility of you getting to your destination depends

on the condition of your vehicle, your status of mind and how careful you are.

If you react quickly when driving, you can prevent an accident in the nick of time.

Good drivers can always tell when their car is “sick” and needs atten-tion.

By feeling its mood, you have a chance to prevent serious damage to the vehicle and avoid painful finan-cial setbacks.

Time and again, I like to draw parallels with driving and real life situations.

For instance, if you are in tune with your body, mind, career and marriage, you are able to react more rationally to difficult situations.

Then you can avoid grave reper-cussions, sometimes even death.

Of course, you can choose to ignore the warnings at your peril. But that errant behaviour from your child speaks volumes, and needs to be tamed if your child is to turn out right. That little growth on your body

thing was off before the time of their death. That smile was not quite right, that tone of voice was wanting, you will recall.

Nothing happens out of the blue.There are always warning signs,

telling signs that we choose to ignore. Sometimes, in denial, we hope an

issue will go away or change by itself. When we are still hoping, life hap-

pens and the worst comes to reality.If you chose to listen to what is

happening around you, you will be surprised at just how much your paying attention to those little things can save you lots of heartache.

that you want to assume is just an-other pimple could be the beginning of your journey with cancer.

That job dissatisfaction that repeatedly engulfs you could be the genesis of your depression and gen-eral apathy towards your livelihood.

That smirk on your friend’s face could be the start of a major fallout between the two of you.

Is it not interesting that when someone close dies due to suicide or other causes, you will conduct a postmortem — both medical and otherwise — and with a sudden awareness, you will realise that some-

SUNDAY MAGAZINE / Sunday, August 30, 2015 / The Standard

Baby is proudly KenyanYummymummy

My daughter’s favour-ite new word is “Ha-yaa!!”

She says it all the time.

First thing in the morning (even before her eyes are fully open), during her diaper change, as I am washing her face and trying to stuff her wig-gling mass into a pair of fresh clothes, during breakfast (usually with her mouth full), as she runs to the balco-ny to retrieve her tricycle and often, all the way down the stairs.

The watchman knows it is her fa-vourite word. So does the caretaker.

All the children in our court are on to it, plus a few children from the next block of flats.

The guy who reads our electricity metre knows it.

The water guy too. And obviously all the nannies in our little communi-ty know it.

I would be surprised if the Na-tional Intelligence Service has not yet briefed the President about it, be-cause at the rate at which she says the word, it may as well be her national anthem.

For my sassy, lil’ miss, everything is a “Ha-yaa!!” moment.

We recently started watching Bar-ney and Friends. I know all the respon-sible, hands-on parents out there are shaking their heads in dismay.

What can I say? If I did not have something to distract the girl-child every once in a while, I would not get anything done.

She has the unique ability to occu-py my personal space, so that if I am trying to move a carpet, she will be right on top of it.

If I am trying to mop the floor, she will be in the bucket. If I am trying to get dressed, she will be slathering lotion all over body and trying to roll deodorant onto her tongue. If I am on

BY PHOEBE JAY “the throne” she will either be shred-ding toilet paper or trying to scrub the floor with the toilet brush.

As a result, when I can get her to sit still for a few minutes in a row, I jump at the chance.

So Barney and Friends it is. There is a motley crew of characters in the info-tainment cartoon, a few of them dressed up like super-sized, stuffed dinosaurs.

One of the dinosaurs is called Baby Bop, but when the American children say it, it sounds like Baby Bap.

So that has become Adoti’s sig-nal when she wants to watch Barney and his pals. She will pull me by the hand towards the TV yelling, “Bap! Ha-yaa!!”

Yes, there are no inside voices in our house. If words are not yelled, they have not been spoken.

When she wakes up in the morn-ing, if she slept with Mama, she will get up on her knees, plant her hands on my hips and try to propel herself over my sleeping body, so that she can slide onto the floor and get up to some early-morning mischief.

Cries of “Ha-yaa!!” punctuate this post-dawn ritual, even as the war-rior-child is still half asleep.

The same thing happens in the evening when it is time for Adoti to have her bath.

We start by filling her baby basin with warm water and as soon as she sees me lift the basin of its stand, she goes: “Bath! Ha-yaa!!”

It takes a good amount of time to get everything set up — clothes, tow-el, soap, fresh diapers, Arimis milking jelly (for her skin) — because the child is usually here, there and everywhere, running around in circles, probably wondering how much fun it would be if Mama fell flat on her face with a ba-sin full of water.

Predictably, you can say almost anything to Adoti and she will re-spond with a hearty, “Ha-yaa!” which is always such a laugh. Sometimes,

BY FAITH KARIUKI

Too much sugar is harmful to both adults and children

In March this year, the World Health Organiaation re-leased new guidelines on sugar intake for children and

adults.The guidelines recommend a re-

duction of daily intake of free sugars to less than 10 per cent of total energy intake per day. For any health bene-fits, WHO further recommends a re-duction of sugar intake to less than 5 per cent of total energy intake which translates to six tea spoonfuls.

Excess sugar intake is defined as more than 10 per cent of total energy intake for both adults and children.

An average diet for an adult of moderate activity should contain ap-proximately 2000 calories per day; 10 per cent of total calories is equivalent to 50 gramnes or 12 tea spoonfuls of sugar.

High sugar intake causes over-weight and obesity in both children and adults. The guidelines form part of WHO’s effort to halt the global rise of obesity and diabetes and reduce

Mr YouTube — Yego won gold with a monster, 90-metre-plus throw, land-ing face down on the ground, like a superhero cartoon character.

She hopped off my lap, her eyes fixed on the screen before yelling out her trademark, “Ha-yaa!!”

In that moment, I was proud to be Kenyan, but even prouder to have been chosen to watch over the little human that I fondly refer to as my daughter.

she goes into her memory banks and retrieves the old and trusty, “Yih?” but for the most part she stays current.

This is why I could not wait to show her some of the action that went on in Beijing during the week. We managed to catch a couple of re-runs together, and even though she prob-ably could not plug into the current of patriotism that jolted through the country for seven days straight, she was duly impressed when Julius —

the burden of premature deaths due to non-communicable diseases.

Almost three quarters of global sugar consumption occurs in devel-oping countries and Kenya has not been left behind. In 2014, Kenya con-sumed approximately 820,000 metric tons of sugar.

Free sugars are all sugars added to foods or drinks during manufactur-ing, preparation, cooking or just be-fore consumption.

That also includes sugars that are naturally present in honey, syrup, fruit juices and fruit juice concentrates.

Much of the sugar we consume is hidden in processed foods that are not seen as sweet.

For example, a tablespoon of to-mato sauce can have up to a teaspoon of free sugar; 300 millilitres of soda may have up to 12 teaspoons of sugar which is far beyond the recommend-ed amount.

Intake of free sugars, especially in the form of sweetened beverages may reduce intake of more nutritionally

adequate calories, and lead to un-healthy diets, weight gain and sub-sequent risk of non-communicable illnesses. There are many factors that have escalated the rise of non-com-municable illnesses in Kenya and in-creased dietary intake of refined sug-ars is one of them.

To reduce the risk and curb co-morbidities of non communicable illnesses, Kenyans have to regulate their intake of sugar and unhealthy diets.

Most processed foods have high sugar content even if they do not have a sweet taste.

Breakfast cereals were introduced as a healthy alternative for processed breakfast meats like bacon and sau-sages.

Most of the breakfast cereals are more like candy with so much sugar added to them.

Like a drug, sugar acts on the brain to encourage subsequent intake. Ex-cess sugar intake triggers production of brain’s natural opioids, a substance that has a morphine-like effect and is a key component in the development of addiction.

The brain becomes addicted to stimulating the release of its own opioids as it would to drugs like hero-ine, increasing the desire to consume more sugar.

Excess intake of sugar decreases the control of hormone ghrelin which tells the brain when one is hungry and hinders the normal function of hormone leptin, which gives some-one the feeling of satiety. This makes people eat when they are not actually hungry while others over-eat since the feeling of satiety is not experienced.

Consumption of excess food, more than what the body needs, increases the risk of non-communicable ill-nesses including obesity, diabetes and hypertension among others.

Kenyans need to get rid of sugar from all unnecessary places — and they should start by making a point to read the ingredients of the food items they are buying so that they can know the sugar content and avoid sweet-ened drinks.

