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Thursday, May 08, 2008

Kibaki’s Re-election Campaign Bribe Behind the Hurried Secret Sale of Grand Regency to Libya

KUMEKUCHA RED HOT EXCLUSIVE

Fresh details which emerged today regarding the secret and hurried plans by President Kibaki to sell off the landmark Grand Regency Hotel to a Libyan company revealed the grand corruption that riddled PNU campaigns in the December 27 General Election.

It emerged that the sale revolves around a secret Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) President Kibaki signed with Libya’s President Muammar Gaddafi during a three-day visit to Libya last June as part of his global plans the raise funds to run his re-election.

Libyan Leader Muammar Qaddafi with President Mwai Kibaki when he bade him farewell after his three day visit in Sirte, Libya.

President Kibaki had lost favour in the traditional Western friends of Kenya and his following at home had taken a nose-dive due to his poor leadership and his involvement in the Anglo Leasing Scandal and he was desperately looking for alternative sources of raising campaign funds.

Libya came in handy – but with a heavy price. President Gaddafi required a substantial control of Kenya’s wealth in order to bail out President Kibaki who was facing the biggest test of his political career in the December 27 polls.

During the begging mission, the two presidents “negotiated” and agreed on an MoU that has a direct bearing in the sorry state of affairs regarding the Grand Regency Hotel. Titled "Agreement on Promotion Guarantee and Protection On Investment," the MoU was signed by Kenya's then Minister for Trade, Dr Mukhisa Kituyi, and Dr Ali Elisaue, Secretary General of Libya's General People's Committee for the Economy and Investment.

According to Kibaki’s close aides privy to the MoU deal and the subsequent take over of the hotel by the Government, the purchase of the hotel – a symbol of greed, theft and grand corruption which was the hallmark of President Moi regime - was among six projects that the Libyans had expressed interest in when the President visited the oil-rich North African country between June 4 and 6 2007.

In exchange of signing the lucrative MoU with Libyans, President Kibaki received an unspecified amount of money to fund his presidential re-election campaigns.

Interestingly, Kibaki was committing himself to sell the hotel to a group comprising Libyan investors trading as Libyan Arab African Investment Company even before the Government wrestled the ownership of the prestigious Nairobi landmark from the architect of the infamous Goldenberg scandal, Mr Kamlesh Pattni.

The MoU was part of President Kibaki’s strategy to raise funds for his re-election campaign. Other major presidential candidates Mr Raila Odinga and Mr Kalonzo Musyoka did similar missions abroad to raise funds for their campaigns. It’s not known how much funds each of the three candidates raised.

Reports indicate Mr Odinga also signed secret MoUs with foreign firms and individuals which he promised to honour if he trounced President Kibaki and formed the Government. Locally, Mr Odinga signed other controversial MoUs like the one he did with a section of Muslims. But the most shocking MoU relate to the unfolding saga of how President Kibaki shamelessly traded with public resources to win funds to run his PNU campaigns.

According to Kibaki’s aides, President Kibaki and his delegation promised to sell the hotel to the Libyan investors at Sh2.5 billion, yet this was the price set by the Central Bank Kenya 15 years ago. Financial market analysts say the hotel is today valued at Sh7 billion.

Last month’s stage-managed handover of the hotel to the Government by Mr Pattni left many questions unanswered.

Receiving the hotel on behalf of the Government was Mr Justice Aaron Ringera, the head of the Kenya Anti-Corruption Commission, and Governor of the Central Bank of Kenya, Prof Njuguna Ndung’u, showered Mr Pattni with platitudes “for his selfless gesture”. A beaming Mr Ringera described it a first in the war of asset recovery.

On his part, Mr Pattni talked of surrendering the hotel in exchange of amnesty from further prosecution regarding the plunder of CBK’s coffers under the close watch of retired President Moi. The plunder of CBK and other state coffers under the watchful eye of Mr Moi almost drove Kenya into the knees and rendered more Kenyans poorer.

In a strange twist of events, Attorney-general Amos Wako said he was not consulted in the surrender deal raising questions on why the chief legal adviser to the Government was kept in the dark.

When reports emerged that the five-star, which has been at the centre of furious legal battles between CBK and Mr Pattni for 15 years, had secretly been sold to Libyan investors, Prof Ndung’u, Mr Ringera and Finance minister Amos Kimunya swiftly issued denials. Mr Kimunya claimed the hotel will be sold within a month through auction.

