Friday, 28 November 2008
Saturday, 18 October 2008
The Anchor, October 2008
These are the stories featuring in The Anchor, October issue.
How looting of teachers Sacco is linked to Knut branch
FOR the first time in history, there is an acknowledgement that the Masaku Teachers Sacco is dying.
This is contained in an official document that The Anchor has laid its hands on. It catalogues a rip off running to Sh 151 million and lists 11 companies that were paid hefty sums of money as suppliers and contractors.
The document- a report of the former Supervisory Committee Chairman Edrick Ngunzi- exposes vicious scramble for sacco millions between staff of all cadres-permanent, casuals and even those on attachment on the one hand and top managers, officials and suppliers on the other. Ngunzi concludes: “They, in collaboration with suppliers looted the society coffers dry”.
The officials and suppliers are listed in the report that we run word by word as delivered by Mr Ngunzi after which delegates endorsed it and called for action to make all face the law.
So what are the names behind these firms that supplied whatever they did to the society? Well, that is fodder for coming days! Sadly, the Machakos Branch of the Kenya National Union of Teachers, which is supposed to protect teachers’ interests saw nothing and did nothing.
Today, the society lies in the ICU fighting for its life. A last minute move purported to save the sacco has only half filled the oxygen cylinder for the patient. Yet a report detailing who stole what remains hidden in the offices of the Knut , the society and the District Co-operative officers. The now the impending Knut elections in Machakos become relevant to making a decision that may have a lasting effect on the health of the sacco. The replacements that teachers chose in the elections mid this month will decide if the teachers want the sacco to live.
(See stories on Page 3, 8 and 9)
VP parts ways with old allies, MPs and aides in...
The big fall out!
VICE PRESIDENT Kalonzo Musyoka has parted ways with virtually all of his foot soldiers who played crucial roles in his campaigns in his failed bid for the Presidency. Those he has discarded from his inner core include MPs, former MPs and Personal Assistants. Since his appointment as VP, Kalonzo has parted ways with Mutitu MP Kiema Kilonzo, Yatta MP Charles Kilonzo and close MP allies- Gideon Ndambuki, Benson Mbai, Philip Kaloki and David Musila have coiled up to serve their voters without appearing on the coat-tails of the VP in every other function.
Former MPs who have given up on him for varied reasons include former Machakos Town MP Mwanzia Daudi, former Kilome MP Mutinda Mutiso and former Kangundo MP Moffat Maitha- all of whom feel that they lost their seats due to the work they did for Mr Musyoka to the extend that their constituents felt that they had ignored them in preference to campaigning for Mr Musyoka- yet the VP has seen no use for them afterwards.
In the build up to the elections, the three MPs styled themselves as forerunners- some mine sweepers of some sorts or the Presidents’ Advance Party. They were willing to flatten anyone who spoke against Mr Musyoka. So overzealous was their support that Mr Musyoka at one time acknowledged that they behaved like his bodyguards.
Well, that is no more. Mwanzia is now a bold and fierce critic. The man who defeated him- Victor Munyaka has taken up that role and is hardly seen in his constituency as he journeys allover the country in the company of Kangundo MP Johnson Muthama to offer fierce defense for the VP. Together with Mwala MP Pastor Daniel Muoki, the three have taken up the roles previously played by Mutiso, Kiema, Kilonzo, Maitha and Mwanzia- with the older MPs taking the back seat to watch.
Mutiso’s departure was accelerated by failure by the VP to keep his promise to appoint him ambassador. Things were made worse by Mutiso’s decision to reveal Kalonzo’s role in implicating Mr Mwau and Mr Ndambuki in the parliamentary report on the murder of the man he(Mutiso) succeeded in Kilome, Tony Wambua Ndilinge.
Kamba professionals, scholars and the movers of capital have not been spared either and have not been consulted ever since Kalonzo became a Big Man, giving them room to stock fires for the VP from wherever they are.
Personal Assistants have not been lucky either. It begun with Fred Muteti, followed by his events steward Martin Mulwa. Then came Kioko Mulaki, his home based right hand man who chaired the Mwingi North CDF Committee and ill-fated Mwingi Cultural Festival and now Mr Mike Makau.
Informed sources say the latest fall out with the PAs is likely to get to the court as the aides feel that lies have been used to tarnish their names even as they have helped the VP make a name in the political stage.
At stake is the management of the Kalonzo Musyoka Foundation (KMF) where allegations are flying around that it is broke after funds were allegedly misappropriated in connection with the 2007 electioneering.
Those privy to the fall out say the VP has accused an MP who is one of his closest confidants with fiddling with KMF funds while his aides insist that the cash was used to breath life into Musyoka’s campaigns when finances dried up.
As we went to press, The Anchor learnt that one of the aides was preparing to take court action to safeguard his integrity against a spirited assault to depict him as dishonest.
It is the latest development in the simmering post election wars between the ODM and the ODM-K that became public after the Vice-President dismissed Muteti and Mulwa for allegedly spying for Prime Minister Raila Odinga.
Muteti was at the time serving as the Personal Assistant to the Minister for Nairobi Metropolitan Mr Mutula Kilonzo, where he landed after relationship with the VP went sour over campaign funds.
Muteti is the man ODM-K used to collect campaign funds from the PNU to help spirit Kalonzo’s campaigns in places PNU could not capture because of the fear that Raila would have captured the places if Kalonzo retreated due to dwindling finances.
It is alleged that the aides passed crucial information to Raila and Assistant Minister for Transport Mr John Harun Mwau, who works closely with Mr Odinga.
The spying game between the two camps has been going on for several months.
Sources say the National Security Intelligence Service(NSIS) operatives have found themselves embroiled in the murky politics between the two camps, ostensibly at personal level, yet using state resources to eavesdrop on private conversations involving MPs and other marked individuals in the Kalonzo staff list.
A source has it that virtually all Kamba MPs have their phones listened to, not for purposes of state security but to ensure that someone knows whom they talk to and what they talk about. “ It is surveillance that is driven by fear that everyone is drifting away”, the source added.
Accusing fingers are pointed at a former NSIS official who keeps a deep throat connection in the spy agency such that he can manage to use its tools to collect information that is sold to politicians
The result has been tape recorded conversations where rival camps can be heard discussing their strategies to out-do the other side.
Sources say one such conversation was between Muteti and the Prime Minister and the VP used just that to fire Muteti on the day ODM-K held a crisis meeting and resolved it will not join PNU.
Another recording has voices of two MPs and a former police officer now a political operative discussing the possibility of murder- yet the two camps have chosen to keep the dirty secret tapes under the carpet because the tapes raise key issues on the rule of law.
Mr Muteti and Mr Mulwa have since confirmed to the media the alleged spying claims but deny any wrong doing.
Kalinzoya's dramatic resignation from Kangundo CDF
FRANCIS Kalinzoya has quit the Kangundo Constituency Development Fund Committee.
Kalinzoya quit on September 16 in a letter written to the CDF Chairman Professor Lelo and copied to Kangundo MP Johnson Muthama, Kangundo District Commissioner, the Chief Executive Officer of the CDF National Management Board (NMB), Eastern Provincial Planning Officer and the Kangundo CDF Manager.
There was no listed copy for Kangundo DDO or Machakos DDO- Mrs Muimi- who has been overseeing fund operations.
It is unclear why Kalinzoya, an uncle of Mr Muthama decided to dramatize his resignation by copying his letter far and wide. It is even unclear why he addressed the letter to Prof. Lelo, when he knew that Muthama, who is the Patron f Kangundo CDF, was the appointing authority and not the professor.
In the seven paragraph letter which was obtained from Parliament CDF links, it is difficult to pin point the exact reason for his resignation.
But one can glean from the letter, its extremely foul grammar notwithstanding, that a great fear drove Mr Kalinzoya, a fabulously courageous man, into resigning.
Kalinzoya says he quit because he does not want to be used to contravene the rules and provisions of the CDF Act in terms of project prioritization and procurement procedures.
This implies that there has been an attempted or forced irregularity in project prioritization and procurement.
Listen to Kalinzoya: “It is unlawful for the CDF committee to approve public projects without involvement of stakeholders…” He then quotes the relevant sections of the CDF Act that relate to identification of projects to be undertaken.
One can glean from the letter that he is taking issues with the number of meetings that the CDF team holds. He then goes ahead and says that he has been bad-mouthed to imply that he is not a honest person and a man of integrity and tells the chairman that he knows that such allegations to be unfounded.
He speaks of witch hunting that has depicted him as a person opposed to projects that Mr Muthama has been proposing, a pointer to the possibility that the point of conflict is likely to be projects that do not go through the prioritization process.
Kalinzoya says he received threats from Muthama’s ‘junior aide’ to the effect that there was a plot to finish him. “In this regard, I opt to pull out of your committee”, Kalinzoya said.
He says: “Finally, I tentatively inform you to caution your committee to adhere and desist from reporting CDF meetings through handsets. It is only the chairman who is supposed to do so. This malpractice shall turn to be a “kangaroo” mission”.( All grammatical deficiencies are entirely Kalinzoya)
From the foregoing paragraph, it appears some members of the CDF team have been place in the CDF meetings and that adverse decisions are made during these telephone conversations- all at the back of the chairman.
Kalinzoya pens-off by offering special thanks to Mr Muthama for having appointed him to serve in the team, wishes the committee well and even apologizes for any inconveniences he may have caused.
Inquiries by The Anchor reveal that Kalinzoya is protesting a decision to employ some 12 individuals in the CDF, which is well beyond the comprehension of the CDF Act.
It is said the individuals have been paid using the CDF Kitty and Kalinzoya has voiced opposition to their employment.
Unconfirmed reports say that the NMB has written to Kangundo CDF over the salaries paid to the individuals, one of them a local photographer, seeking to have them recovered and terminated.