Consume more unprocessed foods. Keep physically active to help your body burn any excess calories/sugar and finally, think twice before you add sugar in your cup of tea or other beverages.


Mainfeature Mainfeature

BY JACQUELINE MAHUGU

We are in the Informa-tion Age and the hu-man race has never been exposed to so

much information that in one day, an average person in a city is said to receive as much data as someone in the 15th century would encounter in a lifetime.

With the Information Age came the blogs which were personal web-sites where individuals could write articles or post pictures and videos on any topic, including their personal lives, on a regular basis.

Blogging used to be a preserve of very few people and was mostly about keeping an online diary. How-ever, it has now evolved and so many people are into it. Further, tools have been developed to make it easier for anyone with an opinion — and don’t we all have opinions? — to start a blog, thus it is no longer for only te-chies or computer whizkids.

Kenya has not been left behind in this digital revolution, and the coun-try’s blogosphere started developing in the 2003.

Blogging has since gained trac-tion and is no longer just a hobby for many Kenyans, some of whom command a following of tens of thousands of readers. Actually, some bloggers earn a living sole-ly from their craft.

The exponential rise of blogging in Kenya should come as no surprise, says Daudi Were, one of the pio-neer bloggers in Kenya.

“Blogging is one of the most African things you can do,” he says. “The very idea that everyone has a voice goes to the heart

of the African spirit. It is what we have always done.”

Were is also a director at Ushahidi, a tech company. He started writing online in 1997, when the name ‘blog’ had not even been coined.

“People now congregate online to tell stories and discuss issues, so the technology may be new but the con-cept is the same,” he opines.

When he put up the blog MentalA-crobatics.com in 2003, things were very different then. “Those days, get-ting a reader a month was cause for celebration. If someone told me ‘Hey, I read your post’ that would really be a big deal to me.”

One would wonder what inspired him to blog when most Kenyans were still asking what “an internet” was. It was not about the money.

“There were no companies which would pay for their advertisements on blogs. That meant that our per-

Will mainstream media be relevant in this age?

Henry Maina, Regional Director, ARTICLE 19 Eastern Africa

of content,” says Dr Nancy Booker, the chair of the Journalism and Com-munication Department at Multime-dia University of Kenya.

“We are now spoilt for choice in terms of what we want to consume from the media.”

Traditional media outlets such as radio, television and newspapers have had to contend with the fact that blogging is now the competition.

“We are having situations where traditional media does not always b break stories,” says Henry Maina, the regional director of ARTICLE 19 East-ern Africa.

“This has become the work of citi-zen journalists or bloggers and even the sad news of the Garissa University terrorist attack first appeared on so-cial media.”

Maina, who is a journalist, says that bloggers have become opinion shapers. “Where media has skewed certain narratives, bloggers have stepped in to tell the real story.

“In situations where the media would refuse to cover a story on the basis of its news value, citizen jour-nalists nowadays step in.”

Article 19 is an international hu-man rights body which champions freedom of expression and right to information. It operates in 14 Eastern African countries.

“For bloggers, there isn’t much re-striction and anything goes,” says Dr Booker. “Some issues that might not be newsworthy to mainstream jour-nalists appear on blogs. While media houses have to comply with certain regulations, bloggers have much more freedom.”

She says that blogs provide oppor-tunities for upcoming writers to put forth their ideas. “If their work does not meet stringent editorial guide-lines, they still have a platform.”

Even though such a platform is a plus to consumers, there are instanc-es where accuracy, credibility and journalistic ethics are sacrificed at the

altar of getting news out first, and fast.This is slowly giving way to what is re-ferred to as Journalism of Assertion, a kind of journalism which values im-mediacy and volume of news without extensive and critical fact-checking.

“Bloggers come in all shapes and sizes.

“Some have journalistic training and do not flout journalistic prin-ciples. However, others do not have training, and ethics and such do not bother them,” Dr Booker says.

Bloggers are not bound by the journalists’ code of ethics, says Maina.

“They are not limited by the code, but the law still applies to them just the same way one would be held ac-countable for insulting a person on the street,” he says.

Even though they are not bound by the code, Dr Booker warns that they should not ignore ethics.

“Being unconcerned about this is dangerous because you are writing for an audience that is literate. You might come out as audacious and they might like what they read at first, but after a while, when they see that you do not care about certain princi-ples, you begin to lose their trust and readers.”

Old media remains relevant by employing new approaches to dis-semination of news. They are becom-ing more analytical, more critical and more opinionated.

They help readers make sense of what they have already read on social media.

“Traditional media outlets have to work hard to ensure that their content is evidence-based.

“They have the upper hand in analysis and interpretation, things that blogs do not do and that is why they still have an advantage because they have reputations.”

According to Maina, traditional media has to embrace complemen-tarity and work with prominent blog-gers.

This must involve going digital and working more closely with citizen journalists, while opening up chan-nels of communication with the pub-lic. Dr Booker agrees.

“Mainstream media has benefit-ted from bloggers. For instance, Biko is no longer just a name, he is a brand. So when he writes for mainstream publications, it is good for them be-cause his readers follow him there.

“Newspapers must adjust and in-clude content that appeals to the peo-ple who have been reading his blog.”

Dr Booker and Maina offer simi-lar advice to aspiring and established bloggers.

“You are only as good as your last post,” says Dr Booker, adding that consistency is what builds your name and you should be responsible. “En-sure that you understand the values of the people that you are writing for.”

Were says that bloggers should think about [their] integrity.

“Is it worth sh 50,000? If a compa-ny is giving you a product, paying you for advertisement, you should still be able to call them out if you disagree with something they do since they do not own you.

“I still have not made money di-rectly from my blog, but I have landed numerous opportunities, such as speaking at the G20 summit in Lon-don, because of the credibility I estab-lished from the blog,” he says.

According to him, we are just scratching the surface of the poten-tial that the Kenyan blogosphere has to offer.

“We need more voices online. We should hold the government account-able. We should ask, ‘Why do we have to resort to fundraisers for every-thing? Why isn’t the government play-ing its role?’

“There should be enough hospi-tals, hospices, cancer centres. Those are not issues to do with which po-litically party one supports. These are Kenyans’ issues.”

spective was totally different. We were writing because we wanted to write,” he says.

“What provoked me to start blog-ging was the State broadcaster’s atti-tude towards the Opposition during the elections. It was not giving them airtime, so blogging gave the other side of the story that was being kept from public view.

“My principle has always been to speak the truth to power and that is what has kept the blog alive all these years,” he says.

Truth to power is a prin-ciple that encourages people to take a stand and speak to those in authority and hold them accountable as concerns societal values and what is expected of them.

Even though certain blogs in Ke-nya still dwell on politics, the blogging scene has grown beyond politics.

“Blogging was mostly about poli-tics but nowadays we have blogs on entertainment, sports and even fash-ion and that shows there are different ways of adding value to the society,” Were says.

We are having situations where traditional media does not always break news. This has become the work of citizen journalists or bloggers

“The same concept of speaking truth to power applies to them and this is where the value is.”

He is right.Some of the blogs that record

many hits, the ones that are popular, have nothing to do with politics.

For instance, Thisisess.com by Sharon Mundia, is a fashion blog and is arguably one of the most success-ful in the Kenyan blogosphere. When Sharon got engaged in May and blogged about it, the site received so many visitors that it crashed.

The news about her engagement was trending on Twitter too, with a hashtag #PoleKwaMwirigi.

Mwirigi reportedly had a crush on her, and so Kenyans decided to offer him “words of comfort” over his loss.

Corporate brands decided to cash in on the Twitterfall and of-

fered him their words of com-fort while pushing their prod-ucts. Politicians also joined in.

One local bank tweeted thus: We are engaged to you

and you can be sure we will be by your side for better or for

worse #PoleKwaMwirigi.The governor of Meru

County reminded him that “Your county is with you. #PoleKwaMwirigi.

The power of blog-ging has perhaps

never been more evident than

early this month when one Jack-son Biko set out to help a young man he had never met in person raise

funds for sur-gery to remove

a brain tumor.E m m a n u e l

Otieno, who the blogger referred to

as Jadudi, needed Sh 1 million to go to hospital

in India. He had been oper-ated upon three times before and his parents could not raise more funds for his travel and hospitali-

sation.Biko wrote about Jadudi in his

blog, bikozulu.com, and launched online campaign dubbed #OneMil-liForJadudi. The piece was titled That Thing in Jadudi’s Head and it had a paybill number to which readers could send their donations.