Mr Kimunya has perfected the art of making cheap lies on camera ever since he became President Kibaki’s top confidant. He kept on giving disjointed and incoherent answers when journalists cornered him in regard to the secret Grand Regency deal.

The question that has bogged the minds of many Kenyans in the last one month is: Why was are the content of the deal entered between Mr Pattni and the Government being kept a secret and why was the Government in such a hurry to sell the hotel before advertising it in public?

It emerged today that the secret negotiations with Mr Pattni and the subsequent hurried plans by President Kibaki’s cronies to dispose off the hotel emanated from the intense pressure President Kibaki has been getting from his Libyan counterpart to honour the June MoU (Kibaki has a bad reputation of honouring MoUs bearing in mind he shamelessly trashed a power-sharing MoU he signed with Mr Raila Odinga before he propelled him to State House in 2002 General Election).

The only fruits the Libyans have reaped from the MoU deal is the acquisition of all Mobil petrol stations in Kenya by Oilibya. President Kibaki is yet to honour the other lucrative part of the deal which earned him handsome funds for his PNU campaigns.

According to reliable information from Kibaki’s aides, President Gaddafi started becoming uneasy with the slow pace his Kenyan counterpart was moving at in implementing the deal in February and that’s why he dispatched a top Libyan Government official to Kenya purportedly to “talk” to President Kibaki and Mr Odinga to strike a political deal to end the political and security crisis that was sparked off by President Kibaki’s stealing of an election victory from Mr Odinga.

It was during the meeting with the Libyan official at State House Nairobi that President Kibaki agreed to meet President Gaddafi when he visited Kampala in March.

The meeting between President Mwai Kibaki and the Libyan Leader Muammar Gaddafi took place on the evening of May 19. According to a PPS dispatch to newsrooms, the two leaders held bilateral consultation “to review the status and progress of the implementation of the agreed framework of co-operation between the two countries which was signed in Sirte during President Kibaki's visit to Libya mid last year.”

It did not occur to Kenyans at the time what the diplomatic PPS dispatch meant. Kumekucha can today authoritatively reveal that President Kibaki travelled to Kampala because the Libyan president was exerting pressure on him to honour the MoU which they signed in exchange for funds for his PNU campaigns.

It is worthy noting that President Kibaki flew to Kampala in the thick of a political stalemate back at home to meet President Gaddafi who was in Kampala to commission a new mosque. President Gaddafi was on official visit to Kampala on the invitation of President Museveni. Who had invited Kibaki and what was his mission in Kampala?

It has emerged that President Kibaki promised President Gaddafi he would do his best to honour the pact and this is what has triggered a furry of high-profile activities regarding the Grand Regency.

It has emerged that the CBK chief and his KACC counterpart had to literally beg Mr Pattni to agree to surrender his hotel to the state and hence the praises the two showed on a man the Bosire Commission of Inquiry into the Goldenberg Scandal described as Kenya’s Number One Conman.

Our sources disclosed that President Kibaki’s joy of making Mr Pattni surrender the hotel were cut short when an Indian company fronted by internationally-renowned wealthy tycoons, which had already moved into Kenya and placing itself in a strategic position to buy the hotel when it was put to the hammer, sent an unsolicited bid to Mr Kimunya with an offer exceeding Sh2.5billion by far.

The Indian company, through Conman Pattni, had been following the secret negotiations and they swung the unsolicited bid when Mr Pattni sealed the deal with Mr Ringera and Prof Njuguna. According to plan, the secret deal between President Kibaki and President Gaddafi regarding the Grand Regency would have been sealed as soon as Mr Pattni gave in and handed over the hotel.

But the unsolicited entry into the Grand Regency buying bid by the India firm and the sudden attention Kenyan media had shown on the Libyan sole bid, jolted Mr Kimunya and President Kibaki since they feared the exposure of the scandal of how they secretly sold off the hotel without any public bid while there was another bidder offering a higher amount.

Matters were worsened when some Treasury officials, serving the interests of the Indian firm, leaked to the Kenyan media the secret plans to sell off Grand Regency to the Libyan firm without any public bid. The Press went to town with the story.

This forced President Kibaki to order Mr Kimunya to urgently contact Dr Elisaue and Libyan Arab African Investment Company to explain to them the new developments and ask them to raise their bid slightly higher than the amount being offered by the Indian firm.

