PRESS RELEASE: GOVERNMENT’S RESPONSE TO ALLEGATIONS BY MP MILLIE ODHIAMBO AND OLOGO ALUOCH ON THEIR SECURITY

The Government is very concerned with the serious public allegations made by Hons. Ologo Aluoch and Millie Odhiambo that they had been threatened that their security would be withdrawn.

First, the Government wishes to make it clear that there has never been any plan to withdraw the MPs’ security.

Second and even more important, the Government wishes to investigate these alleged threats in a speedy and efficient manner. Therefore, the Honorable members are encouraged to report to the police and to provide details of the alledged telephone threats.

The Honorable Members will be reassured to know that the government has the capacity to track down who has called who or who has send an sms from which and to which mobile phone.

Therefore the MPs’ need to provide the details of the telephone numbers and timings of the alleged call and sms. Even hidden mobile numbers can be tracked and found. The police are waiting so that they can launch investigations immediately.


Dr. Alfred N. Mutua, EBS
PUBLIC COMMUNICATIONS SECRETARY/
GOVERNMENT SPOKESPERSON

Death in the Desert

NAIROBI: THE TRUTH ABOUT WAGALLA MASSACRE

                                       The Founder of TheAfricanVoices Abdirahman Ali


"In February 1984, Kenyan security forces rounded up and detained over 5,000 men from the Degodia clan of the Somali tribe, confined them at the Wagalla airstrip, stripped them naked and held them without food and water for four days. Blood on the Runway is the story of what happened and over 20 years of the ongoing struggle for the justice for the victims and survivors.


The Wagalla massacre story has every bit of a horror movie; blood and scattered brains, severed limbs, rotting flesh and mass graves.

The story of Wagalla is filled with intrigue. There is a conspiracy at every turn and nothing seems what it is. There was a master plan that was drawn up and implemented; it failed at the last minute; what was thought as an easy job of slaughtering 'sheep' became a nightmare. The 'sheep' scattered and bleated loudly, waking up the nearby villagers. Hiding the feast in the bushes became the only hope for the hunter. But scavengers had already smelled the blood and were turning every corpse around. The mortally wounded hid in the bushes only to come out at night and die in the open fields. For a period, the confusion created confounded even its creators. As the drama unfolded something strange began to happen. The world turned around and saw the sorry state of Wagalla. The story could not be killed. "
Who will establish the truth about Wagalla and get the victims fair and justice?

Abdirahman Ali

Nairobi

NAIROBI: U.S SELECTS RANNERBERGER'S SUCCESSOR



Retired Major General Scott Gration who will succeed Michael Ranneberger as the United States Ambassador to Kenya.

Michael Ranneberger is about to pack his bags off as the United States Ambassador to Kenya following the nomination of his successor by President Obama. According to a statement from the White House on Thursday indicated that the President Obama had nominated Retired Air Force Major Scott Gration - his special envoy to Sudan as his new diplomatic representative in Nairobi.Scott's elevation to the rank of ambassador now requires Senate confirmation.
Gration's diplomatic experience is thin--not a good thing for someone about to parachute into the middle of a diplomatic crisis with hundreds of thousands of lives at stake. (Most profiles of Gration emphasize that he knows about Africa by emphasizing how he was born in Congo and speaks Swahili--a language that is of course totally useful in Kenya.)
The vote was considered an accomplishment for the US administration and its special envoy, who initially came under heavy criticism for the perception that he is too soft on Khartoum."We would like to stress that his departure in no way indicates that this administration is walking away from the many challenges we still face in Sudan, particularly in Darfur," the White House statement said.
No replacement for Major General Gration has been named but the Obama administration has in recent months added to its team in Sudan, naming veteran diplomat Princeton Lyman to help the north and the south work out key remaining issues including the division of oil profits and Dane Smith, another long-time US envoy, to work on the Darfur issue.
Gration has previously served as Special Assistant to the President for Presidential Personnel and had a stint in the United States Air Force from 1974 to 2006.Mr Ranneberger has been US representative to Kenya since July 31, 2006 . He was previously the Senior Representative on Sudan in the Bureau of African Affairs in 2006. From 2004 to 2005, he was the Africa Bureau's Principal Deputy Assistant Secretary. He served as Special Advisor on Sudan from 2002 to 2004. From 1999 to 2002 he was Ambassador to the Republic of Mali.
His tenure has not been without controversy. He has rubbed the government the wrong way on more than one occasion the most recent being revelations that he described Kenya as "a flourishing swamp of corruption".
The claims were contained in leaked cables released by whistle-blowing website Wikileaks in November.
The controversial diplomat who never held back what he believed in had accused President Kibaki and Prime Minister Raila Odinga of doing nothing to end impunity.The two principals hit back at the US envoy during their respective speeches on Jamhuri Day.The President dared the schemers to try and topple his leadership, promising they would face the full force of his administration.Mr Odinga said Kenya would not entertain people masquerading as friends during the day, but who turn into into enemies at night.
Only this month, Imenti North MP Silas Ruteere withdrew his motion to censure Mr Ranneberger after he realized that a majority of his colleagues would not back it.He wanted Parliament to censure the US envoy for allegedly meddling in the internal affairs of a sovereign nation.