The blog post went viral and the target was reached in five hours. In less than 30 hours, #OneMilliForJadu-di had raised sh 6 million and a hotel chain and an airline gave donations in kind. The airline offered to fly him and his parents to India, and the hotel chain offered them accommodation in Nairobi.

Such is the age we live in -- a single blog post and a hashtag can change lives instantly. It is the 21 century Kenya where anyone with a smart phone can be a newsmaker or a re-porter. “Blogging provides alterna-tives, and a lot more variety in terms


Will mainstream media


Mainfeature Mainfeature


We are in the Informa-tion Age and the hu-man race has never been exposed to so

much information that in one day, an average person in a city is said to receive as much data as someone in the 15th century would encounter in a lifetime.

With the Information Age came the blogs which were personal web-sites where individuals could write articles or post pictures and videos on any topic, including their personal lives, on a regular basis.

Blogging used to be a preserve of very few people and was mostly about keeping an online diary. How-ever, it has now evolved and so many people are into it. Further, tools have been developed to make it easier for anyone with an opinion — and don’t we all have opinions? — to start a blog, thus it is no longer for only te-chies or computer whizkids.

Kenya has not been left behind in this digital revolution, and the coun-try’s blogosphere started developing in the 2003.

Blogging has since gained trac-tion and is no longer just a hobby for many Kenyans, some of whom command a following of tens of thousands of readers. Actually, some bloggers earn a living sole-ly from their craft.

The exponential rise of blogging in Kenya should come as no surprise, says Daudi Were, one of the pio-neer bloggers in Kenya.

“Blogging is one of the most African things you can do,” he says. “The very idea that everyone has a voice goes to the heart

of the African spirit. It is what we have always done.”

Were is also a director at Ushahidi, a tech company. He started writing online in 1997, when the name ‘blog’ had not even been coined.

“People now congregate online to tell stories and discuss issues, so the technology may be new but the con-cept is the same,” he opines.

When he put up the blog MentalA-crobatics.com in 2003, things were very different then. “Those days, get-ting a reader a month was cause for celebration. If someone told me ‘Hey, I read your post’ that would really be a big deal to me.”

One would wonder what inspired him to blog when most Kenyans were still asking what “an internet” was. It was not about the money.

“There were no companies which would pay for their advertisements on blogs. That meant that our per-

Will mainstream media be relevant in this age?

Henry Maina, Regional Director, ARTICLE 19 Eastern Africa

of content,” says Dr Nancy Booker, the chair of the Journalism and Com-munication Department at Multime-dia University of Kenya.

“We are now spoilt for choice in terms of what we want to consume from the media.”

Traditional media outlets such as radio, television and newspapers have had to contend with the fact that blogging is now the competition.

“We are having situations where traditional media does not always b break stories,” says Henry Maina, the regional director of ARTICLE 19 East-ern Africa.

“This has become the work of citi-zen journalists or bloggers and even the sad news of the Garissa University terrorist attack first appeared on so-cial media.”

Maina, who is a journalist, says that bloggers have become opinion shapers. “Where media has skewed certain narratives, bloggers have stepped in to tell the real story.

“In situations where the media would refuse to cover a story on the basis of its news value, citizen jour-nalists nowadays step in.”

Article 19 is an international hu-man rights body which champions freedom of expression and right to information. It operates in 14 Eastern African countries.

“For bloggers, there isn’t much re-striction and anything goes,” says Dr Booker. “Some issues that might not be newsworthy to mainstream jour-nalists appear on blogs. While media houses have to comply with certain regulations, bloggers have much more freedom.”

She says that blogs provide oppor-tunities for upcoming writers to put forth their ideas. “If their work does not meet stringent editorial guide-lines, they still have a platform.”

Even though such a platform is a plus to consumers, there are instanc-es where accuracy, credibility and journalistic ethics are sacrificed at the

altar of getting news out first, and fast.This is slowly giving way to what is re-ferred to as Journalism of Assertion, a kind of journalism which values im-mediacy and volume of news without extensive and critical fact-checking.

“Bloggers come in all shapes and sizes.

“Some have journalistic training and do not flout journalistic prin-ciples. However, others do not have training, and ethics and such do not bother them,” Dr Booker says.

Bloggers are not bound by the journalists’ code of ethics, says Maina.

“They are not limited by the code, but the law still applies to them just the same way one would be held ac-countable for insulting a person on the street,” he says.

Even though they are not bound by the code, Dr Booker warns that they should not ignore ethics.

“Being unconcerned about this is dangerous because you are writing for an audience that is literate. You might come out as audacious and they might like what they read at first, but after a while, when they see that you do not care about certain princi-ples, you begin to lose their trust and readers.”

Old media remains relevant by employing new approaches to dis-semination of news. They are becom-ing more analytical, more critical and more opinionated.

They help readers make sense of what they have already read on social media.

“Traditional media outlets have to work hard to ensure that their content is evidence-based.

“They have the upper hand in analysis and interpretation, things that blogs do not do and that is why they still have an advantage because they have reputations.”

According to Maina, traditional media has to embrace complemen-tarity and work with prominent blog-gers.

This must involve going digital and working more closely with citizen journalists, while opening up chan-nels of communication with the pub-lic. Dr Booker agrees.

“Mainstream media has benefit-ted from bloggers. For instance, Biko is no longer just a name, he is a brand. So when he writes for mainstream publications, it is good for them be-cause his readers follow him there.

“Newspapers must adjust and in-clude content that appeals to the peo-ple who have been reading his blog.”

Dr Booker and Maina offer simi-lar advice to aspiring and established bloggers.

“You are only as good as your last post,” says Dr Booker, adding that consistency is what builds your name and you should be responsible. “En-sure that you understand the values of the people that you are writing for.”

Were says that bloggers should think about [their] integrity.

“Is it worth sh 50,000? If a compa-ny is giving you a product, paying you for advertisement, you should still be able to call them out if you disagree with something they do since they do not own you.

“I still have not made money di-rectly from my blog, but I have landed numerous opportunities, such as speaking at the G20 summit in Lon-don, because of the credibility I estab-lished from the blog,” he says.

According to him, we are just scratching the surface of the poten-tial that the Kenyan blogosphere has to offer.

“We need more voices online. We should hold the government account-able. We should ask, ‘Why do we have to resort to fundraisers for every-thing? Why isn’t the government play-ing its role?’

“There should be enough hospi-tals, hospices, cancer centres. Those are not issues to do with which po-litically party one supports. These are Kenyans’ issues.”

spective was totally different. We were writing because we wanted to write,” he says.

“What provoked me to start blog-ging was the State broadcaster’s atti-tude towards the Opposition during the elections. It was not giving them airtime, so blogging gave the other side of the story that was being kept from public view.

“My principle has always been to speak the truth to power and that is what has kept the blog alive all these years,” he says.

Truth to power is a prin-ciple that encourages people to take a stand and speak to those in authority and hold them accountable as concerns societal values and what is expected of them.

Even though certain blogs in Ke-nya still dwell on politics, the blogging scene has grown beyond politics.

“Blogging was mostly about poli-tics but nowadays we have blogs on entertainment, sports and even fash-ion and that shows there are different ways of adding value to the society,” Were says.

We are having situations where traditional media does not always break news. This has become the work of citizen journalists or bloggers

“The same concept of speaking truth to power applies to them and this is where the value is.”

He is right.Some of the blogs that record

many hits, the ones that are popular, have nothing to do with politics.

For instance, Thisisess.com by Sharon Mundia, is a fashion blog and is arguably one of the most success-ful in the Kenyan blogosphere. When Sharon got engaged in May and blogged about it, the site received so many visitors that it crashed.

The news about her engagement was trending on Twitter too, with a hashtag #PoleKwaMwirigi.

Mwirigi reportedly had a crush on her, and so Kenyans decided to offer him “words of comfort” over his loss.

Corporate brands decided to cash in on the Twitterfall and of-

fered him their words of com-fort while pushing their prod-ucts. Politicians also joined in.

One local bank tweeted thus: We are engaged to you

and you can be sure we will be by your side for better or for

worse #PoleKwaMwirigi.The governor of Meru

County reminded him that “Your county is with you. #PoleKwaMwirigi.

