[wanabidii] Baundaries Ruling may Delay Elections

PEOPLES POWER FOR CHANGE CANNOT BE BLACKMAILED OR SHORT-CHANGED, IT IS A CHOICE BETWEEN LIFE AND DEATH     Civil society leaders have at various instances, constantly warned that, politicians have gone out of control, and are corruptly rampant in fleecing public wealth and taxpayer money to finance their private business interests with those of their political campaigns set for the upcoming general elections. The Mutilated New Constitution including the illegal clauses added to the New Constitution are reasons for creating loopholes for exploitation of state financial systems to build quick personal wealth and make extra money for their elections. It is up to each and everyone to stay alert and intensify vigilance to protect their wealth through whistle-blowing and exposure of the same to protect livelihood and survival. The recent move by MPs to award themselves more money for doing nothing is something they must pay back through the court of law. mega-corruption scandals must be delivered to the Supreme Court urgently for all corrupt leaders to answer and public money recovered fairly.     Politicians turned Public Wealth Resource illegally into Personal Private cash cows for self gain: The People's Power is a force to reckon with and with Forward Plan of Action it fronts for Peaceful Revolution to sustain People's Democratic and Constitutional process towards pushing for justice in the courts of law (to realize how the people want to be governed). After having made concerted reasonable complaints and demonstrations, and from voices of reasons, there must follow legal submission resistance against the regime over build-up Crimes against Humanity with Violence and Abuses from faulty Democratization, bad Constitution-ability as well as unsecured electioneering process.     It is sad that it has taken this long before public Civic Education for the Legislative Bill of Rights for the New Constitution is made available to public. It is equally illegal for the two Principals to engage on electioneering process before Constitutional Process is completed as required by law. This default and fraud calls for claims to be forwarded to the Supreme Court and to ICC Hague for action to be determined. This is Blackmailing the public. This is so because the electioneering process according to Public Mandate requirement failed to deliver Constitutional Legislative Bills of Rights for Public Mandate. It is left in a state of questionable circumstances and is completed immoral, and is lacking substance.     Conflict of Interest by Corrupt Leadership is Destroying Hope for Survival and Livelihood: It is public knowledge that, sky rocketing of growing Public fiscal Debt Cliff through occurrences of engineered Public Debts by the Coalition Government conspiracy between the corrupt Politicians and the unscrupulous International Corporate Special Interest to rip-off Public Wealth Resources is alarming. People instead are forwarded the Debt Bills to be paid through heavy taxes in their daily basic needs such as food, rent, Water and Electricity bills, levy, school fees, transportation, medical expenses, salary paid to organized criminal gangs, Shuttle Diplomacy expenses, with heavy bribery paid to Lobbyists with NGOs CEOs who earn unrealistic salaries for doing a job of stealing and organizing fake illegal deals on Loans over non-transparent Memorandum of Understanding, for Vision 2030, from public wealth resource including public land, Public Revenues, other Bond and public utility and facilities. The Coalition's corrupt leadership also spend huge sums of public money illegally to clean image overseas with other debt against Kenya has risen to the level of the International Currency standing of the Dollar, which shows it was without any preparedness cushion strategy made for the Nation and was without any salary change adjustment against the excessive growing situation of poverty, education, health, draught, environmental crisis, homelessness and joblessness.     Since the talk taking round is ripe that, Kenya Police is happy trigger to create fear and silence people is a plan put in place by the Coalition Leadership, insecurity is commonplace and they are casual about it, terrorism in Kenya is done by foreign organized thugs arriving in Kenya with the knowledge of the two Principal Coalition Government leadership where Al-Shabaab's Head in Kenya and Tail in Somali, is to be used for political assassinations during campaign time. Funny deaths of such like those of Prof. Saitoti and Ojode in plane crash take place, people are warned to keep off from speculation by the Prime Minister. This is causing ripples and curiosity amongst people of Kenya, why Kibaki and Raila would want to silence people from participating or knowing the truth. It is also speculated that the claim of Jakoyo Midiwo about someone wanting to kill Raila was a scam to pre-empt a plan they had cooking. Since the pointing was made toward Saitoti and Prof. Ongeri, the plan was made to confuse people and the whole world. There are rumours that the plan could have been muted between Midiwo and Uhuru to short-change Saitoti and Ojode's interest to contest the same Presidency position on PNU ticket since Prof. Saitoti's popularity was growing in Central Province and also, being in the control of security it was not easy to arm-twist Saitoti and Ojode's work ethics discipline they had created on the security job.     Presently there are rumours led by Midiwo and a plan has been hatched to have Ida Odinga to stand for the position of Bondo in place of Dr. Oburu, Orengo to outplace Dr. Oburu who earlier had showed some interest in the position of Governorship of Kisumu. There are fears that Announce that is another suspect of planned assassination. It is suspected that the coalition government resolved to rule preparing Dr. Oburu for future nomination posts when Raila will have formed the Government. This brought a serious conflict and exchange in Bondo between Dr. Oburu's first wife who is also a Doctor, as she also showed interest for the same Bondo seat. Dr. Oburu's wife was supported by Bondo Elders who expressed their dislike for Raila's wife Ida.     It is also said that, those who are working as Raila advisors are spreading rumors that, PM Raila is very sick and has a short life to live that there are appeal call for old supporters of the late Jaramogi Odinga to be sympathetic to Bless Raila with their support for campaign in his last moments of life. This has been analyised by critical thinkers to mean that Jakoyo with Uhuru could be planning much worse things and the problem could throw the whole country into explosion of Tribal Civil War between Kikuyus and Luos. It could be possible that someone plans to assassinate PM Raila, but before Raila is assassinated, he is being used to do dirty unconstitutional jobs for the schemers and then he becomes the last one to be terminated. The blame game of the failure of Democracy and Constitution will be laid on Luos as Raila will have been used to mess things and once he has been assassinated, he will not be there to defend why he compromised to defeat the constitution while he was within the Coalition Government.     Therefore, the iron must be struck while it is hot. Since Kibaki and Raila have failed to uphold and adhere to the National Reform Accord Agreement and equally failed to offer Democratic Governance, chapter six of the Reform Accord is clear. It is only fair that both the Coalition Leaders face the law accordingly, why they did not do things the right way it was supposed to be done.     How they both performed in omission and commission is a worrisome case-scenario of high level of corruption, graft and impunity with organized carefree deaths , suspicions of assassinations, public wealth resource facilities and utilities, theft from selfish-Ego and of irresponsibility lacking integrity which must be laid at the foot of the Supreme Court and the ICC Hague.     People's Revolution For Realistic Democracy with Just Rule of Law: People's revolution is a departure of the Coalition Government Leadership of the two Principals deviating from National Reform Accord Mandate agreement confirmed at Referendum to provide Restoration of the country's constitutional democracy. 10th Parliament members under the watch of the two Coalition Leaders followed the arrival of Mutilated Constitution that does not represent Public's interest anymore. The New Constitution is as a result been severed and disfigured to accommodate unscrupulous International Corporate Special Business Interest of the free world trade. The problem is, the Kenyan public has not been prepared to the shock of International Marketplace. Joblessness situation is alarming, security is broken, terrorism is commonplace, poverty is extremely below survival margin and Kenya's Economy hijacked. This is the same with none availability to health and education where livelihood of the majority citizen is threatened.     Displacements of People from their Established Community Livelihood: With the scramble of International Business Community engaging in illegal investments for oil and minerals where land has been illegally issued for the same investments, the court must determine public security and survival. Those who stand to lose from these irregular deals are the general public whose fear for being displaced from their livelihood to unknown, is eminent.     The Death of Kenya's Constitution: With lack of job opportunity including extreme poverty and environmental situation, there is no short-cut or ready answer for those who stand to lose survival except going to court. People must obstruct the Coalition Government from taking public for granted and with immediate court intervention, the two Principals must face justice against the New Constitution, which got severed, disfigured, mutilated and assassinated, so that Reform is able to be salvaged and put back on track. Folks, this behavior is unacceptable and Justice must be seen to be done in a short space of time.     No rumour should be taken lightly until after independent proper investigations are made. They have some truth in them. There are also serious warning that many more politicians are targeted for assassination, and why should 20 people put the rest of the Nation into such state of terror..........Take care everybody and watch out for your brothers and sisters against those wicked power hungry.........     Beward, Politics in Kenya is taking an ugly turn but Supreme Court is in a position to save the situation.   Thank you all for sharing.......   