We established that the Libyan firm had grudgingly accepted to raise their bid but the Indian firm, which boasts of the fifth richest man in the world, Mr Mukesh Ambani, who early last month partnered with an Arabian real estate firm, Arrow Webtex, to form Delta Resources Limited, is not willing to give up the hotel and has promised to fight on.

As Kibaki was promising to sell off the Grand Regency to the Libyian firm, little did he know that the Indian firm had arrived in Nairobi and it had placed itself in a strategic position to bid for the hotel when it is put to hammer.

The Indian firm had already bought a huge parking lot next to Grand Regency at a cost of Sh1.4 billion from the National Social Security Fund in anticipation for the expansion of the hotel if it managed to seize its ownership.


The company has also reportedly bought another parking lot between Barclays Plaza and Nyati House, where it plans to build a number of top-end hotel and shopping malls, creating a “city within a city” around the hotel complete with modern shopping centres, casinos and other entertainment services.

That’s how the stakes are so high for the Indian firm and it’s unlikely they will let go their quest to own the hotel, which was built by Mr Pattni using CBK loot, in order to please President Kibaki and his preferred Libyan firm.

Interestingly, the Kibaki Tena website, a State House-backed lobby group spearheading President Kibaki’s re-election drive, mentions about the visit President Kibaki did to Libya last June. However, the story posted on the website only dwells on the trade packs President Kibaki and the Libyan leader signed but doesn’t mention the funds he received for his PNU campaigns.

The Indian firm’s shocking entry into the Grand Regency purchase bid has given President Kibaki and his lieutenants sleepless nights and it remains to be seen how they will overcome the issue of the campaign funds justify they received from Libya if the hotel goes to other buyers.

Dr Kituyi who signed the MoU on behalf of President Kibaki was a trusted lieutenant of the president but he was sent packing from Parliament by his Kimilili constituents and he is rotting in the political cold. His docket was taken by Mr Uhuru Kenyatta, a foe-turned loyalist of Kibaki. But the question is: Why has Uhuru vanished from the public limelight since the Grand Regency scandal started unfolding and the trade pact that promised to sell off the hotel to Libya lies squarely in his docket? Is he in Libya or India trying doing Kibaki’s errands to contain the Grand Regency scandal?

Surprisingly, all the key figures handling the Grand Regency saga (President Kibaki, Uhuru, Kimunya, Prof Njuguna and Mr Ringera) have one thing in common: the Mt Kenya link. Libyans have firmly set their eyes on the oil and petroleum industry in Kenya and it’s no surprise that another Mt Kenya figure and key ally of President Kibaki, Energy Minister Kiraitu Murungi, was present in Libya during the MoU signing.

Under the MoU, President Kibaki committed Kenya into granting an exclusive trade pact to Libya, making Tripoli "most favoured nation" status - making it possible for Libyan companies to start at an advantage over investors when competing for lucrative contracts.

The irony is that Mr Ringera, who earns a whopping Sh2.5million from tax payers plus other lucrative perks to fight high-level graft, is the man at the centre of legalising the Kibaki-sponsored Grand Regency scandal. Instead of doing his job and catching all the thieves in the Grand Coalition Government (there are a good number corrupt political heavyweights in PNU, ODM, ODM-K, KANU and in other parties) and in the civil service, Mr Ringera has chosen to go after the small fish like traffic policemen and junior civil servants who take small bribes from Kenyans who are struggling to rise from the yokes of poverty.

Why should Kenyan’s continue paying huge salaries to Mr Ringera and his staff and pumping billions into the KACC drain every year for no work done and to commit serious acts of legitimising Kibaki-made scandals like the Anglo Leasing and the Grand Regency Scandal?

KACC under Mr Ringera has taken civil servants to court for single sourcing or awarding contracts to companies without offering public bids. Why is the Libyan deal an exception?

We now know why Kibaki stole the election to remain in power for another five years.

Other stories published in Kumekucha today;

Party of the year: Raila's homecoming bash


How long can the grand coalition "marriage" survive?


Check out Kasarani.com, a new way to meet and keep in touch with Kenyans worldwide. You can even start your own blog on Kasarani! Click here to go to Kasarani.com now

35 comments:

  1. Chris,

    Thank you for this.

    Considering the gravity of the matter, would you be having a copy of the MOU and if yes, can you publish it?