The power of blog-ging has perhaps

never been more evident than

early this month when one Jack-son Biko set out to help a young man he had never met in person raise

funds for sur-gery to remove

a brain tumor.E m m a n u e l

Otieno, who the blogger referred to

as Jadudi, needed Sh 1 million to go to hospital

in India. He had been oper-ated upon three times before and his parents could not raise more funds for his travel and hospitali-

sation.Biko wrote about Jadudi in his

blog, bikozulu.com, and launched online campaign dubbed #OneMil-liForJadudi. The piece was titled That Thing in Jadudi’s Head and it had a paybill number to which readers could send their donations.

The blog post went viral and the target was reached in five hours. In less than 30 hours, #OneMilliForJadu-di had raised sh 6 million and a hotel chain and an airline gave donations in kind. The airline offered to fly him and his parents to India, and the hotel chain offered them accommodation in Nairobi.

Such is the age we live in -- a single blog post and a hashtag can change lives instantly. It is the 21 century Kenya where anyone with a smart phone can be a newsmaker or a re-porter. “Blogging provides alterna-tives, and a lot more variety in terms


Will mainstream media


Fuel prices have gone and consumers have started feeling the effects of high taxes imposed by the gov-

ernment because it wants to raise sh1.24 trillion.

This the the latest addition to the motorist’s bag of miseries as he/ she has has to contend with several oth-er “expenditures” brought about by traffic gridlocks and frequent repairs because of poor roads.

I have a fixed routine throughout the work week. I fuel at a specific petrol station and at specific inter-vals. Most of the time, I buy the same amount of fuel. Over time, I have developed a very reliable method of ascertaining whether I have my mon-ey’s worth in the tank. However, last week when I went for my usual dose

By Tony ngare

By James giTau

Learn to shape your child’s life

Sundayride

Lifecoach

Car-pooling should be the way forward

School holidays are coming to a end and parents can be relieved that order will return to their homes.

Every holiday presents the recur-ring challenge of finding something to keep the children busy and away from mischief.

I was talking to an associate and he awakened me to a new contender to parental influence. He has teenage daughters. During the holidays, in between performing their chores and studying, the girls spent almost all of their free time watching TV.

What concerned my friend was not their TV watching but what they were watching. There are many shows on both free-to-air and PayTV chan-nels nowadays.

Some of these programmes show the day to day lives of celebrities, so-cialites and families going about their businesses. The appeal of these shows comes from controversial characters of dubious values interacting with one another and the society around them.

That antisocial behaviour is good for TV ratings, but it might be bad news for your impressionable teen-ager.

Some studies have shown that watching reality shows with lots of what is called relational aggression

car pool? On Kenyan roads, nearly five in every ten cars have just an occu-pant and we all sit and whine within our small little mobile compartments. Time has come for a change.

Car-pooling has several obvious benefits. Besides saving fuel, and of course money, when you car-pool you make new friends and establish new contacts. Having new friends and expanding your network is never a bad idea. Of course the reduction in pollution and improved environment cannot be overstated. With fewer cars coughing black smoke on our roads, it is less stress to our environment. Ulti-mately, when we car-pool, we reduce congestion and give the county au-thorities time to build the much-tout-ed mass rapid transport system.

But will Kenyans embrace car-pooling? It remains to be seen, especially with their well-document-ed show off culture on the roads.

of fuel, something did not feel quite right. Since I am a regular at that pet-rol station, I even know the duration it takes for their pumps to dispense Sh 2000 worth of fuel. Last week though, the pump died down rather too fast for my usual Sh 2000 worth of fuel. I

suspected that the attendant with the TRAINEE badge was up to some mon-key business. Upon inspection, I real-ised that he was innocent and all the fuel I was to pay for was in the tank. That is how costly fuel has become! An increase in the price of diesel, mostly

used to power machines in agricul-ture, manufacturing and transpor-tation sectors, and petrol will likely gradually lead to an increase in the cost of basic goods and services. That is inflation in the horizon.

In Chinua Achebe’s Things Fall Apart, “Eneke the bird says that since men have learned to shoot without missing, he has learned to fly with-out perching.”This is precisely what the Kenyan motorists may have to do eventually. They must adapt to new ways of life, and this includes car-pooling.

Kenyans are very enthusiastic about drinking and driving, and dodg-ing traffic police and National Trans-port and Safety Authority, but they have never shown any enthusiasm towards car-pooling despite subtle suggestions by various organisations. Will the latest fuel price increases and runaway inflation force Kenyans to

such as exclusion, manipulation and bullying can make the young people more aggressive and anti-social.

These findings are probably worth taking note of, if you are a parent. This is one form of media that may appear harmless, but it can be the leading peddler of values directed at the youth.

Teaching values involves time, a commodity in short supply for many parents today.

As such, there are very many oth-er things that are shaping children’s perspectives more than ever before. Children are not going to develop their value system much by what they see around them, thus, there is in-creased need for parents to be their role models.

Live the values you teach: Children learn and internalise from seeing how parents act in different situations throughout the day.

All the teaching in the world can be undone if your children observe you behave in ways that contradict what you say you stand for.

Your children will not see the im-portance to persevere if you routinely give up on exercise programmes or diets; or quit college classes when the going gets tough.

Children overhear your interac-tions with others and observe how you treat others. If there is a deviation between what you say and what you do, your children will ignore what

you tell them. But if your actions are consistent with your words, then your message gets to be reinforced.

Apologise to your children when you make mistakes: This is much more difficult than it sounds. However, it has immense worth in helping a child internalise great val-ues. Seeing a parent eating humble pie when they fall short, shows them that their parents value and respect

their thoughts, perspectives and feel-ings and are serious about upholding their principles.

Use everyday experiences as a catalyst for conversation: Some-thing is always happening that can provide you with an opportunity to teach your children about values.

Utilise these incidents as ice breakers. It could be an occurrence you hear about in the news; some-thing you or your children are doing or something you observed some-one else do. These can make impres-sionable on-the-spot lessons.

View mistakes as learning moments: Life decisions come early and peer pressure may cause children to make mistakes and not live up to your values on their own.

Some times, the mistakes are fair-ly inconsequential and and at times, they have serious consequences. In either case, remember to keep the relationship with your child a prior-ity, and seek ways to learn from the mistakes.

Walk together through inevitable consequences and also come up with alternate strategies for dealing with the issue in the future. That partner-ship will pay off in the long run.

Instilling values in a child may seem tedious and repetitive but it is, the most important legacy a parent can give a child. Give this some se-rious thought, it could save you and your child.

Watch us on ADN and all other free to air set top boxes DStv 274 I GOtv 94 I Zuku 14

A new 24-hour news and current affairs channel.


Hennes & Mauritz, the world’s second-biggest fashion retailer, is launch-ing a new effort to pro-

mote recycling as it seeks to cut its envi-ronmental impact, boost its ethical cre-dentials and address looming shortages of raw materials.

The move comes as critics point out the damage being caused by a throwaway culture fuelled by cheap clothing that has seen a sharp rise in the number of gar-ments sold annually around the world.

Sweden’s H&M, which is launching a line of jeans containing recycled cotton next week, will offer an annual 1-mil-lion-euro ($1.16 million) prize for new techniques to recycle clothes, Chief Exec-utive Karl-Johan Persson said.

“No company, fast-fashion or not, can continue exactly like today,” Persson said. “The (prize’s) largest potential lies with finding new technology that means we can recycle the fibres with unchanged quality.”

As population pressure mounts, re-tailers like H&M are concerned about po-tential future shortages of cotton, which is heavily water and pesticide dependent.

Existing cotton recycling methods make poor-quality fibres, and there is no efficient way to recycle garments of mixed materials, so the vast majority of clothes end up in land fills.

Johan Rockstrom, environmental sci-ence professor at Stockholm University and a jury member for the H&M prize, said the fashion industry needs to find new business models to respond to glob-al resource shortages.

“This is a great challenge for H&M whose trademark is cheap clothes at good quality ... The fact it is cheap means there is a risk people buy and throw away, or buy too much,” he said.

H&M revenues have more than dou-bled since 2006, reaching 151 billion Swedish crowns ($18.3 billion) in the year to last November, making it the second biggest fashion retailer after Spain’s In-ditex.

The award is being launched by a foundation established by H&M that is funded by the retailer and the Persson family, its main owners.