Contacted, Kalinzoya declined to divulge details but confirmed that he had quit to save his image. Calls made to Mr Muthama for a comment were answered by aides and he did not return them as requested. So what jobs do these employees do to deserve to be paid by citizen’s taxes and who are they?
Read The Anchor in coming days!
Raw sewer is polluting river, MP claims
Machakos Town Mp Dr. Victor Munyaka is claiming that raw sewer is flowing into
Consequently, he is urging the Machakos municipal council to stop the pollution of
Dr Munyaka said that as a result of the raw effluence the water from the river which was used for livestock and domestic use by families downstream could cause an outbreak of water borne diseases.
The Mp questioned the efficacy of the town sewage treatment plant saying they were not up to date and needed an overhaul.
He called on the council to ensure that road repairs and other public works that were being carried out in the town were not shoddy.
Noting that the sewage system in the town was ever burst with raw sewage flowing into the streets, Dr Munyaka urged the council to ensure the water drainage systems under specifications.
up the re-carpeting process of roads in the town.
In the past week, they have re-carpeted
Town Engineer Morris Aluanga has been overseeing virtually every bit of the works to ensure that the council gets value for money to be paid.” Remember we have performance contracts that we have to meet in terms of quality of work that is to be undertaken”, he told our reporters.
Residents wait with eagerness to see the quality of work to be carried out due to apprehension caused by sluggish repairs already undertaken.
Rotarians distribute mosquito nets
Over 5000 expectant mothers and children below 5 years have benefited from free treated mosquito nets donated by the Rotary Club of Machakos and the Rotary club of
Presenting the nets at Katoloni chief’s office in Machakos town, the team leader Mrs. Lydiah Kimondo said that they were giving the nets to the less fortunate people in the area to help curb the spread of Malaria.
Mrs. Kimondo who was accompanied by Rotarians Mary Musyoka and Mrs. Dorcas Mbathi said children at the age of 5 years and below were vulnerable to malaria and advised the parents to make sure that their children slept in beds with treated nets.
She said that the Rotary Club of Machakos was providing water for the residents by constructing water dams and providing water tanks.
Mrs. Kimondo said that the work of the rotary club was to give to the needy selflessly appealing to other well wishers to donate to the less fortunate to help alleviate their suffering.
Mrs. Musyoka advised the net recipients to avoid washing the nets before 6 months as this diluted the medicinal power of the nets.
The immediate Former President of Machakos rotary Club Mrs. Jennifer Mangu said the clubs were concerned with the spread of the disease among expectant mothers and children and would spearhead the campaign to prevent its spread.
Mrs. Mangu also led other Rotarians in distributing 500 nets to the residents of Mutituni location in Machakos district said their target was to distribute the nets to expectant mothers and children under five years in a bid to control killer malaria.
Last year, the club donated 3000 mosquito nets.
Teachers seek change
Knut leadership accused of negligence
TEACHERS in Machakos District are up in arms with the local leadership of the Kenya National Union of Teachers (KNUT), citing eight grounds upon which they find no more trust in the union.
A memorandum being used as a campaign tool in the impending Knut by-elections, the teachers say that are receiving poor or no service from KNUT, Machakos Branch.
The elections are being held in the greater Machakos District to fill places left by officials who have moved to newly formed Knut branches. Elections will be held in Kangundo, Yatta and Mwala to elect new branch leadership. In Machakos, elections will be held to fill in the vacant positions although teachers are demanding that they pick new leaders altogether, a matter that is proving tricky for Branch Executive Secretary Albanus Mutisya, the seemingly lone survivor in he branch.
Campainging under a platform of wilding a big broom(to sweep away Mutisya) the teachers accuse the branch of mismanaging teachers’ projects leading to their collapse and cited the Burial and Benevolent Fund(BBF) the Education Scheme, and Masaku Teachers Sacco now headed by General Manager Mr. S Kyelenzi. (See an insider description of how sacco was bled to be the shell it is today- yet Knut never raised a finger- in center pages)
The challenge is composed of Mutua Muthengi- seeking to become Branch Chairman, Cosmas Kieti- Vice Chairman, Nicholas Musyoka- Vise Secretary, John Masila- Treasurer, Benedicta Kieti- Vice Treasurer and Sarah Kitavi- Women Representative.
They allege that there is a wide leadership vacuum, lack of vision, direction hence no progress in the way teachers live
They complain that the schemes now cause over deductions of their salaries aimed at enriching some people thus destabilizing teacher’s purchasing power and morale. They accuse the leaders of failing or delaying paying retired teachers refunds to the Education Scheme and BBF, causing long and perennial queues at the Knut office.
Lack of professional ethics in handling teachers’ issues and problems yet another allegation being raised, coupled with claims of negligence, dishonesty and incompetence by those in office.
They claim to have been swindled of cash from the schemes and added that the BBF was one of the most shameful schemes were relatives of dead teachers can no longer rely on the scheme to burry their dead due to delays in disbursements.
In one such case, a teacher has gone to court to demand that the union be compelled to pay him his contributions to the BBF fater pulling out to avoid the frustrations faced by other members.
They allege that teachers have been subjected to unfair treatment by those in power and that the union has been destabilizing and threatening members with transfers and victimization of those with divergent views.
Efforts to obtain a comment from Mr Mutisya were unsuccessful as he was out of office for the last three weeks.
His cell-phone line- 0726636319-was out of reach each time our reporters tried to reach him.
Wanton charcoal burning wreaks havoc in Mwitika Division
Wanton destruction of trees for charcoal threaten parts of Mwitika division in Kitui district with desertification and its resultant effects in the next two years, a Forest Extension Officer in the area Mr. Karimi Maina has warned.
Speaking at Kyamatu Chief’s camp during a public sensitisation baraza on the Agricultural and Livestock Extension programme (NALEP) project that begins its activities in Kyamatu location this financial year, Mr. Karimi said the location had witnessed heavy destruction of trees owing to uncontrolled charcoal trade.
He said the wanton destruction of the woodlands in the area would affect the ecosystem and bring about environmental degradation whose effects could not be undone in hundreds of years.
He said there was a drop in honey production in the area due to the destruction of the acacia woodlands which he said produced the highest quality honey that made Kitui district very reputable for quality honey production in
The
He also told the public to demand charcoal trade permit from all the charcoal traders who flock the area from
Charcoal from the area was believed to be high quality because it was made from hardwood that could not be readily found elsewhere.
During the meting the Mwitika Division NALEP co-coordinator Mr. B. Kitsao said the project would assist farmers by educating them on modern methods of agriculture, livestock keeping, home economics and other development activities in order to boost food security and enhance poverty reduction.
Livestock production officer Mr. B.J. Kithome said out of the 27,000 cattle in Mwitika division only 6000 have been vaccinated in previous years noting that there were too many animals that could not be served within the few crashes in the area.
He called for the construction of more crashes in the vast area in order to ensure all cattle and other livestock were reached by vaccination exercises.
Members of the public appealed to the Government to provide water and famine relief in the area owing to a severe drought and famine that was ravaging the area.
Mayor tears into traffic police over corruption
TRAFFIC Police and matatu operators have introduced some organized corruption cartel in Machakos.
Now an emissary collects Sh 100 from each of the matatu owners in the town and the money is delivered to traffic policemen as protection fee.
Those who do not contribute to the till are then reported as the delivery is made so that their lives are made difficult on the roads. These details emerged from Machakos Mayor Fidellis Kimuyu as he lambasted Traffic Police and Matatu operators whose cartels now threaten council revenue.
Councillor Kimuyu decried the rot at the Machakos traffic department and called on the police commissioner Hussein Ali to quickly act to end corruption in the department.
Addressing matatu operators plying the Kathiani route who had withdrawn their vehicles from the Machakos-Kathiani road to protest over unfair business competition by some private cars owners who had established an illegal stage where they did not pay council charges.
The operators are not even subjected to traffic police rules as their matatus do not have the yellow line, the speed governor and over load passengers with others sitting in the boots of the vehicles to underline the levels of impunity.
Mayor Kimuyu blamed Public Service Vehicle (PSV) owners for abetting corruption in the department saying every day they collected Sh100 from each vehicle and send to the Traffic Police unit as protection fee.
“The traffic police department is rotten with corruption. Even you matatu operators are corrupt because you contribute sh100 each day with which you send an emissary with to take to the police”. He said that whoever refused to give the money would face police wrath with their roadworthy vehicles being arrested for being unroadworthy and challenged the matatu operators to end the vice by refusing to give bribes.
Mayor Kimuyu threatened that political leaders in Machakos district may be forced to start a crackdown and clean up of the traffic department in the area where both the corrupt officers and PSV operators who give bribes would be arrested.
He said the traffic police depart ment was the bane of the police force noting that they had continued to damage the image of the police with their open corruption activities countrywide.
The mayor instructed his officials to ensure those operating the illegal stages were arrested and charged for contravening the council’s bye-laws and cautioned them stern punitive action would be taken against officials found colluding with the illegal operators.
Mbooni DC heads to Mbumbuni
MBOONI District Commissioner is headed to Mbumbuni.
He will be fulfilling a divisive vote taken two months ago during which delegates voted to establish the new district headquarters at Mbumbuni as other delegates from Mbooni abstained from voting.
Mbooni delegates abstained after they saw the writings on the wall that they could not win the vote as delegates from Kisau and Kalawa, with others from Tulimani had made up their minds to vote for Mbumbuni.
The vote, presided over by outgoing Mbooni DC Mr Tom Macheneri alias Machinery and attended by Makueni DC James Mwaura saw 54 voting for Mbumbuni and 20 from Mbooni abstaining. 18 votes from Tulimani were split and six others from Kako location that would have provided the swing vote settled for Mbumbuni as well.
However leaders seemingly disregarded the vote with Cabinet Minister Mutula Kilonzo urging for a consensus in deciding the headquarters of Mbooni District.
