Monday 3 December 2012

[wanabidii] Kenya: Country Being Watched Over 'Dirty' Money....China overtaking U.S. as global trader



 
Folks,
 
 
Question of Responsibility & Integrity Test is core value for Reform Agenda Accord. Even if the Court
shoves this matter aside and goes on with election, This matter will rear its ugly head and will haunt
those leaders unto ICC Hague.......There will be no short-cut....
 
 
Now, with the International Centre for Peace and Conflict (ICPC) questioning the integrity of Mr Kenyatta and Mr Ruto should not just be a piece of cake......It is a matter of concern by
all Kenyans and the World and the world is watching keeping a close eye on Kenya.
The application by ICPC against Uhuru and Ruto in Court today has raised two main issues, pursuant to Chapter 6 of the Constitution:

- A person committed to trial at the Hague would not be able to discharge his duties since he would be required to attend the hearings which would seriously erode the honor and integrity required of any public officer.

- Electing any person committed to trial will bring dishonour to the office and seriously affect the person's ability to discharge his duties.
 
 
Think twice people and open your eyes wide......do we want a repeat of 2007/8 or do we want
peace. Arab Spring is in Africa and it will not go away.......Kenyans with the rest of Africa must
wrestle themselves out of poverty and from being stolen from.......You do not allow yourselves to
perish as you watch.........You must do something to save yourself from just slipping and drifting
with the current of the corrupt..........Opportunity to save yourselves does not come twice....Make
a wise choice of how you rightly feel leaders should behave in delivering the mandate, you must
speak up........Your voices if united can save lives and chart forward plan to progressive agenda.
 
 
Do not just sit and watch........
 
 
Kenya will remain a show-case to the rest of Africa and the world. No one will escape the
wrath of Justice........Which means, all the connected will be in the square.......No escape.


Judy Miriga
Diaspora Spokesperson
Executive Director
Confederation Council Foundation for Africa Inc.,
USA
http://socioeconomicforum50.blogspot.com
 
 
 

Politics

Court approves new integrity case against Uhuru, Ruto

Deputy Prime Minister Uhuru Kenyatta and Eldoret North William Ruto during a joint TNA-URP rally at Nakuru's Afraha Stadium on December 2, 2012. Photo / Suleiman Mbatiah

Deputy Prime Minister Uhuru Kenyatta and Eldoret North William Ruto during a joint TNA-URP rally at Nakuru's Afraha Stadium on December 2, 2012. Photo / Suleiman Mbatiah

A fresh petition challenging the integrity of Deputy Prime Minister Uhuru Kenyatta and Eldoret North MP William Ruto has been certified as urgent.
Justice David Majanja on Monday ruled that the petition by the International Centre for Peace and Conflict (ICPC) raised weighty constitutional issues which need to be determined urgently.

He directed the lobby group to serve Mr Kenyatta, Mr Ruto, the Attorney General and

the Independent Electoral and Boundaries Commission with the application before it is mentioned on Wednesday for further directions.

This is the second time a petition questioning the integrity of Mr Kenyatta and Mr Ruto has been lodged.

In the new development, the ICPC, through lawyer Eliud Senteu, submitted that the petition is of great public interest and should be heard on a priority basis given that the two have entered into a coalition to run for the presidency and deputy presidency.

"Mr Kenyatta and Mr Ruto have been committed to trial at the International Criminal Court and there are all indication they will run for state offices therefore the issue of integrity as outlined in Chapter Six of the constitution need to be determined before nominations of candidates," said Mr Senteu.

Apart from Mr Kenyatta and Mr Ruto, the ICPC also wants the electoral commission barred from accepting the candidature of any person seeking to be president, governor, senator or MP if such a person is subject to a criminal case whose sentence is at least six months.

They want a court declaration that the candidature of Mr Kenyatta and Mr Ruto is a threat to the constitution and a perpetuation of a culture of impunity.

ICPC argued that according to the constitution, a leader is contemplated to be someone who carries dignity, legitimacy and has the people's trust and confidence.

"A person committed to trial at the Hague would not be able to discharge his duties since he would be required to attend the hearings which would seriously erode the honour and integrity required of any public officer," said the lobby in their application.

They submitted that electing any person committed to trial will bring dishonour to the office and seriously affect the person's ability to discharge his duties.

They added that the trial of Mr Kenyatta and Mr Ruto at the Hague court may lead to issuance

of warrants of arrests and erode the country's sovereignty and cause embarrassment.

The group is seeking an interpretation of whether the presumption of innocence of a person committed to trial overrides the public interest of ensuring the protection of the values of the Constitution.

"We also want a determination of whether Mr Kenyatta and Mr Ruto or any other person charged on similar crimes can hold a public office and whether that would be a recipe for anarchy and perpetuate the culture of impunity," said the lobby group.

The ICPC wants the court to find Mr Kenyatta and Mr Ruto unfit to contest the presidency, the deputy presidency or any other position due to their cases at the ICC.

Last week, civil activists Charles Omanga and Patrick Njuguna withdrew their petition against the duo and promised to lodge a fresh one that will encompass all the presidential aspirants. (READ: Petitioners withdraw Uhuru, Ruto integrity case)

Mr Kenyatta and Mr Ruto are facing charges of crimes against humanity arising from 2008 post-election violence which left over 1,000 people dead and over 650,000 displaced from their homes. They are due to stand trial at the ICC from April 2013.

Re: Intelligence on President Kibaki of Kenya........Read & Read to get meaning and the essense.

