I have the time right now just to say two quick things.
Firstly there is plenty of excitement over the Nairobi Mayoral elections today. But for what? It is reported that ODM's Councilor Majiwa has spent over Kshs 5 million to clinch the post. Now a mayor's salary is about Kshs 250,000 a month and it is usually for a two year term. Do the calculations and you will see that this kind of expenditure is NOT justified. Meaning that nothing has changed at City Hall and yet Kenyans are craving for change and giving their lives for it. You can bet that the campaign money will be recovered in the usual way. Corrupt deals. In fact I would not be surprised if Majiwa is being backed by the "sharks" some of whom have been known to sell chalk to the city of Nairobi in the pretext that it is chlorine for treating city tap water. Others sell bulbs for street lighting and then steal them back to resupply.
Esther Pasarris' candidature must have worried many people and Uhuru Kenyatta's claim that there is a clash of interests for Passaris and that's why he left out her name from the gazetted list of councilors is sheer rubbish because Passaris had the good sense to resign from Adopt-a-light when she announced her candidature. To me no Passaris, no excitement over Nairobi Mayoral elections. Period.
Secondly Salim Lone has denied my exclusive story in this blog concerning the death threats he received (the latest is that even his dogs were poisoned by somebody). My simple reply to Lone and everybody is that I stand by my story and I will not change a single comma. One day we will all know why a reputable journalist of Lone's standing is lying to the media. By the way the Nation journalist who did the Lone denial article completely missed the big story. He would have gotten it by asking the simple question; why has Lone quit his ODM post as media director at this time?
Still I take this opportunity to thank Mr Lone for telling the Nation that Kumekucha is "credible." Some of the folks at Nation Centre must hate the fact that their precious newspaper should contain such a statement.
I rest my case.
P.S. Kofi Anan visited retired President Moi at Kabarnet gardens last week. Now, what was that visit all about I wonder? My wild guess based on the fact that the only thing at the top of the mind for Anan right now are the peace talks. I reckon Anan has found Kibaki to be very difficult and wants Moi to help influence him on Anan's behalf. Any other wild guesses out there?
Word on Kumekucha Domo. Pasaris for town clerk!!
ReplyDeletePUNU just perfecting what they know best....The art of rigging surely si kwa ubaya but how do you elect a mayor from Baba Ndogo? Unless you want to rudisha Nairobi nyuma zaidi, let us leave tribe out of this...Who gave Uhuru the powers to decide who become a councillor or not? What if Passaris had vied and elected would she still have done the same thing....Mwambie aache upuzi he is the minister of local govt and yet Nairobi is worse than it was in Dec 2007,the hawkers operating in town have moved upto the middle of the road especially Moi Avenue. Sample this you take over 30 minutes to drive from old nation to Afya Centre that is just unacceptable not in the new Nairobi. Instead of him being concerned with the local authority he is busy looking for an appointment with Jakaya Kikwete.
ReplyDeleteNow they decide for anyone looking for a stall in the new market they have to pay 100 per day to the local Authority and i am so sure these same hawkers will have to pay some protection fee to mungiki. How is it possible for someone selling sweets for 2/= be able to afford 100 a day, maybe even his stock is worth a 100/= Kenya is a funny country, it is a country for the rich and it will continue being so unless there us divine intervention.
Ivy
Bye Lone. Kenyan politics are for thugs and Kaa Ngumus. But not for long. Things are changing fast.
ReplyDeleteHave you:
ReplyDeleteemailed/phoned/written/faxed Salim Lone to find out exactly what happened? I seriously think he quit his post after finding the fact that ODM's top brass is soaked with blood of innocent Kenyans as investigations by a reputable human rights body found. Word on the street is that even Raila has been shaken to the core by the barbarity of some top ODM officials in Rift Valley.
Phil, who are the true owners of Telkom? Telkom has retrenched guys abt 15,000 at the moment and yet the ones remaining are abt 3,150, the new CEo says that by July he will only have a workforce of about 1800.....Rumours are that Kimunya/Karua/Jimmy Kibaki are the new owners working with the foreigners.....Could it be the main reason why Kibaki had to rig himself in coz they want to control every sector of this country
ReplyDeleteChris, recent events have shown clearly that Kibaki and his despotic regime have got no intentions of respecting democracy let alone running a corrupt free government.