INNOVATION

Bernstein analyst Anne-Charlotte Windal said the industry’s sustainabil-ity drive reflected the dilemma facing “fast-fashion” companies that constantly churn out new styles.

“The model only works if they encour-age very frequent purchases, but the con-sumers are aware of the increasing effect it has on the environment,” she said.

Other companies are coming up with their own solutions. Mud Jeans is a Dutch company which leases its garments to consumers and then offers them a re-placement each year, repairing and re-selling the used ones or recycling the fabric.

“This is the future: producers who are responsible for their own waste,” said Chief Executive Bert van Son.

“Our company can do this because we are quite small: that it is why we can do these kinds of crazy things because we can keep cotton pure. If you are a big store chain it is very complicated if you mix cotton and polyester.”

H&M joined forces earlier this year with Puma-owner Kering to support start-up Worn Again which is developing a technology for separating and extract-ing fibres in mixed-material garments.

Meanwhile, a company called Re:newcell is developing a method to improve the quality of recycled cotton fibres and hopes to build a first factory in coming years.

Currently, only about a maxi-mum of 20 percent of recycled cotton can be used in a new pair of jeans because the fi-bre length is shortened in the shredding process, im-pacting quality, H&M says.

REAL CHALLENGEH&M and Kering are

not alone in beating the recycling drum. Like H&M, Britain’s Marks & Spencer and Italy’s Calze-donia collects used items in their stores for recy-cling.

On a much smaller scale, Finnish entrepre-neurs Pure Waste Tex-tiles have managed to produce sweat shirts from 100 per cent re-cycled cotton after im-proving existing recy-cling techniques and by recycling offcuts from clothes factories.

However, others believe that recycling is just a distraction from the real challenge of the fashion industry: persuading customers to keep wearing their clothes for longer.

To that end, British designer Tom Cridland is offering a 30-year guarantee on a range of T-shirts. “I don’t be-lieve it is fair on cus-tomers to churn out plain white T-shirts that will only last a year or two,” he said. “I cannot compete on price so I have to do something differ-ent.”

By AnnA RingstRom

Fashion

1, 2 & 3 Models present creations by Cameroon’s designer Martial Tapolo during the 10th Afrik fashion show in Abidjan in June 2015. 4. A model presents a creation by Haiti’s designer Zacometi during the 10th Afrik fashion show. 5. Musician Tinie Tempah suring the Coach Spring/Summer 2015 collec-tion during London Collections: Men in London in June 2015.

Fashion world offers brand-new ‘mitumba’ to save the environment

1

2

3

4

5

Hennes & Mauritz is launching a new effort to promote recycling as it seeks to cut its environmental impact, boost its ethical credentials and address looming shortages of raw materials. [PHOTOS: ISSOUF SANOGO/ AFP & SUZANNE PLUNKETT/ REUTERS]

— Reuters


MAIN PHOTO: Mzee Jomo Kenyatta on December 12, 1963.

ABOVE: Wahome Mutahi

INSET: Okwiri Oduor, the 2014 winner of Caine Prize for African Writing. [PHOTOS: FILE/STANDARD]

LiteraryDiscourse

Must it be called Jomo Kenyatta Prize for Literature?

It is good news for winners of the Jomo Kenyatta Prize for Literature which will be awarded at the end of the

Nairobi International Book Fair.This year’s winners will take home

double what winners in 2013 got. This is all thanks to the generosity of the Text Book Centre, who have spon-sored the award for the longest time.

Starting this year, the prize that is administered by the Kenya Publish-ers Association, and which awarded every two years, will now officially be called the Text Book Centre Jomo Kenyatta Prize for Literature. This is a way of recognising the contributions of the largest bookseller in the coun-try.

While this recognition is in order, and has in fact been long overdue, questions should now be asked why the award should continue carrying the Kenyatta family name, when in fact they contribute nothing towards it. Why not just call it the Text Book Centre Prize for Literature?

However, even before such a dras-tic action is considered, maybe we should ask ourselves whether the Kenyatta family even knows the ex-istence of such an award, and if their financial input is required so as to im-prove the lot of creative writers in the country.

My enquiries revealed that in 2005, the publishers’ body had invited Muhoho Kenyatta to preside over the awards of the ceremony.

He was not available, so he he delegated that duty his sister Christi-na Pratt. The publishers, at the time, asked for some sort of financial assis-tance for the award.

By MBugua NguNjiri

is Sh50,000. When you consider that an award like the Caine Prize for Afri-can Literature offers winners over Sh1 million for a short story, yearly, then you can see that we are doing poorly if the best we can offer creative writers is Sh300,000, in two years.

The purpose of giving prizes is mainly to motivate authors and en-courage writing.

From the above, it is clear that our writers are not being motivated enough. And you wondered why there is a dearth of creative works in Kenya.

It is not for lack of creativity that we are not producing enough cre-ative works, the activities of Kenyans on Twitter, otherwise known as KOT, are enough testimony that creativity abounds within our boundaries. We all need to tap that talent and get Ken-yans reading.

And why should youth and chil-dren’s writers be given inferior prize money to that of adult writers? Does it mean that they are inferior writers?

The late Dr Ezekiel Alembi, and who was an accomplished children’s writer, made it his business to remind those who cared that writing for chil-dren is quite technical and writers of children’s books should be rewarded at par, or better than those who write for adults.

Research shows that there is a lot of potential in the creative writing sector.

Conservative estimates indicate that the creative writing sector has been exploited only up to about 30 per cent, meaning that there is more that is yet to be tapped, unlike the textbook/non-creative sector, which has been exploited to the maximum.

The examples of Julius Yego and Nicholas Bett show that given enough motivation, Kenyans can achieve greatness. Who would have thought that Yego would one day be a world champion?

Our writers too can achieve simi-lar greatness with enough motivation. If that means KPA, TBC and the Ken-yatta family putting their act together, so be it.

My source told me that Christina gave them Sh100,000. It is not clear what was agreed on after that and whether the publishers made a fol-low-up. If Kenyatta’s daughter could give Sh100,000 at such short notice, it surely means that the Kenyatta family is not averse to helping out.

It should be remembered that in 2005, winners were being given a pal-try Sh50,000. It was not until 2009 that the bookseller improved the package to Sh150,000 for winners in the adult categories, Sh75,000 for those in the youth categories and Sh50,000 for authors in the Children’s categories both in English and Kiswahili.

However, to be fair to the Kenyat-ta family, it should be acknowledged that they are busy people and that if the publishers’ body expected some-thing from that quarter, it was up to them to follow up. The fact that the Kenyatta family has not “invested” in the award can only be blamed on the publishers.

The Kenyatta family, either indi-vidually or through their business interests have demonstrated their philanthropy on various issues. Brookside Dairies is, and has been the main sponsor of the Kenya and East Africa secondary secondary games. Is it really that hard for the Kenyatta family to give money towards reward-ing creative writers?

Assuming the Kenyatta family agrees to be the main, and probably sole sponsor of the award, which in-cidentally is Kenya’s most prestigious, it is doubtful they would be happy to share a name with Text Book Centre.

My sources within publishing in-dustry intimated that Text Book Cen-tre have been unwilling to let go of the prize, which they have sponsored since 1990.

They added that in the beginning, the going had been rough, which ex-plains why they have been awarding the prize biannually. The money given yearly by the booksellers, and which was to be put in a provident fund so that only the profits accrued would be

given to winners, was not enough to sustain the prizes on an annual basis.

The only reason, my sources tell me, the Kenyatta name has not been dropped from the literary award, is out of courtesy to avoid hurting the feelings the Kenyatta family.

Surely, authors cannot contin-ue being given peanuts just because publishers are either too terrified to drop the Kenyatta name or are afraid of asking for financial assistance.

Given the politics that go with naming, and assuming the Kenyat-ta family wishes to continue having their name on the award, through sponsorship, then the award can be split into two so that it is awarded on an alternating basis, each bearing the name of the different sponsor.

The other award being adminis-tered by the publishers’ association is the Wahome Mutahi Literary Prize, named in honour of the later hu-mourist, known for his Whispers col-umn. The prizes for this are also given biannually. It is solely sponsored by the publishers and the prize money

We should ask ourselves whether the Kenyatta family even knows the existence of such an award


BabaJimmi With Joseph Maina

Memoirs of a scribe

Get well quick, my old friend Tiger PowerWith Benson Riungu

Some questions make visitors rather uneasy

The spot where Integrity Centre stands today, at the V-junction formed by Valley and Ralph Bunche

roads, was once occupied by what in its day was arguably Nairobi’s trend-iest night spot.