From: maina ndiritu <litshooz@gmail.com>
Date: Fri, 19 Oct 2012 00:02:53 +0300
Subject: Intelligence on President Kibaki of Kenya

President Kibaki's has pulled the rug under the feet of Western and European countries for a number of reasons which intelligence analysts depict as economic-political.

Kibaki has ensured his country has put a tight lid on Western investors direct foreign investment plans making it impossible for the West to make headway in the country.

The Kenyan presidency hardly engages in any bilateral, diplomatic, and military cooperation talks with European and American diplomats anymore leaving the lesser and keenly audited office of the Prime Minister to deal with the Americans and Europeans.

French Ambassador complained to the French government and the Kenyan foreign ministry about the unavailability of the president. Much diplomatic efforts are burdened to the foreign ministry.

French ambassador to Kenya Etienne de Poncins postulates that it is virtually impossible to reach the president of the republic of Kenya.

Analysis

President Kibaki is gradually growing tired of Western influence in Kenyan politics. It is certain that events that preceded the 2007-2008 elections violence and the outcome of Western and European political efforts to find a political solution to Kenya rather consummated to the ICC trials of Kibaki's key allies.

Why would the president snub diplomats whereas they represent the interests and close ties of the countries they represent? There are two key pointers to such outcomes and both are political with a bias on socio-economics of Kenya.

Politically, the president has realized the West and European has no love for him rather closely monitoring his political gains with the aim of destabilizing his tenure and the future of his economic gains besides any form of leadership he will leave behind to inherit his unique achievements in Kenya.

For a long time, European non governmental organizations have played an active role in shaping the socio-political sphere thus increasing their influence among local communities. The outcome of this influence is the increased dependence of Western and European governments spies on these NGO's.

ICC Prosecutor evidence on the PEV is dependent solely on NGO findings and other forms of firsthand reports obtained through NGO platforms on the 2007-2008 events making NGO's are a real threat to Kenya's national security.

Another political reason is the close knit relation between the European and American diplomats with Kibaki's prime minister Raila Odinga who the intelligence community views as a stooge of the West and Europeans. If Kibaki gives these diplomats audience, it is like giving Odinga audience and leeway to have his way in the politik.


Intelligence reports show that British, American, and French diplomats, European Union, besides Nordic countries envoys have constantly sought audience with the president but on all occasions their agenda had little economic significance rather full of politically inclined suppositions irking the president.

The recent international community foray about the general elections date and Kibaki's posture on the same exposed a rift between the Kenyan presidency and the International community.

Kibaki in his view finds the West and Europe as nosy, conspirators, and jealous of his development initiatives hence has elevated his position from one who gives audience to 'petty people with petty issues' to that of an astute leader ready to take Kenya to economic prosperity.

Kibaki has left the role of diplomacy to his foreign ministry and before he gives audience with these diplomats, the foreign ministry must vet them to avoid the president being engaged in a diplomatic talk of no economic value rather full of political jibe.

Outcomes

The election date fuss and recent evidence showing foreign hand in the ICC case against some of his key allies, indicate there is a cold war in the diplomatic theater between the Kibaki regime and the European countries.

In the intelligence community view, ICC under very good tutor-age is monitoring the political issues in Kenya with the intentions of disrupting the elections and ensuring the suspect Uhuru Kenyatta is cornered. Every ICC announcement coincides with a Kenyan political development.

Kibaki has used the Eastern countries beside engaging the BRICK countries to engage the country in real economic and military development.

In a reverse gear, Kibaki has used Odinga's previous communist doctrines to rally support, but in his strategy, Kibaki has not engaged subversive activity, rather communist economic-military development concessions. These efforts have massively paid off. On the ground, most middle class Kenyan's are now worried about post Kibaki era, besides wishing he could stay a-bit longer.

China has offered Kenya an economic lifeline with Russia opening a floodgate of military capability opportunities for Kenya. Russia is offering Kenya latest military technology .

Odinga who now embraces Western diplomacy is fiddling politically, making many political blunders and getting increasingly isolated by the middle class who find his Western-European friends as ill bent or rather Greeks bearing gifts.

Indeed, European-American efforts to stymie Kenyan political tradition is not getting headway, events playing out show Kibaki's NSIS, the intelligence outfit of Kenya, has set in motion military-economic strategies (regional cooperation, bilateral agreements and massive inter-country infrastructure-energy concessions/projects to economically unite regions in a symbiotic relation) that have very well pulled the rug under the feet of the European-American efforts.

Kibaki has written on the wall, that when he leaves office, the West will find institutions and regional ties that they will not be able to shake and make use of to their benefit.

Tanzania: Law Society Expresses Concern Over Kenya's Violence

By Marc Nkwame, 1 December 2012

Tanzania Daily News (Dar es Salaam)

