PNU in bid to gain broader membership
President Mwai Kibaki’s penchant for holding closed-door PNU meetings – invariably at the Kenyatta International Conference Centre – can lend the party the air of a boardroom outfit. It makes its plans in closed rooms, and since it never holds public rallies, those outside its political circle never know exactly what it is up to.
Even as the party embarks on recruiting members next month, the gripe among party staff is whether this boardroom approach can generate the public enthusiasm necessary for the recruitment to be a success, which is something ODM or even the Kanu of old can teach PNU.
Recruitment
On August 22, Kibaki chaired yet another PNU get-together at KICC, which doubled as a Parliamentary Group meeting. This time a timetable for the recruitment as well as for grassroots and national elections was agreed on.
From mid-September, the recruitment drive begins at sub-locations. (A PNU affiliates’ meeting on July 23 agreed that PNU will recruit directly, while maintaining corporate status.)
On October 12, grassroots elections begin, culminating in the election of national officials in November or early December.
“For the PNU, the elections serve two purposes. One is for the purpose of compliance with the Political Parties Act. But the other more important reason is to transform the party into a mass movement,” said Moses Kuria, the programmes director at the PNU secretariat.
Such transformation, without a captivating message is not easy to effect. Indeed, the concern among foot soldiers is that there is no real general on the horizon to organise the necessary campaigns.
PNU has a variety of party organs, but many are inactive. Its headquarters along Nairobi’s Lenana Road have been in a deep lull since the hysteria of the General Election ended.
Planned revitalisation
During the elections the party had an Election Board that might be resuscitated to handle the elections bit of the planned revitalisation. But who exactly will be doing what is something that does not seem to have been properly thought through yet.
One of the key decisions the meeting of August 22 made was to appoint provincial co-ordinators, or “convenors”, for the purpose of the coming exercise. It appears that they will be shouldering most of the responsibilities.
Rift Valley has Minister George Saitoti, Coast Province has Minister Ali Mwakwere, Nairobi has Minister Beth Mugo, Nyanza has Minister Sam Ongeri, Eastern has Minister Kiraitu Murungi, Western has Minister Noah Wekesa, and Central has Deputy Prime Minister Uhuru Kenyatta, while North Eastern has Minister Yusuf Haji and Wajir West MP Adan Keynan.
What is quite intriguing from this list is that figures who are officially Kanu like Messrs Kenyatta, Haji, Ongeri and Keynan have been selected to be PNU co-ordinators.
For one, it has been assumed that affiliate parties like Kanu will not be participating in the elections and will comply with the Political Parties Act on their own.
Hence most of them, from ODM-K to DP to Ford-K to Narc-Kenya, will not – as corporate members – participate in the PNU recruitment and elections affair.
Mr Kenyatta’s selection as convenor for Central Province is quite curious as he is Kanu’s chairman.
The unusual positioning suggests he wants to keep a keen eye on PNU’s development in his home province, something that can only be attributed to the fact.
Kanu’s legal pointman Mr Justin Muturi, the former MP for Siakago, justified the Kanu men’s new postings as merely meant to “assist” in areas where they carried the most clout and experience.
He pointed out, though, that they could not participate in the PNU elections even as delegates as long as they remained officials of Kanu. But that does not preclude them from pushing proxies, which is where their real interests may lie.
Hold elections
Mr Kenyatta and his colleagues might have time to freelance because their party does not have to hold elections until 2010, having last held them in 2005.
Indeed it is the only party that will not have to go through that exercise as part of meeting the requirements of the Political Parties Act. All the others, from ODM to PNU to ODM-K, maintain only “interim” officials.
What Kanu has suffered is a severe depletion of many top officials, but the party constitution empowers the chairman and the executive committee to appoint acting officials until the next elections are held.
A group in the Rift Valley close to Gideon Moi has been pressing for a delegates conference to chart the party’s future.
Nominated MP George Nyamweya, who has been a close associate of Mr Kibaki for many years, introduced a new spin to counter the widespread view that the President is suddenly showing interest in political parties because he is interested in grooming his successor.