ReplyDeleteThe case of Esther Passaris is a clear case point. Why would a mere Local Government minister pre-judge a private citizen and block them from running for a public office, unless they fear she will open their dirty closets? Ironically, if we were to use Uhuru's argument of a conflict of interest, not even president Kibaki nor Uhuru himself would be in office right now because their business and related commercial interests traverse all spheres of the economy and they companies supply all sorts of goods and services to the government which they run.
The case of Salim Lone should not be blown out of proportion. Many more Kenyans - much more prominent than Lone - have run to foreign countries for fear of being victimised or killed.
The trial of suspects alleged to have killed late Embakasi MP Mugabe Were will provide Kenyans with plenty of hints as to who is has command control of Nairobi's hit squads. Lets just hope AG Wako will not enter his usual a nolle prosecui.
Charles Nairobi.
ReplyDeletePasaris has the credentials to be mayor of Nairobi City, she has already proven herself as capable of delivering.....she understands all the loop holes and nitty gritty like the back of her hand.
None of us needs any introduction to the corruption and filthy stench associated with this place.
Pasaris was fed up with having to BRIBE greedy individuals 24-7 to get piece meal contracts this is why she went to court!
We expect the new mayor MAJIWA TO restore sanity in NAIROBI and enact radical changes as per the ODM manifesto!!This is a done deal!
Breaking news....Chege Njoroge is the new nairobi mayor!!!!!!!!!!! how did that happen???!!!!!
ReplyDeleteATIS NYAKENYA
ReplyDeletePlease post information that is factual.
The mayoral polls are NOT complete, at least in Nairobi.
The candidates of ODM and PNU are tied at 42 votes each, so they have to go for a second round.
This is the position as at 13h45 local time.
Chants of ODM ODM ODM rent othe air in City Hall after Majiwa is declared City of Nairobi MAYOR. It appears the PNU candidate had gone underground forcing the returning officer to declare Majiwa as Mayor.
ReplyDeleteHowever, there are chaotic scenes as City askaris have invaded the election hall.
Meanwhile results from other parts of the country show that ODM has captured many mayoral seats.
Mombasa: Ali Abbubakar (ODM)
Kisumu: Sam Okello (ODM)
Malindi: Nenr Menza (ODM)
Bungoma: Henry Majombo (ODM)
Eldoret: Sammy Ruto (ODM)
Garissa: Mohammed Yusuf (ODM)
Wilberforce Ochuka (ODM)
Ruiru:Geofrey Kaara (PNU)
Kerugoya: Erastus Kibugi (PNU)
Webuye; Dina Watimu (PNU)
The ODM mop up countinues. More later!
can someone put in yhe picture? between chege and majiwa, who the new mayor?
ReplyDeletePhil, please note that Esther Arunga announced in the KTN 1pm news bulletin as "news just in...". You can imagine my utter shock and dismay! Anyway, all water under the bridge now. She has since been telling us that Panua guys walked out after the two tied. Seriously though, who will save us from this Panua Election Thieving madness? Just look at how callously Uhuru Kenyatta has gone ahead and over-nominated Panua councillors without blinking! Look at how he chucked Passaris name without batting an eyelid! How do they sleep at night? Who will save us from the daylight robbers of our common voice?!!!!
ReplyDeleteHow much money do those blood tainted ODM guys pay you?
ReplyDeleteYou ODM domos just amaze me. THe woman you all called MALAYA recently alipopeleka some lover to court has now become a hero coz she is not in PNU? Get serious! What are the credentials of a mayor? Give them to me. Even i qualify and plus I am beautiful and well connected. I belong to no party
ReplyDeleteAnon 4.47 How many male Malayas do we have in the current parliament and even the previous 9th one?
ReplyDeleteSome are even ministers!
When u go to Koinange to pick up whoever both u and the person you are picking are equally malayas....
PUNU do not like Passaris just like they do not like Wangari Maathai- They do not like pple who stand for truth and justice.
Once a thief, always a thief! and by the way they have a problem with beauty too no wonder Karua is the woman behind the throne on one hand- also think of Lucy on the other hand.
Anon 4:47, Pole Kingori was no where handsome but he was a the pathetic mayor of Nairobi.....At Passaris is a who? Passaris was right took a man to court for refusing to pay alimony, between Passaris and the man who is.....I dont even have the nguvu of typing somethings on the keyboard...how do you do that? Enyewe we are saying men should be responsible if you father a kid .....Take responsibility au si hivyo chukua control...Period
ReplyDeleteYou are the ladies that spoil for other ladies....ati iam beautiful so what....I hope you are both beautiful and have brains, but the way you are talking..i doubt
Anon 4:47 am
ReplyDelete'...Even i qualify and plus I am beautiful and well connected. I belong to no party..'