    If you remember, Raila himself confessed having made deals with Indian and Korean investors in the event ODM took over the leadership of this country. This is not a 'secreta MOU'. We certainly needed international investors so as to propel Kenya's economic growth to double digit numbers that the ODM promised in its manifesto.

    On Pattni's deal, it looks like he was promised an amnesty on all his ccriminal cases and he has an agreement signed by KACC Director and witnessed by the Chief Justice that he will not face anymore Goldenberg related charges!

    Kazi (ya kula) iendelee! Yes Indeed!

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  2. Kumekucha is back! Stories like these, are the reason why I read this blog!

    I am not surprised at Kibaki's antics, I never expect any thing good from those people. Infact if I was the Libyan investors, I wouldn't even raise a single shilling on the amount agreed, they do have the power to play with Kibaki anyway they wish! Let him pay!

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  3. Hi Chris,

    This is a nice story, but there are a few issues that need to be ellaborated.

    One, the MOU (Agreement on Promotion Guarantee and Protection on Investment) is nothing but a Bilateral Investment Agreement (BIT) between two States. As a matter of fact, there are thousands of such BITs today between all kinds of nations. That being the case, being a treaty, it is governed by public international law (PIL).

    The idea that it is governed by PIL brings us to the most important aspect of this BIT. You have mentioned that this BIT contains what we call Most Favoured Nation Clause (MFN).

    The meaning of MFN is this, if Kenya grants any other State any favour or benefit, then, Libyan investors by the virtue of this BIT, are also entitled to the same favour or benefit. Likewise, if Libya is given any favour or benefit by Kenya, then, any other nation that has signed a BIT with Kenya, such as UK and Switzerland, MUST BE given the same treatment. There may be a few specific exclusions, which we can only talk about if we see the BIT.

    The meaning of this is that, if Kibaki has decided to give Libya any favour or benefit, then, by virtue of Kenya's international law obligations, he must give all other nations that have BITs with us the same treatment. In this sense, then, Libya will not enjoy any benefit to the exclusion of nations such as UK for such amounts to violation of our international commitments.

    That being the case, if, the people negotiating the BIT on behalf of Kenya(which would be very surprising) were unaware of this, woe unto them.

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  4. As a correction: BIT meaning Bilateral Investment Treaty not Agreement as initially written.

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  5. Thank you Mwarang'ethe,

    I read the MFN in the article and I was wondering how that would work. MFN means that favourable treatment has to be extended to all other states trading with Kenya under the international trading regime of the WTO. So yes, Chris, it would have been proper to say a bilateral trade agreement or a bilateral investment treaty, not MFN but I still understood what you meant.

    Mukhisa is well versed in these matters Mwarangethe, so there's no case that would arise ati woe unto them, these people knew what they were doing. It is a simple case of corruption under the guise of a bilateral investment treaty.

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  6. Typical of General Kiguoya....Kwani you also bought the idea that the sole purpose of Kibs going to Kampala was that a mosque was being opened? I tell you day of reckoning draws nigh....Watch the space

    Ivy

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  7. Chris,

    Good post but the title betrays the gem. COST OF ETEALING ELECTIONS is one truth that no lie will wash. Bring it on. It is will mutate in multi-headed hydra and soon will consume her sibling.

    @IVY/FAVE/KNOPPIX/LUKA
    Moscow visa waiver for three days from Medvedev (Putin's boss/poddle). Want to join me good folks? We are wrapping the PL this weekend and Moscow we come and take the Championship. Luka and Fave please remember nobody ever constipated from eating 5-course of their own words.

    Ivy CR has promised 4 more between weekend and May 21 and that makes a record of 44 before FIFA crowns him with the GOLDEN BOOT. Wenye wivi please we need your necks msijinyonge. Otherwise MTADO?

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  8. Wanjiku,
    KK's resident and patented PESSIMIST is back and kicking donkey style

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  9. chris good post
    but i would like it when you mention that Raila made similar deal on his campaign trails out of the country?? why don't you poat them here instead of speculation??
    i do not think you as individual would like to have someone rumor you as a thieve without proof- it just does not look fair!!please post facts instead of speculation!just because kibaki has been caught with his pants down?? why do you have to put Raila's name in the mix?? do report fairly!!

    thanks!! though!!

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  10. anon7:07 AM Phil said...

    can you give us a link to Raila's confessions?? which news papers and which news media??

    or you are trying to cover up for kibaki's looting by mentioning Rial???

    post the confessions here or do shut up!!!