Kelvin Mwangi.
Nairobi.

NAIROBI: PRESS STATEMENT BY AMB. FRANCIS K. MUTHAURA, EGH ON PEOPLE TAKING ADVANTAGE OF HIS CURRENT SITUATION

                                          Head of Public Service Amb. Francis Muthaura

It has come to my attention that there are persons who have engineered a plot to tarnish my name and to take advantage of my current situation.

For example, one person, pretending to be a student leader, approached me and asked me in early January to support a demonstration that they were organizing in my support. I told him that such a demonstration would injure my standing in the eyes of the ICC and therefore could not support it.

I am also aware that this person taped the conversation I had with him and which has been edited in a manner to put me in a bad light. This manufactured recording is now being traded and circulated to interested parties.

In addition, the same person dropped off a T-Shirt to my office with my image and name printed on it. The information I now have is that these T-Shirts are going to be used by an organized group to disrupt the planned trip to Meru by the Rt. Hon. Prime Minister.

I want to make it very clear that I am not party to these primitive behaviors and I appeal to all Kenyans who may have been approached to join into such reckless activities to dismiss them.

I have alerted the Provincial Administration and the Police so that they can take necessary action.

In conclusion, I am a strong believer of the rule of law, democratic processes, peace and prosperity for this our great country. I appeal to all Kenyans to join me as we embrace these principles which are very well spelt out in our new Constitution.

Thank you and God bless.

Amb. Francis K. Muthaura, EHG
Permanent Secretary, Secretary to the Cabinet
& Head of the Public Service


10th February, 2011

NAIROBI: PRESS STATEMENT

President Mwai Kibaki and Prime Minister Raila Odinga at Harambee house where they held talks

