Gladys Shollei sacked

Kenya's Judicial Service Commission has sacked Chief Registrar of the Judiciary, Gladys Shollei . The commission revealed this on Friday citing insubordination,  incompetence,engaging in sideshows and misappropriation of funds.

JSC chairman and Chief Justice Willy Mutunga stated  that it was a unanimous resolution of the commision to sack the Chief Registrar of the Judiciary. Mutunga added that Shollei was  removed from office with immediate effect for: incompetence, misbehaviour, violation of the prescribed code of conduct for judicial officers, violation of Chapter 6 and Article 232 of the Constitution of Kenya, 2010 (and) insubordination.
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The Chief Justice noted that Shollei had admitted to 33 allegations in which Sh1.7 billion taxpayer funds had been lost or were at risk. He said the Judiciary stood to lose Sh2.2 billion from financial impropriety on which the allegations against her were based.

The Chief Justice said JSC had invited the Ethics and Anti-Corruption commission to do a thorough investigation "in light of the gravity of the issues" that informed Shollei's sacking.

Keep your promise,ICC tells Uhuru

ICC Outreach Coordinator for Kenya and Uganda, Maria Mabinty Kamara  on Wednesday said  President Kenyatta and his deputy William Ruto had committed themselves that they will continue to cooperate with ICC so they should leave to the promise.

Ms Kamara was speaking at Panafric Hotel in Nairobi during the monthly Journalists for Justice Forum. She  said President Kenyatta is still required to attend trial next month pending the petitions he has filed.

Ms Kamara said ICC will adide by the United Nations Security Council decision on request for the deferral of cases facing President Kenyatta and Mr Ruto by the African Union.

Ms Kamara said the ICC could leave Kenya to handle case facing journalists Walter Barasa if the country establishes credible proceedings against him and charges the former Eldoret based correspondent with the charges the ICC has lined up for him.

Westgate Mall terror attack suspect released after probe

By Cyrus Ombati(Standard Digital)

  A former police officer thought to have participated in the Westgate Mall terror attack has surrendered to police to deny the accusations.
Mohamed Hussein, who was a former General Service Unit (GSU) officer and bodyguard to a High Court Judge surrendered to Wajir police CID boss Monday morning saying he never took part in the attack.
Anti-Terror police officers in the area grilled him for a while before releasing him after they were convinced he was not the one captured on CCTV clips shooting at the shoppers at the mall on September 21.
Nairobi head of CID Nicholas Kamwende who is among the team of detectives investigating the attack said they had confirmed the former GSU officer is alive and did not participate in the attack.
“That was speculation because he has turned himself in, talked to our officers and we can confirm he did not participate in the attack. He is a free man for now,” said Kamwende.
He added they are yet to get key suspects in the attack.
Detectives handling the case say they are also looking for at least eight suspects believed to have been directly involved in the attack. Four of them were captured on the CCTV footage at the mall.
 “They probably arrived there in time to ensure everything was in order before they left as the terrorists struck,” said a senior official aware of the probe.
FBI agents —alongside investigators from Britain, Canada, Israel and Germany —were dispatched to investigate the crime scene.
There have been no details on what the international team has found so far in the bullet-scarred, scorched mall but they are expected to independently submit their reports.
Other officials say the team is frustrated because there are so many loose ends that are yet to be connected by the local detectives for them to be able to give their report.

Undergo journalism training or quit blogging

Media Council of Kenya CEO Harun Mwangi has said that bloggers need to be accredited to by MCK. He said that if bloggers want to be recognised as journalists then they must have diploma or  degree courses in Mass Communication.

Mwangi argued that prosecuting bloggers was a challenge since they cannot be tagged to the journalism career.

“It becomes very hard when a complaint comes to our office that a blogger has defamed or abused a person online. This is because bloggers do not have any idea about journalism or the code of ethics,” said Mr Mwangi.

He argued that bloggers were tarnishing professionalism in the media with many abusing social media platform and using it as a tool to breed ethnicity and hatred.

“Most of them have never stepped in any media class. That is why they can be able to publish obscenities and get away with it. They only care for their popularity,” he added.