The latest twist of events comes with the transfer of Mr Macheneri from Mbooni to Samburu. Informed sources told The Anchor that his successor- Mr Khisa had been instructed to report to Mbumbuni and not Kikima where Macheneri was stationed.
If this is the case, it puts Mr Kilonzo in a difficult position as the matter appeared settled recently when he declared the vote a joke and that such a decision could not be taken by a vote even since Mbooni became a Sub District many years ago.
If indeed the DC goes to Mbumbuni, it shows that some reasonably powerful forces- more powerful than Mutula, are at work in Mbooni District and all eyes are facing in the direction of Chief of General Staff General Jeremiah Kianga and other non- talking operatives who hail from Kisau Location where Mbumbuni is headquarters.
But if the decision would have been changed to any other place other than Mbumbuni, then the government would have had an explanation to do as to why it caused the vote to be taken in the first place.
Ordinarily, the State has been respecting the people’s choice for a District Headquarters and when a decision has been made in the form of a vote, any alteration would amount to an affront on democracy, a thing this government seems unwilling to do at this point in time.
Nevertheless, the matter remains so divisive that many alliances and relationships are on the brink of collapse owing to the issue of the placement of the headquarters.
In an indication that the headquarters would not be at Mbumbuni, Mr Kilonzo told a gathering of public servants and residents of Mbooni that the decision to site the headquarters would be reached by consensus rather than a vote.
He told elders from Mbooni Division to set out and engage with elders from other four divisions of Mbooni District and agree on where to locate the headquarters.
He dismissed as nonsense a recent meeting held at Wote in Makueni District where a vote was allegedly taken to site the headquarters in Mbumbuni in Kisau Location and asked since when the issue of such decisions was ever left to voting.
He said Mbooni Division has remained a senior division since 1952. “Makueni and Kangundo were much smaller centers and decisions to site the headquarters were never subjected to a vote at any time in history. Why has it become necessary to do so about Mbooni? Mr Kilonzo, who is the Minister for Nairobi Metropolitan Development asked.
He said no one shall ever remove the government establishments from Mbooni as they were established to serve local citizens. “Let me be told who shall ever remove the hospital, the District Commissioner or other offices from Mbooni. Will you also uproot the police Station and
Swedish partners wrap-up Machakos tour
A fact finding Swedish delegation has concluded a fact finding mission to explore ways in which Robertsfors Municipality will assist in turning Machakos town to a sister city in terms of sustainable development.
Outgoing Machakos Town Clerk Mr. Stephen Mbondo who has been taking the delegation around says the eco-municipality concept hinges of a balance of environmental issues with other social, economic and political development activities. Machakos is poised to become
This follows an agreement for co-operation between the Machakos Municipal council and the
Speaking during a public sensitisation forum on sustainable development, Mr Mbondo said key issues to be addressed would be declining resources like water provision, solid waste management, pollution control, afforestation, street lighting, human rights, education among other issues.
He said the Machakos municipal council had already worked out a sustainable development action plan under which Roberstfors municipality that is renowned for its sustainable development among other donors would assist.
He said by 2012 a conference would be held in Machakos town that would involve all parts of the country to discuss eco-municipality and sustainable development.
The Robertsfors-Machakos municipality co-operation co-coordinator Ms Ira Sundberg said the eco-municipality concept was already in use in
and European countries with the aim of strengthening sustainability of ecological, economic and social development.
She said the cooperation was a two way learning process that was beneficial to both Machakos and Robertsfors municipalities.
Probe at
THE probe team at the County Council of Masaku has completed its work and has presented their findings to the Ministry of Local Government.
Their conclusion brings to an end tension rocking County Hall as they summoned officer after another in search of missing cash, believed to be close to 100 million, which can not be accounted for over time.
Now the tension becomes endless anxiety as they await the axe to fall, either in dismissals, prosecutions or surcharge to help the council recover lost funds- if it ever will. The crucial lesson is that the County Council of Masaku is so rich that the heist notwithstanding, the council is still in solid financial standing.
The probe comes after the transfer of former County Clerk Pius Mutemi and the resistance by the council chairman Stanley Mangeli to let Mr Timothy Kamili take over as
They looked into the council’s cash books for other years before then and have sought to see the council’s asset register.
Those in the know say they have questioned current and former officials over the sale of some of the council’s houses whose authority to sell can not be traced in the council’s Minute Book. Efforts to trace the whereabouts of the proceeds of the sale were unsuccessful and neither could it be ascertained how much was earned from the sale of the houses.
The Anchor was told that the investigators also probed the siphoning of cash from council accounts through cheques that were said to have been forged. The council lost big amounts of cash by use of at least 11 cheques that the officials claim were fake-yet they were used to withdraw cash from the accounts at KCB Machakos Branch.
The auditors have summoned former chief officers of the council for “grilling” over various issues. The immediate former Clerk Mr. Pius Mutemi (Malindi),a former County Clerk Mr. Kimani and the Sotik County Council Clerk Pius Muia, formerly a Senior Administration Officer with the council testified. One desired testimony was that of the late County Clerk Mr Kaboi as much is said to have taken place under his watch.
In the sport light is the construction of Kivaa market bus park in Kivaa Ward represented by the chairman which is said to have used Sh2.5m yet it does not seem to have used Sh200,000.More than Sh.1.5 meant for the bus park project can not be accounted for.
“What has been injected in the project is about Sh200, 000.00 raising concerns among area residents”, said this source who requested anonymity.
The other area of concern is water project in Masii that led to a demonstration by the local community over a Sh1.5m water pump which cannot be traced. Masii is represented by Councillor Charles Musau, who is the chairman of the Finance Committee. He is serving his first term.
The auditors conducted a head-count to check allegations of “ghost” workers in the council, which did not yield a result.
The Anchor also established that the probe touched on a deal between the council and the Machakos Maendeleo Ya Wanawake where the latter were supposed to be paid thousands of shillings for planting trees. They were paid huge sums of money but the trees are no where to be seen.
The investigators also discovered that former councilors and officials went away with huge imprests, with one such official being owed Sh500,000. The Anchor will run the report as soon as it becomes available.
Water prospects in Machakos get real
MACHAKOS has hit the road towards water sufficiency with the commissioning of works for the rehabilitation of Maruba Dam.
The minister for Water and Irrigation Mrs. Charity Ngilu performed the ground breaking ceremony of a Sh 350 million Maruba dam rehabilitation project.
The Maruba dam project is among four others that the Government is rehabilitating is five districts in arid and semi arid areas as model of how water storage in arid areas could quickly end famine and water problems in these areas.
Hundreds of Machakos Town residents who came to witness the event, that could drastically change the fortunes of the 100-year plus town.
Mrs. Ngilu said provision of water was the key to economic development noting that water shortage was to blame for poverty and food insecurity in the country.
Mrs.Ngilu recalled how she was forced to close down a bakery and a hotel she had established in Machakos 15 years ago due what she said daily harassment by public health officers for lack of water.
She said due to lack of water in the town, many companies had relocated to other towns like Athi River and Nairobi and expressed hope they would return upon completion of the project that is scheduled within nine months.
She said the Government had earmarked to construct Umaa dam in Kitui district, Kiserian dam in Kajiado, Badasa dam in Marsabit district, and Chemsusu dam in Koibatek district.
She said Kenyans living in arid and semi arid areas should push their leaders and the Government to seek solutions to water shortage instead of rushing to beg for famine relief food all round the year.
He challenged citizens and leaders in those areas to speak with one voice in demanding water noting that tapping of run-off water that was lost to oceans was the key to accessing water for citizens countrywide.
Mrs. Ngilu said her ministry was working on a sessional paper on water storage for domestic and other uses through construction of dams and other reservoirs.
The Permanent secretary in the ministry David Stower said the country was experiencing serious water problems in many parts noting that the Maruba dam project marked the beginning of a major development programme in water storage.
He said in order to stop the effects of drought, the ministry planned to build many dams countrywide that would serve as water reservoirs adding that shortage has hit Nairobi city where rationing has already started.
He said in a bid to stem the shortage in the city the minister would commission another water supply project to the city in Gatundu next week.
“This is the beginning of recovery programme in water storage so that 5 years from now we can look back and say we have enough water storage in the country”, said the Permanent secretary.
He said in the last 15 years no new water storage structure has been constructed noting that the last was Moiben Dam in Eldoret.
Others who spoke included the Chairman of Tanathi Board Mr Geoffery Parsaoti, Chief Executive officer of Tanathi Water Services Board Engineer J Nzesya and Machakos Mayor Fidellis Kimuyu.
KITUI District Commissioner Joshua K.Chepchieng has warned that the people should not scramble for the B2 Yatta Ranching Cooperative Society Limited land in the district. The DC said that that is a trustland and that it belongs to the Kitui County Council. The 53,000 acre land is in Kwa Vonza location, Yatta division.
The DC said: “The B2 Yatta land belongs to the Kitui County Council and people should not take into their hands. The people should not use jungle laws.” About 5,000 members of the B2 Yatta Ranching Cooperative Society Limited are bitter over the invasion of the ranch by a group of squatters. And the DC warned that neither the ranchers nor the invaders can claim the ownership of the land.
The DC was speaking to all the local District Officers, chiefs and their assistants during a meeting he had convened at the Kitui Multi-purpose Development Training Institute. He was accompanied by his deputy, Mr. Fredrick Kitema and the District Administration Police Commander SP Abdullahi K.Adan.
The DC said that the conflict between Somali pastoralists and the Kamba community in Mwitika division of Kitui District over pastures and water is a long-term problem. “And we are looking for a long-term solution to the problem,” Chepchieng added.
He further talked about the drug abuse, illicit brews and HIV/AIDS problems in the district. The DC said that he had signed a performance contract with the government on behalf of the local District Officers and chiefs. “We must implement all what is in our service charter. We must be effective. We must have a responsibility in us as supervisors,” the DC told the administrators.