Arusha — THE Arusha-based, East African Law Society (EALS) has expressed concern over state of unrest in Nairobi as well as other towns in Kenya.
The EALS President, Mr James Mwamu has stated here that the regional law society has noted with concern the growing instances of insecurity, destruction of property and loss of lives in Nairobi, Mombasa and other parts of Kenya.
The Law Society's statement pointed out the spate of unsolved political assassinations in Mombasa and Kisumu that have nurtured violent protests, including the unfortunate grenade attack on a police lorry in Mombasa that claimed the lives of four policemen who were trying to restore calm during the protests.
"Instances of political and racially motivated riots and social unrest in Nairobi, occasioned by low levels of public confidence in the ability of the government to protect them," maintained Mr Mwamu.
Other incidents as far as EALS is concerned, are tribal conflicts around the Tana Delta in the Coast Region of Kenya that claimed the lives of at least 50 people last month, and the further escalation of tribal tensions in the region that has now become a powder keg for bloodshed and violence.
The regional law body has also spoken against the brutal murder of 42 policemen gunned down in an ambush at Baragoi in the Rift Valley, by what are believed to be cattle rustlers and bandits.
EALS' highlighted the grenade attack on a commuter bus in the mainly Somali District of Eastleigh Estate in Nairobi last week that left eight commuters dead and scores of others injured and the murder of four Kenya Defence Forces officers in Garissa, and the corresponding retaliatory attack by their colleagues.
"All of those point to a disturbing pattern of willful attacks and murder of unarmed citizens, police and security forces; and possibly the inability of the state to rein in those responsible and restore calm and public confidence not only amongst Kenyan citizens but also to the wider East African region," the statement underlined.
"While EALS is aware of the fact that most of these attacks are of a cowardly, guerilla or unconventional nature, making it difficult, although not impossible, for the security forces within the country to comprehensively address, we are further alarmed that these attacks are coming at the eve of the March 2013 General Elections in Kenya and could undermine the possibility of the elections being free, fair and violence free.
"The EALS notes that, any further perceived breakdown in law and order in Kenya is bound to occasion adverse ripple effects as Kenya remains the main commercial lifeline of the East African Region, transiting the issue from that of a national one to one of regional concern," concluded the EALS statement, calling upon the Government of the Republic of Kenya to institute measures to curb the growing concern.
Based in Arusha (Tanzania), the East Africa Law Society (EALS) is the premier regional Bar Association of East Africa founded in 1995. It is dual membership organization bringing together over ten thousand individual lawyer members as well as the six national Bar Associations namely; Burundi Bar Association, Kigali Bar Association, Law Society of Kenya, Tanganyika Law Society, Uganda Law Society and Zanzibar Law Society.

Kenya: The Army Has a Duty to Keep Kenya Secure

By Denise Kodhe, 29 November 2012

opinion

Photo: UN/File
Two people killed by bandits in Samburu.
The recent murder of several security officers by unknown people in Suguta Valley in Baragoi and the shooting of three military officers in Garissa are indications of a serious security lapse in the country.
Such incidences send wrong signals especially ahead of the March 4 general election. However the reaction by some leaders especially politicians from Turkana left many people wondering whether the killing in Baragoi was truly an act by cattle rustlers or some kind of revenge attack.
Three Turkana legislators among them a Cabinet Minister and Assistant Minister have been questioned by the police and charged in Court for making inflammatory utterances that can create ethnic tension.
Even though the legislators were ironically released by Court for lack of evidence many questions still remain an answered regarding the incident at Suguta valley in Baragoi.
Many of the slained officers were young recruits who have just finished training and had no experience whatsoever on how to handle or deal with intricate and delicate operations like fighting cattle rustlers who are normally armed with very sophisticated weapons.
The government seems to have abandoned its security officers in the hands of bandits without adequate preparation, protection and to a larger extent security for their well-being.
The government including top security officers has not come out clearly on the incident. The Police Commissioner refused to take responsibility on the murder of his officers claiming that he had no idea about the operation.
A contigent of over one hundred security officers could not be deployed to a volatile area like Suguta valley without proper arrangement, preparation and prior consultation. T
It is sad that when Kenyans were mourning the slained officers the country's Chief Executive Officer who is also the Commander in Chief of Armed forces and his Deputy were busy opening a presidential palace for the Vice President at Karen.
This showed lack of concern, commitment and dedication to the important role security officers are playing in ensuring peace and order in the country.
The least they could do was to be at Wilson airport to receive the bodies of the fallen heroes who lost their lives while on duty. The situation would have been different if those victims were politicians.
It is sad that even after the officers were attacked and injured by bandits they remained in the valley for several days without food or help.
Many of them succumbed to death as nobody came to their rescue except wild animals which were feeding on them while still alive.
Their bodies were discovered a few days later. Many of them who were hurt during the attack tried frantically to reach out for help through their mobiles phones vain but in vain.
Clearly there was no coordination within the command of the police regarding the operation. The Minister in charge of internal security together with the top command of the police force should come out clean and explain to Kenyans what actually happened in Baragoi.
As articulated in the constitution, Kenyans have a right to demand for good governance from the leadership. Instead of condemning the involvement of the military in the security operation, legislators in parliament should have demanded for the resignation of the Minister and his entire security team in Rift Valley to pave way for thorough and proper investigations.
In fact in mature democracies the government should have been asked to step down and pave way for fresh leadership as it failed to protect the lives of the citizens and its officers.
The officers died painfully and miserably while on duty. Why should one require joining the security forces when the government is not keen in protecting them?
The incident that took place at Baragoi is barbaric and very inhuman. Culprits whether bandits or politicians should be punished heavily to serve as a warning to others.
It is worrying when politicians condemn and make strong sentiments against the military when their services are solicited for to help bring peace in the country.
The military as a department of security has a role and a major responsibility not only to protect the country from external aggressors but also to defend the people internally in collaboration with other security agencies.
Human life is sanctified and should be protected and honored irrespectively. Legislators have a right to defend the people they represent but above all they should think , speak and reason as Kenyans first not communities or constituents.
The security officers who were killed in Baragoi and the soldiers who were killed in Garrissa recently are also Kenyans and constituents of other leaders.
They are also families, husbands, children, colleagues and friends of other Kenyans. There should be discrimination, compromise or blame shifting when Kenyans have lost lives and more so when security of a nation is threatened.
Terror organizations like Alshabab have been killing people in churches, social places and now on highways using explosives.
Kenyans are getting tired with this senseless menace. Something ought to have been done or needs to be done urgently before more other lives are lost.
It is high time Kenyans come together to fight this menace without fear or favor. The blame game will not help Kenyans at this scaring and worrying moment.
It was irresponsible for Members of Parliament to condemn deployment of military personnel by the government in volatile security areas and yet they themselves as legislators have failed to come up with legislative strategic measures to curb the menace.
The security situation is becoming complex and difficult to contain by regular security forces such as police, administration Police and General service Unit thus calling for the essential services of the military personnel.
As much as we appeal to the security forces whether police , GSU or military to go slow when dealing with ordinary Kenyans we should all be pragmatic as Kenyans to commend and compliment the security personnel and be proud of what they are doing whether police, Administration police, regular police or army to protect our lives.
Kenyan Somalis are citizens of Kenya and therefore should and must be protected as entrenched in the constitution. However criminals hiding in their midst killing, maiming and causing havoc and fear must be dealt with harshly and decisively.
The government should not compromise and relent in taking any measure deemed fit and necessary to maintain peace and bring order in the country including arresting individuals and leaders suspected to be working and doing business with the terrorists in the country.
Kenya is not an extension of Somalia therefore fugitive Somalis should not be allowed to create havoc in Kenya. The Minister responsible for Immigration should recall all the Identification Cards and Passports issued out to scrutinize who are real Kenyans and who are terrorists.
Corruption and impunity is causing long term havoc to Kenyans. When dubious people are issued with essential documents like IDS, Passports and Work permits then lives of citizens are compromised like it is in the case in Kenya today in relation to Somalis of Somalia origins.
In fact Eastleigh Estate has been turned into a nother Mogadishu. The sad thing is that they are spreading and establishing business entities using politicians and other local people.
Because of peace and stability and its love to other people, Kenyan has been a host to many refugees from Uganda, Somalia, Rwanda, Congo, Ethiopia, Sudan etc.
This attitude and hospitality should not be misunderstood by those being helped. Kenya is a nation with its own people and problems too.
Kenyans of Somali origin should be in the forefront supporting governments efforts to root out bad elements in their midst instead of their leaders being parochial and opposed to security measures put in place by the government to maintain peace and order.
When Kenyan Defense Forces invaded Somalia almost everybody complimented them for doing that but they did not invade Somalia to drive Alshabab in Kenya.
Kenyan people are admired and respected for being peaceful and mindful of other people's interest. Throwing grenades in Churches, public transport and other social places are barbaric, inhuman and senseless acts of stupidity and hooliganism that cannot be associated or identified with Kenyans.
In the recent past many Kenyans have lost lives in very unclear circumstances such as the Tana Delta massacre, Wajir and Mandera and more recently the Baragoi killing.
In Garrissa a lone many Kenyans have been killed and maimed by bombs from people suspected to be sympathizers or members of the Alashabab group.
Fugitives who have betrayed the hospitality given to them by Kenya should be pushed out of the country as soon as possible so that Kenyans can maintain peace and harmony in their country.
Kenyans of Somali origins should not fear the militia. The community should work hand in hand with the government to root out evil elements living among them like what has been experienced in the recent past.
Criminals irrespective of who they are should not be feared or harbored by anybody.Eastleigh or any other part of Kenya should not be turned into another Somalia. This is Kenya and we want friendship and peace among us as Kenyans.
Denise Kodhe, Executive Director, Institute for Democracy & Leadership in Africa- IDEA