The big picture, according to Mr Nyamweya, is about keeping the grand coalition alive.
“The President is interested in this revitalisation because the Act forming the grand coalition agreement specifies two parties – PNU and ODM. If the PNU misses out on compliance (with the Political Parties Act), this will threaten the grand coalition itself,” he offered.
Small parties stand to lose grievously from the Political Parties Act. For one, besides showing evidence of membership in every province, parties will be expected to have offices in all 148 districts.
A full branch network will have to cover 210 constituencies. The vast majority of registered parties will not be able to meet these requirements and will, in effect, die off.
In a back-handed way, the new Act may help develop a political culture of a few strong parties, which many have long hoped for.
In doing this, the Political Parties Act might do a lasting service to our political institutions.
Kibaki to meet Coast MPs
By Caroline Mango
Published August 29, 2008
President Kibaki has booked a date with all Coast MPs at State House, Mombasa.
The meeting comes a day after Prime Minister Raila Odinga met the legislators and outlined his plan for the region.
Kibaki told Transport minister and Matuga MP Chirau Mwakwere that he would like to meet the leaders in a follow-up meeting.
On the agenda are issues they listed when they met the President a month ago in Nairobi.
Mwakwere has informed the MPs about the meeting. They are expected to hold discussions on Friday afternoon, after the Head of State receives athletes who arrived in the country on Wednesday.
Assistant minister and Kinango MP Gonzi Rai said on Thursday expectations by the MPs would largely dwell on feedback by the President on matters raised at their last meeting, at his Harambee House office.
Kibaki is expected to brief them on steps his Government has taken so far to solve issues top on the agenda.
They include land, water, human-wildlife conflict and appointments to key positions.
They also expect him to state his stand on the appointment of Coast residents to parastatals in the region, including the Port of Mombasa and other key Government positions.
East African Community Minister Amason Kingi said their expectations would be that the President would outline the GovernmentÕs strategy in solving thorny issues like land.
ÒLargely, we will expect more from him because we handed over our demands on issues we felt had not been resolved in the region for a long time. Land is top on the list,Ó said Kingi.
The MPs are also demanding the immediate re-constitution of the Mombasa Water Board, a deadlock they said had delayed funds to repair the Mzima Springs, a major water source for Mombasa and its environs.
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BUSINESS DAILY
Global campaign targets safety on Kenyan roads
August 28, 2008: The International Road Assessment Programme is being carried out in the country to ensure safety.The IRAP is part of a reforms process in the transport sector that is meant to address the various issues contributing to the large number of road accidents in the country.Last year the Transport ministry, Roads ministry, Automobile Association of Kenya, the Kenya Roads Board and IRAP, signed a memorandum of understanding to facilitate the implementation of this project.IRAP is an international programme that started in 2006 to develop tools to help low and middle income countries address the issue of road safety and the economic returns of having safer roads.
Safety awarenessTransport minister Chirau Mwakwere said his ministry is committed to continue playing its policy role in matters related to the management of the transport industry, especially road safety.This financial year the ministry has planned to undertake intensive multimedia road safety awareness campaigns targeting all road users.Once the study is complete the report is expected to be handed over to the ministry of transport, in April, to implement it.
A steering committee is already in place, mainly made up of ministry officials and IRAP, to oversee the study.Missing from the steering committee is the private sector, a major player in the industry. None of the individual players, matatu sector or even Kenya Private Sector Alliance (KEPSA) is represented in the initiative with the ministry planning to lead the whole initiative.This report will not be the first addressing issues of road safety in the country. Various national plans and the ‘Michuki rules’ are examples of initiatives that have been put in place to reduce road deaths .
Speed governorsToday the rules, which called for wearing of safety belts and speed governors, are being broken with Mr Mwakwere stating it was not his job to ensure that they are followed, but the work of the police.The IRAP will undertake the study in the country, looking at road inspection data supported by aggregate national statistics for total road deaths to find out how many casualties are recorded on the roads.Statistics from IRAP show that 1.2 million people die and a further 50 million are injured or permanently disabled in road crashes globally.Road Safety involves implementation of policies, project funding, recognition of multi sector ownership, road design, vehicles education and road user education. Similar programmes have been carried out or are under way in Singapore, Vietnam, Costa Rica, Chile, Argentina, Peru, South Africa, Nigeria and Serbia.