Judy Miriga Diaspora Spokesperson Executive Director Confederation Council Foundation for Africa Inc., USA http://socioeconomicforum50.blogspot.com         Boundaries ruling may delay elections Mandera Central MP Abdikadir Mohammed, who chairs the House committee on implementation of the Constitution. Photo/FILE By OLIVER MATHENGE omathenge@ke.nationmedia.com And EMEKA-MAYAKA GEKARA gmayaka@ke.nationmedia.com Posted Saturday, July 7 2012 at 23:30 Even as the High Court delivers its ruling on more than 100 challenges to the proposed new constituency tomorrow, there are growing fears that possible appeals may delay preparations for the election and affect the date. The Sunday Nation has learnt that the Interim Independent Electoral and Boundaries Commission (IEBC) has been meeting with lawyers for the last two weeks in anticipation of possible appeals. The argument here is that given the nature of boundary disputes, ranging from the sharing of resources, distribution of wards and clan interests, it is highly unlikely that all the aggrieved parties will be satisfied with tomorrow's ruling. Seek orders The fear is that an aggrieved party could move to court after the ruling and seek orders to stop IEBC from, say, registering voters in a given constituency until their appeal is heard. The IEBC Act provided a three-month window for resolution of disputes relating to the review. It did not factor in possible appeals. The boundaries cases affect more than half of the 80 new constituencies, and until they are resolved, the IEBC calendar for the elections hangs in the balance. Commission CEO James Oswago told the Sunday Nation that they had been holding consultative meetings in anticipation of the ruling that could force it to revise its work plan. But Mr Oswago was optimistic the court would rule in its favour. "We hope the court will not rule that we were wrong and that there is a need to start all over again. However, we are exploring all possible scenarios," he said. "We did not envisage any appeals. We anticipated a situation where the High Court decision on the disputes would be final to allow the commission to carry out its mandate and the country to move forward," said Mandera Central MP Abdikadir Mohammed, who chairs the House committee on implementation of the Constitution. Mr Mohammed, a lawyer, says the decision will give the commission a free hand to continue with registration. "The process of delimitation of boundaries concludes with the 90-day period. After that the commission will go to the market, declare the new constituencies and start registering voters." His argument is that an appeal would be "outside" the review process. Mr Eric Mutua, the Law Society of Kenya chairman, says though not expressly, the Act "technically takes away the right of appeal" to bring closure to the process. "An individual can appeal the verdict, but the decision will be seen as outside the process as captured in the Act," said the LSK chairman who, however, indicated that there is no barrier to further court action. Other than the issue of boundaries and elections, there are at least five other cases pending in the courts. These cases can significantly affect the electoral process because IEBC cannot commence a number of electoral processes and activities. Elections expert Ms Koki Muli says one of the applications wishes to halt the withdrawal of budgeted funds without an Appropriation Bill 2012. This can delay funding the IEBC and as a result derailing its operations. "The IEBC is critically running out of preparation time if elections are to be held in the fifth year or even five years after the swearing in of Parliament. These delays may also lead to a constitutional crisis if elections are not held within the constitutional timelines – as the terms of the President, and other Members of Parliament and Local Authorities expire before the next elections are held," says Ms Muli. Mr Oswago said that they had anticipated the court process would end with the determination by the High Court but following consultations with attorney general Githu Muigai and Commission on Implementation of the Constitution chairman Charles Nyachae, it was clear that tomorrow may not the end of the judicial process. Supreme court However, the parties may seek to have the ruling overturned at the Appeal Court or the Supreme Court. "What will now matter is if the Appeal or Supreme Court judges will allow IEBC to continue with its works pending the determination of the case. I cannot reveal what we are planning but we will ensure that we are able to plan the elections properly," Mr Oswago said. Attorney General Githu Muigai has said that he has been consulting with various government agencies including the judiciary to provide enough time to allow appeals on the imminent ruling. The AG insists that the people's right of appeal cannot be denied though the law does not provide for it. It would be unconstitutional for the country to go to the polls without the constituencies. And unless solved in good time, the disputes will delay the registration of voters. The IEBC plans to carry out the voter registration in August with the compilation, inspection and certification of the register happening in the next three months respectively. According to Mr Oswago, the IEBC has put together the mechanism for voter registration and is only held back by the cases. When it announced the March 4, 2013 election date, the IEBC gave a timeline that was advised by legal requirements that have to be met before the polls are held. Key among them is that it cannot hold an election without a new voters' register, which is also tied to the new boundaries. The Registrar of Political Parties also has the task of confirming final political party membership at least three months before an election. Political parties must also submit their party membership list to the Registrar by October and complete party nominations by the second week of January next year, if the elections are to be held in March. Parties cannot present nominees who are not registered as voters. Moreover, Parliament would still have to address concerns by former Justice minister Mutula Kilonzo that the law must be amended to allow participation of the new constituencies in the next election. The minister who had drafted a constitutional amendment and tabled it in Parliament argued that ideally, the new constituencies should have been in place by end of February. Article 89 (2) of the Constitution says: The Independent Electoral and Boundaries Commission shall review the names and boundaries of constituencies at intervals of not less than eight years, and not more than twelve years, but any review shall be completed at least twelve months before a general election of members of Parliament. Though the transition provisions exempted the ongoing review from the 12-month requirement, the Senior Counsel has pointed out another a challenge. Section 27(3) of the Sixth Schedule says that the requirement in Article 89(2) will not apply to the review of boundaries preceding the first elections under the new Constitution. But even with this, Article 89(4), which is not accommodated in the transitional provisions, remains a barrier, says Mr Kilonzo. It says: If a general election is to be held within twelve months after the completion of a review by the Commission, the new boundaries shall not take effect for purposes of that election. This is the discrepancy Mr Kilonzo sought to cure by proposing amendments to Section 27 to say that requirements of Article 89(4) will not apply in the next election. However, Mr Abdikadir argues that with the Constitution having already decreed that there shall be 290 constituencies for purposes of election, the Mutula amendment is unnecessary. (READ: Boundaries disputes in court could derail plans for General Election)     NSIS takes closer look at source of poll billions Related News Uhuru downplays supremacy battles in Meru tour 'Operation Stop Raila' intrigues a grave danger to country's future How presidential aspirants can appease the demons of history Ethiopians deny interests in Marsabit politics SHARE THIS STORY Updated 5 hrs 7 mins ago By Stephen Makabila Senior intelligence operatives are taking a great deal of interest in the financial dealings of some presidential hopefuls, and their parties. Their attention has been caught by the flurry of costly pre-campaign rallies being held more than eight months to the 2013 General Election. Credible sources say quiet efforts are being made to follow the money ahead of the first election in which candidates are bound by campaign financing laws. "There seems to be a lot of money at the disposal of some politicians," a high-ranking source said yesterday. "We are watching their activities day in, day out." The interest by the nation's spies comes as a coalition of civil society groups estimates that candidates for president will spend significantly more money in the upcoming race than was splashed out during the 2007 contest. The Coalition for Accountable Political Financing (CAPF) says the top two political parties spent at least Sh6 billion in 2007; some of it was raised through illegal or criminal means. Candidates were then under no obligation to disclose financing arrangements. CAPF predicts the upcoming contest will see much more spent on the presidential race, with the main contenders laying down as much as $100 million (over Sh8 billion) each. There are fears some of this money may be looted from public coffers or donated by narco-traffickers and other smugglers whose activities fund terrorism. Security chiefs are reportedly curious about the methods potential candidates are using to build up their campaign chests. Interest has been stirred by the extravagance on display during recent pre-campaign stops. Despite the real battle being many months away, top politicians are burning up money on helicopters, large motorcades, huge contributions at fundraisers, and slush funds to accommodate a retinue of aides and allied MPs. With rising political stakes and shifting alliances, the last two months have witnessed a frenzy of campaign rallies by the leading aspirants. "The frequency of these rallies has become a concern," our intelligence source said. The Standard has established that at least three leaders are on the National Security Intelligence Service's radar. The trio has been the most active politically, holding three or more rallies every weekend. Each rally requires at least Sh3 million, and some politicians have dropped close to Sh100 million crisscrossing the country ahead of the real race. A source within Prime Minister Raila Odinga's ODM told The Standard that the NSIS interest had created discomfort in the campaign. The source admitted this had affected preparation for Friday Sh100,000-a-plate dinner to raise funds for the party campaign operations. Party finances "NSIS is tracking the sources of our party finances and (those of) many other political parties as well," confirmed the source on condition of anonymity. The source of political funding is fast becoming a contentious issue. Lugari MP Cyrus Jirongo recently claimed the Government is sponsoring six parties and their presidential aspirants in an attempt to determine President Kibaki's successor. State House, however, rejected the allegations and said Jirongo's shady past marked him out as an unreliable source. Political scientist Amukowa Anangwe of Tanzania's University of Dodoma, says there are signs money is flowing from 'invisible hands' to influence the Kibaki succession. He, however, says there is no proof to back Jirongo's claim. "I have done research on campaign financing in 21 countries and understand these things well," he said. "Money is flowing, but it's hard to pin-point State House (as the source) as some have done without evidence." PNU nominated MP George Nyamweya defended the United Democratic Forum's sources of funding. UDF, the vehicle likely to be used by Deputy PM Musalia Mudavadi, was one of the six parties Jirongo claimed were State-sponsored. "We contribute money continuously," Nyamweya said. "Recently, we had a funds drive at the Panafric Hotel, Nairobi, to cater for our costs." Justice Minister Eugene Wamalwa, another presidential hopeful, says the Government is working on a law to keep illicit money out of the 2013 race. Party finances "It's a priority Bill awaiting Cabinet approval and will be before Parliament when it resumes in August. I am sure MPs will pass it," Wamalwa told The Standard. But Nyamweya warns those who hope to use their financial muscle to secure victory in the elections may resist the Bill's stringent provisions in Parliament. The Campaign Financing Bill empowers the IEBC to set spending limits for presidential aspirants and others contesting elective positions. It proposes that candidates or parties that exceed more than 15 per cent of the spending limit during the campaigns be disqualified. There is no barrier to pre-campaign spending, however, raising doubts about how effective the proposed law will be. Leading presidential aspirants already on the pre-campaign trail include Raila, Vice-President Kalonzo Musyoka, Deputy PMs Mudavadi and Uhuru Kenyatta, Eldoret North MP, William Ruto, Justice Minister Eugene Wamalwa, Assistant Minister Peter Kenneth, and Gichugu MP Martha Karua.       