Addition information by Daily Nation

Alice Munro awarded The Nobel Prize in Literature 2013

The Nobel Prize in Literature 2013 was awarded to Alice Munro "master of the contemporary short story".

Fact box

106 Nobel Prizes in Literature have been awarded 1901-2013.

13 women have been awarded the Literature Prize so far.

4 Literature Prizes have been divided between two persons.

The youngest Literature Laureate ever, Rudyard Kipling,  was 42 years, best known for The Jungle Book .

The oldest Literature Laureate ever was Doris Lessing, when she was awarded the Prize in 2007. She was 42 yearsby then.

Westgate mall resumes business

                                                 Westgate Mall before the attack

The Kenyan government has said it will help in ensuring business at Westgate Mall resumes back to normal  and support traders to re-establish their businesses.

Ms Phyllis Kandie,East African Affairs, Commerce and Tourism Cabinet secretary  said her ministry has started plans for rapid restoration of the mall following the terrorist attack a fortnight ago. She said the government will establish a team of advisers to advise the government on what should be done. The team will comprise of Westgate Mall stakeholders.
This is in a bid to safeguard loss of more 2000 direct jobs that the mall earlier provided to Kenyans before the attack.

Westgate Mall supported an economic ecosystem valued at more than Sh100 billion annually before the attack.

Uganda's Dr. Kizza Besigye arrseted at Uganda's National Independence Celebrations

 Dr Besigye (L) and Kampala city Mayor Erias Lukwago
 

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Former FDC president and Uganda's opposition leader,Dr Kiiza Besigye, Kampala city Lord Mayor and Ingrid Turinawe have been arrested in western Uganda where Uganda's national independence celebrations are being held.  They were arrested after they worked out of the celebrations in protest to Ofwono Opondo’s comments that the People of Rukungiri requested that the celebration be held in their district in order to recommit their faith in President Museveni and the NRM.

Lukwago’s Facebook wall read as follows “We are still in detention in a police van parked in the compound of Dr. Besigye’s home in Rukungiri”

Besigye’s appearence at the celebrations had raised speculation among the public that he could be a probable recipient of a medal.

Hidden agenda; Kenyan raid on Al-shabaab

                        

Kenyan Millitary officers earn fortunes from trade of illegal charcoal passing through Kismayu, EJ Hogendoorn, an analyst with the International Crisis Group pointed out. Most Somalis "believe Kenya wants to control southern Somalia because it has large oil and natural gas deposits," Mr Hogendoorn on Tuesday told the  US Senate Foreign Relations Committee.

 Al-Shabaab had warned Kenya for interfering with Somalia's affairs by attacking them in Somalia. Kenya Defence Forces last year evicted  Al-Shabaab from Kismayu in a bid to distabalise the terrorist organization.

Abdi Aynte, Director of the Mogadishu-based Heritage Institute for Policy Studies, said the US has "a moral obligation to exert pressure" on Kenya and Ethiopia to cease interfering in Somalia's internal politics. Nancy Lindborg,an assistant administrator of the US Agency for International Development said Increasing security efforts by the Kenya Defence Forces may create aid access implications in Kismayo and re-ignite tensions in the Somali community

US Navy SEALS raid Somalia

A US official on Monday revealed that US Navy SEALS were hunting for a top commander of the Islamist Al-Shabaab group in a weekend raid in Somalia. The US government has defended the operation as legal. Abdulkadir Mohamed Abdulkadir alias Ikrima, , a Kenyan of Somali origin was the main target of the Saturday assault on the southern Somali port of Barawe

Abdulkadir Mohamed Abdulkadir  is linked with two deceased Al-Qaeda operatives who are believed to have been involved in the 1998 bombings of US embassies in Kenya and Tanzania. The two deceased Al-Qaeda operatives,  Fazul Abdullah Muhammed and Saleh Ali Saleh Nabhan, are also believed to have had a role in the 2002 attacks against Israeli targets in Mombasa, Kenya.

The strike in Somali follows last month’s siege of an upscale shopping mall in the Kenyan capital Nairobi, in which 67 people were killed.
  
