THE STANDARD

* Karua remains defiant as President fails to persuade PNU affiliates to dissolve

Published on 29/07/2008
By Alex Ndegwa

President Kibaki held three-hour long talks with seven leaders of PNU affiliates, but failed to convince them to dissolve.
Constitutional Affairs minister Martha Karua best captured the opposition facing the unity plan: "Don’t be misled. I’m still in Narc-Kenya," Karua told journalists, flashing the party’s three-finger salute before being driven off.

Instructively, Karua made the terse remark as fellow Cabinet minister Noah Wekesa prepared to issue a statement to journalists who had camped at the President’s Harambee House last night.
The events unfolded immediately Kibaki left at 6.55pm, after chairing the meeting that started shortly after 4pm.
Karua is the chairperson of Narc-Kenya, which has rebelled against plans to dissolve PNU affiliate parties and has declared she would vie for presidency in 2012.
no agreement

Wekesa acknowledged that no concrete agreement had been reached at the meeting with regard to the search for unity in PNU.

The Wildlife minister said it was resolved that another meeting of PNU MPs be held next week at the KICC to discuss a report recommending PNU accommodates individual and corporate members.
Wekesa chaired a committee that prepared the report, which was submitted to the President last Thursday following the stormy July 15 PNU meeting.

Others who attended the meeting were Ford-Kenya chairman Musikari Kombo, Cabinet Minister Chirau Mwakwere (Shirikisho), nominated MP George Nyamweya, former minister Morris Dzorro and Marsden Madoka, who represented Kanu chairman Uhuru Kenyatta.

Last week, Kibaki faced defiance when he suggested that PNU be transformed into a single party.
But party affiliates, led by Narc-Kenya, opposed the move, saying they were not ready to fold up and would instead strengthen themselves.

Other parties that opposed the plan were DP and Ford-Kenya, which said they would retain their identities.
Some parties have alleged that PNU was being prepared for an individual allegedly to take over after Kibaki retires.


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Ferries a danger, says Mwakwere

Published on 29/07/2008
Isaac Ongiri And Brian Adero

The Government has owned up: Ferries in Mombasa are old and dangerous.
Transport Minister Chirau Ali Mwakwere said the six ferries operating in the three channels of Kilindini, Mtongwe and Likoni had to be replaced urgently. "I want to admit that the ferries are very old and very dangerous," Mwakwere said.

Addressing reporters at his Nairobi office, Mwakwere said the ‘newest’ ferry was 30 years old, while the oldest had been in operation for 40 years. He expressed concern that commuters’ lives were at risk. Mwakwere, however, said that Kenya Ferry Services (KFS) would continue operating the ferries as long as they could be serviced.

new ferries

The Government, the minister said, had ordered two new ferries to be shipped in seven months’ time. "Our hope now lies in the investments in two new ferries ordered from Germany," the minister told journalists.

He said the ferries, built specifically for Kenyan harbours, would cost the exchequer Sh2 billion.
Mwakwere, who said he was aboard an alternate ferry when MV Nyayo stalled at Kilindini, described the incident as a shame, accusing the previous Government of neglecting KFS over the years.
"I watched with pain and shock as MV Nyayo stalled with people on board. It could have been a disaster," he noted.
The minister said KFS needed more funding to transform its operations and acquire more new ferries. Meanwhile, Mwakwere exonerated his ministry from accusations it has failed to restore order in the transport sector.
Instead, he shifted blame to the traffic police for failing to implement policies made by his ministry.

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Government to implement Ndung’u Land Report

By Patrick Beja
Published on 25/07/2008

The Government will start implementing the Ndung’u report on irregular land allocation from next week, Lands Minister James Orengo has announced. Orengo said he has studied the report and does not need to consult Prime Minister Raila Odinga and President Mwai Kibaki or form another commission to implement it. “I will take action on the Ndung’u report from next week. Those who were allocated public land with impunity will have themselves to blame,” he said.

Addressing leaders at Kwale County Hall in Kwale District, on Thursday, Orengo said those who benefited from irregular land allocations could face prosecution.Transport Minister Chirau Ali Mwakwere, Assistant Ministers Gonzi Rai and Bifwoli Wakoli and Coast PC Ernest Munyi accompanied him. Orengo warned some influential people have “stepped on people’s toes for long and it was now time to step on theirs”.

The minister said he would push the Draft National Land Policy through to Cabinet and Parliament so it could be adopted before a new constitution expected within a year.He said the new land legislation would reduce statutes on land from more than 15 to two to avoid complications on land matters.

They are the Land Titles Act and Administration and Management of Land Acts.Orengo warned individuals who had secured leases on Government land would now be required to develop it within 24 months or have it automatically revert back to the State. Leases for public land would not be renewed if the beneficiaries failed to develop it. He said some people had used public land to borrow huge loans from banks and had either defaulted or fled the country.“The Government should move fast to protect public and trustee land. It is wrong to renew any lease when the beneficiary has failed to develop the land,” said Orengo.
He asked for a list of absentee landlords at the Coast to address the problem and settle local squatters.Kwale Councillor Sheikh Khamis Banda said the report would addressed most Coastal land problems.

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Mwakere's case for today

By Nancy Akinyi, Maureen Mudi and
Beatrice Obwocha
Published 11.7.2008

The High Court in Mombasa will today begin hearing an application for the recount and scrutiny of electoral material used in Matuga Constituency in last year’s election.A voter, Mr Ayub Juma Mwakwesi, is contesting Transport Minister Chirau Ali Mwakwere’s election as Matuga MP.


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Coast legislators tell Government to address perennial land conflicts

Story by Isaac Ongiri


A section of Coast MPs have appealed to the Government to tackle land problems in the region. The legislators, including Transport Minister Chirau Ali Mwakwere, said many Coast residents lived in undemarcated land and were, therefore, landless.

The MPs held talks with Lands minister James Orengo in his office on Thursday and called for action against people behind historical land injustices. “We have many problems involving land at the Coast. Every constituency is affected,” Mwakwere said. Orengo said he would lead technocrats in his ministry in a tour of the Coast before drawing up a marshal plan to put the problems to rest.

Past Injustices

Orengo, who was accompanied by Assistant minister Bifwoli Wakoli, said some powerful individuals in previous regimes thwarted the demarcation of some parcels of land at the Coast. He warned that his ministry would make critical decisions to correct what he termed as “injustices” against the innocent.
“We will move to the Coast to audit the extent of the problems. We shall then evaluate our findings and make appropriate decisions even if it will mean stepping on other people’s toes,” Orengo said. Those said to have caused land conflicts at the Coast, the minister said, should surrender to give justice and fairness a chance.

Mwakwere, who is also the Matuga MP, said the region had faced problems occasioned by land grabbing, political injustice and absentee landlords. The MPs told Orengo that Coast dwellers were optimistic that a lasting and agreeable solution would be reached without delay. Assistant ministers Gonzi Rai, Francis Baya and Ramadhan Kajembe and MPs Calistus Mwatela (Mwatate), Omar Zonga (Msambweni), Gideon Mungaro (Malindi) were present. Nominated MPs Sheik Mohamed Dor and Shakila Amina Abdala also attended the talks.