New report questions MPs' will to probe graft Dr Robert Monda, the chairman of the parliamentary committee on health, and committee member Fred Outa during a press conference at Parliament Buildings on March 9. Photo/FILE By CAROLINE WAFULA cwafula@ke.nationmedia.com Posted Saturday, July 7 2012 at 23:30 In Summary Study shows vested interests and political interference undermine investigations by parliamentary committees Parliamentary committees are on the spot over their ability to objectively conduct investigations into alleged corruption in Kenya. A new report says party politics and supremacy fights often hinder Members of Parliament from approaching oversight tasks and decisions objectively. This undermines the crucial oversight role of Parliament, the report by The Institute for Social Accountability (Tisa) says. Findings of the July 2 report tally with the growing feeling among some MPs that Parliament should not be involved in investigation of alleged graft. The report calls for public vigilance and strengthening of parliamentary oversight ahead of the next elections, noting that embezzlement of public funds most often occurs in election years. It points out that parliamentary committees often have no intention of addressing the root causes of corruption or following through with findings, especially when those implicated are allies of the "investigators". "Parliamentary committees sometimes whitewash issues. The structure of government where MPs are also part of the Executive impacts negatively on oversight due to soft feelings for political colleagues," it states. Parliamentary oversight, it says, has especially been a problem in the current coalition government where corruption scandals have been highly politicised. The study conducted between last November and February evaluated Parliament's framework and performance of its oversight role over the years. A section of MPs have in the past expressed concern over the involvement of Parliament in corruption investigations. A number of MPs feel such issues are highly politicised, and outcomes often reflect political interests. Some reports of committee investigations have also been criticised for failing to capture the real issues. The Tisa report cites political interference, vested interests, deliberate reluctance by the Executive to implement recommendations of Parliament and resource constraints as the main barriers to Parliament fulfilling its oversight role. Other constraints are inadequate commitment and weak extra-parliamentary support. The lobby group proposes that Parliament should consider establishing a committee to specifically address issues of corruption. "Corruption is a key issue, and Kenya may need a parliamentary committee to deal with this; it should not be ad hoc," the report states. The study also puts the implementation committee of Parliament on the spot over enforcement of parliamentary oversight reports, saying it has failed to deliver. The committee, established by the Tenth Parliament, was meant to ensure that the Executive implements resolutions made by Parliament. But the report says the committee has failed to live up to expectations, citing insufficient powers to enable it to compel a reluctant Executive to implement as the main challenge. "There is no statutory provision on time limits within which government should respond to committee reports," it states.         Kenya cancels oil deal with Iran after warnings JASON STRAZIUSO, Associated Press, TOM ODULA, Associated Press Updated 09:07 a.m., Wednesday, July 4, 2012 NAIROBI, Kenya (AP) — Kenya on Wednesday cancelled a deal to import Iranian oil hours after the U.S. warned the country that it risked being penalized if it sees through the deal which would breach U.S. and European union sanctions, a government official said. The sanctions are meant to deprive funding for the Iranian government and what is believed to be an effort by Iran to build nuclear weapons. Kenya's Energy Permanent Secretary Patrick Nyoike said Kenya had not signed an agreement but had a memorandum of understanding with Iran to import its oil and was complying with international sanctions on Iran. "There is an embargo on Iranian oil and on that note it has been decided that the M.O.U. will be terminated," Nyoike said.       Wary of sanctions, Kenya cancels Iran oil deal By Richard Lough and Duncan Miriri | Reuters – Wed, Jul 4, 2012 Related Content An engineer conducts routine checks … NAIROBI (Reuters) - Kenya is cancelling an agreement to import 4 million tonnes of Iranian crude oil per year because of international sanctions against Iran, its top energy official said on Wednesday. Kenya's move earlier this week to turn to Iran for up to 80,000 barrels of oil per day had surprised Western powers. Kenya is a key strategic ally in the U.S.-led fight against militant Islam in east Africa. Britain earlier on Wednesday urged Kenya to reconsider the move at a time the international community is increasing pressure on Tehran over its disputed nuclear programme. "We signed an MoU (memorandum of understanding), but it is being cancelled," Patrick Nyoike, permanent secretary in the energy ministry told Reuters. "There is an embargo on Iranian oil. We don't want to get involved in the intricacies of international inter-governmental issues," he said. The deal with Iran, signed last month, raised eyebrows at a time many importers of Iranian crude oil have sharply reduced purchases to earn exemptions from U.S. financial sanctions. European sanctions, including a ban on imports of Iranian oil by EU states and measures that make it difficult for other countries to trade with Iran, came into effect on Sunday. "Kenya should consider carefully whether its plans will fall foul or undermine these measures," a British Foreign Office spokesman told Reuters. Nyoike said east Africa's biggest economy had imported oil from Iran in the 1970s and 1980s but not since then. The U.S. State Department said Washington was aware of the reports on Kenya's intentions and that the United States in discussions with all international partners had made clear the importance of reducing ties with the Central Bank of Iran and revenue to Iran. "We are implementing our sanctions fully," the U.S. statement said. Under President Mwai Kibaki, Kenya has increasingly turned to new economic partners, forging close ties with nations including China and Libya under Muammar Gaddafi's leadership. The shift in foreign policy stance has sometimes caused unease among its traditional western allies.       Police trailed Iranians for eight days before arrest Ahmad Abolfathi Mohammad (right) and Sayed Mansour Mousavi (left) in court June 27, 2012. The two Iranians were trailed for eight days by Kenyan detectives before being arrested. Photo/FILE By FRED MUKINDA fmukinda@ke.nationmedia.com Posted Saturday, July 7 2012 at 23:30 In Summary Duo was picked out for surveillance because immediately after setting foot on Kenyan soil they "made contact" with a Kenyan who had been on security watch The two Iranian suspects being held over terrorism links were trailed for eight days by Kenyan detectives before being arrested, the Sunday Nation can reveal. Moments after the two, Mr Ahmad Abolafathi Mohammed and Mr Sayed Mansour Mousa, landed at the Jomo Kenyatta International Airport, a team of undercover agents was assigned to trail them round the clock. They were picked out for surveillance because immediately after setting foot on Kenyan soil they "made contact" (meaning they made a telephone call) with a Kenyan who had been placed on security watch because of suspected links with Somalia terrorist group Al-Shabaab. The pair then walked across to the domestic flights terminal where they boarded a flight to Mombasa. Trailed them For the eight days that undercover officers trailed them, the Iranians made several flights between Nairobi and Mombasa. In both cities, they stayed in five-star hotels in the central business districts. They were arrested at a five-star Nairobi hotel after one of their local contacts was interrogated by police and revealed that he was awaiting a call about a "package" that was hidden somewhere. He told the police that once the call came through, his work would be to collect the package and deliver it. It's then that police pounced on the Iranians at the hotel, drove them away and detained them for interrogation. A senior officer privy to the interrogation told the Sunday Nation that the Iranians confessed that the "package" was the dangerous explosive RDX and they knew where it was hidden. But all through the questioning, the two denied being terrorists "but they have not told us what they intended to do," the officer said. Immediately after the alleged confession, a flight was quickly arranged and detectives flew with the Iranians to Mombasa by night. Sources said the decision was made because they feared that any person who knew about the package's location would take it away if he or she discovered the Iranians had been arrested. On arrival in Mombasa, the Iranians led police to the location – the grounds near Mombasa Golf Club. Squads of armed officers were mobilised and stationed in the area throughout the night to ensure that nobody gained entry. Specialist officers moved in the next morning and recovered 15 kilogrammes of the white crystalline substance. Tests done at the government chemist ascertained the chemical to be RDX. RDX is a more powerful chemical than TNT, which is widely used in making conventional bombs. It was TNT that the attackers of the 1998 US embassy bombings in Nairobi and Dar es Salaam used, pointing to the potency of the material seized from the two Iranians. The amount of RDX recovered in Mombasa is enough to make a bomb that can bring down a multi-storey building, a detective involved in the investigations told the Sunday Nation. "The chemical could have caused great damage if it was used to assemble a single bomb and equally extensive destruction if it was used in bits for a series of explosions," police commissioner Mathew Iteere said.   After the foreigners were arrested in the night of June 19, Kenyan security authorities compiled a classified report and shared it with foreign intelligence agencies. The report caused fresh fears of attacks and prompted a renewed joint effort in the war against terrorism. The report was shared with Israel, United States and Britain. Kenya sought the countries' help in profiling the suspects, in order to understand their previous operations and possible links to terror organisations. "We are liaising with other friendly agencies so that we can compile their (the suspects') history," Mr Iteere confirmed. The arrest of the two Iranians has sucked Kenya into a new level in the international terrorism circuit. Secretive unit America's Associated Press reported that the two are believed to be members of Iran's Islamic Revolutionary Guards Corps Quds Force, an elite and secretive unit that acts against foreign interests. The UK's Daily Telegraph reported that Iran might attack Western and Israeli targets in various countries in retaliation for a spate of assassinations of nuclear scientists in the country, which it blames on Israel. It further reported that the pair toured Nairobi surveying the British High Commission, the Israeli embassy and a church in the week before their arrest. Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said "Iranian terrorism knows no borders" and, alluding to the events in Kenya, added: "After Iran sent its agents to murder the Saudi ambassador on US soil, the country has now engaged in attacks in Azerbaijan, Bangkok, in Tbilisi, in New Delhi, and now we have just discovered a plot for a terrorist attack in Africa." When they were presented in a Nairobi court the Iranians said they had been interrogated by agents of Mossad, the Israeli intelligence agency. The Iranian embassy in Nairobi denied that the two were part of a Tehran-sponsored terror network that planned attacks on Israeli interests. Iranian ambassador Malek Givzad said Kenya and Iran enjoyed cordial relations, adding that his country had lost five nuclear scientists in assassinations, equating it to the same predicament Kenya is facing with Al-Shabaab terror attacks. The recovery of RDX led local and foreign detectives to speculate that there could have been similar "packages" hidden elsewhere. Days after getting the classified report, the US embassy in Nairobi reacted by shutting its offices in Mombasa and pulling out its staff from the coastal town and further warning its citizens against travelling there. The warnings The US had cited intelligence reports "of an imminent threat of a terrorist attack" at the coastal town, in issuing the warnings on June 23. The advisory has since been withdrawn. In Summary Duo was picked out for surveillance because immediately after setting foot on Kenyan soil they "made contact" with a Kenyan who had been on security watch The decision angered Kenyan authorities with the head of public service Francis Kimemia saying it had been shared in "good faith". According to Mr Kimemia the US government had backtracked on an agreement. "The US had assured us on Wednesday (June 20) that there would be no advisories when we got wind of it (planned attack)." A senior security officer told the Sunday Nation that US officials took the step because they were not satisfied with the level of preventive measures Kenya had put in place. A grenade explosion at Jericho Beer Garden in Mishomoroni, Mombasa, barely 48 hours after the US issued the warning, in which three people died, did not deter the Kenyan government from demanding that the US withdraws the advisory. Imminent attack Mr Kimemia described it as an isolated incident that was not connected to the "imminent attack" the Americans had alluded to. Even with the tiff over the advisory, the US State Department praised Kenya for making the arrests describing it as "quick and vigilant action" by the Kenyan authorities. State Department spokeswoman Hilary Fuller Renner said the arrests "potentially prevented a terrible tragedy which could have taken numerous lives". "We cooperate closely with Kenya and stand ready to help them with any counter-terrorism investigation," Ms Renner said. "We do know Iran – principally through [its Revolutionary Guards'] Quds Force and its proxies and surrogates – continues to pursue destabilising activities in various places across the globe."         AP: Iranians in Kenya planned Israeli, US attacks By JASON STRAZIUSO and TOM ODULA | Associated Press – Mon, Jul 2, 2012 NAIROBI, Kenya (AP) — Officials in Kenya say that two Iranian agents arrested with explosives planned to attack Israeli, American, British or Saudi Arabian targets inside Kenya. The officials said Monday that the plot appears to fit into a global pattern of attacks or attempted attacks by Iranian agents, mostly against Israeli interests. Kenyan security forces arrested the Iranians in June and were led to 15 kilograms (33 pounds) of RDX, a powerful explosive, in the coastal city of Mombasa. Several hotels on the coast are Israeli-owned. One official said the Iranians are members of Iran's Islamic Revolutionary Guards Corps Quds Force, an elite and secretive unit. The officials spoke on condition of anonymity because they were discussing security issues.       The Star (Nairobi) EmailPrint Share Kenya: Iran Plotting to Attack Israel in Kenya - Israeli PM By Ibrahim Oruko, 4 July 2012 THE arraignment in a Nairobi court of two Iranians accused of having explosives has opened a new front in the diplomatic row between Israel and Iran. Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu on Monday accused Iran of plotting terror attacks against its (Israel's) interests in Kenya. Netanyahu further accused Tehran of being a sponsor of international terrorism. "Iranian terrorism knows no borders," Netanyahu is quoted as saying in a statement from his office. "After Iran sent its agents to murder the Saudi ambassador on US soil, the country has engaged in attacks in Azerbaijan, Bangkok, in Tbilisi, in New Delhi, and now we have just discovered a plot for a terrorist attack in Africa," Netanyahu said. "The international community must fight against this major player in the world of terrorism," he added. According to the court charges against Ahmed Mohamud and Said Mausud, the two Iranians were arrested after they were found with 15 kilogrammes of RDX explosives in circumstances which indicated that they were armed with intent to commit a felony. They were arrested in Nairobi and led investigators to the Mombasa Golf Course on Mama Ngina Drive where the explosives were found. They both denied the charges before Principal Magistrate PC Biwott, just a day after the June 25 grenade attack on a bar in Mishomoroni area of Mombasa that killed three people. The Iran government has denied any knowledge of the duo and said their identities were not known. "The identities of these persons are not yet known to us and the Iranian embassy in Nairobi is seeking to obtain information and a consular visit," Foreign Ministry spokesman Ramin Mehmanparast said, quoted by state news agency IRNA. "As long as the identities of these persons are not obtained, we cannot make any comment about this matter," he said. Yesterday, London's Daily Mail reported that the two Iranians had planned to attack Israeli, US, British or Saudi targets inside Kenya. It said the foiled attack appeared to fit into a global pattern of plots by Iranian agents. Previous plots were uncovered in the US - against Saudi Arabia's ambassador - as well as in Thailand, Azerbaijan and India. The newspaper reported the two are believed to be members of Iran's Islamic Revolutionary Guards Corps Quds Force, an elite and secretive unit that acts against foreign interests. Quoting officials within, the Mail said the advanced explosives the two Iranians had and their links to the Quds Force indicate that the mission in Kenya was cleared by the highest levels inside Iran's government. However, the story says it's not clear how much central direction Quds operatives receive from top Iranian leaders. Five Iranian scientists with links to the country's nuclear programme have been killed in the last two years. Iran has pointed an accusing finger at Israel, US and British intelligence agencies for the attacks. In return, Israel blames Iran for alleged reprisal missions on Israeli property and personnel overseas. Iran has denied any links to attacks outside its borders. "The reason basically is that to some extent, there is an al-Quds operation against Israel, which is a reprisal to Israeli attacks on Iranian physicists and scientists," Anthony Cordesman, a Middle East expert at the Center for Strategic and International Studies told the Mail in London. "It is much more likely if they were to do anything in Africa that they would try to find Israeli targets rather than US, British or Saudi targets," said Cordesman. Several resorts on Kenya's Coast are Israeli-owned, as is Nairobi's largest and newest shopping mall, the Westgate in Westlands. Militants in 2002 bombed the Israeli-owned Paradise Hotel outside Mombasa killing 13 people. The attackers also tried to shoot down an Israeli airliner at the same time. An al Qaeda operative was linked to those attacks. The newspaper said it is unlikely the Iranians were working in concert with al Shabaab because the two groups come from two different branches of Islam and don't normally cooperate. Internal Security acting minister Yusuf Haji refused to comment when was asked at a news conference on Friday about the case against the two Iranians. Haji said the the issue was not only "sensitive" but he could not comment on a matter pending before the court. He said more information would come out when the prosecution presents its evidence.         Kenya agrees to buy Iran oil, silent on sanctions Reuters – Mon, Jul 2, 2012 Related Content An engineer conducts routine checks … NAIROBI (Reuters) - Kenya has agreed to import 4 million tonnes of Iranian crude oil per year, a senior Kenyan energy official said on Monday. Patrick Nyoike, permanent secretary at the energy ministry, said the two governments signed the memorandum of understanding on the oil last month. He did not say how many years the agreement covered. "The details will come later," Nyoike told Reuters by telephone, declining to comment on how the deal sits with U.S. and European Union (EU) sanctions against Iranian oil exports. Most other importers of Iranian crude oil have sharply reduced purchases to earn exemptions from U.S. financial sanctions. The European sanctions - including a ban on imports of Iranian oil by EU states and measures that make it difficult for other countries to trade with Iran - came into effect on Sunday. Lawmakers from the U.S. House of Representatives and Senate are meanwhile working to finalise a new package of sanctions aimed at further reducing oil and other revenues used by Iran to further its nuclear program. Nyoike said the crude would total about 30 million barrels over one year, equivalent to around 80,000 barrels per day. Kenya's only refinery said last month it would start buying its own crude oil. It processes 1.6 million tonnes a year. Kenya has signed similar memorandums deals before. Under President Mwai Kibaki, the east African nation has increasingly turned to new economic partners, forging close ties with nations like China and Libya under Muammar Gaddafi's leadership. The shift in foreign policy stance has sometimes caused unease among its traditional western allies. Kenya is a key strategic ally in the U.S. led fight against militant Islam.       Kenya shilling dips on possible rate cut Reuters – Thu, Jul 5, 2012 NAIROBI (Reuters) - The Kenyan shilling dipped against the dollar on Thursday as banks bought the U.S. currency ahead of a Monetary Policy Committee meeting which is widely expected to cut the bank's benchmark rate later in the day. At 0718 GMT, commercial banks quoted the shilling at 84.20/40 per dollar, 0.5 percent weaker than Wednesday's close of 83.80/84.00. "The shilling is off on interbank realignment ahead of the decision in the afternoon," said Raphael Owino, a senior trader at Commercial Bank of Africa. "If (a cut) comes, it will be a very tepid one to incorporate some caution on policymakers side. The shilling might not fall as fast either." Most analysts expect the central bank to cut its key rate after holding steady for six month. A lower inflation reading for June and slower economic growth in the first quarter if 2012 raised prospects of a cut in borrowing costs. The central bank has maintained a hawkish monetary stance this year, actively intervening to mop up excess liquidity and sell hard currencies directly to commercial banks, which has supported the shilling. The bank raised rates by 11 percentage points in the final quarter of 2011 to 18 percent to counter surging inflation and to prop up the shilling. "If the central bank eases, the shilling will come under some pressure from importers, but if they remain hawkish, the shilling will maintain the status quo," said a trader at one commercial bank.       