Kenya: 13 Killed, 205 Animals Stolen in Samburu Raid

By Wanjohi Gakio, 31 October 2012
Thirteen people have been killed and three others are nursing serious gunshot injuries after two communities clashed in Samburu county. Heavily armed raiders invaded Nachola village at 3am and made away with 205 camels and two donkeys.
Councillor Lawrence Lorunyei said the raiders attacked several manyattas and drove away the animals. A fierce shoot out ensued between the raiders and the owners.
Lorunyei said the raiders drove the animals towards Ngilai in Baragoi. A contingent of security personnel deployed to stop the raiders pursued them.
Nachola residents who spoke to the press said tension was high, as the villagers feared an escalation of violence as each group plots for revenge attacks.
The residents accused security officers attached at the nearby police post of taking too long to act on information provided by the wananchi over the raid.
They said that some of them could have been behind the attacks or knew about the attacks because they had taken long to respond to the distress calls from the people. They said the animals were stolen not too far away from the police post.
The villagers called for an immediate transfer of the police officers saying they had overstayed at the station. The incident came barely a day after Vice President Kalonzo Musyoka toured the area and called on the residents to embrace peaceful coexistence to foster development.
Kalonzo was on a three-day tour of the Samburu county where he wooed the pastoral communities to support him in his presidential bid.