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  11. Chris, this is a beautiful piece. Yes indeed, Kumekucha is back! Its now clear why the baboon had to rig elections. God! Who will save us from the LESOTHO thieves? PLEASE, we cant have another 5 years of this!!

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  12. Anon 8:48:

    I do not think you as individual would like to have someone rumor you as a thieve without proof- it just does not look fair!!please post facts instead of speculation!just because kibaki has been caught with his pants down?? why do you have to put Raila's name in the mix?? do report fairly!!

    Precisely....Let the rumour mongers have a field day wont they? They are waiting to give us all the 2007 speculations....Trust me...ngoja watch the space they will bring even the ones you didn't know sugar coated!!!!

    Taabu it is nice to hear from you....Wameze wembe wanaotaka...I missed you and ebu keep the posts coming tuzianalyze and BTW dont ever pull such a prank on us again how could you disappear like that and stop behaving like a spoilt brat. Do you know one fellow thought that you went coz he told you to disappear for awhile...Welcome back ....By the way Wanjiku though that you had joined one Lucy Muthoni, i was fearing for your cheeks..Adios

    Ivy

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  13. Blogger Mwarang'ethe said...

    You don't sign MOU's or BIT's on Stolen goods!!! Patni build the Grand Regency on money stolen from the government and the case is still in court!! so does a government who is prosecuting patni for stealing do the same thing patni did ?? steal from the kenyan people???? double standards here!!

    kibaki already gave away our oil concessions for free to China(China turned back and auctioned the concessions and made millions of dollars out of it) kibaki ended up looking foolish and stupid in the eyes of the world since China had an open auction on the same oil concessions that they received for free from the kenya government!!

    all other African countries(google oil) are tendering all their oil blocks to the highest bidders from Uganda!!Tunis!! Ethiopia e.t.c) yet kibaki gives away Kenya's oil blocks for free!! you get my drift!

    kibaki can not be allowed to keep on giving away bits and pieces of kenya for free- now the grand E
    Regency-hotel!! and in North Eastern kenya Surprise surprise he has given away our mineral concessions also for minim $ (go google that too) so instead of kenya getting rich down the road !! kibaki has sold his soul and kenya to the devil!!

    he should be removed immediately before he sells all our wild life to china- this guy has sold enough of kenya cheap already!!! enough is enough!!!

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  14. Correction chris, Western govt do not have a problem with Kibaki. And if they had any problem with his corrupt and weak regime, it has all been overshadowed by ethnic violence that erupted since the disputed polls. What happened after those disputed election casted a big shadow over ODM and its leadership.
    If you want a copy of “Kenya confidential” released by British foreign office, I can email it to you. There is a lot not to be envied about ODM and its leadership style.

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  15. With the price of basic commodities inflated...The only thing that has remain constant is SALT...Same price visit any supermarket and see for yourself.
    Anon 9:03 why doesn't Kibaki just auction Kenya to the highest bidder?

    Ivy

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  16. @IVY
    I am donating razors for all who have irritating throats. It has been an EVENTFUL week, don't you think so? Na bado weekend to crown the PL. The sky may be blue but you can go through it at RED speed, ama?

    I think I WAS OVERSERVED - didn't have a blood stream since Tuesday last week but my blood is BACK TO RED now.

    @Ciku,
    Dome tumemaliza and I have my CKEEKS intact and unpadded.

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  17. Taabu, yeah now that you are here Mrembo and Fave disappeard i am just hopping that Fave is not trying to bribe Wigan players....You know these kenyans are capable of doing anything!!!! I wonder what Avram Grant is doing at this time, the other day i thought he is also a janjaweed coach, he looks more like a mungiki patron that we know, the only difference is the skin color

    Ivy

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  18. Chris,

    You can sing or cry about a "stolen" election untill the cows come home, but it won't change the facts that Kibaki won the elections having been elected by the majority of the Kenyans. You also can beat and laugh at the IDPs untill you satisfy your anti-Kikuyu animalish hatred but Kibaki is busy serving his second presidential term. After that, ODM can try to whip anew tribal emotions; but untill they learn to preach a message of hope and reconcilliation they will never ever win an election fair and square in this country.

