THE NATION

Kibaki names new Council members

By ANTHONY KARIUKI
Posted Wednesday, September 10 2008 at 14:44 and PPS


President Kibaki has named Prime Minister Raila Odinga and his deputies Musalia Mudavadi and Uhuru Kenyatta in an expanded National Economic and Social Council.

Twelve Cabinet ministers of lead ministries also join the council. Other members are drawn from the private sector, government institutions, registered professional bodies, labour organisations and international experts.
The Council is mandated to advise the Government on coordinated policies geared towards accelerated economic growth, social equity, employment creation and reducing poverty and inequality.
It also authorised to give professional opinion on development issues from time to time
Prime Minister Raila Odinga, Deputy Prime Ministers, Uhuru Kenyatta and Musalia Mudavadi join the Council.

Ministers appointed are: William Ruto (Agricuture), John Michuki (Environment and Mineral Resources,) Kiraitu Murungi (Energy), Samuel Poghisio (Information and Communication), Chris Obure (Roads), Chirau Ali Mwakwere (Transport), Henry Kosgey (Industrialisation) and Mutula Kilonzo (Nairobi Metropolitan).

Others are: Planning and National Development Minister, Wycliffe Oparanya, Higher Education Minister, Dr Sally Kosgey, Minister for Justice and National Cohesion, Martha Karua and Public Health Minister, Beth Mugo as well as the Attorney General, Amos Wako.
The International experts who were appointed are: Engineer Lee Yee Cheong of Malaysia, Dr Chung Kunmo of South Korea, Prof Hiroyuki Hino of Japan and Dr Victor Koh of Singapore.
Since 2005, the Council has advised the Government on various policy measures targeting accelerated pace of national development that culminated in the conceptualisation and development of the Vision 2030.

Among the specific tasks that the Council is supposed to undertake include the creation of a forum in which the Government, private sector and labour unions can identify and recommend to the government for implementation.
It also has the task of developing and recommending to the cabinet policies that will promote social equity, economic growth, create employment, and reduce poverty and inequality in the country.
President Kibaki chairs the Council, whose members meet at least four times a year.

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Human error to blame for crash

By DAVE OPIYO
Posted Tuesday, September 9 2008 at 16:55

Bad weather and human error were to blame for the plane crash that claimed the lives of Roads minister Kipkalya Kones and three other people. This was the verdict of the team of aviation experts investigating the crash at Enoosupukia, Narok South district.The experts presented their findings to Transport Minister Chirau Mwakwere on Tuesday.

Mr Peter Wakahia, the head of investigations described the accident as a 'controlled flight into terrain’ phenomenon, responsible for half of air crashes worldwide.Controlled flight into terrain is the process by which a perfectly operational aircraft crashes under the control of a pilot.Mr Wakahia said poor visibility due to fog and inadequate flight planning by the pilot contributed to the fatal incident that also claimed the lives of Assistant minister Lorna Laboso, the minister’s bodyguard Kennedy Bett and pilot Christopher Schner on June 10.

Mr Kones, who was the MP for Bomet, and Ms Laboso, the MP for the neighbouring Sotik constituency, were on their way to Ainamoi to monitor the by-election caused by the death of Mr Kimutai Too.Mr Wakahia, who is also the head of the Aircraft Accident Investigations Unit revealed that the all the parts of the chartered single-engine Cessna 210E aircraft were in good condition.

The aircraft was operated by Skytrade of Wilson Airport.“Based on this, we can say that it is the pilot who decided to fly at that particular altitude despite the fact that he did not know the terrain well.”He went on: “The pilot did not therefore lose control of the plane...he just did not know he would hit the ground.”Mr Wakahia said based on the information gathered by his investigators, the team came up with 24 major findings on the crash and further came up with seven recommendations on how to improve aviation safety in the country.The team also presented a simulation of the flight path the plane took to the point of accident.

The recommendations include:

-The Kenya Civil Aviation Authority to consider restricting the issuance of aviation licences to foreign nationals to non commercial activities.
-The office of the president to develop standards to regulate group travel for senior government officials.
-Immigration department be more vigilant in the issuance and renewal of work permits to expatriate aviators.
-That the Kenya meteorological department make available detailed weather forecast to pilots.
-The Kenya Civil Aviation Authority improve on their Very High Frequency coverage and further take measures to increase awareness of the 'controlled flight into terrain problem and to implement preventive measures.

The team of investigators included: Mr Anthony Kirokien, Mr Enos Ndoli, Mr Peter Munyao and Mathioya MP Clement Wambugu, a member of the parliamentary committee on Energy, Transport and Roads.It had 90 days to investigate the crash and present the findings to the minister.
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Rail system to be upgraded

By ODHIAMBO ORLALE
Posted Monday, September 8 2008

The Government plans to replace Kenya’s obsolete rail system with a modern and efficient one in the next decade.The ambitious project is part of a multi-billion-shilling master-plan by a team made up of Kenya Railways Corporation officials and representatives from the private sector.

Transport minister Ali Mwakwere assured the group of the Government’s support, saying the project to replace the current metre gauge with a standard gauge railway line would increase efficiency, safety and maintenance.Asked how the plan would fit in given the 25-year contract between Rift Valley Railways and the Kenyan and Ugandan governments to run the Kenya-Uganda railways, the minister said it would compliment and not frustrate their efforts.

Ugandan President Yoweri Museveni and Prime Minister Raila Odinga are on record describing the current rail system as obsolete. On Monday, Mr Mwakwere said: “We cannot continue to use an obsolete rail system, what we want to do is just an improvement and it will not affect the RVR contract.”

The minister said the plan was in the best interest of RVR, saying: “We’ll prove a more viable and efficient system that will be a win-win for all the parties involved.”Under the plan, four new rail lines would be built - one will be from Lamu in Coast Province to Lokichogio in Rift Valley en route to Juba in Southern Sudan. Another would be from Nairobi to Garissa in North Eastern Province. The third would be from Nanyuki in Central Province to Addis Ababa in Ethiopia, through Maralal, Marsabit and Moyale, and the fourth from Nairobi to Arusha in Tanzania.

Their master-plan

The chairman of the group, Mr Manu Chandaria, appealed to the minister to present their master-plan to the Cabinet for discussion and adoption. He said the railway built by the colonial government over a century ago had outlived its usefulness.“The standard gauge rail network is designed to ensure speedier passenger transport of between 120 kilometres per hour and 160 kilometres per hour.”



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The Cutting Edge:
September 3, 2008

Transport minister Chirau Ali Mwakwere and the Traffic Commandant should crack their big whips on the immorality being purveyed in matatus in Nairobi, urges Benson Mugambi. “On almost all the routes, matatu crews are playing videos with explicit content.” But the most daring, he adds, is a Route 45 matatu, which has on its door, in black and white, the words, ‘Parental warning - Explicit content’. And true to their word, they screen obscene videos.

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