Kenya: Fury As Decomposed Bodies of Ambushed Police Arrive

By Bernard Momanyi, 13 November 2012
"The police department did not care to inform us about this incident or that our kin had been killed. We had to make our own follow ups because we know our relative was posted in Baragoi," Simon Kimani who lost his relative said, adding: "Up to now we have not been told anything other than the bodies we are seeing here, and they are already decomposed."
"Why couldn't they be taken out of that (Suguta) valley in time? Which government leaves their officers to lie out there for that long?" he posed.
Forty two officers killed were among a contingent of 107 policemen sent out to recover stolen cattle, but only 50 returned alive. Nine are admitted to the Kenyatta National Hospital with serious gunshot injuries. The whereabouts of six others remain unknown.
Police Commissioner Mathew Iteere said the officers were ambushed as they headed for a security operation to flush out bandits and recover animals they had stolen from manyattas in Samburu.
"The operational strategy was okay, but it is unfortunate because they were ambushed two kilometres from the manyatta they were headed to recover the animals. It appears the strategy leaked to the bandits," Iteere said.
But families interviewed at the Chiromo mortuary blamed senior officers for having deployed young officer's fresh from college to the battle ground.
"My cousin was deployed there after the recent passout parade at the Administration Police College in Embakasi. He had no experience on such a situation at all," Joseph Ochieng, a cousin to 23-year-old Duncan Omolo who perished in the attack said.
A relative of another deceased officer who was identified as Abubakar Sisoko said it was the first posting for the slain officer.
"We have never seen him since graduating from college. He was posted immediately and we had been waiting for him. It is so unfortunate that he is dead," a relative who was so emotional that he could not give his name said.
On the missing officers, the Police Commissioner said: "We are still looking for them, we hope to find them alive," the police chief told reporters at the Wilson Airport.
He said he would not resign over the police killings saying: "I am not to blame; the nitty gritty of the operation strategy are left to the commanders on the ground. Those calling for my resignation are exercising their constitutional right. They are entitled to their opinion."

Kenya: Why Were Bodies of Murdered Officers Left to Rot?

By Olive Burrows, 14 November 2012
Nairobi — A counsellor tries desperately to calm her down looking nervously around him, uncomfortable with the stares she's attracted. A middle aged gentleman in a blue kaftan and a kufi stands next to her and he too tries to cool her rising temper by saying, "It is God who gave him to us. It was simply his time."
"Our boy's body was left out in the open for three days like a dog's," I hear her shout. "He was only 22-years-old," she says wiping away a trickling tear.
We hear commotion behind us and quickly turn to look at the white van with green Arabic writing on its exterior. She falls to the ground; her anger forgotten, her head too heavy for her neck.
Twenty-two year old Abubakar had only just graduated from the Kenya Police Training College before being sent to Samburu. He was part of a contingent of officers sent to pursue cattle rustlers who had stolen 400 heads of cattle. A hundred and seven officers went down the dreadful Suguta valley on Saturday and only half of them got out.
Abubakar didn't.
His body lies covered, headed to a cemetery.
It is said to be the worst attack on the Kenya Police since independence but for the groups of families that wait to view the bodies of their loved ones outside the Chiromo mortuary, the statistics mean very little.
"Most of those who died were new recruits," Lillian Musyoka tells me. We sit waiting for Brian's name to be called out. The entire time we talk we keep an eye on the green gate with the sign that reads 'Body Reception.' Contrary to its designation, that's where the bodies of three slain officers have been wheeled out from.
The boot door of the ambulance that was to ferry the corpse to its final resting place jammed causing someone to murmur behind me, "vehicles used to ferry dead bodies always develop complications."
"Why don't we break it?" An officer helping to load the body says, banging his fist on the uncooperative door. No doubt riled up by the sight of fellow service men lifeless on stretchers.
The door finally opens. A friend or family member of the deceased makes the mistake of asking for gloves in the already emotionally charged environment attracting the chiding of one of the mortuary attendants clad in a white lab coat with the letters JG embroidered on it, "you lived with him, you ate with him, now that he's dead you need gloves to lift his covered body?"
Lillian isn't waiting for Brian's body to be wheeled out. She came all the way from Mombasa to identify the corpse. Twenty-three-year-old Brian was an orphan. His only immediate family is his twelve year old brother; a brother whose upkeep Brian supported.
"He really wanted to join the police force," Lillian, Brian's aunt tells me, "the first time he applied he was rejected and so we told him to pursue a degree course. He refused and applied again."
Brian's family celebrated his passing out ceremony the same day Anthony Ouma's celebrated his; on August 30. Lucy takes out her phone and shows me a photo of Anthony, his neck covered in tinsel and his cousin, Lucy's son, grinning next to him.
Anthony's parents are all the way in Busia and so Lucy - who works at a security firm in Nairobi - took advantage of an opportunity to run an errand to check if any progress had been made in the identification of her nephew's body. Every so often the wind picks up and the smell of decomposing bodies hits us, "the bodies must be in bad shape," she says, oblivious to the fly that lands on the bridge of her nose.
Stella Mugambi knows just how bad a state the bodies are in. She sits resignedly on a curb at the mortuary's car park. "It's him," she tells me.
"He'd just bought a car. He now wanted to build a house, marry and finally have children of his own."
He'd have made a great dad if his nephew's fondness of him is anything to go by, "My nine year old son wanted to become a policeman just like him."
Twenty-eight year old Martin Mugambi was part of the Anti-Stock theft unit to be specific. He'd gone to Baragoi in Samburu just 10 days before he lost his life.
Stella thought nothing of it, "the last time I spoke to him was on October, 20. They move around a lot for their work."
Martin's family home is in Meru. As a single mother, there isn't much Stella can do for her parents and so Martin was such a great help; to them and their younger sister.
"He had told her to select whatever course she wanted to pursue in college. Money, he said, wasn't an issue."
Stella can't go on. Grief takes over and the tears begin to fall again from the blood shot eyes; the soothing hand on her back a small comfort if at all.