When I told you that you were beautiful, I lied for my own benefit. Please do not post it on Kumekucha. They are now laughing at you... behind you back
Get over it soon, really, STOP.
Dear Kenyans,
ReplyDeleteThe tragedy of our local authorities remains the fact that they are still governed by an archaic Act in serious need of reforms. This is the Local Government Act Cap 265. As things stand today, Mayors of local authorities are NOT the Chief executives.
This role was effectively taken over by Town clerks, courtesy of ODM luminary Hon Ntimama in 1994 when he was Minister for Local Government. This was to curtail the late Mayor Steve "magic" Mwangi's influence at City Hall and other opposition controlled councils. The Town Clerks are effectively answerable to the Ministry.
So, it doesn't matter whether you have Majiwa or Passaris, Mr Gakuo will still call the shots at City Hall, and by extension Hon Uhuru Kenyatta.
An Anti-government Mayor will not cut much headway in any local authority.
As an example, Balala had the tacit support of the KANU government, that's why he did so well as Mayor of Mombasa. However, once he started stepping on the toes of powerful Mombasa businessmen who happened to be KANU financiers, he was toast.
The solution lies in thoroughly reforming the local government act to allow direct elections of executive Mayors by voters. They can then be given more autonomy akin to the United States City Governments.
More important, it's high time we delinked civic elections from the general elections. I have in mind the holding of civic elections one year before parliamentary and presidential polls.
This will encourage the media to focus on aspiring civic leaders and hence enlighten voters to make informed choices. For goodness sake, we should even be holding debates to gauge aspiring councillors!
As things are today, many voters simply vote the fellow who happens to be in the party where their favourite presidential candidate belongs, without any consideration to merit or ability. Indeed, many Nairobi voters cannot tell you the name of the Councillor they elected in December 2007.
For real leadership to emerge firmly in Kenya, its imperative that we get the foundation right - we must reform our local authorities as a matter of urgency. The current political crisis offers a wonderful opportunity to do this.
Am moment Diwani Muindi.
ReplyDeleteIn 1994, Hon. Ntimama was a KANU hawk and Kenya was only in its 2nd year in multi-party politics.
Fast forward to 2008, it is Uhuru Kenyatta who the Local Government MInister and a very arrogant one at that. He is not only disregarding the laws of the land, but also blatantly telling us he can out-do the Ntimama of 1994 by throwing out political party nominations and irregularly escalating PNU's. (This reminds me of how the ECK escalated Kibaki's votes and declared him president when it is obvious who won those elections). In other words, KANU (Ntimama) of yesteryears appears to be an angel as compared to the PNU/NARC (Uhuru) of recent times.
Thirteen years is a long time and a lot of those in opposition now, if you recall, were in the KANU government which made life unbearable for many a Kenyan.
Otherwise I am with you, Councillor Muindi on the rest of the proposals you put forward.
you Guy KUMEKUCHA,
ReplyDeleteI fully agree with you about Passaris and Nairobi Mayoral elections. No passaris, means nothing new, the corrupt city hall status Quo continues.
I'm a PNU Supporter but that reason Uhuru gave was total B.S. why lie.
Why is it that in kenya there are always forces against development ? I mean thwarting passaris means no development.
Just like Tom mboya and JM Kariuki were killed by forces against development
PHIL and Co...
ReplyDeleteIt doesn't matter whether there were chants of ODM in city hall or chants of PNU.
Who ever wins the mayoral seat, there's really nothing to celebrate even if your party wins.
The credible Passaris is what Nairobi needed not sijui Majiwa, sijui Njoroge...
I remember that the former defense minister Njenga Karume sold land to the government for resettling of squatters, while he was minister. I don't remember the government placing a 'request for purchasein the papers, it was an under hand deal meant to benefit those in govt ie karume...etc. If you ask Uhuru,that's not conflict of interest but the fact that Adopt a light does business with the council disqualifies former MD Esther Passaris from being nominated councilor. I say Uhuru should not be a public officer because he's a beneficiary of land grabbed from the people at the coast and Rift valley, therefore him being in the government he's going to do all he can to block the establishment of the truth and reconciliation commission
ReplyDelete