The Star (Nairobi) EmailPrint Share Kenya: Privatisation Needs to Be Accelerated 4 July 2012 editorial THE Privatisation Commission is in limbo. It has a secretariat but no commissioners. Investors are complaining that the privatisation process has stalled. This will have negative consequences. For instance, South African company Distell has been cooperating for years with Kenya Wine Agencies Ltd to distribute Amarula, Viceroy brandy, and other brands. Distell was hoping to buy a 30% stake in KWAL but has now resolved to set up its own distribution and production in Kenya. At best KWAL will now face stiff competition. At worst it may go bust. Yet if Distell had bought a stake, KWAL could have flourished and benefited from fresh capital and expertise. The Kenyan economy will not truly take off until there is accelerated privatisation. Parastatals pretend to protect the workers but in reality they only benefit the elite. Parastatals are the main avenue for state patronage, the dishing out of jobs that takes place after every election. Parastatals are a huge burden. By some estimates, their annual subsidies exceed the total government wage bill. All parastatals should be privatised unless they are a natural monopoly or a utility. That is the only way to eliminate nepotism and corruption in the Kenya political system.       Tullow to Accelerate Kenya Exploration After First Discovery By Eduard Gismatullin - Jul 4, 2012 7:50 AM CT Tullow Oil Plc (TLW), the London-based explorer with the most licenses in Africa, plans to accelerate drilling in Kenya after making the East African nation's first discovery earlier this year. Tullow will bring in two additional rigs next year, Chief Financial Officer Ian Springett said today in an interview. Alongside Africa Oil Corp. (AOI), Tullow is deploying two rigs in Kenya and one in Ethiopia this year to confirm reserves in the new African oil province after the Ngamia-1 well discovered more than 100 meters (330 feet) of light oil. "It's absolutely a fantastic start as it exceeded our expectations and there's a lot more drilling to come,"Springett said. "It's conventional oil, it's very similar toUganda but a much bigger first discovery." Tullow forecast Kenya has the potential to exceed Uganda, where together with Total SA and Cnooc Ltd. it plans to invest more than $10 billion to unlock an estimated 2.5 billion barrels of oil. The U.K. company's Kenyan exploration acreage may hold as much as 10 billion barrels of oil resources, Tullow's Exploration Director Angus McCoss said on a conference call with analysts. "It's a high-risk upside with a lot of exploration yet to do but certainly the size of the prize after Ngamia is potentially bigger," he said.   Well Suspended The company stopped the Ngamia-1 well for testing later this year. Africa Oil today said that the well encountered an additional 43 meters of "potential oil." The explorer said a potential export pipeline from Uganda could cross Kenya to bring oil to a port on the Indian Ocean coast. "The export pipeline is the key discussion point now,"Springett said. "At the same time the discoveries in Kenya add both the extra likelihood and extra benefit in terms of even more oil being exported from that part of East Africa." Tullow's first-half output averaged 77,400 barrels of oil equivalent a day. Production is expected to exceed 90,000 barrels a day by the end of the year, according to a statement today. "Clearly, the Kenya play has been a major first-half positive," said Stuart Joyner, head of oil and gas analysis at Investec Securities Ltd. in London. The company has been applying acid-stimulation methods, which are designed to boost production, to its Jubilee field offGhana to almost double output to 120,000 barrels a day next year. It will spend less than the forecast $400 million on the field work because it's a "lot cheaper solution" than re-drilling the wells, Springett said. "We don't expect that we have to do any more recompletion," the CFO said. "Jubilee production will be motoring ahead" in the second half. "Reservoir acidization is a common solution at other fields," Oswald Clint, an analyst at Sanford C. Bernstein & Co. in London, wrote in an e-mailed report. "Good news for costs."       Somalia challenges Kenya over oil blocks By Kelly Gilblom | Reuters – Fri, Jul 6, 2012 NAIROBI (Reuters) - Somalia's government accused Kenya on Friday of awarding offshore oil and gas exploration blocks illegally to multinationals Total and Eni because the concessions lie in waters claimed by Somalia. The spat between Kenya and its war-ruined neighbour could complicate the hunt for resources along a part of the East African coastline, rapidly emerging as one of the world's hottest oil exploration prospects. Somalia's deputy energy minister, Abdullahi Dool, said contracts awarded for four blocks in deep waters were invalid and the government planned to complain to the United Nations, which oversees maritime border laws. "We are concerned about the lease of blocks," Dool told Reuters. "I am sure we will lodge complaints." The blocks are among seven awarded by Kenya last week, three of them to Italy's Eni and one to France's Total. They lie in an area long contested by Kenya, East Africa's biggest economy, and Somalia, wrecked by more than two decades of civil war, split between an interim government and Islamist rebels and serving as the main base for Indian Ocean pirates. Kenya rejected the accusation that ownership of the blocks was contested and said there was no need to hold up exploration. Kenya's first major oil discovery in March has raised expectations of more to come. "Saying these are not Kenyan blocks is like saying we don't have a full-fledged government, like we are a banana republic," petroleum commissioner Martin Heya said. An Eni spokesman said the company would not comment on the challenge to its rights to blocks L21, L23 and L24. Total, awarded block 122, did not respond to requests for comment. Kenya says the maritime boundary, over which there is no formal agreement, should run due east from the point at which the land border meets the coast, like the maritime boundaries of other countries along the coast. Somalia says the boundary should extend perpendicular to the coastline, giving it a big chunk of the waters claimed by Kenya. The dispute mirrors those in other parts of Africa where resources straddle boundaries that were first drawn only vaguely by colonial era map makers. Kenya and Somalia signed a memorandum of understanding in 2009 that the border would run east along the line of latitude, but Somalia, which has lacked an effective central government since 1991, then rejected the agreement in parliament. The quarrel over the oil blocks strains otherwise close ties between Kenya and the Somali government. In fact, Kenya sent troops into Somalia last year to hunt down the Islamist al Shabaab rebels who control swathes of the country. Joshua Brien, a legal adviser with the Commonwealth Secretariat who is advising Kenya on the matter, said no legal boundary can be established until both governments sign a U.N.-approved agreement or move the issue to an international court. "It's not impossible they could come to a resolution, but the situation in Somalia is so uncertain," Brien told Reuters by phone from London. An added frustration for Kenya is that it cannot extend its claim to the continental shelf beyond its 200 nautical miles (370 km) of territorial waters until the border spat is resolved. That holds up the award of more exploration licenses.     Africa Oil says finds additional oil in Kenya well Reuters – Wed, Jul 4, 2012 Related Content An oil rig used in drilling at … NAIROBI (Reuters) - Canada's Africa Oil said on Wednesday its estimate of the amount of potential oil in its Kenyan well has increased by a third since the east African country announced its first oil discovery in March. The company said it has found an additional 43 metres of potential oil pay in its Ngamia-1 well in northern Kenya, which is operated by Africa Oil's partner British exploration firm Tullow. "The net oil pay logged in Ngamia-1 is more than double that of any of Tullow's east African exploration wells drilled to date," Tullow country manager Martin Mbogo said in a statement. Kenya and its neighbours in east Africa, as well as the Horn of the continent, have become a hot spot for oil and gas exploration in recent years, spurred by new finds in countries including Uganda, Tanzania and Mozambique. The Ngamia-1 well in Kenya Block 10BB, was drilled to a depth of 2,340 metres and will now be suspended for future flow testing. The commercial viability of the find has yet to be ascertained. In a statement, Tullow country manager Martin Mbogo said the volume of oil pay has "substantially exceeded expectations". The well has more oil-bearing sands than the company's Ugandan wells, which it determined were commercially viable in 2006. Tullow is moving the Ngamia-1 drilling rig 31 km west to spud its second Kenyan well this year, known as Twiga-1. When that well is complete, it will return the rig to the Ngamia-1 site for work that will determine the commerciality of its first discovery. Mwendia Nyaga, former CEO of the National Oil Corporation of Kenya, who works as an oil and gas consultant, said he expects it will be at least 12 months before Tullow will know whether the Ngamia-1 well can move to production. "What we've seen is very promising, but there are no guarantees," he told Reuters. Uganda discovered commercial hydrocarbon deposits along its border with the Democratic Republic of Congo in 2006, and Tullow says reserves of 1.1 billion barrels are confirmed in place and believes there are a further 1.4 billion barrels left to find.       Kenya looking abroad for stolen cash, seeks cooperation Reuters – Tue, Jul 3, 2012 NAIROBI (Reuters) - Kenya has asked several countries to help it recover corrupt cash stashed in overseas accounts, but not all have agreed, the east African country's top legal adviser said on Tuesday. Corruption has blighted the image of east Africa's biggest economy for decades and many Kenyans view efforts to stamp it out as bogus and ineffective. Githu Muigai, Kenya's attorney general, said four territories had agreed to cooperate - Switzerland, Japan, the United Kingdom and Jersey, a British dependency known for its offshore banking. "The assistance we requested from those governments includes giving us information, giving us materials and allowing us access to court documents where some cases have taken place," Muigai told a bankers' conference in the port city of Mombasa. "It is going well and we hope that by the end of the year, we will start receiving some money where there is no contest as to whether that money ought to be returned to Kenya," he said. Muigai said two countries had been asked for help but had not yet committed themselves. He declined to name them. Analysts say graft has choked growth in Kenya, deterring potential investors. There is growing frustration that senior officials get away with flagrant theft. One graft scandal, Goldenberg, which took place during the leadership of former President Daniel Arap Moi, led to the loss of at least $1 billion in central bank money via compensation payments for bogus gold and diamond exports.     