China overtaking U.S. as global trader

commercialappeal.com – 5 hrs ago

SEOUL, South Korea (AP) ? Shin Cheol-soo no longer sees his future in the United States. The South Korean businessman supplied components to American automakers for a decade. But this year, he uprooted his family from Detroit and moved home to focus on selling to the new economic superpower: China. In just five years, China has surpassed the United States as a trading partner for much of the world, including U.S. allies such as South Korea and Australia, according to an Associated Press analysis of trade data. As recently as 2006, the U.S. was the larger trading partner for 127 countries, versus just 70 for China. By last year the two had clearly traded places: 124 countries for China, 76 for the U.S. ___ EDITOR'S NOTE ? This is the first installment in "China's Reach," a project that will analyze China's influence with its trading partners over three decades, and explore how that is changing business, politics and daily life. ___ In the most abrupt global shift of its kind since World War II, the trend is changing the way people live and do business from Africa to Arizona, as farmers plant more soybeans to sell to China and students sign up to learn Mandarin. The findings show how fast China has ascended to challenge America's century-old status as the globe's dominant trader, a change that is gradually translating into political influence. They highlight how pervasive China's impact has been, spreading from neighboring Asia to Africa and now emerging in Latin America, the traditional U.S. backyard. Despite China's now-slowing economy, its share of world output and trade is expected to keep rising, with growth forecast at up to 8 percent a year over the next decade, far above U.S. and European levels. This growth could strengthen the hand of a new generation of just-named Chinese leaders, even as it fuels strain with other nations. Last year, Shin's Ena Industry Co. made half his sales of rubber and plastic parts to U.S. factories. But his plans call for China, which overtook the United States as the biggest auto market in 2009, to rise fivefold to 30 percent of his total by 2015. He and his children are studying Mandarin. "The United States is a tiger with no power," Shin said in his office, where three walls are lined with books, many about China. "Nobody can deny that China is the one now rising." ___ Trade is a bit like football ? the balance of exports and imports, like the game score, is a neat snapshot of a jumble of moves that make up the economy, and both sides are apt to accuse each other of cheating from time to time. Also, the U.S. and China are both rivals and partners who can't have a match without each other, and a strong performance from both is good for the entire league. Trade may get less publicity than military affairs or diplomacy, yet it is commerce that generates jobs and raises living standards. Trade can also translate into political power. As shopkeepers say, the customer is always right: Governments listen to countries that buy their goods, and the threat to stop buying is one of the most potent diplomatic weapons. China has been slow to flex its political muscle on a large scale but is starting to push back in disputes over trade, exchange rates and climate change. "When a German chancellor or French president goes to China, right at the top of the list, he's trying to sell Airbuses and other products and is being sensitive to China's political concerns, like on human rights," said C. Fred Bergsten, a former U.S. Treasury Department official who heads the Peterson Institute for International Economics in Washington. The United States is still the world's biggest importer, but China is gaining. It was a bigger market than the United States for 77 countries in 2011, up from 20 in 2000, according to the AP analysis. The AP is using International Monetary Fund data to measure the importance of trade with China for some 180 countries and track how it changes over time. The analysis divides a nation's trade with China by its gross domestic product. The story that emerges is of China's breakneck rise, rather than of a U.S. decline. In 2002, trade with China was 3 percent of a country's GDP on average, compared with 8.7 percent with the U.S. But China caught up, and surged ahead in 2008. Last year, trade with China averaged 12.4 percent of GDP for other countries, higher than that with America at any time in the last 30 years. Of course, not all trade is equal. China's trade is mostly low-end goods and commodities, while the U.S. competes at the upper end of the market. Also, even though Chinese companies invest abroad and employ thousands of foreign workers, they lag behind American industry in building global alliances and in innovation, which is still rewarded in the marketplace. China's competitive edge remains low labor and other costs, while the U.S. is the world's center for innovation in autos, aerospace, computers, medicine, munitions, finance and pharmaceuticals. The Chinese have yet to build a car that will pass U.S. or European emission standards. And the United States still does more trade overall ? but just barely. If the trend continues, China will push past the U.S. this year, a remarkable feat for a country so poor 30 years ago that the average person had never talked on a telephone. "The center of gravity of the world economy has moved to the east," said Mauricio Cardenas, the finance minister in Colombia. Like most of Latin America, his country is still more closely tied to the U.S., but its trade with China has risen from virtually nothing to 2.5 percent of GDP, a more than tenfold increase since 2001. "I would say that there is nothing comparable in the last 50 years." In one sense, China's growing presence in trade is just restoring the Middle Kingdom to its historic dominance. China was the biggest economy for centuries until about 1800, when the industrial revolution propelled first Europe and then the U.S. into the lead. China began its return to the global stage in the 1990s as a manufacturer of low-priced goods, from T-shirts to toys. Factories in other countries slashed costs to meet the "China price" or were pushed out of the market. As the new millennium dawned, the U.S. remained by far the world's dominant trader, rivaled collectively by Europe but no single nation. However, from 2000 to 2008, China's imports grew 403 percent and exports 474 percent, driven in part by its entrance into the World Trade Organization and its move to higher-value production. China's imports of oil and raw materials for its factories propelled resource booms in parts of Asia, Africa and Latin America. China's demand for steel for manufacturing and construction grew so fast that its mills now consume half the world's output of iron ore. Zambia, a major copper producer, switched to the China column in 2000. Australia, a coal and iron ore exporter, followed in 2005. Chile, another copper supplier, moved in 2009. Meanwhile, exports surged as Apple, Samsung, Nokia and other electronics giants shifted final assembly to China. Shipments of mobile phones, flat-screen TVs and personal computers have jumped sevenfold over the past decade to nearly $500 billion. That made China a major customer for high-tech components supplied by countries such as South Korea, which swung into China's column in 2003, followed by Malaysia in 2007. In the U.S., Vermont-based manufacturer SBE Inc. started exporting capacitors ? energy-storage devices used in computers, hybrid cars and wind turbines ? in 2006. The company now gets 15 to 20 percent of its revenue from China, and has hired 10 employees there. As China grew richer, its people spent more. Chinese ate more pork, fried chicken and hamburgers, rapidly sending up the demand for soybeans to make cooking oil and feed for pigs and cows. Some cattle ranchers in Latin America turned grazing land into fields of soy, a crop few in their region consume. Soybean exports helped push Brazil into the China column in 2010, and put China neck and neck with the U.S. as Argentina's top trading partner. In the Brazilian state of Mato Grosso, some 