    As to the fate of the Grand Regency, it is a serious matter and deserves close attention from all of us. However, there is no evidence whatsoever to support any of your allegations. Yes, Libyians have shown an interest in it, but there is no evidence to support that the hotel has been sold to anybody, or that Kibaki has personally been involved. We need facts not tales told in bars intended to solicit free drinks. At times you talk of "hurried secret sale," at other times you say it was not sold because of bids from some Indians. What do you want your readers to believe? Worse, you throw around terms used in bilateral relations between nations with a reckless disregard as to their meanings. Remember it doesn't hurt to take a book and do some serious adult reading. Or at least go to Google and search the meanings of these terms before you use them. Brother, take your time to understand the meaning and contexts of the issues you pretend to know and write about.

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  19. Taabu,

    Welcome back. The Kikuyu haters were missing your Kikuyu bashing entertainment and amargeddon preachings. Are you still having a problem with a Kikuyu standing as councillor in Mogotio?

    All the same welcome back, na ukiwa na homa, God speed.

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  20. This is a cock and bull story considering Ghadaffi is Raila's closest ally in Africa. Time will tell....lets sit back and watch.

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  21. Anonymous said...
    Blogger Mwarang'ethe said...

    I see someone is using ma name for his posts. This is very unbecoming to say the least. Please desist from this nonsense.

    ReplyDelete
  22. ANON9:10 AM

    ANOTHER PROPAGANDA MOUTH PIECE YES DO TELL US ODM STYLE OF GOVERNANCE AFTER THEY GAVE KIBAKI A FREE RIDE TO STATEHOUSE IN 2002 WITH KIBAKI TOSHA IN A WHEEL CHAIR?? WHAT TYPE OF GOVERNANCE DID THE LEADERSHIP HAVE THEN?? SINCE IT IS THE SAME ODM LEADERSHIP NOW?? PLEASE ENLIGHTEN US!!

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  23. Ivy

    9:20 AM

    HE CAN'T ANYMORE!! KENYANS VOICES HAVE RAISED UP AS ONE!! ASKING KIBAKI WHO GAVE HIM THE RIGHT TO SELL THEIR PROPERTY!!YES GRAND REGENCY IS THE PROPERTY OF THE KENYAN PEOPLE! PATNI STOLE FROM KENYANS!!

    NOW KIBAKI IS DOING THE SAME SPIN PATNI DID! WHAT A CROCK!!

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  24. ANON9:41 AM
    SERIOUSLY YOU NEED TO GO AND SNIFF SOME OF THAT STUFF THE MUNGIKI'S LIKE MAYBE IT WILL WAKE YOU UP TO THE REALITIES OF KENYA!!MEAN WHILE YOU NEED TO GET YOURSELF SOME EDUCATION- I SUGGEST MARTHA KARUA WOULD BE YOUR BEST TEACHER!!SHE PLANNED THE RIGGING FOR THE OLD MAN WHILE SHARING HIS BED SOURCES CONFIRM:) HEY WHAT A WILD RIDE!

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  25. Mwarang'ethe
    HEY THAT IS NOT THE CASE!I WAS TRYING TO ANSWER YOUR QUESTION!! SO GET REAL STOP STOOPING LOW!!

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  26. Any kenyan that wants to know how much kibaki curved out kenya and sold it or gave it for free like the oil to china piece by piece!! just Google kenya mineral deals or oils deals or ministry's and add contracts signed or government deals between 2002-2008 yes 2008 they were still giving away kenya before the coalition was put in place!!

    you will all find a wealth of information and infact some companies have put their deals on line because they are public companies on the world stock exchange!! kibaki has sold kenya for 0 $ i think he is senile!!

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  27. Taabu welcome back! We had missed you around here! I see domez are over.

    Hiyo Commission of Inquiry was deadly work I tell you-Wanjiku alileta complaints nyingi but I see you survived.

    Ivy, mi niko but I went through some substantial transformation...but niko tena sana!

    -Mrembo-

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  28. Welcome Back Chrs! this is the kind of stuff you are made of , lately you had sarted losing it but alas you have proved that you still got it! this story is like a movie i couldnt get my eyes off the screen hata mdosi wangu aliingia kwa ofisi na sikujali.