Institute for Security Studies (Tshwane/Pretoria) EmailPrint Share Kenya: Addressing Rising Insecurity in Kenya By Irene Ndungu, 6 July 2012 analysis Relevant Links We Will Hunt You Down, Kibaki Tells Al Shabaab 700 Extra Officers Posted to Garissa Mombasa Students Protest Terror Kenyans are still reeling from the shock of the latest of an increasing spate of terror attacks on civilians across the country, mostly blamed on Somalia's Al-Shabaab. On Sunday, 1 July, 17 people were killed and over 40 wounded in attacks on two churches in the northern town of Garissa. This follows several similar attacks, including the hellish Nairobi city centre bombing on 28 May, in which one person died and a dozen were wounded. While local and international security agencies collaborate in trying to identify the perpetrators, their modus operandi and modalities for addressing the crisis, a number of crucial factors seem to be the enablers for the worsening attacks. These ought to be addressed urgently in order to more comprehensively address the crisis of rising insecurity in Kenya and the region. Capital FM A bomb explosion on Nairobi's Moi Avenue injured more than 40 people, prompting renewed concerns about terrorism. Monitoring the modus operandi of all the attacks since October 2011, when Kenya launched its 'Operation Linda Nchi' in Somalia, the preference for small arms and light weapons by the attackers has clearly established the prominent role of guns, hand grenades and improvised explosive devices (IEDs). While the proliferation of weapons in Kenya, and indeed the region, is not new, the rising readiness to use them against civilian targets raises many questions as to the nature of the insecurity dynamics that may ensue if the availability of weapons is not checked with utmost urgency. Addressing the issue of arms proliferation is particularly problematic given the numerous avenues for arms flow into Kenya. The most important challenge bedeviling dealing with arms proliferation in the country is tied to the insecurity in countries such as Somalia. Given the reality of the porous borders and ill-equipped security agencies, it is clear that real success in dealing with the crisis of arms proliferation in Kenya is as much external as it is internal. Without peace and stability in Kenya's neighbours, it will be impossible to effectively deal with the scourge of arms proliferation. Closely related to the arms question is the deadly trend of weaponisation of products for everyday use. The alleged role of fertiliser in the 28 May bombing in the Nairobi city centre brought this to the fore. Even though this is also not a new issue, the concurrent proliferation of do-it-yourself information on the Internet, including the availability of various radicalising manuals and videos, makes it easy for non-professionals to produce IEDs and has opened up another dimension of human susceptibility in the face of rising radicalisation. In this prevailing atmosphere in the region through the appeal of groups such as Al Shabaab and the availability of young desperadoes who are ready to join them, the vulnerability of Kenya cannot be overemphasised. Clearly one of the most worrying aspects of this is the characteristic sporadic nature of the attacks, which makes it extremely difficult for security agencies to anticipate and contain them. The increasing preference for places of worship is also worrying because of the potential it has to set various religious groups against each other and distort the underlying variable for the on-going violence away from what it is now to cycles of inter-religious revenge attacks It is becoming clear that for any security agency, 'sporadicity' is overwhelming and Kenya's security agencies are no exception. This has sometimes called for the support of external expertise in analysing crime scenes and the nature of attackers. Practically, however, it does imply that a more internationalised or regionalised response is necessary both in pooling together expertise and in tracking the operations of those who have chosen to communicate their discontent through violence. Given the fluid and amorphous nature of the perpetrators and the crisis, it is also only by increased intelligence gathering across the length and breadth of the country that the situation can be effectively addressed. Given the limited resources and sporadic nature of the attacks, there is the need for the implementation of strategies that urgently rally civilian support in the collection and passing on of information vital for the safety of all Kenyans. If realistic progress can be made to stop these trends, there is the need for the sources and existing mechanisms of arms acquisition and flows to be more closely and effectively monitored and addressed. Most importantly, so should the demand for SALW's. Current efforts have largely focused on managing the supply of SALW but the socio-economic factors driving these demands need to be prioritised in national action plans. Related to that is the need for state security agencies to increase their visibility and patrols so as to enhance, at least, their role in crime prevention. At the moment, the security and visibility of state presence is confined to the major centres. As one moves further from the capital Nairobi, for instance, there is less and less visibility of state security structures, which is a reflection of state deficit. This is not only in terms of security provision, but also the distribution of resources and infrastructure. Such patterns have fomented feelings sympathetic to extremism amongst sections of young people who have no sense of patriotism or attachment to the country. These issues, including high levels of youth unemployment and marginalisation of communities need to be prioritised, properly addressed and effectively managed through inclusive development programmes. Irene Ndungu, Consultant, Conflict Management and Peacebuilding Division and Andrews Atta-Asamoah, Senior Researcher, Conflict Prevention and Risk Analysis Division, ISS Pretoria Office           Eni wins first blocks offshore Kenya   7/5/2012   Offshore staff MILAN, Italy – Kenya's government has awarded Eni (MI:ENI;NYSE:E)100% interests in production sharing contracts for three offshore exploration blocks. The L-21, L-23, and L-24 are all in the deep and ultra-deepwaters of the Lamu basin and cover an area of more than 35,000 sq km (13,513 sq mi). Initial work will focus on seismic acquisition. Eni has had major recent successes with deepwater gas discoveries to the south offshore Mozambique.       Kenya: Canadian Company Finds More Oil in Turkana Well By Reuters, 5 July 2012 Canada's Africa Oil said on Wednesday its estimate of the amount of potential oil in its Kenyan well has increased by a third since the east African country announced its first oil discovery in March. The company said it has found an additional 43 metres of potential oil pay in its Ngamia-1 well in northern Kenya, which is operated by Africa Oil's partner British exploration firm Tullow. "The net oil pay logged in Ngamia-1 is more than double that of any of Tullow's east African exploration wells drilled to date," Tullow country manager Martin Mbogo said in a statement. Kenya and its neighbours in east Africa, as well as the Horn of the continent, have become a hot spot for oil and gas exploration in recent years, spurred by new finds in countries including Uganda, Tanzania and Mozambique. The Ngamia-1 well in Kenya Block 10BB, was drilled to a depth of 2,340 metres and will now be suspended for future flow testing. The commercial viability of the find has yet to be ascertained. In a statement, Tullow country manager Martin Mbogo said the volume of oil pay has "substantially exceeded expectations". The well has more oil-bearing sands than the company's Ugandan wells, which it determined were commercially viable in 2006. Tullow is moving the Ngamia-1 drilling rig 31 km west to spud its second Kenyan well this year, known as Twiga-1. When that well is complete, it will return the rig to the Ngamia-1 site for work that will determine the commerciality of its first discovery. Mwendia Nyaga, former CEO of the National Oil Corporation of Kenya, who works as an oil and gas consultant, said he expects it will be at least 12 months before Tullow will know whether the Ngamia-1 well can move to production. "What we've seen is very promising, but there are no guarantees," he told Reuters. Uganda discovered commercial hydrocarbon deposits along its border with the Democratic Republic of Congo in 2006, and Tullow says reserves of 1.1 billion barrels are confirmed in place and believes there are a further 1.4 billion barrels left to find.       The Star (Nairobi) EmailPrint Share Kenya: Tullow to Explore for Oil in Kericho and Nyakach By Benedict Tirop, 4 July 2012 Turkana County is once again in the limelight and still for all the good reasons after the discovery of an additional 43 meters of potential oil in ... ( Resource: Kenya: More Oil Discovered in Turkana Tullow Oil is set to start oil exploration in Kericho and Nyakach. Belgut MP Charles Keter made the revelations at Kabianga University College during an investment meeting on investment opportunities in Kabianga and its environs. The exploration on Block 12 B will comprise the area between Kapsoit in Kericho county and Nyakach in Nyanza. Tullow, the company that struck oil in Turkana in March, has embarked on a mission to ascertain the commercial viability of the precious commodity in the block. "Tullow was awarded block 12 B which consists of the area between in Kapsoit, Kabianga and upto Nyakach in Nyando . So you will start seeing this people doing explorations and they will come up with their community relations services," Keter told the residents. Other explorations have been sparked by the discovery countrywide. The forum was convened by the Kabianga University College in an effort to spur investment in the area and brought together local banking institutions, landowners, developers, businessmen and other stakeholders. Keter, who is the area MP, was hard pressed on the poor condition of the road leading to the university. Relevant Links Oil Drilling Now Moves From Ngamia to Twiga National Oil Boss in a Delicate Balancing Act Oil Exploration Area Carved Out in Turkana TOTAL Signs Kenya Oil Exploration Contract He however said the road had not been factored in the budget but light tarmacking would be done on it so as to open up the area for development. Keter defended the standards of roads in his constituency alluding that they were better than those found in the neighbouring Bureti constituency whose MP is the roads minister Franklin Bett. The legislator called on the university to partner with local tea factories towards developing small hydroelectric projects on the many rivers in the county. The university's Principal Prof Wilson Kipngeno had in the past complained over the bad state of the road leading to the university. He said the institution was rapidly expanding in student population and urged area residents to take advantage of business opportunities brought about by the university. He singled out housing demand as an area of immense business opportunities. Keter urged the university students to embrace ICT. "There exists a unique opportunity for this institution to be the centre of excellence and computer hub for the whole region.This conference is a beginning of bigger things to come,"he said.       