10,000 miles (17,000 kilometers) from Beijing, farmer Agenor Vicente Pelissa and his family raise cattle and soy on 54,300 acres, a farm twice the size of Manhattan. Half their 21,000-ton annual soybean harvest goes to China. "We've invested more in technology and in better machines and equipment to meet this rising demand," Pelissa said. "If it hadn't been for China, we would not have not modernized our operations, at least not as quickly as we did." Even in the U.S., better known for manufacturing, farmers are rushing to sell to China. The United States is the largest exporter of soybeans to China, followed by Brazil and Argentina. China's purchases of American soybeans have risen from almost nothing 20 years ago to a quarter of the crop: 24 million tons worth $12.1 billion, America's largest export to China. The boom is having a profound effect on farming communities, said Grant Kimberley, whose family farm near Des Moines, Iowa, now grows 4,000 acres of soybeans, up from 3,500 eight years ago. "It's provided more revenue for these farmers than they've ever seen in their lives," said Kimberley, who is also director of market development at the Iowa Soybean Association. He said he sees more young people returning to the farm. "People can see there's an opportunity to make nice livings for their families." ___ It was the 2008 global crisis that showed the resilience of China's exporters. The recession set everyone back, but China less so than the U.S. or other major traders such as Germany. China does a bigger share of its trade with developing countries that suffered less and rebounded faster, while the United States sells to rich economies that are struggling. Chinese companies have boosted exports by 7 percent this year despite anemic global demand. During the recession, Shin, the South Korean auto parts manufacturer, saw his sales fall 50 percent. He shut one of three production lines, and banks stopped lending him money. But China's auto market was powering ahead. So Shin hired an employee in China, and is now making plans for his first factory there. On a business trip to Germany, clients told him their Chinese factories would be larger than those at home. Parents like Shin, who work at companies doing business with China, in turn fed enrollment growth at schools such as Teacher Ching, a Chinese-language kindergarten in Seoul. Nancy Ching, the daughter of immigrants from Taiwan, opened the school with 15 students in 2004, the year after South Korea first moved from the U.S. column to the China column. Today she has 60. "Mothers who send their kids here believe our children's generation is the China generation," she said in Chinese-accented Korean. "In the future, without learning Chinese, one won't be able to get a job." China resumed its upward trajectory in the last two years. Even with key Western markets in a slump, exports are up 58 percent since 2009. Imports are up an even sharper 73 percent. Rising incomes have driven demand for wine and other luxury goods, making China a lifeline for European and American vineyards when the global crisis battered traditional markets. The Chinese have "helped Bordeaux a lot these past three years," said Florence Cathiard, owner of Chateau Smith Haut Lafitte in the Pessac-Leognan area of France's southwest, home of high-end Bordeaux wine. France's wine exports to China first surged in 2009, and by last year, China had surpassed the U.S. as a customer by volume. Americans still spend more, because they buy more expensive wines. But China is developing a taste for grand cru wine, the "great growths" that are considered exceptional and command higher prices. Cathiard acknowledged that she was initially wary of China as a reliable market for her high-end wines. But the turning point for her came around 2008, when she was blown away by the number of people showing up for a master class by her chateau at a wine expo in Hong Kong. China now accounts for 25 percent of Cathiard's sales, making it her largest market. The owners of Chateau Haut-Bailly, also in Pessac-Leognan, first traveled to China to test the waters in 2000, and it was too early. "At the time, they didn't know what a cork or a corkscrew was," said Veronique Sanders, the chateau's general manager. Chinese sophistication has since advanced rapidly, she said. "The difference with other emerging markets we've gone into in the past is the size of the country, which means it has an absolutely incredible potential." ___ The next step in China's trade evolution is to move beyond exporting TVs and lawn furniture to selling services and investing abroad. The investment trend started with state-owned companies that bought stakes in foreign mines and oil fields. Smaller and private Chinese companies followed, acquiring foreign enterprises to gain a bigger foothold in overseas markets, more access to resources and better technology for their own development. China is now pushing into construction and engineering, where U.S. and European companies have long dominated. In Algeria, Chinese state-owned companies pushed aside established French and German rivals to win contracts to build a $12 billion cross-country highway and the $1.3 billion Great Mosque of Algeria. The Chinese have also built highways, dams and other projects in developing countries and are starting to win contracts in the U.S. and Europe. On a new 50-kilometer (30-mile) highway leading north of Nairobi, the capital of Kenya, dark asphalt stretches across six to eight lanes. The $300 million road was built by three Chinese companies and financed by the African Development Bank and the Export-Import Bank of China. It has cut a trip that took several hours 18 months ago to 10 minutes, said Joseph Makori, a professional driver. "When we see the people from America, they say, 'We want to assist Kenya'," said Makori as he looked for work at an interchange about 10 kilometers from downtown. "But I don't see it. China comes and I see one thing: the road." Chinese companies are starting to win government contracts in Kenya, which has ports that offer access to landlocked Uganda, South Sudan and Rwanda. Governments in Africa are keen to work with China because it does not tie development to human rights or democracy, said Stephen Mutoro, secretary general of the Consumer Federation of Kenya. "China appears to have a long-term plan based on increasing its commercial interests where governance issues are given a back burner," Mutoro said. The experience of Congo might foreshadow a more complex approach that Beijing envisages for other African nations. In 2008, the two governments signed a $9 billion deal for Chinese companies to build 177 hospitals and health centers, two hydroelectric dams and thousands of miles of railways and roads. In exchange, Congo was to provide 10.6 million tons of copper and 600,000 tons of cobalt. The deal has since been scaled back to $6 billion under pressure from the International Monetary Fund, which felt Congo was taking on too much debt. China's outbound investment totaled $67.6 billion last year ? just one-sixth of America's nearly $400 billion ? but it could reach $2 trillion by 2020, according to a forecast by Rhodium Group, a research firm in New York City. As a result, Chinese companies are using a new export ? jobs. Employees at Volvo Cars worried after Chinese automaker Geely Holdings bought the money-losing Swedish brand from Ford Motor Co. in 2010. But two years later, instead of moving jobs to China, Geely has expanded Volvo's European workforce of 19,500 to about 21,500. Majority-owned U.S. affiliates of Chinese companies support about 27,000 American jobs, up from fewer than 10,000 five years ago, according to Rhodium. In Goodyear, Arizona, Stacey Rassas was laid off in May 2010 after a 16-year career in quality control for aerospace and aluminum manufacturers. By late autumn, she and her husband were worried they might lose their house. She finally landed a job that December at a new factory that makes solar panels for one of the world's biggest solar manufacturers. "It was the best day ever," she said. Her new employer? Suntech Power Holdings Co., a Chinese company.