He announced that every chief must have two public rallies in his/her respective location in a month. The public is our employer and he/she wants services. I expect you to be beyond reproach. I want a competent officer. I don’t want an officer who looks like a rained on person,” the DC told his juniors. He told them that he will be looking at the chief’s workplan once he visits the chief’s office.
The DC announced that SP Adan will next week tour all the Administration Police posts within the district to ensure their viability. He said that the police posts that require extra officers will be added more officers for the benefits of the public. Kitui District comprises of seven administrative divisions namely the Central, Matinyani, Mutitu, Mwitika, Yatta, Mutonguni and Kyuluni and it has a total of 43 administrative locations. The DC said that the provision of seeds to the citizens by the government is part of poverty eradication
Kalawa residents protest over corrupt officer
Residents of Kalawa division in Mbooni district want a senior administration police officer in the area transferred for allegedly harassing them.
The residents who comprised traders at Kalawa market said the officer had made difficult their businesses for demanding bribes to allow them operate.
”He has even made it difficult for those supplying us with cereals from outside to trade in the area for arresting them after failing to give out bribes’’ said the residents.
They cited an incident at the market where the officer descended on a businesswoman’s cereals store where he demanded by force some huge bribe before she’s allowed to sell the maize to locals who are starving.
They said the officer had reached an unacceptable point that will no longer be tolerated and threatened to hold demonstrations to drive their point home.
”We cannot continue living in the past colonial life yet we have achieved our independence’’ said an angry trader, Mutinda Kyome.
They at the same time appealed to the area district commissioner and the MP Mr Mutula Kilonzo to intervene.
Efforts to get comment from the officer were fruitless after he went underground when he realized he was being sought by the press for a comment.
The DC could not be reached for comment on his mobile phone but the MP promised to have the matter investigated and the right action to be taken.
EDITORIAL
Yes, Mrs Ngilu has shown leadership in Kitui Central
EARLY this Month, a remarkable event took place in Kitui District. Mrs Charity Kaluki Ngilu, arguably one of
The theme of the event was ‘Beyond Famine Relief’. Her thought line is that Kitui Central, just like other parts of Ukambani has relied for a long time on handouts given by the State in the form of Famine Relief- a reliance that has become an appalling addiction of the locals to the munificence of the State.
There is nothing imperfect with the State intervening to give food supplies when famine comes calling on its people. But is it not more strategic if interventions are instituted to ensure that deprivation does not occur in the first place?.
This dependence syndrome has produced citizens, who are derided and dehumanized by their invented inability to stand alone and fend for themselves.
In the eyes of many, residents of this part of the world cannot survive unless the State unleashes food handouts during times of drought. These handouts have come with dishonor and locals have become the nation’s laughing stock because they appear incapable of feeding themselves. Worse still, the State has exploited this situation to its advantage especially when deprivation comes in an election year.
Obviously, it is not true that these citizens can not stand alone. Yet it is true that manipulability of hungry people is phenomenal.
What is not available among them is enough rainfall-water if you want- to enable them grow food for themselves. Even as their lands remain ravaged by harsh dry spells and scanty rainfall, these residents have astonishing buoyancy to cope with life in dry lands such that they only turn to famine relief as matter of a last resort.
Therefore Mrs. Ngilu’s theme of Beyond Famine Relief (Mwolyo) captures a vision where citizens can develop a framework of standing on their own- once they have been enabled to do so.
We are informed that she has shaped the Kitui Central Development Association ( KICEDA) to help her prosecute this agenda of making Kitui Central residents discover how to go into the river and do the fishing on their own, rather than wait to be given the fish- as the State does today.
Ngilu’s game plan to enable her people engage in ways that are productive- engagements that bring real and quicker result to the way they live. She has undertaken a survey to map out families in dire need and has already set out to equip the families with means of production so that they can first meet basic family obligations as they embark in the bigger war to fend off poverty among themselves.
Towards this end, some Sh.15 million was raised. Ngilu is purchasing locally improved dairy goats and chicken and get been hives for the locals to engage in production of these varieties and honey. She has found seeds suited for dry land farming which she is in the process of distributing after realizing that traditionally cultivated crops-maize and beans have no place in local agriculture.
She also plans to use resources available within CDF and other sources to find adequate water for drinking and irrigation.
We wish to register our recognition that Mrs Ngilu has taken the first practical step ever taken by the political class to make a stab at the monster called poverty that ravages out land with calamitous outcomes. One can see that Mrs. Ngilu has provided leadership that is frighteningly absent from the agenda of our leaders.
Whether she succeeds or not is, certainly, a different matter altogether. But we must emphasize that this intervention from Kitui Central is a clear indication that our leaders can do something momentous at their local levels to stem the ignominy that famine relief has brought among our people.
For it is not sufficient or even smart anymore for our leaders to mount the podium and supplicate for famine relief without making efforts to ensure food crisis is summarily blocked from wreaking havoc on our land.
Even as this was taking place, some politicians from the region were shouting themselves hoarse as they cast their myopic vision towards 2012, yet the authority of hunger is imprisoning millions of our people.
This is the time we need to shift our paradigm; tomorrow will be too late!
OPINION
How to regain dignity beyond the shame of famine relief
For the fourth time running since 1992 the people of Kitui Central Constituency have resoundingly renewed my mandate as their representative in Parliament and I feel most humbled by this single most important honor which has been bestowed on me. I see these successive re-elections are a testament of their faith and trust in me and my abilities to influence and guide in a positive way the socio-economic and political direction of their constituency.
Past Challenges:
Joining politics in 1992 on an opposition ticket in a KANU diehard zone was a most daunting task. Opposition politics were perceived to have no play in
The problems faced by my constituents were many and daunting. Poverty was rampant, famine was chronic, schools were inadequate, unemployment was pervasive and water shortage was endemic. Women and the girl child who are traditionally tasked to fetch water traveled inordinately long distances in search of water. The existing health facilities were few and far between and the general welfare of the constituents was extremely appalling.
Roads were in desperate need of repair, and the general infrastructure in the constituency was in shambles. A situation of despair, and hopelessness existed which threatened the very foundations of our society.
Achievements
It is against this background the people of Kitui Central Constituency had found the urgent need for change in the governance of their affairs. This was the ultimate propelling force that thrust me into active competitive politics.
Sine then together with you all, we have made great strides in our match forward, and today, I can look back with pride on what we have achieved with the limited resources we have at our disposal.
During my five years stint as a Cabinet Minister in charge of Health, I became more aware of the high levels of morbidity and mortality experienced by our people in this country. Many of these illnesses and deaths can, however, be significantly reduced with improved access to water, sanitation and health care facilities.
To mitigate these, I did, as Minister for Health, mobilize resources to develop a dispensary in each of the sub-locations in this constituency. I also did upgrade the entire medical infrastructure at
We had no tertiary or higher education institution, but we now have a college of the
Way back in 1992, when government initiated development had stalled due to freezing of donor funds arising from bad leadership, I did conceived the idea of starting Kitui Central Development Association (KICEDA) – a NGO to assist my constituents in mobilizing resources for development. Today KICEDA is a major vehicle and instrument for bringing about change and development in Kitui Central Constituency.
KICEDA is now involved in a range of activities including: HIV/AIDS, health, water and sanitation, agriculture, livestock, environmental conservation and now – the preservation of our cultural heritage.
Recently, KICEDA conducted a comprehensive household survey to establish the underlying causes of poverty in this constituency. This followed a realization that my constituents perennially rely on famine-relief food – “mwolyo” to mitigate hunger. This growing shameful culture of dependency – of relying on food handouts has seriously undermined our dignity, self-esteem and to some degree credibility. We have to wriggle ourselves out of this trap so that we can become a self-reliant and self-sustaining community in food supply. This will however, come about if our people have access to enough water.
Our aim is in the long run, to make our area a food basket – capable of feeding ourselves and providing surplus to other. If countries receiving lesser rainfall have made it, why not us? We are committed to a dignified life beyond famine relief.
Our studies demonstrate that lack of water is the bane of all the problems in Kitui Central Constituency. With improved access to water, we can reduce incidences of diseases; boost agricultural and livestock production; guarantee ourselves food security; diversify our livelihoods, and ensure sustained incomes. The development of water infrastructure will therefore be our priority in the days to come so that we can fundamentally transform the livelihoods of our people.
The Kitui District Cultural Festival has been organized by KICEDA, and the focus of this event is on raising funds, thrift and entertainment.
Appeal
Our appeal is to all our friends to assist us in raising funds to meeting the challenges of providing water to our people and address other problems in our community. What we seek to assure those who support us is that, all funds realized will be utilized prudently to meet the objectives of the Constituency Development Plan (2008 – 2012), which we will be shortly launching.
We hope the idea of food ‘hand out’ will sooner than late become a thing of the past, not just in Kitui Central but over our land as a whole. I hope you will all join me in striving to realize our dream of a hunger free constituency.
Mrs. Kaluki Ngilu is the MP for Kitui Central and Minister for Water and Irrigation.
Robbed of self-esteem
Disease and famine wreak havoc to Mwingi family
The image of young woman seated at the entrance of a rented house with two babies suckling at a go gives an impression that they must have been twins. But one must be forgiven for making such a conclusion. Drawing nearer, a different picture emerges, a true picture of a dying child in the hands of a helpless mother.
It was hard to tell their age difference but one thing stood for sure that the two, Daniel and Stephen had an age gap of one year, not twins.
This is a sad story of Daniel, a one and half year old competing for the mammary resource with his four months old brother Stephen. He is severely malnourished and his mother Ms Tabitha Musya cannot afford to feed her six siblings and so opted to breastfeed him along side Stephen to save his life.