Capital FM (Nairobi) EmailPrint Share Kenya: Uhuru Tells Off Raila Over Reforms By Lordrick Mayabi, 7 July 2012 Chuka — Deputy Prime Minister Uhuru Kenyatta has hit out the Orange Democratic Movement (ODM) leader Raila Odinga for branding his political opponents non-reformers saying the country needed a new crop of leadership. He insisted that the country had already realized the required reforms through the constitution and what remained was just to implement them and steer the country to greater heights. He said Odinga was still fascinated by his reform credentials which blinded his focus on the remaining task of making the reforms work for Kenya. "Reforms have already arrived and we should not keep singing about them. Some people are still living in the past and think that things are still the same. Those who have been speaking about the same thing need rest. What we need now is to transform those reforms to help us. We are committed to helping people live a better life," said Kenyatta. Speaking at Kairuni Stadium in Maara district when he wound his two-day tour of Tharaka-Nithi county on Friday, Kenyatta said those who had fought for the reforms should pave way for a younger generation to implement them. He said the country required a generational change and accused Odinga of being 'resistant' to change. "We are tired of looking at the world through the rear view mirror. He (Odinga) is saying that the competition will be between reformists and non-reformers. The actual competition will be between the old and the young generation. We will ensure their safety and show them how a country is governed," said Kenyatta. He however, said he had a great respect for the old generation and that they should be retained to offer advice. Public Works assistant Mwangi Kiunjuri said Kenyatta should not be challenged to demonstrate his reform credentials as he was too young when the independence and the clamor for multi-party was taking place. Agriculture assistant minister Kareke Mbiuki and his Tourism counterpart Cecily Mbarire and Chuka mayor John Mbaabu said the new constitution had already addressed issues that were being sort for in the fight for the second liberation. Makadara MP Mike Mbuvi 'Sonko' accused the National Cohesion and Integration Commission of targeting musicians from a particular tribe and urged its chair Mzalendo Kibunjia to cast his net wider in search for music laden with hate speech. He said various musicians countrywide were still producing songs in praise of their leaders yet none had been cited for hate speech. "When musicians from Central province sing in praise of their leaders, they are arrested yet other musicians are doing it. The cohesion team has erred and should first of all teach the public what is hate speech. Each tribe has its culture and it would kill it if music is deemed to be hate speech," said Mr Mbuvi. Igembe South MP Mithika Linturi and his Tharaka counterpart Mburi Muiru said the entire Meru community would work out ways of ensuring they remained in the same party to boost their bargaining power in the next government. They urged Energy minister Kiraitu Murungi to join TNA. "He should swallow his pride and join us in TNA and compete with others. APK does not have clout here," claimed Linturi.         Bank of China cleared to open an office in Kenya Reuters – Tue, Jul 3, 2012 NAIROBI (Reuters) - The Central Bank of Kenya has granted Bank of China a license to open a representative office, a likely first step towards a full operation in east Africa, the central bank said on Tuesday. Foreign lenders have been looking to set up operations in Kenya where collective industry profit jumped 20.4 percent last year to 89.3 billion shillings. BOC, in which the Chinese Sovereign Wealth Fund holds a substantial stake, is headquartered in Beijing, focusing on corporate and personal banking as well as investment banking. It also has operations in other countries including South Africa and Zambia. South African lender FirstRand plans to acquire a mid-sized Kenyan bank, it said in May while opening its own representative office in Nairobi. Chinese organisations are eyeing Nairobi as a base for a push into Africa, with state broadcaster CCTV, basing its Africa service in the Kenyan capital last year. The move caused a crisis in the local media industry as CCTV lured dozens of on and off air personnel from local stations with higher pay.       Capital FM (Nairobi) EmailPrint Share Kenya: Bank of China Comes to Kenya By Margaret Wahito, 3 July 2012 Nairobi — The Central Bank of Kenya (CBK) has granted authority to Bank of China Limited (BOC) to open a Representative Office in Kenya. The authority, issued pursuant to Section 43 of the Banking Act (Cap 488), makes Bank of China Limited the fifth foreign bank to be authorised by the Central Bank to establish such an office in Kenya. BOC is substantially owned by a Chinese Sovereign Wealth Fund, which holds majority of the bank's equity. BOC is headquartered in Beijing and operates both in China and internationally, including in South Africa and Zambia. The bank is primarily engaged in providing corporate and personal banking, investment banking, treasury and asset financing services. In a statement from the Central Bank, The newly authorised Representative Office will be BOC's first in East Africa. BOC's Representative Office will market the products and services of Bank of China to existing and prospective customers in Kenya and the East African region conduct market research and act as a liaison between the Bank of China Limited's head office and its customers. Under the Banking Act, a representative office of a foreign bank in Kenya is not permitted to engage in banking business as defined in the Act but can only engage in marketing and liaison roles in connection with the activities of its parent bank and affiliates. Through the Representative Office in Kenya, Bank of China Ltd seeks to explore potential business opportunities in the country with a view to evaluating the prospects of a long-term presence in Kenya and the wider East African region. Kenya continues to attract growing international interest from renowned international financial institutions as a preferred base for their regional operations. This presents unique opportunities for the Kenyan economy to be part of increasingly global financial markets. With more foreign institutions choosing Kenya as their regional base, the country draws closer to realising its aspirations of being a regional financial hub as envisaged under the Government's economic blueprint, Vision 2030.         Gunmen kill 10 in Kenya church attacks Sunday, July 01, 2012 » 11:31pm Gunmen have killed 10 people when they opened fire and lobbed grenades into two churches in the eastern Kenyan town of Garissa. Local police say the deaths occurred the compound of the Africa Inland Church and three others were injured in a Catholic church. The gunmen burst into the churches in apparently coordinated attacks targeting worshippers as they held Sunday prayer services in Garissa, 140 kilometres from the border with war-torn Somalia. The attackers later escaped. Police say that as many as seven men were involved in the attacks, which come two days after gunmen killed a Kenyan driver and abducted four foreign aid workers from the Dadaab refugee camp, 80 kilometres northeast of Garissa. Dozens were also left wounded in the violence, the latest in a string of attacks, police said. The gunmen burst into the churches in apparently coordinated attacks targeting worshippers as they held Sunday prayer services in Garissa, some 140km from the border with war-torn Somalia. The attackers later escaped. Police said that as many as seven men were involved in the attacks, which come two days after gunmen killed a Kenyan driver and abducted four foreign aid workers from the Dadaab refugee camp, some 80km northeast of Garissa. 'We have not arrested any suspects, but we have reports that five suspects were involved in the AIC attack in a combination of grenade and shooting, while two suspects were involved in the Catholic church attack,' said Ndolo. Witnesses said that bodies lay scattered in the blood spattered churches as scores of wounded were rushed to hospital. 'It is a terrible scene, you can see bodies lying in the churches,' said regional police chief Leo Nyongesa, adding the attackers had wrested guns off police, who have been posted outside churches following previous attacks. It was not clear who was behind the attacks, but Nairobi has blamed similar attacks on members or supporters of Somalia's al-Qaeda linked al-Shabaab insurgents. Kenya has suffered a spate of grenade attacks, shootings and bomb blasts since sending troops into southern Somalia in October to crush al-Shabaab bases there, prompting warnings of revenge attacks by the Islamist fighters. The Supreme Council of Kenya Muslims condemned the attacks, saying that 'all places of worship must be respected.' 'We want to send our condolences, and we are sad that no arrests have been made yet,' said chairman Abdulghafur El-Busaidy. The attacks come as search efforts continued for the abducted aid workers, two men and two women who work with the Norwegian Refugee Council (NRC), and who come from Canada, Norway, Pakistan and the Philippines, according to police. But while Kenya's army scoured border areas for a third day, many fear the gunmen and their hostages crossed swiftly into Somalia, only some 100km from Dadaab where they were seized, the word's largest refugee camp. Attacks and cross-border raids in the region blamed on al-Shabaab, including the kidnapping in October of two Spaniards working for Medecins sans Frontieres (Doctors Without Borders), were key to Kenya's decision to invade Somalia. Al-Shabaab still controls large parts of southern Somalia, despite recent losses to African Union troops, government forces and Ethiopian soldiers, who have wrested several key bases from the insurgents.         Kenya: Rising Tide of Small Arms 3 July 2012 Dadaab/Isiolo — A spate of "terror" attacks, aid worker kidnappings and heightened ethnic conflict in northern Kenya have fuelled demand for small arms by civilians and criminals, say security officials. On 2 July, four foreign aid workers - all employees of NGO Norwegian Refugee Council (NRC) - were rescued inside Somalia and returned to Kenya after being kidnapped in eastern Kenya's Dadaab refugee settlement; their driver was killed during the kidnap. In October 2012, two Spanish aid workers employed by Médecins Sans Frontières (MSF) were kidnapped from Dadaab - they are still being held hostage. On 1 July, at least 17 people were killed in twin attacks on two churches in the eastern Kenyan town of Garissa; a major security operation has since been launched in Garissa and the northern towns of Mandera and Wajir. Several other attacks have been carried out in the northeast, in Nairobi, and in the coastal city of Mombasa since Kenya crossed into southern Somalia in October 2011 to help stamp out radical Islamist group Al Shabab. Dozens were also killed and hundreds displaced in ethnic clashes in the central Kenyan region of Isiolo in February. More guns "We are faced with the most complicated acts... of crime where bombs and grenades are used and executed by dangerous type of gangs, terrorists," said Leo Nyongesa, police chief for Northeastern Province. "A lot of resources and personnel have been deployed by the government. This has prevented many planned attacks and deaths." Isaiah Nakoru, county commissioner for the northern-central town of Marsabit, said political infighting was also responsible for the increase in demand for weapons. "A section of politicians are reported to have purchased many guns, supplied them to their communities to fight their rivals whom they purport as their communities' enemies - they use this as a political tool," he said. A recent report by research group Small Arms Survey showed that the number of weapons held illegally by civilians is between 530,000 and 600,000, a significant increase over the years. The report names Somalia, Ethiopia, Uganda and South Sudan as some of the main sources of small arms in Kenya. "In general terms, northern Kenya, confronted by the multiple challenges of underdevelopment, interethnic