Kenya: Country Being Watched Over 'Dirty' Money

By Lola Okulo, 30 November 2012
KENYA is still under watch by the Financial Action Task Force that blacklists countries that are prone to money laundering even after putting in place a law to guard against the vice.
Chairman of the Anti-money Laundering advisory board John Wanyela said that the country has to first prove that the framework and structures put in place are effective.He however noted that the close scrutiny did not mean that the country is in the blacklist.
Wanyela was speaking during a meeting hosted by Pricewaterhouse Coopers for stakeholders in the financial services industry.
The Proceeds of Crime and Anti-Money Laundering Act was passed in June 2010 but it is only recently that it has been made operational through setting up of relevant structures in particular, the Financial Reporting Centre.
"Before the AML Act was enacted, money laundering was not a criminal offence in Kenya. Dealing with proceeds from drugs was covered under the Narcotics Act, and the CBK had an AML guideline for the banking industry, but otherwise there was no comprehensive legal framework on AML," said PwC Kenya head of financial services Richard Njoroge.
"Now with the Act, many more players are affected beyond banks. Entities in the insurance and real estate sectors, dealers of precious stones, forex bureaus and casinos will now have to comply with stringent requirements, including reporting suspicious transactions and carrying out customer due diligence."

Kenya Launches Innovative Maritime Counter-piracy Solutions

PRWeb – Fri, Nov 30, 2012
Over 4,000 former Kenyan Navy sailors, police officers and Army veterans undergo maritime security training to fight Somalia piracy in the Horn of Africa and High Risk waters worldwide.

Fairfax, Virginia (PRWEB) November 26, 2012 Homeland Defense Counter-terrorism Training Corporation™, a US-based global security risk consultancy, today announced the launch of a comprehensive maritime shipboard security officer (SSO) and vessel security officer manpower talent database to support the hiring needs of the international maritime community.

In late October 2012, Kevin James, a US Navy veteran and CEO of Homeland Defense Counter-terrorism Training Corp, traveled to Mombasa, Kenya to meet with directors of the Kenya Maritime Authority. The meeting was arranged in cooperation with retired Major General, Pastor O. Awitta (retired) former Commander of the Kenya Navy and Jonathan Egalal, President of Jegalal Advanced Enterprise Solutions, a licensed manpower staffing firm also headquartered in Nairobi, Kenya.

An agreement was reached to begin offering IMO and ISPS Code compliant maritime training and certification to approximately 4,500 veterans of the Kenya Navy and other African security professionals. The objective is to provide an intelligent, cost affordable solution to help mitigate the growing threat of piracy in the Horn of Africa region and worldwide.

"Many international shipping companies don't realize that Kenya shares its border with Somalia," Kevin James commented. "The close proximity of Kenya to Somalia will significantly reduce hiring, mobilization and deployment costs for an employer. This effort will also boost the economy of Kenya as the world reaches out and hire its citizens to satisfy the heavy demand for qualified manpower", said James.

The economic benefits of hiring Kenyans are wonderful, but from a practical perspective, veterans of the Kenya Navy bring invaluable wisdom and experience gained from working in the region. Its familiar waters in their own backyard. Furthermore, Kenya brings a greater cultural, political and geographic awareness unfamiliar to foreigners.

In May of 2012, the Kenya Maritime Authority earned the distinguished honor of being inducted onto the International Maritime Organization (IMO) 'white list'. This is a remarkable accomplishment. IMO white list inclusion means that a qualified seafarer having completed Kenya Maritime Authority approved training and vetting is fully qualified to work anywhere in the world. Shipping companies and prospective employers can rest assured that certified mariners from Kenya possess a level of knowledge and demonstrated competency of the highest international standards.

Employers who choose to hire from the Homeland Defense Corporation maritime security talent pool will have access to a full suite of integrated solutions designed to better help them monitor, evaluate, predict and analyze global maritime incidents in real-time, follow emerging trends, plan vessel transit, communications, and much more.

For more information on Homeland Defense Counter-terrorism Corporation's maritime solutions, visit the company website at: http://www.hostilecontroltactics.com

Kevin James
Homeland Defense Counter-terrorism Training Corp
(804) 491-9860
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