In the 1960s and 1970s, Starlight Nightclub was frequented by the mighty and the famous, among them Tom Mboya and Argwings Kodhek.

It was also the venue for many high society weddings.

By the time I set foot there in the early ‘80s it was a bit jaded and frayed at the edges and competition was getting keen but Shika Yeye (hold her tight), as it was nicknamed due to the common refrain by the Congolese bands that played there, was still a crowd puller.

The nightclub was started and ran by Robbie Armstrong, an English-man with boyish good looks who of-ten boasted that he had managed to turn night into day and day into night through his work and living habits.

I was introduced to Armstrong by a mutual friend, Brian Tetley who sug-gested that his story might make an interesting piece for a society column I was penning at the time.

As parents, Mama Jimmy and I want our children to be well-behaved peo-ple, and among our key

areas of interest is the treatment of guests.

To our credit, the children have grown to be quite presentable and well-mannered, and they conduct themselves fairly well in the presence of visitors.

There is only one problem, though — Tiffany has been asking too many questions!

“I just wish your daughter would know when to shut up,” Mama Jimmy says. “She is too inquisitive for com-fort. At this rate, she will easily drive our guests away and give our house-hold a bad name.”

Indeed, the girl has a way of mak-ing our visitors feel like they are in a police station.

On Friday afternoon, as I lay on the couch perusing the sports pages on my favourite newspaper, we had a guest who introduced herself as Su-san.

She appeared to be in her mid-twenties, and she said she is the younger sister to the wife of Baba Dan, my neighbour.

Baba Dan and his family had gone to the city earlier, so Susan hoped to wait for them in my hacienda. “No problem at all. Karibu sana,” Mama

Brian gave me a note to take to Armstrong with the information that I loved my beer and a recommendation I should not suffer from thirst during the interview.

To ensure I was allowed in with-out paying the cover charge, I was to mention his name to Zakaria, his (Armstrong’s) right hand man and bouncer who vetted everyone enter-ing the club.

five minutes later, the two women were happily chatting like former schoolmates.

They discussed complex matters such as the best detergents, the best-dressed celebrities in town and the best shades of mascara.

Tiffany was locked out of this es-oteric talk, and she suddenly looked like a mkokoteni boy listening to a couple of cardiologists as they dis-cussed arteries, aortas, veins and such like.

“Come, let us go out for a walk,” I called her up, and we stepped out of the compound. We were just in time to catch another of our neighbours, Danny, as he drove in.

Danny is a smooth-talking bache-lor who truly loves pretty young wom-en, and the young women seem to love him in equal measure.

On this particular evening, even Tiffany noticed the new woman in Danny’s car, and she quickly grabbed the opportunity.

“Uncle Danny, kwani leo umekuja na auntie mwingine?” she asked in her usual innocence. Now, this was a dangerous question at this moment, and I could see Danny was in tremen-dous agony. In the end, he came up with a carefully-worded answer — the type of an answer you would normal-ly give to the birds. He then shoved a lollipop in Tiffany’s palm in an appar-

I was to keep in mind that Arm-strong’s “day” started at 11pm and ended at 5am.

We hit it off immediately and the interview, such as it was, was lubricat-ed with many mugs of brew.

It turned out the man even kept in his office an old typewriter just in case any journalist felt like mixing work with pleasure. And Starlight was fre-quented by many thirsty scribes. For

several years, Armstrong’s policy was that as long as you could prove you were a bona fide journalist, you had unlimited access to the nightclub free of charge.

It was therefore the last port of call for many after newspapers had gone to bed and some even used the night-club as an alternative to their own houses.

It therefore would not be surpris-ing to find a journalist who headed to the office in the morning straight from Starlight.

A feature of the nightclub I found most remarkable was its regular cus-tomers, a good number of whom were ladies of the night who had knockers the size of watermelons and who had bleached their faces so much that it was hard to tell their original skin co-lour.

It was also the first place for me to encounter a gay person when one, a white man with a limp, tried to hit on me!

I was reminded of Starlight the other day when I heard the news that my old friend Conrad Njeru Karuken-ya, known to many Kenyans as Tiger Power, was in hospital with a heart ailment.

Jimmy welcomed her, and she sat di-rectly opposite me. I started reading my newspaper while Mama Jimmy dived back into her paperwork, leav-ing our guest in the company of Tiffa-ny. The two forged a quick friendship and before long, Tiffany was shooting one question after another.

“Auntie Susan, kati yako na Mama Dan ni nani mzee?” she asked, just as Miss Mboch served the guest a steam-ing cup of coffee.

“Mama Dan is my elder sister,” Su-san said guardedly.

“Do you have any children?”“No.”“Wewe uko na miaka ngapi?”

the little one pressed. Susan smiled warmly, but I could see the question had caused her plenty of discompo-sure and discomfiture. The look on her face seemed to scream “Sitaki maswali ya clinic!”

“I am the last born in Mama Dan’s family,” she offered, finally. Tiffany then focused on Susan’s body.

“Heh! Auntie Susan wewe ni mkubwa sana! Kwani unakulanga nini?” she asked, while covering her mouth with her palm.

This time, Tiffany’s question was met with an answer that was one part truth and two parts baloney — the kind of answers you get from politi-cians when they are cornered. Mama Jimmy took over from that point and

ent attempt to bribe her into silence, unaware that my little angel is above petty corruption.

“Kwa nini auntie Sarah hakuku-ja leo?” she pressed. This time, Tiff received a meandering answer that took her from Uhuru Park all the way to Mombasa, through Moyale, past Kisumu via Mogadishu with the final destination being Times Towers.

Danny then excused himself and briskly fled the scene with his new catch, just as Baba Dan’s family drove into the compound.

Later that evening, Mama Jimmy and I sat Tiffany down for a long talk and warned her against this habit of police-like interrogations.

I first saw Tiger in the early 1970s when he came to our school to demonstrate his awesome powers which at his prime almost rivalled those of the biblical Samson.

He not only could stop a Land Rov-er with his bare hands, but was quite comfortable to have one run over his stomach.

He broke six-inch nails with his hands, lifted crates of beer with his teeth while carrying many more with hands and beat a line of strong men in a tug-of-war. It was incredible.

We got to know each other well many years later and I once covered one of his events at Kenya Science Teachers College. His theatrics made him thirsty, and after the demonstra-tion, he suggested that we drop by Starlight for a drink. That man could soak it up without showing any ef-fects! At about four in the morning, we decided to go to town and rather than hire a taxi, Tiger suggested that we walk.

I felt quite safe walking down Ken-yatta Avenue at that ungodly hour confident that no man or beast would dare attack me while I was in the com-pany of such a mighty protector.

Get well quick, man!


Diaspora&Destination

By SHAMLAL PURI Paris, the city in the heart of France, is in fact one of the most visit-ed cities on the planet.

For generations, it has mesmer-ised artists, writers and culture vul-tures with its iconic landmarks and architectural grandeur.

It has several castles, palaces and landmarks. Paris also delights gas-tronomic freaks who salivate at the aromas of delectable and traditional dishes oozing from the eateries that dot the city.

The Latin Quarter is a truly capti-vating part of old Paris, and evokes a bohemian atmosphere with its maze of narrow streets dotted with eateries, boutiques and cafes.

Visiting this neighbourhood pro-vides a truly memorable experience as it shows a vast difference between the old and the modern Paris.

A trip to Paris is incomplete with-out a visit to the incredible Louvre. This famous art museum with a fu-turistic glass pyramid has massive collections of art and sculpture in Europe. It houses more than 380,000 pieces from almost every era and country. Here, you will see Mona Li-sa’s mysterious smile for free.

This spectacular place is an over-whelming ode to the city’s rich cul-ture.

The wonderful and imposing leg-endary Notre Dame Cathedral along the Seine is not to be missed. It was made famous by the Disney film, The Hunchback of Notre Dame. This beautiful church is one of the best places to see the traditional Gothic gargoyles.

The stunning Opera House, reput-ed as one of the finest in the world, is worth a visit and forms part of France’s tourism lure.

Adding to the shopping adventure is the endless stretch of the beautiful Champs-Elysees.