 Additional information by  The New York Times

Richest people in Africa 2013

Nigeria-based Ventures financial magazine  has released a list of 55 African billionaires. The total networth of the 55 billionaires is at $143.88 billion. Out of the 55 persons only three ladies made it to the list. The ladies include Folorunsho Alakija of Nigeria, Isabel Dos Santos, the eldest daughter of Angolan President Jose Eduardo dos Santos and Ngina Kenyatta, the mother of Kenya's President Uhuru Kenyatta. The average net worth of the members of this exclusive club is $2.6 billion, while the median age of the richest people in Africa is 65 years. The oldest billionaires are Kenyan industrialist, Manu Chandaria, and Egyptian property tycoon, Mohammed Al-Fayed, both aged 84. The youngest billionaires are Mohammed Dewji of Tanzania and Igho Sanomi, a Nigerian oil trader who are both 38 years old.

Top 10 richest people in  Africa

1. Aliko Dangote. The Nigerian is worth $20.2bn.
2. Allan Gray.The South African holds assets worth at least $8.5bn.
3. Mike Adenuga.The Nigerian has an estimated fortune of $8bn.
4.Folorunsho Alakija, Africa’s wealthiest woman, Nigerian  is worth $7.3bn.
5. Nicky Oppenheimer. The south African is worth $6.5 bn
6. Johann Rupert ,The south African is worth $6.1 bn
7. Nassef Sawiris. the egyptian is woth $5.2 bn

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8. Gilbert Chagoury & Family, the Nigerian is worth $4.2 bn 

9. Nathan Kirsh from Swaziland is worth $3.6 bn
10. Christoffel Wiese from South Africa is worth $3.4 b n

UPDF in Control Of National ID Project

By Red paper 

 KAMPALA-Colonel Stephen Kwiringira is the new head of National Security Information System project, which is in charge of producing National Identity Cards. He was appointed by General Aronda Nyakairima, the new internal affairs minister. 


Colonel Stephen Kwiringira is deputized by Major Kweri Celet Twino and Betty Nasenja, a lawyer in the Directorate of Immigration. Nasenja was involved in the initial national identity card project before it hit a snag. Colonel Kwiringira is the former Head of Information Technology in the UPDF.
His abrupt appointment during a stakeholders meeting recently took other stakeholders like Uganda Registration Services Bureau –URSB, NITA Uganda, UBOS, Electoral Commission (EC), Uganda Revenue Authority (URA), Uganda Police Force (UPF), Prisons Service, Ministries of Local Government, Finance and ICT by surprise.

The appointment by Nyakairima is the last straw in the Directorate of Immigration and Citizenship control’s attempts to shield UPDF from taking control of the national Identity card project. However, sources privy to the identity card project indicate that UPDF is banking on its experience of registering its personnel and perceived popularity amongst Ugandans to execute the project.

Col. Paddy Ankunda, the UPDF spokesperson denies claims that the army has taken firm control of the national identity card project saying it is still under the internal affairs ministry.
He explained that Col. Kwiringira has only been seconded to the project by UPDF. Issuance of National Identity cards was suspended two months ago amidst reports of inter-agency fights over management of the multi-billion shillings project.

In February, UPDF announced that it had introduced the Integrated Resource Management System in readiness for capturing Ugandans’ bio-metric data, a thing that was brushed off by Ministry of Internal Affairs.
Stephen Kagoda, the Permanent Secretary Ministry of Internal Affairs declined to confirm the appointment of the UPDF Soldier as Project Manager saying that was outside his docket.

He however, says people should be bold enough to execute their job, on what to be in reference to the failure by the Directorate of Citizenship and Immigration control to come out on the appointment.
As government departments bicker of who should execute the national identity card project, the equipment imported for the job continues to waste away at Uganda Printing and Publishing Corporation in Entebbe.

Westgate attack; Safaricom, Airtel on spot

The Communications Commission of Kenya( CCK) had given mobile service firms up-to December 2012 to registers all their subscribers and switch off the SIM cards belonging to those who had not complied to the regulation. The firms have however found themselves on the wrong side of the law with the police claiming some of the SIM cards used by the Westgate Mall attackers were not registered.