resource-based conflicts, and proximity to war-prone neighbouring countries, has had the highest prevalence of small arms," the report found. Living in fear In Dadaab, local residents report living in fear as a result of criminal gangs. In June, Abdi Hamid, a well-known businessman in Dadaab's Ifo camp, was forced to open his shop at night by unknown bandits and robbed of over 700,000 shillings (US$8,300). On 15 June, refugee leader Isnino Ali Rage narrowly escaped death when a reported improvised explosive device hit a vehicle she was travelling in, injuring two of her fellow passengers. Her predecessor was relocated to Kakuma refugee camp in northwestern Kenya on protection grounds after his younger brother was shot in front of his house in March. Attacks on camp leaders are thought to have been carried out by Al Shabab in retaliation for their perceived cooperation with Kenyan security services. "I am very worried for my life," said Liban Rasid Mohamed, youth chairman of Ifo camp, adding that his family was urging him to resign due to the threats posed by his position. The attacks have also affected humanitarian activity in the camps. MSF Spain, which was carrying out health services in Ifo 2 extension camp, pulled out of Dadaab following the kidnapping of its staff in October 2011. The Kenya Red Cross took over health services, but only after a months-long gap during which malnourished and ill children and adults struggled to access health care. The kidnapping of the NRC workers had knock-on effects for refugees: "I was really worried for them and the impact it had on us too; we missed the food and water for the first two days of this month," said Asho Muse Magan, a mother of nine, on 2 July. Refugees in Dadaab say the Kenyan police are themselves often to blame for violence. "There is no trust between us and the police. We cannot work with them to tackle the changing security situation in Dadaab. Instead of protecting us they rob our shops and torture our children in the name of searching for explosives in our houses and businesses," said a refugee leader who preferred anonymity. Rashid Omar, a local leader from Moyale in northern Kenya, said people are buying weapons because they do not trust the police to protect them. "Our young men used... weapons to fight in Moyale earlier this year to defend their communities - the government was nowhere." However, the Kenyan authorities say efforts are being made to stamp out the illicit trade in weapons. "New strategies have been adopted; we are recruiting more police reservists along the [Kenya-South Sudan] border in Turkana; we are also tightening security on routes that are used to smuggle these guns," said Rift Valley Provincial Commissioner Osman Warfa. He added that a special unit set up to monitor suspected guns dealers had forced many to quit the illicit weapons trade, thus pushing up gun prices. [ This report does not necessarily reflect the views of the United Nations ]       The Star (Nairobi) EmailPrint Share Kenya: Kibaki Set to Give Lifeline to Poll Losers By Francis Mureithi, 5 July 2012 Politicians will not be allowed to engage in party hoping but presidential losers will have a chance to be nominated back to Parliament. President Kibaki is expected this week to sign the Statute Law (Miscellaneous Amendments) Bill, 2012 which contains the final changes to the Elections Act and the Political Parties Act. Also deleted from the Bill that is now before Kibaki is the requirement that those seeking to vie as MPs and senators must have a university degree recognised in Kenya. However, presidential aspirants, their running mates, governors and deputy governors must be degree holders. By appending his signature, the President will be sealing the fate of hundreds of politicians who were planning to ditch their political parties at the eleventh hour to the general election. After receiving a memorandum from the President, MPs last week agreed to delete a clause they had inserted in the Political Parties Act that would have given them a window to engage in party hopping. The additional clause to allow party hopping had been brought by presidential aspirant and Gachoka MP Mutava Musyimi. He had argued that since the country is in a transition, MPs in the current Parliament, councilors or any other aspirants, should be allowed to move from one party to another until after the next elections scheduled for March 4, 2013. Although MPs endorsed the changes on June 21, four days later, Kibaki refused to sign the Bill into law. He returned it to Parliament saying in his memo that the issues were already before the High Court. In considering the President's memo, MPs pulled out Musyimi's clause arguing that it contravened the constitution. They however differed with the President and said they were not deleting the clause because the matter is already before the court. The lawmakers said the constitution requires politicians to be loyal to their parties. "We have had people who are not loyal. They are only loyal around election time - the moment they are allowed to stand on tickets of certain parties, but when they come to this House, they become wild animals. These characters should not be given a chance anymore because they cheat," said Regional Development minister for Fred Gumo. "We should protect the parties. Fortunately for this amendment, regardless of whether the reasoning is adequate or not, we have an opportunity to start protecting parties," said Public Service minister Dalmas Otieno. "If you decide to "grass hopp" please, do so within the rules because there are rules for grass hopping. If I want to belong to another party, I resign, I run in the party I like and I will become a Member of Parliament one more time. If I lose, I will try my luck in the next elections," said Immigration minister Otieno Kajwang'.       KENYA: Rising tide of small arms Photo: Anthony Morland/IRIN Up to 600,000 weapons are held illegally by civilians in Kenya (file photo) DADAAB/ISIOLO, 3 July 2012 (IRIN) - A spate of "terror" attacks, aid worker kidnappings and heightened ethnic conflict in northern Kenya have fuelled demand for small arms by civilians and criminals, say security officials. On 2 July, four foreign aid workers - all employees of NGO Norwegian Refugee Council (NRC) - were rescued inside Somalia and returned to Kenya after being kidnapped in eastern Kenya's Dadaab refugee settlement; their driver was killed during the kidnap. In October 2011, two Spanish aid workers employed by Médecins Sans Frontières (MSF) were kidnapped from Dadaab - they are still being held hostage. On 1 July, at least 17 people were killed in twin attacks on two churches in the eastern Kenyan town of Garissa; a major security operation has since been launched in Garissa and the northern towns of Mandera and Wajir. Several other attacks have been carried out in the northeast, in Nairobi, and in the coastal city of Mombasa since Kenya crossed into southern Somalia in October 2011 to help stamp out radical Islamist group Al Shabab. Dozens were also killed and hundreds displaced in ethnic clashes in the central Kenyan region of Isiolo in February. More guns "We are faced with the most complicated acts... of crime where bombs and grenades are used and executed by dangerous type of gangs, terrorists," said Leo Nyongesa, police chief for Northeastern Province. "A lot of resources and personnel have been deployed by the government. This has prevented many planned attacks and deaths." Isaiah Nakoru, county commissioner for the northern-central town of Marsabit, said political infighting was also responsible for the increase in demand for weapons. "A section of politicians are reported to have purchased many guns, supplied them to their communities to fight their rivals whom they purport as their communities' enemies - they use this as a political tool," he said. A recent report by research group Small Arms Survey showed that the number of weapons held illegally by civilians is between 530,000 and 600,000, a significant increase over the years. The report names Somalia, Ethiopia, Uganda and South Sudan as some of the main sources of small arms in Kenya. "In general terms, northern Kenya, confronted by the multiple challenges of underdevelopment, interethnic resource-based conflicts, and proximity to war-prone neighbouring countries, has had the highest prevalence of small arms," the report found. Living in fear In Dadaab, local residents report living in fear as a result of criminal gangs. In June, Abdi Hamid, a well-known businessman in Dadaab's Ifo camp, was forced to open his shop at night by unknown bandits and robbed of over 700,000 shillings (US$8,300). On 15 June, refugee leader Isnino Ali Rage narrowly escaped death when a reported improvised explosive device hit a vehicle she was travelling in, injuring two of her fellow passengers. Attacks on camp leaders are thought to have been carried out by Al Shabab in retaliation for their perceived cooperation with Kenyan security services. "I am very worried for my life," said Liban Rasid Mohamed, youth chairman of Ifo camp, adding that his family was urging him to resign due to the threats posed by his position. Mohamed's predecessor was relocated to Kakuma refugee camp in northwestern Kenya on protection grounds after his younger brother was shot in front of his house in March. The attacks have also affected humanitarian activity in the camps. MSF Spain, which was carrying out health services in Ifo 2 extension camp, pulled out of Dadaab following the kidnapping of its staff in October 2011. The Kenya Red Cross took over health services, but only after a months-long gap during which malnourished and ill children and adults struggled to access health care. The kidnapping of the NRC workers had knock-on effects for refugees: "I was really worried for them and the impact it had on us too; we missed the food and water for the first two days of this month," said Asho Muse Magan, a mother of nine, on 2 July. Mistrust of the police Refugees in Dadaab say the Kenyan police are themselves often to blame for violence. "There is no trust between us and the police. We cannot work with them to tackle the changing security situation in Dadaab. Instead of protecting us they rob our shops and torture our children in the name of searching for explosives in our houses and businesses," said a refugee leader who preferred anonymity. Rashid Omar, a local leader from Moyale in northern Kenya, said people are buying weapons because they do not trust the police to protect them. "Our young men used… weapons to fight in Moyale earlier this year to defend their communities - the government was nowhere." However, the Kenyan authorities say efforts are being made to stamp out the illicit trade in weapons. "New strategies have been adopted; we are recruiting more police reservists along the [Kenya-South Sudan] border in Turkana; we are also tightening security on routes that are used to smuggle these guns," said Rift Valley Provincial Commissioner Osman Warfa. He added that a special unit set up to monitor suspected guns dealers had forced many to quit the illicit weapons trade, thus pushing up gun prices.

--
Karibu Jukwaa la www.mwanabidii.com
Pata nafasi mpya za Kazi www.kazibongo.blogspot.com
Blogu ya Habari na Picha www.patahabari.blogspot.com
 
Kujiondoa Tuma Email kwenda
wanabidii+unsubscribe@googlegroups.com Utapata Email ya kudhibitisha ukishatuma
 
Disclaimer:
Everyone posting to this Forum bears the sole responsibility for any legal consequences of his or her postings, and hence statements and facts must be presented responsibly. Your continued membership signifies that you agree to this disclaimer and pledge to abide by our Rules and Guidelines.