If you have enough cash, hit the boutiques at Champs-Elysees where the great and the good go to see and be seen. Fashionistas should make a beeline for Galeries Lafayette for a tempting array of latest fashions,

Visit pulsating Parisand find time to wonder down Rue Saint-Honore.

The towering Arc de Triomphe simply radiates French splendour. This stunning landmark is a memori-al to all those who lost their lives serv-ing France and is the Tomb of the Un-known Soldier. When the Arc is lit up at night, it frames the famous street in Paris.

Who can forget the iconic symbol of Paris — the ever recognisable 126-year old 324-metre high Eiffel Tower?

Take a testing climb of 1,665 steps to the top or an easy ride up the lift to the upper level to enjoy stunning views of Paris. The city is truly under your feet!

Seeing this huge tower in real life is not the same as seeing it on a post-card! Some seven million people visit Eiffel Tower every year. Over 250 mil-lion visitors have been there since its opening in 1889.

The recently opened transparent first floor is now one of the most spec-tacular and attractive places in Paris. Walking on the opaque floor above a 57-metre drop is a unique experience.

One level higher to the second floor will give you an even better view over Paris.

The third floor adds to the unique experience as both the second and third floors belong to the sky!

Most visitors stop at the third floor, but there is still more to climb if you have a head for heights.

If you are in a party mood and feel like doing something chic and origi-nal, stop over at the Champagne Bar on the top floor and enjoy a festive experience.

Nestling into the very structure of the Tower, the bar is a perfect place to enjoy a choice of red or white Cham-pagne. There simply could not be another elegant way to toast a sen-sational experience at the top of the world!

Champagne does not come cheap here — 21 Euros (Sh2,500) for a small glass of the best in the market.

The world-famous cabaret house, Moulin Rouge is a major attraction in

Paris. It is easily recognisable by the big red windmill on the roof and the original Edwardian décor on the in-side.

It simply cannot be missed if you are in the 18th arrondissement (dis-trict) area of Paris.

Founded by Joseph Oller and Charles Zidler in 1889, the same year that the Eiffel Tower was built, it is most famous for being the birth place of the Can-Can dance. Moulin Rouge was made even more famous by the 2001 Baz Luhrmann film starring Ni-cole Kidman and Ewan McGregor.

Enjoy a majestic trip taking a cruise along the River Seine to get a grand opportunity to discover Paris from the water as you glide past the beautiful landmarks.

Keep your eyes peeled for the No-tre Dame Cathedral, Eiffel Tower, Lou-vre Museum, Tulleries Gardens, Orsay Musuem and the Grand Palace.

There are over 30 bridges over the Seine in Paris which flows into the En-glish Channel.

Those who prefer to remain off-shore can enjoy a breath of fresh air with a picnic like a true Parisian, tak-ing their favourite charcuterie (cold cooked or cured processed meats), cheese and a bottle of wine to the banks of the Seine and watch as the sun sets over Paris. Perfect!

The Eurostar connects London to Gare du Nord in Paris through the tunnel under the English Channel. It takes two-and-a-half-hours.

ANTICLOCKWISE FROM ABOVE: Paris is under your feet at the top of the Eiffel Tower. Le Comptoir General in Paris is a clubhouse and a museum of Francophone African cultures. A jogger pound-ing on the road along the River Seine in Paris. View of Paris from the Eiffel Tower. Ice Cream seller in Paris. [PHOTOS: SHAMLAL PURI / STANDARD & VISIT PARIS REGION/ COURTESY]

Paris is truly a city of dreams.

Its seeping grandeur and magic captivates and

inspires many visitors making it one of the most romantic and infectious cities in the world.

Whether strolling along the vi-brant streets, ducking into attrac-tive world class museums or floating along the River Seine, you will capture the spirit of Paris in all corners.


ACROSS: 1, Tumble 7, Template 8, Trio 10, Sharon 11, Canape 14, Ton 16, Rites 17, Stew 19, Gavel 21, Rebel 22, Remit 23, Blot 26, Divan 28, See 29, United 30, Curate 31, Read 32, Entrance 33, Whence.

DOWN: 1, Thesis 2, Barrow 3, Eton 4, Apparel 5, Carat 6, Cedes 8, Tate 9, Ion 12, Nil 13, Pesto 15, Rabid 18, Train 19, Gem 20, Vet 21, Renewal 22, Rat 23, Berate 24, Lead 25, Twelve 26, Dunes 27, Vista 28, Sue 30, Crew.

LAST SUNDAY’S EASY SOLUTIONS

EASY PUZZLE

Across1 Feels (6)

7 Shake violently (8)

8 Long story (4)

10 Tradesman (6)

11 Crib (6)

14 Allow (3)

16 Regions (5)

17 Performs (4)

19 Myth (5)

21 Man-made waterway (5)

22 Disgusting (5)

23 US coin (4)

26 Body part (5)

28 Equal (3)

29 Quarter (6)

30 Corsair (6)

31 Mimics (4)

32 Elucidates (8)

33 Hit (6)

DOWN1 Sports arenas

(6)

2 Weighing

device (6)

3 Wound mark (4)

4 In general (7)

5 Forest clearing (5)

6 Yields (5)

8 Seasoning (4)

9 Obtain (3)

12 Plural of is (3)

13 Loaded (5)

15 Crazy (5)

18 E g y p t i a n

capital (5)

19 Obese (3)

20 Wicked (3)

21 Fundamental (7)

22 Distant (3)

23 Profession (6)

24 Ages (4)

25 Dozen (6)

26 Bid (5)

27 Fish (5)

28 Stone (3)

30 Overtake (4)

CODEWORD PUZZLEBy Rosy Russell

Halftime

YESTERDAY’S SOLUTIONS

1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13

14 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 22 23 24 25 26

Using all the letters of the alphabet, fill in the grid. To help you,there are three crossword-style clues:

Top line: Friday, perhaps? (10)

Middle line: Where three tracks converge? (7)

Bottom line: Icon of Aida sent to a Verdi devotee. (10)

To start you off, here is one of the letters.

Answers.

1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13

14 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 22 23 24 25 26

Ready 3350

A B C D E F G H I J K L M N O P Q R S T U V W X Y Z

By Rosy Russell 0723 117 737

1 3 2 4 6 5 7 3 2 8 1 3

9

10

3

5

8

3

11

9

2

6 3

9 13 17

3 19

4

14

4

3

13

2

8

3

16

6

2

12 14 15 4 6

8

8

14

15

3

1

14

2

6

17

7

18 3

6

21

2

4

8

14

5

23 24

3

19 3 18 3 22

24 1

3 20 9 6

13

2

8

22 6

1425 1

11

9

5

3

3

24

14

15

9 4 11 9 22

25 14 14 9

3

15

9

2

6

14

15

9

6 17

3 17

T

M N A S R E V T O Z L Q U

I C K D H P B W Y J G F X

1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13

14 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 22 23 24 25 26


Top line: Is he a spy? (2,1,7,3)

Middle line: Somehow can rare pop play it suitably? (13)

Bottom line: The bird on the seat keeps me informed. (2,5,6)


Answers.

1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13

14 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 22 23 24 25 26


1 2 3 4 2 2 4 5 6 7 8 9 10

3

12 2 2 4

5

2

12

17

218 3 19

11

3

20

10

9

15

13

12

6

10 13 14 2

2 6

18 5

16

21

21

19

10

4

11

11

4

3

10

12

5

8

22

2

23

11

3

6

6

2

25

25

24 3 4 2 11 3 19

13

2

20

3

6

7

4 13 9 13 3 8 20

3

13

3

8

3

4

2

20

4 5 10 11 26 13

15

6

1

1910 11 9 9 4 5 2 9

P

B E A P I N G T O M S D R

Q U F K H Y L Z J W C X V

Ready 3349

by Rosy Russell 07223 117 737

1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13

14 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 22 23 24 25 26


Top line: Friday, perhaps? (10)

Middle line: Where three tracks converge? (7)

Bottom line: Icon of Aida sent to a Verdi devotee. (10)


Answers.