African aviation safety in spotlight
Posted to the web on: 26 August 2008
AFRICA has a high aviation accident rate proportional to its air traffic, an aviation conference heard yesterday.
The Federal Aviation Administration (FAA), the US regulatory body, said “political will” was needed to make African skies safer.
Speaking at the 14th Aviation and Allied Business Leadership Conference in Johannesburg yesterday, top FAA official Robert Sturgell urged African leaders to share aviation safety information globally.
Sturgell said the US had asked the International Civil Aviation Organisation (Icao), a United Nations agency, to make the US’s entire aviation audit report public.
Icao requires member states to adhere to the universal safety oversight audit, which promotes aviation safety through the regular auditing of safety oversight systems.
The US bars all countries that fail to comply with the Icao standards from extending their air services to that country.
Sturgell said Africa had 4,5% of the world’s air traffic, but accounted for 25% of total accidents.
Noting that the US was helping some sub-Saharan countries to comply with Icao standards, Sturgell said Africa’s air traffic was growing faster than the global average.
“This growth is good news, but we need to make sure that our ability to meet safety standards grows as well,” he said.
Transport Minister Jeff Radebe agreed that aviation safety statistics in Africa made “poor reading”.
He said accidents related to poor ground handling at the airports were a “concern”. Some airports in Africa were saddled with outdated air traffic and navigation technologies, infrastructure deficiencies and a lack of skills.
Radebe said SA was making progress in liberalising the country’s skies.
However, his Kenyan counterpart, Chirau Ali Mwakwere, said there were still some instances where one had to fly to another continent in order to reach another African country.
He said African countries were increasingly opening up their air space to airlines from sister countries, even though the pace of this liberalisation “may not be as fast as some people would desire”.
“The easing of unnecessary restrictions involving travelling for our citizens across the continent, movement of high-value goods and perishable horticultural products could benefit our people and open up more markets for our products,” he said.
African Civil Aviation Commission president Chris Kuto said what African countries needed was a “common civil aviation policy”. He said some policies were not friendly to aviation on the continent.
Christian Folly-Kossi, secretary-general of the African Airlines Association, said the recent European Union-US open sky deal had increased pressure on Africa to create a “single air space” too.
http://www.businessday.co.za/articles/topstories.aspx?ID=BD4A830167
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President and First Lady warmly received on arrival in Mombasa
Nairobi, August 25, 2008
Thousands of jubilant wananchi today lined up the road to receive President Mwai Kibaki and First Lady Mama Lucy Kibaki who arrived in Mombasa this evening at the start of a 6-day official visit to the Coast.
The plane carrying the President and the First Lady touched down at Moi International Airport shortly after 6.00 p.m.
They were warmly received at the airport by Coast leaders and other Government officials led by Ministers Chirau Ali Mwakwere, Najib Balala, William Ruto, Amazon Kingi, Assistant Ministers Ramadhan Kajembe, Calist Mwatela and Gonzi Rai, several Members of Parliament from the region and Mombasa Mayor Abubakar Mondhar among others.
Thereafter, the President and the First Lady were entertained by groups of traditional dancers and choirs.
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Coast MPs to report Raila to the President
Published on 25/08/2008
By Caroline Mango
Discontent against Prime Minister Raila Odinga will be on the rise in the next few days as Coast MPs take their accusations against him before President Kibaki this week.
MPs are waiting to register their anger over what they term undue interference by the Prime Minister in the region.
Key among the issues they will be accusing Raila of is his stand that the new Kenya Ports Authority (KPA) boss be hired competitively, regardless of his ethnicity. Their discontent against Raila will be coming soon after another disquiet by MPs from the South Rift region who expressed their displeasure at the decision to evict their people from the Mau forest.