                                          CCKoffices in Nairobi

Police has warned four mobile phone firms' bosses and their vendors  that they risked arrest over criminal offences committed through any unregistered SIM cards on their network.  Bob Collymore,the Safaricom boss was questioned at CID headquarters while  Shivan Bhargava of Airtel reported to Makadara DCIO office to record his statement. Telkom’s Kenya CEO Mickael Ghossein was grilled  at the Kilimani CID offices on Monday night.

The police and CCK officials   are carrying out a swoop around the country to investigate if mobile phone companies and their agents comply with the Communications Act and regulations that were issued last December.

The Flame of Freedom,Raila Odinga launches his auto biography

Kenya's former prime minister yesterday unveiled his auto-biograghy in an event attended by high profile dignitaries. The 959 page The Flame of Freedom tells tells of Raila's political life in the struggle for the second liberation of kenya. The book however is silent on the events that precceded the March 4 elections in which Uhuru Kenyatta was declared the president of kenya. Rail said the book is dedicated to the youth and the dream of Pan Africa which he said had been derailed by poverty, ignorance, disease and bad governance. “I have dedicated the book to the youths of Kenya; youths are like a constant river that flows to the ocean,” Raila said

The chief guest, the retired Nigerian president Olesugon Obasanjo hailed the Raila for writing up the book and encouraged other prominent persons in Kenya to emulate him. He said one deprives the future generation a lot when he/she refuses to write a book. He gave an example of Nigeria’s first African AG who refused to author a book. Obasanjo paid said Raila had sacrificed a lot in his life to ensure Kenya enjoys freedom whose culmination was the successful promulgation of the new constitution.

This comes after Babafemi A. Badejo's Raila Odinga: An Enigma in Kenyan Politics. The event that took place at the KICC in Nairobi. Those who attended the launching included retired Nigerian president Olesugon Obansanjo, former AG sir Charles Njojo, fromer VP Kalonzo Musyoka, Governor Evans KideroSenators, Industrialists Manu Chandaria, Tabitha Karanja among other top dignitaries

Sanitary pads affair; a big heart from comrades

Accessing sanitary pads for most girls coming from poor background has been a great challenge. They have always resorted to using materials that pose as health hazards. Though many non-governmental organizations have made efforts to help the girls, they have not been able to reach all the needy girls. The girls undergo many untold difficulties because of lack of this very important commodity. It is unfortunate that some female leaders have done little to help. One of the touching incidences was when Citizen TV aired a news feature highlighting the problems girls in Marigat in Baringo County faced. Some female leaders from the region come out to refute the claims as a make of the media. Some went ahead to give solutions such as using mattress instead of the soil and animal skin the girls were using. If the Swahili saying “Adui wa mwanamke ni mwanake” is to go by, then these leaders are more than enemies of women. ‘Period of shame’ a news feature story depicting the responses from the leaders, clearly paints a vivid  picture of what really takes place on the ground. 

Zero Stain Supper Confidence

A section of students from Moi University have come up with an initiative to collect sanitary pads on behalf of the girls from poor families.  The initiative dubbed Zero Stain Supper Confidence targets to collect over 10,000 sanitary pads. The initiative was officially launched on 27^th of September at Moi University Main Campus. The initiative has since then seen tremendous positive response from the students. So far over 1000 sanitary pads have been collected. Dropping points have been set in different locations within the Main Campus where students can drop the pads they wish to donate. Since the initiative aims at collecting as many pads as possible, students are encouraged to donate as low as one pad or a minimum of Ksh. 50 for those who may not be in position to buy the pads. Ms. Linda Ng’ang’a, the initiative’s projects coordinator said they are having plans to bring all Moi University stakeholders on board so as to expand the initiative. She added that they are targeting both the teaching and the non-teaching staff.

Ms. Karen Ondwasi, the initiative’s chairperson said they are planning to also bring on board corporate bodies that will be willing to offer assistance. She also added that they were planning to roll out the initiative in all the campuses of Moi University. Speaking to My Herald Magazine, Mr.Henry Orimbo, the initiatives’s public relations officer confirmed that they had received a go ahead from the office of the dean of students which had also promised financial support in the initiative. Seemly it is due to the selfless spirit within the students that has made them to come to the rescue of their Kenyan sisters in need of the pads. The initiative has a facebook page “Zero Stain Supper Confidence” where interested parties can interact to the benefit of the project. The pioneers of the initiative include Karen Ondwasi, Linda Ng’ang’a, Henry Orimbo, Domnic Mitiro,Shaddy Mweke among others

This comes a few weeks after the Senator of Nairobi, Hon Mike Mbuvi Sonko donated about 6000 sanitary pads to some schools in Nairobi.