Daniel’s eyes obtrude from a depressed sockets and his stunted body size as small as that of his brother Stephen. His looks provoke tears, a boy whose fate only God knows.
Daniel family is full of problems, having no place to call home not forgetting the ravaging famine that poses a threat to the whole country. His mother Tabitha Musya
has known no peace since her husband David Musya kicked her out of their home at Kyulungwa village in Mwingi central division four months ago.
“When my husband expelled me I thought of my mother Kyambi Musyimi at Kyuso but her reception was not welcoming either. She openly told me to pack and go because she could not support all of us given the fact that she was a widower with four children at
Tabitha found herself in Mwingi town wandering from one place to another without a definite destination. An idea crossed her mind to first seek medical attention for her son Daniel who was in a very bad shape.
For the 25 year old mother, Mwingi district hospital children ward became her temporal home while nursing Daniel. Hounded by poverty and disease, the other five children were looped in. Mbithe- 6 years old, twins Makau and Kathini- 4, Mary- 2 and the last born Stephen also found themselves ‘admitted’ in the same ward as their brother Daniel because their father Musya was not willing to share their misery.
Mrs. Jacinta Mwinzi, the district children officer sought to have Musya, a Miraa vendor in the town forced to care for his family but her efforts were futile. “The man excused himself to fetch his parents to go for his family at the hospital but ran away. We learnt later that he went his own way.” She said
Daniel was discharged in July after spending two months in the hospital. As usual the family was faced with a challenge of finding a place and food too eat. An unfinished latrine in one of the residential plots in the town became their home for a couple of days until the care taker sympathized and offered them a room for free.
The family’s touching story spread like bush fire in the vicinity and when The Anchor visited them, they had not taken any meal since sunrise and Daniel’s healthy had deteriorated. His lying on the sack was a disturbing picture and his frail cry was an alert that a life was at stake.
Ironically the district Nutritionist, Mrs. Lydia Mbeti Kieti, provided Tabitha with a carton of condoms, six mosquito nets and initiated her to the family planning Programme as she left the hospital. The fact that Daniel needed nutritious food to carry home more than his mother required condoms was overlooked. Therefore the nurse’s effort to reinstate Daniel’s health failed to materialize. He was back to the hospital after a month but gravely ill than before.
Thanks to the God sent Mwingi District commissioner, Mr. Peter Kinuthia for sending a special delegation to deliver relief food to the family. Mr. Gideon Sirai , D.O 1 accompanied by Mwingi Central Division Officer, Ms Julie Moraa, district Nutritionist, Mrs. Lydia Mbeti Kieti and the Mwingi location Chief, Mr. Makau Musyoka were sent by the Dc to deliver a sack of maize, 2 gallons of oil, undisclosed amount of beans and nutritious meal to the family.
Daniel was given a new lease of life when Mr. Sirai and Ms Moraa ordered for his readmission following his sorry health. As usual the five children were back to the hospital, a place meant for the sick. When they shall be out, remains a concern to everybody because Mbithe and the twins Makau and Kathini might not see the wall of a class this year if efforts are not done to force his father to perform his family obligation.
Munyaka shares out Sh650,000 to 13 youth groups
THIRTEEN youth groups in
Even then, local MP Victor Munyaka wants the state to increase the kitty from Sh. 2 billion owing to the vast population of unemployed youth in the country.
Dr. Munyaka said with an annual budget of Sh.759 billion annually, the Sh.2 billion was too low and could not match the demands by the youth countrywide.
The MP who presided over the disbursement of Sh.650,000 from the Constituency Youth Enterprise Fund to 13 youth groups in the area asked the Government to streamline the bureaucracy in disbursement of the fund to ensure easy access by the youth.
The MP said youth talents should be nurtured because Kenyan youth had demonstrated that sports was an quick avenue for making millionaires among young people and cited Pamela Chelimo and Dennis Oliech who have excelled in athletics and soccer respectively.
He promised the youth in his constituency that if the Government initiated sports fund was channeled through the CDF, he would ensure that it was used to promote sports in the area. He asked the government to insure the YEDF to guard the fund against defaulters.
Leaders in Machakos have been urging the youth to come forward and borrow from the fund as they have been unwilling to do so.
Consequently, civic leaders from the Machakos municipal council are appealing to the youth to stop shunning the Youth Enterprise Development fund and go for the loans offered by the Government through the ministry of Youth and sports and financial institutions.
The civic leaders said many youths in the district had shied away from the loans.Councillor Oliver Nzeki who is also the council’s finance committee Chairman said youths in his Mua ward had not benefited from the fund because they did not know how to write proposals and promised to assist them learn the skill in order to reap maximum benefit from the Government loans.
The councillors said the fund had helped many youths in other parts of the country and challenged them to explore and exploit diverse business opportunities in a bid to create employment and reduce poverty.
The Machakos District Maendeleo ya Wanawake chairman Mrs. Mary Mbiu challenged the youth who were married to exploit opportunities arising from the fund and stop considering themselves as excluded from the fund.
He said in parts of Masinga constituency youths who were married had told her they would not apply for the loans as they did not consider themselves as youth simply because they were married.She said married women had double advantage because they could benefit from the Youth Enterprise Fund as well as the Women Fund in their respective districts.
MPs want search for political power halted in Ukambani
Three Ukambani Mps are seeking a paradigm shift in local politics from their search for power in 2012 and concentrate on the crippling poverty in the region.
The Mps led by the Water and Irrigation minister Mrs. Charity Ngilu said that top of the agenda in the region was provision of water and not political ambitions.
The Mps Assistant Minister for Youth and sports Mrs. Wavinya Ndeti, Kitui West MP Charles Nyamai and Mrs. Ngilu were speaking at the Kitui stadium during a fund raiser organized by Kitui Central Development Association.
The fund raiser was aimed at sourcing funds to meet the challenges of providing water and address other development problems in the area.
“For many years long serving politicians have been talking about what they want to be instead of what their people want to be. It is time leaders focused on delivery of service and help their people shake off poverty” said Mrs. Ngilu.
She asked voters in the region to vote out any of their leaders who failed to deliver development promises.
Ndeti said that high poverty levels characterized by famine had pushed young girls in the region to the indignity of commercial sex in order to get food for their families.
She said the community would not be taken for granted noting that anyone interested in political seats in 2012 should first deliver development to the region.
“We women Mps of Ukambani want to initiate development for our people but have no interest in empty politics of power. But by 2012 nobody should expect support from the community if they would not have addressed its problems”.
Kitui West Mp Mr. Charles Nyamai said mps should demonstrate their leadership by serving the pressing needs of the people.
He said Ukambani region required a marshal plan to get out of its poverty and challenged the Government to set aside billions of shillings to the ministry of Northern Kenya and Arid Lands as a sign of commitment to ending high level poverty in those zones.
He asked the Government to review the water reforms to ensure that poor people could access water free of charge just as it was with medical care in public hospitals.
The event was also addressed by Tourism Assistant minister Cecily Mbarire, Wajir North Mp Mr. Mohammed Gabow and Kiambaa Mp Stanley Githunguri.
The official insider account of how Sacco was looted
Overseer exposes big scramble for cash, names companies that pocketed millions and demands action on Ngomo's team
The following is an unflattering speech made by Mr. EDRICK NGUNZI. Chairman, of the Supervisory Committee to Masaku Teachers Saccco delegates at a meeting where the press was deliberately not invited. It is now fashionable for sacco leaders to exclude the press from their meetings ‘to let the Sacco die in peace’, even when what they do is clearly a matter of public interest. It is a telling account of how the most promising business entity in Machakos was looted. There are names of those the sacco overseers believe are culpable. Now The Anchor presents it all verbatim.
“Once again the Supervisory committee welcomes this pleasant occasion and fees privileged to present to the general membership through the delegates a report on the operations of the Sacco for the year 2007.
This year 2007 will, in the Supervisory committee’s view, go down as one which saw the Sacco almost collapse. The general decline in the Sacco’s loaning performance forced most of our members to seek loans from commercial banks and other financial institutions to cushion themselves from the harsh and hostile economic hardships facing almost everybody in
1. MEMBERSHIP
The tough economic conditions that faced the society in the year 2007 saw the greatest decline in membership ever witnessed since the Sacco was started over 40 years ago. The membership stood at over 11000 before the society lost control, making it one of the giant teachers Saccos in the country but as I report to you now, we lost 2048 members through voluntary withdrawals, retirement or natural attrition. This represents an 18.6% decline.
There are signs of a light growth this year following renewed member confidence in the current management committee but all efforts should be made to bring back the members who are currently being held hostage by banks.
We are also at the same time appealing to you delegates to encourage the newly employed teachers across the Districts to register with the Society. Their enrolment with us will however to a greater extend be determined by our performance, now and in future. It is therefore a task we are placing on the management to reclaim and retain the society’s lost glory.
2. LOANS/LOANING POLICY
The most crucial and critical service a Sacco offers to its members is the provision of loans. This is an area that the society completely failed in. The last loans were provided in the month of March last year and the rest of the year passed without loans.
The loaning policy of first come first served was also grossly violated and loans were only available to a section of membership who were perceived to be loyal to the system. In some cases, free loans and advances were awarded to these members and some ended up receiving hundred of thousands of shillings. This basically means the 3 times a members’ share contribution policy pegged to loaning was also omitted. As I report to you a group of politically correct individuals, mostly from central and Kangundo electoral areas, are in record to have received instant advances to a tune of a million shillings plus each. The amounts are irrecoverable by check-off but I’m pleased to report that the CMC has hired a lawyer to pursue the cases. Let’s hope we’ll see quick action towards the recovery.
Fellow delegates, we should all be vigilant and watchful over the loaning procedures. Any violation should be reported immediately to make sure members are served equally. We have no sacred cows in the Society.