1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13

14 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 22 23 24 25 26

Ready 3350


By Rosy Russell 0723 117 737

1 3 2 4 6 5 7 3 2 8 1 3

9

10

3

5

8

3

11

9

2

6 3

9 13 17

3 19

4

14

4

3

13

2

8

3

16

6

2

12 14 15 4 6

8

8

14

15

3

1

14

2

6

17

7

18 3

6

21

2

4

8

14

5

23 24

3

19 3 18 3 22

24 1

3 20 9 6

13

2

8

22 6

1425 1

11

9

5

3

3

24

14

15

9 4 11 9 22

25 14 14 9

3

15

9

2

6

14

15

9

6 17

3 17

T

M N A S R E V T O Z L Q U

I C K D H P B W Y J G F X

Using all the letters of the alphabet, fi ll in the grid. To help you, there are three crossword-styles clues:

Top line: Friday, perhaps? (10)Middle line: Where three tracks converge? (7)Bottom line: Icon of Aida sent to a Verdi devotee. (10)To start you o� , here is e of the letters.

YESTERDAY’S SOLUTION

5 3 2 1 9 7 8 6 4 8 4 1 2 6 3 5 9 7 9 6 7 4 5 8 2 1 3 4 7 6 9 8 1 3 5 2 3 2 8 5 7 6 9 4 1 1 5 9 3 4 2 6 7 8

6 1 4 8 3 5 7 2 9 2 8 5 7 1 9 4 3 6 7 9 3 6 2 4 1 8 5

Great taste is in our vocabulary.

SudokuAll rows, columns and 3 by 3 grids (defi ned by bold lines ) have the numbers 1 to 9 appearing only once. Some of the numbers have been entered. Complete the whole table by inserting the correct numbers.

A new 24 hour news and current affairs channel. Watch us on DSTV 274, GoTV 94, Zuku 14, ADN and all free to air set top boxes.

Dennis OnsarigoCase Files

Sunday 8.30pm-9.00pm

A look at the intriguing crimes and criminals of our times. Revolves mainly around the injustice of the ‘justice’ system


By Joe omBuor

getaway

Zanzibar: The spice of East Africa

foot facing the sea is washed by high tides, majestically stands out as a symbol of Christian war against slav-ery.

The cathedral, located at the spot where slaves disembarked en-route to the notorious slave market, was built between 1893 and 1898. It was designed by the same architect who designed the Notre Dame Basilica at Marseilles in France.

Zanzibar, and especially so Stone Town, prides itself on being the cradle of modernisation in this region. It was at a building christened Beit el Ajaib or House of Wonders in Stone Town where electricity was first switched on in East Africa.

Built in 1883 by the flamboyant Sultan Barghash Bin Said as his grand ceremonial palace and official recep-tion hall, it also featured East Africa’s first elevator. Surprised?

Colour television was first watched in this very building when mainland Tanzania had no television at all and black and white images was all that Kenyans and Ugandans knew.

These were real wonders at the time, hence the name. Beit Al Ajaib today houses some government de-partments and serves as a museum of Zanzibar’s rich history and culture of the entire Swahili Coast from south-ern Somalia to northern Mozam-bique.

Sultan Barghash, who reigned from 1870 to his death in 1888, also built the Mahrubi palace that today

from as far afield as Mozambique, Zambia, Malawi, Rwanda, Burundi and DRC Congo. The town and all its eerie fascination that include bustling bazaars, is but a pep to the rich recipe that awaits a curious visitor.

For a Kenyan, what immediately comes to mind in Stone Town is that a 10-mile Coastal strip, including the important port of Mombasa, was ruled from here by the sultan of Zan-zibar until 1964 when our nation be-came a republic.

The stone jungle that reflects the diverse influence underlying Swahili culture is an architectural showcase of palaces, forts, residential hous-es, mosques, churches and ancient graves.

A visit to the old Anglican Cathe-dral Church brings you face to face with the orgy of slave trade. Complet-ed in 1883 after 10 years of construc-tion, the church sits squarely on the site of a huge slave market, its altar nestled where the whipping post for slaves once stood.

The wooden cross in the church is itself a symbol of the war against slave trade. It is part of a tree under which the heart of Dr David Livingstone was buried in 1873, the year the anti-slav-ery crusader died in Zambia.

The church’s grounds are a scene of one of the most famous slave mon-uments in the world, featuring miser-able human figures in chains emerg-ing from a pit. Saint Joseph’s Catholic Cathedral, a coralline building whose

Zanzibar resonates with history.

To quote former President Amani Abeid

Karume, landing on the spice Indian Ocean resort is tantamount to engag-ing reverse gears into the past.

What the affable Karume omitted during the recent birth on the resort of Africa Leadership Mission on Peace Building that he midwifed, was men-tion of a past steeped in slavery.

The world of spices and historic sites that define Zanzibar and the is-land of Unguja in general, are only 55 minutes away by air from Nairobi but hours upon hours by road and ferry across the choppy sea from Dar-es-Salaam.

Modern Zanzibar with its classic beach hotels is awesomely beautiful, but nothing compares to the antiqui-ty and relics that beckon at every turn.

For those arriving by air, move-ment is fast from the modest Abeid Amani Karume International Airport, thanks to the virtual absence of traf-fic jams in this city of roughly 300,000 with its epicenter at Stone Town. It is so named because of its concrete character that like Kenya’s Lamu, in-corporates narrow, concrete roads.

Stone Town is built on the sweat and blood of African slaves trafficked

lies in ruins about four kilometres from Stone Town.

Destroyed by a fire in 1899, the palace housed the Sultan’s wife and over a 100 concubines drawn from the island and the mainland. What re-mains of the palace are the large stone columns that once supported a large wooden balcony circumnavigating the upper floor that separated bath-rooms for the women and the sultan’s own large bathroom.

On the verdant grounds are shade trees, large lawns and the original water reservoirs now overgrown with water lilies. Old mango trees the Sul-tan imported from India still flourish.

Nudging the shores of the Indian Ocean is the old Arab fort that the natives fondly call ngome kongwe, a large imposing structure with high walls that was built between 1698 and 1701 to provide defence against the Portuguese.

It converted into a prison where criminals were jailed and executed in the 19th century, and later became a depot for a railway line that ran be-tween Stone Town and Bububu to the north via Mahrubi palace. The line is no more.

The fort overlooks the aptly named palace museum dedicated to the his-tory and lifestyles of the Sultans of Zanzibar from the late 1820s when Said Bin Sultan moved his capital from Muscat in Oman to Stone Town.

Built in the late 1890s for members of the Sultan’s family, the museum’s

ground floor is dedicated to the early years of the sultanate (1828 to 1870), and the upper floors to the latter more affluent period of 1870 to 1896.

Artefacts on display include thrones, paintings, and family photo-graphs, banqueting tables, ceremoni-al furniture and sultan’s personal wa-ter-closet among others.

The famous Princess Salme, daughter of Sultan Said, who eloped to Hamburg with a German merchant in 1866 is significantly represented in a room complete with her bed and manuscripts of her autobiography, Memoirs of an Arabian Princess from Zanzibar, the only known written ac-count of what life was like for Arab women of the Royal Court in the 1800s.

In the palace garden is Makusura-ni graveyard with the tombs of Sul-tans Said, Barghash, Majid, Khaled, Khalifa and Abdullah.

Just outside the pre-historic town is the busy Darajani area, famous for its open and indoor markets where everything, from fish, meat, fruits, bread, coconut and dates are sold.

Once the night falls, the open mar-ket converts into an open-air eating area. Darajani also serves as the ter-minus for passenger vehicles plying the Island routes from Kizimkazi in the south to Mkokotoni in the north.

Zanzibar is not the only hotbed of spices on the east African Coast, the Island of Unguja like Pemba, its twin to the north, teems with fruits and fish.

Cloves — those aromatic flow-er buds of a tree that is the native of Indonesia — are a fascination to see, even as one samples vanilla, nutmeg, cinnamon, ginger, turmeric and black pepper.

Fruits range from mangoes to or-anges, lemons and tangerines to va-rieties unknown on the East African mainland. Mchicha, and not suku-mawiki, is the most popular vegeta-ble and fish is available in species that are staggering in size and variety.

Zanzibar is not short of high-class and slap-up hotels, among them the ultra-modern Zanzibar Melia Hotel, the site of the birth of Africa Leader-ship Mission of Peace Building.

MAIN PHOTO: Sultan Palace Museum.

A view of Stone Town.

Anglican Cathedral, in Stone Town.

The market place at Darajani.

Poolside of Melis Hotel.

Abeid Amani Karume International Airport. [PHOTOS: JOE OMBUOR/STANDARD]

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