CHAMELEONE OUT FOR KONY

Ugandan Badilisha hit singer, Jose Chameleone is planning to meet Lord’s Resistance Army (LRA) leader Joseph Kony. Chameleone intends to convince Kony to pursue peaceful means in fighting for ‘liberation’
Chameleone who is set to perform in Central African Republic believes he will get a chance to meet the war lord. Kony is believed to be hiding in Central African Republic after being forced out of Uganda by the Uganda People's Defence Force in an operation to apprehend him.

Kony is wanted by the International Criminal Court (ICC). He was indicted in 2005 on 12 counts of crimes against humanity and 21 counts of war crimes by ICC. LRA is claimed to have been started to   establish a theocratic state based on the Ten Commandments and local Acholi tradition. The militia however later turned to killing its own people, the Acholi , and abducting and recruiting  children to become soldiers.

 Chameleone left Uganda yesterday after releasing his new single 'Tubonge' a Swahili gospel single.

SMOKE SCREEN SECURITY; A THREAT TO CITIZENS’ LIVES

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Kenyans have all the reasons to be proud of Kenya Defence Force especially after dedicating their lives to save the Westgate terrorism victims. To many the mission was a success given the large number of rescued hostages. One of the most disturbing issue is the flow of information between the security agencies. During the incidence the agencies gave contradicting information on what was going on in the mall especially after smoke was seen emerging from the mall. If the claims coming up that some people had informed the Kenyan intelligence agency on possible terrorist attack then it would be worth asking the precautionary measures that were put in place to prevent the attack. It would be unfortunate to say that Kenyan security agencies never learn from their previous mistakes but it is the reality to live by.

Westgate mall terror attack was not the first terrorist attack on this country especially in Nairobi. Does it mean that after the attacks the agencies usually get back to their normal routine? If it is so then there is need to change strategies on national security matters. The 7^th August 1998 bomb blast on the American Embassy was supposed to be an eye opener to the security agencies. In fact, Al-Shabaab had given Kenya a warning when KDF facilitated their downfall in Kismayu. Did we take their warning serious? Some people are probably sleeping on their jobs at the expense of the security of the citizens. At the beginning of the year we witnessed an unnecessary power struggle in the Police Service on who was superior? Then there were claims that the junior police officers were on a go slow which also threatened the country’s security.

The state of security that is always witnessed after a tragedy has struck the country is always encouraging. Something that our security agencies may not be aware of is that after striking the assailants always take a backstage view as the agencies spring into action. We tend to forget quite fast. The country has experienced massive insecurity instances for the past one year. Starting from the Church bombing in Mandera, MRC attacks, Tana River clashes, Bungoma and Busia attacks, it has been evident on the laxity of the security agencies in ensuring that the Kenyan citizens are safe. The routine of tightening security only after a tragedy is unwise and costly to the nation.

A country that once took pride in the peace its citizens enjoyed is turning out to be insecure as the days advance. It’s not easy to know when a tragedy may strike. The security agencies should take the initiative of ensuring that the citizens are guaranteed of safety wherever they are. There is need for the laws on arming private security officers to be reviewed. There is no security the private security officers would provide if they are only armed with metal detectors and batons, they will have nothing to do incase assailants strike with guns. The culture of beefing up security after an attack has been carried out and many citizens killed is of little significance in making citizens safe. Seemingly the assailants have also learnt this weakness in the country’s security and are really taking advantage of it. It is quite cheaper to put security measures in place before an attack than after. This will help in making both foreigners and Kenyans have trust in the country’s security detail. Hence investors would be retained rather than fleeing the country due to insecurity. Kenya is a great nation and those in charge of the country’s security should not give terrorists a chance to tear it asunder. A country built of hard work and colonial heroes and heroines should not be run like a village.