3. COMPUTERIZATION
It is now exactly a decade since computerization was first introduced in our society. The aim was to computerize both Bosa and Fosa. We were promised then, that we would be able to obtain members loan details at the click of a button at the reception office come 1st March 1999. The dream has never been realized.
I would however find it worthwhile to report that the collapse of the society emanated from this so called computerization. Millions of shillings, in fact over 20m has up to now been used to do what could have cost approximately 6 million then. The process, it is a pity, has not been completed despite the huge expenditure except in the Fosa, where a system, full of all sorts of loopholes was installed, again exposing the society to fraud. Here our computer staff found easy prey and deprived the society of up to 50m. They have since been laid off and arraigned before court.
Efforts to link Bosa and Fosa, it is understood, are underway, after the completion of an evaluation by a computer expert on the current system. We are advising the management to source for a better system, if after the evaluation the current one is found to lack the required controls.
The computerization process should then either be completed or stopped altogether.
4. FOSA
For a quite sometime, the supervisory committee has been carefully looking into the operations of the FOSA. We have been keenly studying the operations of the main office as well as those of the six branches held at Kibwezi, Matuu, Emali, Wote, Kangundo and Kikima office.
The main office has been making a profit from its monthly activities but the branches, during the year under review recorded huge losses thus eating into the surplus netted at the head office.
The losses were incurred due to hefty allowances provided for staff, and security and the Callkey line monthly fee.
It is however, worth noting that although the current CMC has greatly slashed the expenditure on mobiles besides discontinuing the Callkey line the branches have continued to make no surplus expect Kibwezi that has recorded a negligible surplus.
The branches should be evaluated with a view of closing down those that are perceived to be a burden to the society. Remember we are in business and not out to please members. The same members eagerly await dividends at the end of every trading period and therefore no loss making venture should be continued.
5. NEGATIVE ACCOUNTS
History often repeats itself. In the books of history a scramble for the riches of
A similar situation was witnessed at our society when the then General Manager introduced manual withdrawals. Sacco staff, permanent and casuals as well as attachees made frantic attempts to sweet talk the Manager to allow them withdraw from empty accounts thus creating negatives. The teachers also discovered this easy way to riches and joined the scramble. Non teachers also got wind of this ‘gold mine’ and rushed in for gold. Well connected committee members, those loyal to the systems also jumped into the bandwagon and like the rest pocketed what was allowed to them.
At the end of the scramble, the society lost over 66M. The amounts are in record and efforts by the current committee to recover the looted cash are underway albeit slowly. No single coin should remain unpaid. We urge the CMC to deal with the looters without mercy.
6. THE PLAZA
This housing project that was undertaken by the Sacco and a section of our members now houses our offices. The society contributed 25% while the members did the rest 75%. The Management of the Plaza for sometimes remained with Sacco until members appointed an independent board to run its affairs. The Sacco has two members representing it at the board.
It is therefore questionable why society’s employees are working for the Plaza when the two are separate entities in all aspects. As a tenant to the Investment, the Sacco should plainly pay its landlord and the two should never share anything. Efforts to have the two divorced are not bearing fruit. We are therefore requesting for an order from delegates to have the two operate separately.
THE 2006/2007 PROCUREMENT
REPORT
During the period under review, the Society witnessed yet another scramble but this time from suppliers. These, during a scrutiny into the then coveted payment vouchers are categorized into minor and major suppliers.
An in-depth search also unearthed a yet third category that had its payment vouchers stacked not in a file but in a special envelop.
This group was categorized as ‘special suppliers.’
Let me briefly report the main suppliers in 2006 and 2007 separately.
IN 2006 – 2007
Name of Supplier Items/service supplied Amount
1. Travelwide Computer software 17,483,232.80
2. Scud distributors Office equipment 13,240,133.80
3. Brookhaven Stationery 9,456,000.00
4. Kamploop Agencies Fosa strip cards, banking software,
Fosa credit cards 8,635,000.00
5. Hardsoft system Computer networking, air conditioners 5,421,000.00
6. Mesco consultants Strategic plan, Fosa debit cards 2,010,965.50
7. Talkcom mobile services Delegates/staff mobile phones 987,394.00
8. Callkey E.A Ltd. Internet installation, Vsat Installation 2,246,844.90
9. None Varied 9,910,155.00
NOTE
l In July 2006, Scud distributors was contracted to supply calculators worth 980,000/=.
l On February 24th Kamploop Agencies was paid at once Kshs. 1.7M for supplying software on magnetic strip cards for Fosa.
l In May 2006, Hardsoft was paid Kshs. 250,000/= for supplying office air conditioners.
l In 2006, Mesco consultants was contracted to put up suggestion boxes at Kshs. 200,000/=.
l Talkcom was during the year in question contracted to supply mobile phones for delegates to be repaid through check off system. On 23rd August 2006, Talkcom supplied mobile phones for staff valued at Kshs. 142,400. However no record of the beneficiaries could be traced meaning no recoveries have been or are being made.
IN 2007
SUPPLIER AMOUNT
1. Computer castles 6,720,000.00
2. Travel Wide 5,824,983.50
3. Scud distributors 5,484,850.00
4. Jawchan 2,793,230.00
5. Kamploop agencies 2,375,000.00
6. Hardsoft 2,070,000.00
7. Callkey E.A. Ltd. 1,267,845.00
8. Mesco 953,000.00
9. Brookhaven 932,000.00
10. Chakim pride 607,500.00
11. Talkcom 250,000.00
NOTE
Other minor suppliers, namely: Chip Electrical, Asentric Consultants Ltd., Akamba fire protective, Shekima Tents, Synchrosoft Kenya, Uneek cleaning services, Katiba Ltd., to name just but a few were also in constant business with the society over the two year period under review. They drew millions of shillings from the teachers’ organization.
DIVIDENDS
From the analysis above, it is now almost evident that the top brass concerned itself with suppliers, where in most cases supplies were only done in paper without delivery of the goods thus translating to massive losses. In my own view very little or no surplus was realized. The audited books of accounts will tell. However, let the committee pay what was realized if any.
THE FORMER EXECUTIVE COMMITTEE
The Sacco is ailing and moribund due the greed that was shown by Mr. Solomon Ngomo, former General Manager, Mr. Cosmas Mwololo, retired Chairman, Paul Ilii, former Treasurer, Mr. Nicholas Mutunga, former Hon. Secretary, and Mr. Livinac Muia, retired Vice Chairman. They, in collaboration with suppliers looted the society coffers dry. A lot has up to now been unearthed and the CMC should urgently make arrangements to have them face the law. Let no stone remain unturned.
CONCLUSION
1. The period under review was the most difficult one due to cash constraints and the supervisory committee wishes to register profuse gratitude to those of our members who firmly held on to their seats when the vessel was facing eminent collapse.
2. The supervisory wishes to thank the delegates for their continued support even during those trying moments.
3. The Ministry of Co-operatives shall not be forgotten for the advisory role they played to have the Sacco back on its feet.
4. Lastly to all our membership and to those who in one way or another had an input into finding solution to our problems.”
EDRICK NGUNZI
CHAIRMAN
SUPERVISORY COMMITTEE
17 unidentified bodies burried
THE Kitui Municipal Council has buried a total of 17 unclaimed bodies from the
He added that some of the buried were suspected criminals that had been burned beyond recognition by members of the public. The medic said that the unclaimed body should be disposed off from the mortuary within ten days after a law court order to bury the same. “We bury the unclaimed bodies through collaboration with other authorities including the police,” the doctor said.
Extra councillors sworn to serve Kitui Councils
OFFICIAL chauvinism will see Local Authorities in Kitui District pay more councilors than the law
The three ODM-Kenya councilors in Kitui District were officially sworn in following a court order.
Councillors Henry Billy Mwendwa and Mrs Mwiyathi Mutia of the Kitui Municipal Council were sworn in at the Town Hall by the Deputy Town Clerk, Mr Francis Alaar.
The Kitui Municipal Council now has a total of 14 councillors. The 14 councillors including the Mayor Patrick Makasi Muindi attended the ceremony.
And Councillor Joseph Kalenga of the Kitui County Council was sworn in by the
All the 39 Kitui County Council’s civic leaders who are twenty-nine elected and ten nominees attended the function.
The three civic leaders were sworn in under the High Court’s order. They were nominated as councilors vide Gazette Notice Number 1276 dated February 22, 2008 but t were later degazetted by the then Local Government Minister Uhuru Kenyatta.
He claimed to be exercising powers conferred to him by section 27 (2) and 40 (1) of the Local Government Act (Cap.265), yet it is widely believed that he did it at the bidding of Vice President Kalonzo Musyoka, whose meddling with nominated councilors list has triggered a fall-out he may never overcome.
Informed sources tell The Anchor that the list of nominees from Ukambani as presented through ODM-K Mutula Kilonzo was never the same again after it was tempered with at Mr Kenyatta’s office by Mr Musyoka, Machakos Town MP Victor Munyaka and Kangundo MP Johnson Muthama on one Sunday evening, triggering a rebellion in the party that Mr Musyoka does not seem to have a way of stemming.
Several MPs- Wavinya Ndeti, Kiema Kilonzo and Charles Kilonzo protested, saying that names they had presented had been altered, going against an agreement that they had made in the party.
Mutula has never commented on the changes but is believed to be unhappy that some leaders sought to alter a list he had painstakingly put together as party secretary general and forwarded to the Uhuru with the approval of the VP
The Kitui County Clerk said that it is the minister to decide which nominated councilor will be degazetted. “We have no powers to degazette any councilor. The powers to gazette or degazette a councillor lie with the minister,” Wambua said as he swore in Councillor Kalenga.
He said that the large number of councillors is a burden to the tax-payers in the country.
Mavoko council fights on
MAVOKO Municipal Council is pushing on with closures of businesses and demolition of houses to comply with provisions of Local Government Act and Public Health in Mlolongo area and the municipality at large.