MPs Hassan Joho (Kisauni), Gedion Mung’aro (Malindi), Danson Mungatana, Kazungu Kambi (Kaloleni), Gonzi Rai (Kinango), Dan Mwazo (Voi) and Benedict Fondo (Bahari), are leading the protest and are expected to present their demands to Kibaki when he visits Mombasa starting Tuesday.
Although a section of critics are branding the MPs tribalists, the legislators have vowed to press on with their demands under the Coast Parliamentary Group (CPG) forum.
They are said to have drawn up a list of people from the Coast whom they believe are qualified for the job, to be presented to both Kibaki and Raila.
Vice chairman of the CPG, Gedion Mung’aro who is also the Malindi MP, says the issue "is not negotiable and that the President must appoint a Coastal to the position."
"We are the ones who passed a vote of no confidence on (former MD Abdallah) Mwarua because we do not support failures. We also know that the Coast region has competent people who can fill that position and that is why the issue is no longer negotiable. It’s a demand that must be met," he says.
Mung’aro, an ODM MP, says Coast Province has many qualified people to fill the position at the port and other key positions in Government.
"We are not tribalists like some people have branded us. We have let outsiders work at the helm of the port before. We are telling the Prime Minister that the same decentralisation dream he has for this country is what we stand for," he said.
Wrong perception
While in Mombasa, Kibaki is expected to open the region’s Agricultural Society of Kenya (ASK) show.
He will also meet area MPs as a follow-up to an earlier meeting held at his Harambee House office, Nairobi, earlier this month where issues on land, education and appointment of people from the Coast to key Government positions were discussed.
A visit by Raila to restore order at the port about two weeks ago appears to have stoked the fires of regionalism following the sacking of Mwarua.
The legislators, including those allied to ODM, appear to have been ruffled by Raila’s remarks during a homecoming party for Changamwe MP Ramadhan Kajembe that the appointment be based on merit and not restricted to Coast Province. The Prime Minister said the port belongs to all Kenyans and its top management can be drawn from any part of the country.
Although Mwarua’s sacking was welcomed by local MPs, the choice for a successor has become a dicey issue with legislators from the region, including Transport minister Chirau Mwakwere, snubbing Raila’s port tour.
Former KPA bosses perceived to have come from ‘outside the region’ include Mr Brown Ondego who steered the port for six years, Mr Joseph Munene who served for three months and Mr Philip Okundi who worked for nine years.
But Cabinet minister Amason Kingi, a close Raila ally, says there is need for Coast MPs to seek a win-win solution. He says Coast MPs need to sit down with Raila, because there appears to be a wrong perception over his remarks and intentions.
"The Prime Minister’s position is that the Port of Mombasa be run by a competent person regardless of his origin and we are saying we want somebody from the region," he says.
"We can address the concerns of the Prime Minister on competence while at the same time ensuring that one of our own is at the helm of the Port," he adds.
Kingi says he has prevailed upon MPs to meet Raila over the matter, which he says is sending wrong signals to the grassroots.
Scholars from the region say protests by the local leadership stem from historical injustices inflicted on Coast people by successive governments in managing national resources.
A Coast scholar, Prof Mohammed Hyder, says while its important for the MPs to fight for the interests of the Coastal people, they should not mix emotions with issues and compromise competence, especially in matters of management of national assets.
He says, traditionally, all national assets based in various regions are managed by people from those areas but that this should not be used as an excuse to pick less qualified candidates.
"The Government should do more by training those in various industries to enable them rise to the occasion when they are needed to fill top positions," Hyder says.
Kisauni MP Hassan Joho, another ODM MP and a close ally of Raila, says its only fair for Coast MPs to protect the region’s interests.
"KPA is a national asset just like Mumias Sugar, Kenya Planters Co-corporation Union and the Lake Basin Authority. How many of those other parastatals are headed by Coast people?" posed Joho.
"We want more of our people in key positions in Government. This region has been marginalised for a long time and we won’t allow neo-colonialism," he adds.
