Kenya's PM,Raila Odinga in a speech delivered yesterday defended the unholy alliance of ODM and PNU which was formed after violence rocked the country early 2008 after disputed elections.
Raila who had promised to sack Cabinet ministers and government officials who were involved in corruption left many Kenyans dissappointed with his about turn on his promise.
Raila's supporters will undoubtedly question his commitment to fighting graft.The PM who rode on the wave of a reformist with no tolerance to corruption is raising eye brows over his lack of concrete action to end corruption in Kenya.
His fellow cabinet ministers who have been implicated in corruption are sitting pretty in government.Under the national accord Raila can only spearhead the sacking of an ODM minister,therefore his hands seem to be tied.But Raila has the powerful option of ordering investigations of any minister he feels is inlvolved in corruption and recommend his termination of duties to the President.
Time will tell if Raila will keep his promise of announcing a major shake up in the cabinet to weed out corrupt individuals.
Sunday, March 29, 2009
Monday, March 9, 2009
Kenya and Uganda row over migingo: Kenya Should deal firmly with Uganda.
Uganda has flexed its muscles on the Migingo Island row by sending troops to the Island and ordering Kenyans to leave the island.Uganda has required all Kenyan residents to apply for a permit to be akllowd to stay or visit the island.
The island which is located on Lake victoria has been the center of conflict on borders at the lake.Uganda has laid claim to the Island despite all evidence showing that the island belongs to kenya.A look at the colonial maps and even current maps show the island lays atleast 1 km inside Kenya's borders.
While kenya has resorted to a slow laid back diplomatic resoltuion of the conflict,Uganda is using military power to take control of the island.
A delegation of Kenyan ministers are meant to travel to Uganda next week to discuss the conflict.
What annoys most Kenyans is,the slow pace at which the Kenyan government is taking to resolve the issue. The kenyan government is doing nothing to protect its citizens who are being harrased by Ugandan soldiers.
Uganda is firmly in control of the island,while the kenyan government is still "sending" a delegation to Kampala to discuss the crisis.Uganda knows very well the island belongs to Kenya,and the real issue is the fishing industry on lake victoria. many times Kenyan fishermen have crossed into Ugandan waters to fish.
This has annoyed Ugandans officials who feel like the island is a launching pad for illgeal fishing on Uganda's waters.Although this is the case,Uganda has no authority to grab/occupy Kenya's lands.
More and more Kenyas are feeling the need for Kenya to get involved militarily. It is an embarrasment for Kenya which is obviously superior militarily and economically than Uganda,to have its land forcefully occupied by a country which very much depends on Kenya's ports for its survival.
I think the time has come for the Kenyan government to send its military and if possible the navy to protect our land and citizens on Migingo.We have already lost 3 other islands (thanks to IDi Amin) to Uganda in the past. And Migingo will not be next in line.
The island which is located on Lake victoria has been the center of conflict on borders at the lake.Uganda has laid claim to the Island despite all evidence showing that the island belongs to kenya.A look at the colonial maps and even current maps show the island lays atleast 1 km inside Kenya's borders.
While kenya has resorted to a slow laid back diplomatic resoltuion of the conflict,Uganda is using military power to take control of the island.
A delegation of Kenyan ministers are meant to travel to Uganda next week to discuss the conflict.
What annoys most Kenyans is,the slow pace at which the Kenyan government is taking to resolve the issue. The kenyan government is doing nothing to protect its citizens who are being harrased by Ugandan soldiers.
Uganda is firmly in control of the island,while the kenyan government is still "sending" a delegation to Kampala to discuss the crisis.Uganda knows very well the island belongs to Kenya,and the real issue is the fishing industry on lake victoria. many times Kenyan fishermen have crossed into Ugandan waters to fish.
This has annoyed Ugandans officials who feel like the island is a launching pad for illgeal fishing on Uganda's waters.Although this is the case,Uganda has no authority to grab/occupy Kenya's lands.
More and more Kenyas are feeling the need for Kenya to get involved militarily. It is an embarrasment for Kenya which is obviously superior militarily and economically than Uganda,to have its land forcefully occupied by a country which very much depends on Kenya's ports for its survival.