NEW CHANCELLOR AT LAST.

Many had speculated that H.E Uhuru Kenyatta would be the new chancellor of Moi University. These speculations however, never come to a reality as a new able female chancellor was unveiled yesterday in Moi University’s 29^th graduation ceremony. Prof. Miriam K. Were who was born in 1940 is the new chancellor of Moi University. Prof. Were takes up the office from the former chancellor prof. Bethwel Ogot.

Prof Miriam Were holds a degreein Natural Sciences fromWilliam Penn College, IOWAUSA, postgraduate Diploma in Education from Makerere University, MPH and Doctor of Public Health from the Johns Hopkins University in the USA. She also qualified as a medical doctor from theUniversity of Nairobi in 1973.

Achievements

• She recently received the Hideyo Noguchi Africa Prize for medical services for her efforts of bringing basic medical services and health rights to women and children in East African villages.  
• She was cited as the overall best-graduating student in 1973 when she qualified as a medical doctor from the University of Nairobi.
• She was awarded the George P. Tolbert Health Award for outstanding contribution to InternationalHealth during her PhD studies in Johns Hopkins University in the USA.
• She initiated a Community-Based Health Care project in Kakamega where she was the Director between1976 and 1982. The project won the UNICEF Maurice Pate Award in 1978 becoming the first African institution to win the award.
• She became the Chief Health and Nutrition/Senior PHC Adviser, UNICEF Ethiopia in 1985
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  In 1990 she was appointed the Representative and Chief of Mission, World Health Organization to Ethiopia in Addis Ababa.
• In 1993 she was elevated to the post of the Director, United Nations Population Fund
  Country Support Team Addis Ababa (UNFPA/ CSTAA),
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  She has served inseveral local boards and international organizations such as UZIMA
  Foundation, AMREF, Kenya Anticorruption Commission (KACC), National AIDS Control Council (NACC), MAP International, Help – International, Global Health Workforce Alliance, and Action Africa, among others.
• Prof. Were comes to Moi University with a lot of experience in the academic sector which is expected to benefit the University a great deal in achieving its academic goals.

VOTERS’ REGISTER; MODALITY CHANGE REQUIRED

This year’s MUSO elections come with a lot of crazy developments as compared to the previous ones. It’s one election that was nullified by the dean of students even before the counting of the votes commenced. The decision was later over ruled by the dean of students prompting the counting of the votes a day after they were cast. Then come the power sharing issue. The main source of trouble was a list voters who were written on foolscaps after their names went missing from the voters’ register. Interestingly even some aspirants had their names missing from the voters’ register.  The voting process itself took the longest time ever since the establishment of this institution. Are there no other ways of solving the whole issue of the voters’ register and the time set aside for voting?

I had to seek some explanations on the voters’ register dilemma from a SEC commissioner. The commissioner who accepted to give some explanation however sought anonymity. He said this was a tricky issue that needed careful and wise actions so as to deal with. He sighted that the green book clearly states that bona-fide students are those whose names appears on the nominal roll. He however said that blocking those whose names missed on the register from voting would block out many legitimate students from voting. He said that since the nominal roll only contains names of those that have cleared their fees, it would not be in order to say that they are the only bona-fide students. There are many legitimate students who due to financial constraints usually pay school fees at the end of the semester. Would it be in order to block them from voting? I still had not been given a satisfactory explanation. As a man of wisdom he went ahead to give me examples of flows that came with this voters register. He said there may arise a situation where a number of students have left his/her student ID to a campus shylock as collateral for a loan. The shylock may use these IDs to vote by giving to other people for the purpose of voting in favour of those he/she had interest in.

“Interestingly even some aspirants had their names missing from the voters’ register.”

So what’s the solution? The commissioner stressed the need for decentralizing the election process to various schools. He said there has always been minimal cases of missing of names when various school associations are conducting elections. He said there was need for students to vote in their respective schools since it would save on time and allegations of students from other campuses being ferried to participate in elections meant for main campus. He said this could help in sorting out the problem. He also added that it would be advisable for students to check the availability of their names on the voters’ register a few days to the election date.