Town Clerk Wisdom Mwamburi told The Anchor that sanity would have to be returned to Mavoko so that the municipality would grow within the limits and guidelines of existing statutes. This comes as residents continued to raise complaints about notices the council had given to traders in Mlolongo to pull their buildings down and construct water disposal systems on their buildings.
In Mlolongo, sewer discharges on to the main tarmac road as some buildings block its passage, while some buildings do not have arrangements to dispose of such waste.
Residents, rather than address the problems have resorted to protests and demands that changes be made at Town Hall. The municipality is one of the badly planned municipalities in
Elsewhere, Mr Mwamburi has sworn in Mr Abaroba Godana as the third ODM-K nominated councilor, with Mavoko municipality joining in the ranks with councils with more councilors than is legally allowed- thanks to confusing politics at ODM-K.
The Town Clerk swore in the councilor to comply with a High Court order reinstating him back to the council as a councillor. Mr Godana’s nomination was revoked by the ODM-K party in March this year and his name replaced with that of Ms Cecilia Mbinya Celeti. Celeti remains a councilor in the same council with one nomination slot being filled by two individuals. It is unlikely that the party will move to revoke the nomination of Celeti since there is no loud complaint about the two being in the council. What is however at issue is that it is the tax payer in Mavoko who will feel the pinch in paying for the upkeep of a councilor who should not have been nominated in the first place.
Given the culture of reward existing in all parties, ODM-K, like many other parties may well be pleased to let Mavoko taxpayers carry the burden of its mistakes- as long as it is not the party that bears the brunt of it all.
Hundreds of Mr Godana’s supporters and those of Cllr. Cecelia had arrived at the Town hall as early to witness the unfolding events as security officers kept watch from a distance.
Mr Godana’s swearing in brings to the ten the number of civic leaders in the council which is dominated by ODM-K with four elected councillors while Sisi kwa sisi, The Independent Party (TIP) and ODM party have one elected councillor each respectively.
Just how will the metropolis will find Machakos municipality?
Just how real is this thing called Nairobi Metropolitan Development? That question emerged as central to Machakos residents when a group led by Mutula Kilonzo came calling at Town Hall.
Rather than be told what NMD is, leaders resorted to singing dirges about water- old tunes that were still being sung in Machakos some 20 years ago. Thus a reporter summed up the meeting in thus intro:
“A cross section of leaders in Ukambani wants the Government to permanently fix the perennial water problem in the region as it gears to join the
They alleged that many industries that had started in Machakos were forced to relocate owing to water shortage and cited the East Kenya Bottlers and Kenya Orchards. Though it is true that water shortage in Machakos is legendary, it is doubtful whether water alone and not poor political leadership may have led to the relocation.
They said with the expansion of the Nairobi Metropolis up to Machakos district, factories that were congested in
Machakos Mayor Councillor Fidelis Munyao said the Government was rehabilitating Maruba dam with Sh350 million noting that local leaders were mounting pressure on the Government to construct a second dam at Muwongoni in order to satisfy the town’s water needs.
Machakos Town MP Dr Victor Munyaka said that water from Mt Kilimanjaro through the Nol Turesh pipeline that was created in the 1990s to solve water problems in Machakos was diverted into flower farms and other townships.” (This too is very debatable, and highly speculative coming from a Member f Parliament because water on this line is pilfered all the way and the pump station at Kima operates well below capacity such that water shortage is experienced by all users beyong the pump station, the flower farms included.)
At the end of the event, it emerged that locals were just involved in another talk shop where no clear ideas emerged as to how to move Machakos ahead to the next stage.
Even as water remains a crucial issue, Machakos is in need of new leadership direction and clear ideas on how to safeguard interests of the locals when the metropolis finally comes.
As it is, the locals are ill prepared to face the challenges of a big city. First, the local economy is not in the hands of the locals. Businesses, many of which do not need water to survive are collapsing like a pack of cards each day as locals shun credit or do not have the means to borrow so as to invest.
Even within the strategic investments like ranches and large commercial coffee estates, local political and business leadership is trooping there to share out the range land so as to sell it to those with the money-obviously non locals as locals are broke and being edged out of the CDB.
Observers see the meetings being organized by those driving the metropolis dream as good opportunities to re-alignment and stock taking. But if they are founded on a platform of mourning and chest-thumping, then by the time the metropolis is here, one may need to be shown of what benefit it will be to locals who have no means to contribute to its well-being.
Schedule of Mass, and Worship in
REDEEMED
First service: 8.00 AM – 10.45 AM.
Second service: 11.00 AM – 1.30 PM.
Our Lady of Lords Cathedral, (Catholic)
First service {ENGLISH.}: 7.00 AM – 8.30 AM.
Second service {KISWAHILI.}: 8.30 AM – 10.30 AM.
Third service {KIKAMBA.}: 10.30 AM – 12.00 PM.
A .C .K, All Souls Cathedral
First service {ENGLISH.}: 7.30 AM – 9.00 AM.
Second service {ENGLISH}: 9.15 AM – 11.15 AM.
Third service {KISWAHILI}: 11.30 AM – 1.00 PM.
First service {ENGLISH.}: 8.30 AM – 10.15 AM
Second service {KISWAHILI.}: 10.30 AM – 1.00 PM
First service: ENGLISH: 8.30AM – 10.30AM.
Second service: KISW. 10.45AM – 1.00PM.
Morning Glory: 6.00 AM – 7.00 AM MON – SAT.
Lunch Hour Fellowship: 12.45PM – 1.45PM.
Mid-Week Prayer Fellowship WED: 5.00PM – 6.00PM.
VP's wife to build destitute home
Ahadi project an initiative of the Vice President’s wife, Pauline Kalonzo, is set to start destitute home in Mwingi and Kyuso districts to provide basic needs for the orphans and rehabilitate street children in the districts.
The project that has been silently aiding the orphans and street children in various areas in the country would soon put up a permanent home for these destitute children in her home district Kyuso to realize her call.
Speaking to Muslim women at
However she vehemently denied that the project was as a result of the controversial Shs 400,000 salary she accepted from the State.The salary was offered by the Head of Civil Service Francis Muthaura to be paid to her and Ida Raila the wife of the Prime Minister Raila Odinga but Ida turned the down the offer.
Pauline accepted the salary, saying she would use it on charities. She told reporters that she was yet to get the said salary and she wasn’t going to use it to construct the home because the plan to build it was overdue. ”I will construct it from my own pocket plus my friends donations,” she said.
The Muslim women through their representative Farida Ali decried of what they termed as violation to their religious human rights by some schools in the District. Farida said
Pauline who was accompanied by her long time friend Mrs. Hellen Ndeti told the gathering that there was freedom of worship in the country and people should not be denied their right to worship. She however said in Education department there were laid down guidelines to be followed to settle issues and promised that the issue would be sorted out soon by the District Education Office.
Catholics unveil University plan for machakos as deal is signed
HOPE for the revival of the Cocacola East Kenya Bottlers is sealed.
Now, the Nairobi Bottlers Limited together with the Catholic Diocese of Machakos have signed a deal to start a University in the premises in Machakos town.
Under the partnership agreement, the new institution is set to kick off in the first quarter of 2009.
The agreement was signed by the Nairobi Bottlers Board chairman Mr.Chris Kirubi and the Machakos Catholic Bishop Rt. Rev. Martin Musonde Kivuva and witnesed by the Company’s Chief Executive Officer Mr.Daryl Wilson among others.
The new institution will start operating as the Machakos Institute of Development Studies (MIDS) before it is upgraded into a full-fledged technical University within the next few years.
Mr.Kirubi said his company will initially provide the 27.5 acre site where the former East Kenya Bottlers plant stood along with the buildings and facilities on it. He said phase one of the project is expected to cost Sh.35m excluding the land and buildings.
“We shall also put in two shillings for every one shilling that the Catholic Church will invest in the project “, Mr. Kirubi added.
He said the project has already been approved by the Ministry of Higher Education and is being supported by the Nairobi Bottler’s parent company, South Africa Bottling Company.
Bishop Kivuva said the starting of the new institution is a dream come true for him and the entire catholic church.
He said the first batch of 70 students will be re-located from the church’s Media Centre Near Machakos Gold Club along the Machakos-Kangundo road.
Lobby opposes Biosafety Bill 2008
The Kenya Biodiversity Coalition (KBioC) held peaceful street demonstration in Machakos town to oppose the proposed enactment of Biosafety bill 2008.
Addressing the Press at the
In the press statement read by the Managing Director of the Embu based Kubukubu Agro-organic Products Mr Jack Rware, they urged members of parliament to reject the bill until adequate consultation was done with individuals, communities and civil society groups in order to be strengthened by all stakeholders.
They said that foreign funding from several foundations and profit-driven agrochemical and seed multinational companies were influencing and pushing for the enactment of the bill.
They said that while scientific innovations were welcome, the Government and leaders should put the interest of Kenyans first and promote homegrown, appropriate and sustainable technologies.
They said the Biosafety Bill 2008 does not adequately address the interference on the country’s ecosystems that include food web, animal and plant diversity and mutations which could cause irreversible damage to the ecosystem.
They said the bill was in conflict with the Environmental Management Co-ordination Act 1999 which provides for Environmental Impact and Risk management of any activity before implementation.
The coalition says that the medium and long term effects of Genetically Modified Organisms (GMOs) on human health and environment were still unknown and so many countries were entitled to reject GMOs.
The coalition also argues that the Biosafety Bill 2008 does not protect seeds from local farmers that stand to be contaminated by open pollination and eradicate traditional seeds.
They said it would create a dependency syndrome of small scale farmers on multinational seed companies that demand payment of royalties on patented GMO seeds.
They said the GMOs are touted as solutions for food security but even with high yielding seed verities, food security had remained elusive and called for adoption of local indigenous knowledge and coping strategies as means to food security.