I think the time has come for the Kenyan government to send its military and if possible the navy to protect our land and citizens on Migingo.We have already lost 3 other islands (thanks to IDi Amin) to Uganda in the past. And Migingo will not be next in line.
Sunday, March 1, 2009
Kenyans and the Facebook Phenomena
There have been two technological revolutions in Kenya in the years 2007-2008.First, was the Safaricom WAP,which enabled any Kenyan who has a cellphone and WAP enabled phone access to internet anytime and at any location.
The internet was no longer a preserve for the upper middle class in Kenya.Any Kenyan regardless of class had a ready made connection to the WWW.
At the same time,Facebook,a social networking site was gathering pace.Recently,analysts have estimated that Facebook has over 175 million active users.Surpassing Myspace,friendster and other social networking sites.
It is not clear how many Kenyans are on Facebook,but are about 100,000 or more Kenyan users.
Most kenyans users on the site say they use facebook to keep in touch with their friends some ofn whom are Kenyans in the Diaspora.
One of my friends,Suzie(not real name),says," Facebook is the place to be.I chat with my sisters and brothers who are all in the USA daily on facebook,and it brings us much closer."
Suzie says she updates her photos almost every week,so as to keep her friends interested in her profile.
It is puzzling just how many Kenyans are addicted to Facebook.Some profiles status are updated almost every hour.This is possible partly because many young Kenyans are almost,always,connected to the internet using their WAP enabled phones.Business daily africa ran a story about how employers are now fearing that work hours are getting wasted on Facebook by their employees.Read the Story here.
Corporate companies have realised the huge potential in Facebook,and many have opened their own pages on Facebook.Capital fm,Business daily africa,are just some of the companies with pages on facebook.
For ordinary Kenyans,the anonymity may be one of the pulling factors.The ability to "meet" and socialise with new people without leaving your house is a pulling factor.
Not every Kenyan is a fan of Facebook though.One of my friends who is a harsh critic of facebook has this to say," Most people who spend their time on facbook are people who most likely have very low social skills in real life.I don't see the reason why someone should be making friends with people who you might never meet.Whats the point of me making friends with a girl from Cuba for example?"
The irony of the matter is,he also has a facebook acount!
In the meantime,more and more Kenyans are joining facebook,and making their networks one big global village.
The internet was no longer a preserve for the upper middle class in Kenya.Any Kenyan regardless of class had a ready made connection to the WWW.
At the same time,Facebook,a social networking site was gathering pace.Recently,analysts have estimated that Facebook has over 175 million active users.Surpassing Myspace,friendster and other social networking sites.
It is not clear how many Kenyans are on Facebook,but are about 100,000 or more Kenyan users.
Most kenyans users on the site say they use facebook to keep in touch with their friends some ofn whom are Kenyans in the Diaspora.
One of my friends,Suzie(not real name),says," Facebook is the place to be.I chat with my sisters and brothers who are all in the USA daily on facebook,and it brings us much closer."
Suzie says she updates her photos almost every week,so as to keep her friends interested in her profile.
It is puzzling just how many Kenyans are addicted to Facebook.Some profiles status are updated almost every hour.This is possible partly because many young Kenyans are almost,always,connected to the internet using their WAP enabled phones.Business daily africa ran a story about how employers are now fearing that work hours are getting wasted on Facebook by their employees.Read the Story here.
Corporate companies have realised the huge potential in Facebook,and many have opened their own pages on Facebook.Capital fm,Business daily africa,are just some of the companies with pages on facebook.
For ordinary Kenyans,the anonymity may be one of the pulling factors.The ability to "meet" and socialise with new people without leaving your house is a pulling factor.
Not every Kenyan is a fan of Facebook though.One of my friends who is a harsh critic of facebook has this to say," Most people who spend their time on facbook are people who most likely have very low social skills in real life.I don't see the reason why someone should be making friends with people who you might never meet.Whats the point of me making friends with a girl from Cuba for example?"
The irony of the matter is,he also has a facebook acount!
In the meantime,more and more Kenyans are joining facebook,and making their networks one big global village.
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