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  29. Chris??
    Qaddafi is known to be very vicious in business ask Museveni of Uganda- kibaki better be knowing how he is going to pay back that money he was given or else he has to make sure Grand Regency is sold at the correct price Sh 7 billion the Lybians have to pay and now that there is the Indian bidder it might go upto 10 billion shillings- the best price is what kenyans demand no jokes and no kikuyu elite thieving this time!!
    kibaki while selling of kenya's properties he has no idea how to resettle the IDP's and is brushing them off like flies!! that bastard i could slap those old bones of his so hard!! by the way i'm a kikuyu and i have some of my relatives back in central waiting to get back to their homes and they say their fear is why the government has not made plans for them to seat with their neighbors they way to live together- they do not believe and are not assured by police protection they claim that as being a government joke!!they prefer seating down and reconciling with their neighbors and now they claim by the government involving the police- they do not see the problems being addressed!!
    i totally agree with them and we have advised them to wait and see!!

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  30. To Anonymous,

    Ok, pole, I missed ua point.

    However, BITs are not signed for a single deal. They cover all kinds of investments. That being the case, Kibaki or rather, the correct way to say is Kenya did not sign a BIT just to offload Grand Recency. So, Grand is just but one of the investments. That being the case, there is nothing wong with a BIT as such.

    About oil, well, since Kenya is not known to have any oil, it is right to offer generous terms to Chinese so that they can explore.

    That being the case, what the Chinese did was to FARM OUT the blocks. As a matter of fact, farming out and in, is the in thing in oil industry.

    In very simple terms, the FARMEES (non Chinese companies) will drill & exploration at their own expense so as to earn a stake in the blocks. There is nothing strange about this, and those who are making noise know better about these things.

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  31. Blogger Mwarang'ethe

    I beg to differ, i work for an international mining company which has mineral concessions and oil blocks in many other African countries except for Kenya! in each country we won tenders- non of the governments give it out for free to firm relationships for explorations- please do not mis advise kenyans!!! once we win and get the licences for exploration it depends what package each government /country is looking for some prefer 80% foreign and 20% government shares ownership and for those countries that over outright we paid some good chunk of $millions!! again I repeat kibaki gave out our oil blocks for free without proper advise from mining experts- take Uganda for example they have tendered all their oil blocks for exploration purposes!add Ethiopia doing the same and Tunis!! and companies are going crazy bidding!!
    next time try to get your facts right on the mining industry before supporting a president who is selling our country short!!it is indeed painful and disgusting! sincerely kenya looks foolish!! how does one give out one of the only precious commodity a country has for free?

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  32. The Grand Regency must surely stand out as Kenya’s largest monument to theft of public funds by its rulers. However, despite myriad court cases, public protestations and a KACC circus, the hotel has gone about its business over the years without hindrance. It continues to enjoy sustained patronage from government departments, NGOs, companies and just about any body who can afford it. And it makes me wonder whether we are in so much awe of the Pattni types that even though we know them to be thieves, we continue to partake of their spoils with no qualms at all. Almost like going over to my neighbor to watch soccer on the telly he stole from me…ati because Man U is playing, I’ll just cheer from there and wait for the police to finish their work.

    Shouldn’t the damned hotel have been shut down pending resolution of all matters pertaining to its origin? Or is our practice of commerce and law truly devoid of any morals?

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  33. Chris

    My question has been and still remains, what can we do about these issues?

    UrXlnc

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  34. To Anonymous

    Obviously, what u have said about paying for mining licences is correct. Yes, we are very much aware that many countries do auction exploration licenses.

    My point was this, there is nothing INHERENTLY WRONG with awarding blocks without license fees. The fact that other States do not, does not mean that Kenya cannot adopt a different approach.

    This does not mean that I condone Kibaki's approach, but, to call it corruption is going too far. I may ask u, how much do oil companies pay in the UK Continental Shelf? It is very little money to say the least which amounts to free licenses. In fact, with the UK's Mature Province Initiative, licenses are even cheaper.

    So, we may have a different opinion on Kibaki's approach, but, we cannot just scream because Chinese has farmed out a block. We even know that Lundin oil farmed out its block.

    ReplyDelete
  35. Anonymous said:

    next time try to get your facts right on the mining industry before supporting a president who is selling our country short!

    My comments:

    U, what do u mean selling Kenya? If u work for mining company, u must be aware that at this stage, we are at exploration stage. That being the case, the license is/are ONLY FOR EXPLORATION.

    If oil/gas is discovered, then, PRODUCTION licenses will be issued. It is at this stage when we know our take, we can say Kibaki is selling Kenya. But for now, hold on ua horses.

    ReplyDelete

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