His Excellency Mwai Kibaki, the President and Commander in Chief of the Defence Forces of the Republic of Kenya and the Rt. Hon. Raila Odinga, Prime Minister of the Republic of Kenya have had extensive consultations today on matters of concern to the nation.
The matters discussed by the two Principals were:
(a) the ICC process;
(b) the nominations to fill the Constitutional offices;
(c) resettlement of all IDPs; and
(d) Acting Ministerial appointments.
In regard to the ICC process, the two Principals reiterated the position of the Government that Kenya has always preferred that the cases be dealt with through a local legal mechanism. To that end, the Grand Coalition Government has embarked on the critical appointments in the Judicial system to ensure that the country has a credible local Judicial mechanism to competently and comprehensively deal with the cases relating to post election violence.
Furthermore, the Grand Coalition Government is undertaking diplomatic and legal initiatives with the UN Security Council and the ICC with an appeal that the cases currently being handled by the ICC be deferred for one year and thereafter referred to a competent local mechanism. The one year deferment will give the country the necessary time to establish the local mechanism as envisaged in the ongoing Constitutional Reforms. This process will be handled through a Grand Coalition bipartisan Cabinet Committee.
On the Issue of the nominations to fill State offices currently under consideration by Parliament, the two Principals agreed to respect the ongoing parliamentary process and its outcome.
Furthermore, the two Principals assured Kenyans that they will observe the letter and spirit of the Constitution in implementation of the Constitution including the appointment to State Offices.
His Excellency the President and the Right Honourable Prime Minister also reviewed the ongoing IDP resettlement affecting the remaining 5,000 families from the Post Election Violence, 3,000 families from Mau and 3,000 families from Embubut. They acknowledged that 14,000 acres have been identified and the process of purchase was under way. In that connection, they directed that the purchase of land be speeded up so that the three categories of IDPs are settled simultaneously.
At the same time, and after consultation with the Rt. Hon. Prime Minister, H.E. Mwai Kibaki, the President and Commander in Chief of the Defence Forces of Kenya has appointed:
1. Hon. Dalmas Otieno, Minister of State for Public Service to be Acting Minister for Medical Services.
2. Hon. Amason Jeffah Kingi, Minister for Fisheries Development to be Acting Minister for Industrialization.

PRESS RELEASE: Kenyans to Know Successes and Shortcomings by End Month

The Government will release the Annual Progress Report (APR) on the implementation of the First Medium Term Plan of the Kenya Vision 2030 by end of this month.
　
Planning, National Development and Vision 2030 Permanent Secretary Dr. Edward Sambili said the report will detail government’s performance in terms of successes and shortcomings over the last one year in delivery and implementation of flagship projects.
　
Speaking on the state owned Kenya Broadcasting Corporation (KBC) television at a breakfast show, the PS assured Kenyans that the country was on course to realizing its aspirations as outlined in the economic blue print the Kenya Vision 2030.
　
"People are still very much determined and you can see that determination. What we only need is to release that energy in work and surely achievement will be a guarantee," said Dr. Sambili.
　
He noted that though the country’s economic growth had drastically dropped in 2008 to 1.7 per cent, currently it was steadily improving with this year’s Gross Domestic Product (GDP) projected to reach 5.4 per cent.
　
The PS singled out the new constitution as one of the main achievements of the Vision 2030 terming it as one of the key deliverables as spelt by the political pillar.
　
"The new constitution is crucial because it allows the kind of flexibility and environment that will make it possible for Kenyans to realize their aspirations," said he.
　
Sambili said his Ministry was now focusing its attention on counties in line with the new constitution "and using stakeholders to identify what people in specific areas really need and work out an implementation plan."
　
"We are going to move very fast so that the Vision 2030 can now be implemented at county level," he added.
　
To expedite the process, he announced that the Ministry has this year hired enough economists and trained them before they can be distributed in the 47 counties to offer the needed expertise.
　
Asked to comment on challenges affecting the realization of the Vision 2030, the PS said Kenyans were getting impatient following delays and yet planning requires a lot of time.
　
"It takes time to plan and ensure everything is in place and this ends up frustrating Mwananchi. For example we partnered with Singapore to do some of these projects like the Special Economic Zones," he said.
　
Other challenges according to the PS include capacity and financing. On the former, he noted that to get engineers and other experts was a daunting task as they were tied elsewhere while the latter was hampered as a result of world economy and financial crisis which make investors shy hence compromise the anticipated public private partnership.
　
At the same time, Dr. Sambili defended the Constituency Development Fund (CDF) kitty saying the fund has achieved a lot citing the example of public schools upgrading their classrooms to standard status.
　
The fund is flexible as people at grassroots are the ones who decide on what to do with the allocated amounts, said the PS.
　
To ensure those managing the funds are competent, he said the necessary capacity building has been offered to them together with a manual prepared by the CDF management board distributed in all the constituencies.
　
However, he admitted that there have been few cases of fraud surrounding CDF and appropriate legal action taken against the suspects.
　
Ends……………
　
　
Regards,
Dave Jones Buchere
Public Relations Officer
Ministry of State for Planning, National Development and Vision 2030