They argued that instead of incorporating the concept that new technologies must not be adopted until their safety is proven, the Biosafety Bill 2008 does not apply that precaution.
The demonstrators who walked along the
Mr Kilonzo assured the protestors that the bill would not be passed until a consensus was reached among all stakeholders as it posed great risks to the country if it went unscrutinised.
Others who addressed the press were the Kenya Small Scale Farmers Forum National Treasurer Mr. Justus Lavi, the General Secretary of the Mwala Solidarity Fund for Development Mr Nelson Mung’ala among others.
Learn crucial lessons frm Ngilu, Ex Masinga MP Kiluta tells VIce President
Former assistant minister
Mr Kiluta termed claims by four PNU MPs that central province votes will go to Musyoka’s presidential bid 2012 as a big joke and misleading.
”We know very well they are trying to confuse Mr Kalonzo in a delaying tactic to prevent him from re-aligning with the popular group likely to win the 2012 polls’’ said Mr Kiluta.
Some four PNU MPs from central province, George Thuo, Dick Wathika, Waitutu among other assured Musyoka that all the central province votes will go to him in order to win the 2012 presidential polls.
But Mr Kiluta described the utterances as far fetched with intend to confuse and retain Mr Musyoka within PNU and later dump him. ”These people cheated Mrs Charity Ngilu the same way in 1997 and it is the high time Musyoka takes precaution before he’s retained and later dumped in a dustbin’’ said Mr Kiluta.
The former Masinga legislator also took issue with the group for pointing an accusing finger to constitutional affairs minister Martha Karua for declaring her interest in the presidential race.
”They should not under rate the minister or criticize her since she has every constitutional right to contest for any seat that is not a preserve for certain individuals’’ he said.
The MPs had taken issue with the minister for her declaration to vie for the top seat come 2012 saying she was wasting her time.
On the Krigler Report, Mr Kiluta criticized Kangundo MP Johnstone Muthama, for saying that Kivuitu and his group were going no where. ”At least some leaders should weigh their words before they utter them for they will describe the caliber of leaders they are’’ said Mr Kiluta.
Mr Muthama who accompanied the PNU colleagues from central province said ECK is there to stay and those agitating for their exit should know that the Kibaki administration was headed by ‘Wanaume’
Ngilu's master plan to fight famine
WATER and Irrigation Minister Charity Kaluki Ngilu has devised an instrument to overlap the policy of feeding the citizens with relief food. The minister said that such a move increases poverty among the people, adding that the citizens should be assisted to be self reliant instead of being given relief food.
The minister regretted the rate at which poverty level was ripping through the Ukambani region. And she announced a range of measures that she has already undertaken eradicate the problem among her Kitui Central constituents. She announced that she is going to buy some dairy goats, eggs chickens, bee-hives and drought-resistant food crops seeds among others for every household within her constituency.
Ngilu was speaking to thousands of her constituents during the Kitui Kamba Cultural Festival at the Kitui Municipal Stadium where Sh 15m was raised to help fund her instrument.
The Kiambaa Member of Parliament Stanley Munga Githuguri was the chief guest at the function. “My people have suffered enough and I am out to do all I can to help them,” Ngilu said amid gyratory cheers of joy from her constituents. “We the leaders must be held accountable for our people and we must deliver on promise,” she added. The minister advised her people to plan their families as part of ridding themselves of poverty. Ngilu, who is also the NARC leader, said that the Parliament is for men and women. “And if the majority of Members of Parliament are women, the august house will be good. The thieves are men. If you hear of thieves, it is the men. We must ask ourselves what our people will be,” the Kitui Central MP said.
On his part, the Kitui West MP Charles Mutisya Nyamai hit out at the Vice President Stephen Kalonzo Musyoka, complaining that he (Musyoka) had done nothing for his Kamba community in terms of development. Nyamai at the same time asked the Kitui District Commissioner Joshua K.Chepchieng, who was present, to evict some squatters from the Katoteni, Kanyonyoo and B2 Yatta Ranching Cooperative Societies in
Kwa Vonza location in Kitui West .
The MP said: “We don’t want to have a
And the Kitui DC disclosed that the district has a population of about 500,000 people whom he said that 65 percent of them live below poverty line. The DC said that the problem forces them to give out some 40,000 bags of relief maize to the needy each month. “I and my technical officers are undertaking measures to reduce poverty in the district one by one,” Chepchieng added. Addressing the gathering, the Kiambaa MP Stanley Munga Githuguri said that many of the male Kenyan Members of Parliament are Satans. “They are not good people. You see somebody laughing with you but he prays for you to die,” he said. The Youth Affairs Assistant Minister Wavinya Ndeti highly thanked the Kitui Central constituents for returning Ngilu to Parliament during the ountry’s last year’s general election. Ndeti described Ngilu as a Kenyan hero. She said that 75 percent of Kenyans are youths and that they want development and not mere political rhetoric. Ndeti lambasted some leaders who are now talking about the 2012 general election, saying that the leaders should serve the public instead of talking politics.
The Kathiani MP said that the Kenyans will return the only performing leaders to elective positions during the 2012 general elections. Ndeti asked the youths in the country to benefit themselves through the National Youth Development Fund (NYDF). On her part, the Tourism Assistant Minister Cecily Mbarire announced that every region of
The head of the Anglican Church of
The Kitui Mayor Patrick Makasi Muindi also addressed the function. Present included the Kitui District Officer 1 Fredrick Kiteme and the local District Officer, Mrs. Priscilla Wanyiri.
Minister Ngilu presided over a fundraiser in aid of the Kitui Central Development Association (KICEDA) that realized 15 million shillings.
Proceeds f the harambeee are being used to purchase a variety of Locally improved goats (especially dairy)
The plan is to buy over 400 of them and spread them across the constituency to commence a process of altering the goat variety.
Other proceeds will be used to buy locally improved chicken that will be distributed to needy families so that they can begin to produce eggs and chicken for sale.
Mrs. Ngilu also plans to use the funds to initiate honey production by buying bee hives that needy families will manage.
As we went to Press, Mrs. Ngilu begun implementing her anti poverty strategy by distributing seeds for dry land farming like Pigeon peas, Green grams, Millet/Sorghum, Sun flower, Cowpeas red pepper pumpkins, groundnuts water melons etc.
Rabid beast stirs Kaiti
A RABID beast is causing panic in a village in Mukuyuni after hungry villagers feasted on meat from animals bitten by it.This caused fear and apprehension to residents of
Since the rabid beast invaded the village, five cattle and a goat have died after developing full blown rabies while many of the remaining cattle have started exhibiting signs of rabies.
After realising the goat they ate was rabid, the villagers who ate the meat were forced to rush to hospital for treatment.. Local MP and Assistant Minister for Agriculture Gideon Ndambuki found himself giving out one of his vehicles to take residents to hospital where at least 300 were inoculated.
One dog that was bitten by the honey badger after it crossed its path has since gone rabid and bit a child who is admitted at the Makueni district Hospital. Now a difficult hunt for the beast has been launched by KWS rangers in the dense Mukuyuni and surrounding hills. Villagers here now dare not go home in darkness as no one knows when the usually swift beast would strike.
Mr Julius Manza, head of KWS in Machakos Command is leading the search team. The beast locally known as Ndingu or Nthee first struck in the village on August 23 2008.
He said the beast has made sporadic attacks where it has so far bitten 17 cattle, one goat and one dog. The goat and 5 cattle have since died. He said the cattle have been secreting saliva as the viral disease that has no cure once it becomes full blown continued to kill infected animals.
Medical experts say once one is bitten by a rabid animal, they should seek medical treatment before the expiry of 21 days after which little can be done to save their lives if the disease develops.
Kangundo: Where gangsters call the shots
A total of 80 people were rounded up by the police following attack of the Matungulu DO in Kangundo district.
Police say the eighty suspects were giving the police good lead into the arrest of the thugs involved in the attack of the DO. Criminals in Kangundo have taken thuggery as a hobby . Marauding gangs, moving in groups of between 20-30 terrorize villagers at will and thin out at day break in a society where local administration appears dead and unable to gather evidence that can help stem the terror.
Kangundo has been under constant siege by gangsters who raid villages and markets at will. Residents attribute the thuggery to that fact that local police do not have enough vehicles to enable quick response to attacks. Machakos OCPD recently released a single vehicle to Kangundo Police to help police an area where the police-gangster ratio is simply overwhelming. Put another way, Kangundo residents are on their own and the best they can do is to set up own - Kienyeji- strategies to fight crime as police appear clearly unable to do a thing other than react as fire fighters do to fires.
Another cause of attack is said to be the fact that the main command is in Machakos, over 60 kms away since the district still awaits the formation of a police command after it was hived off from Machakos.
Armed gangsters numbering more than ten invaded the residence of the DO Ms. Margaret Githaiga near Tala town and stole some cash after overpowering her body guard who is an administration police officer.The Anchor understood that the DO lived among local residents and thugs may not have known who thwy were targeting.
The DO was not injured during the incident that took about thirty minutes but the AP sustained minor injuries during his struggle with the thugs. This is the first incident of the kind in the area which had been calm for quite some time.
Endless terror on Iveti Hills
THREE suspects have been charged with the murder of two traders of Lita Market.
It is the first time that anyone has been charged with murder arising from this area where crime has attained some levels of notoriety. The suspects- Peter Musyoki Pius,Paul Kyalo Kimeu and Bernard Muriuka appeared before Machakos Principal Magistrate Julia Oseko to answer charges under the hanging Act. She remanded them in police custody as they were required in Makueni over a similar offence.
Lawlessness returned to Lita area of Kathiiani Location with a bang three weeks ago after a long lull. This time round, gangsters killed two businessmen in a night of terror.
After surviving several attacks in the past, soft drinks distributor Silvester Muithya Matheka finally met his death under the hands of criminals.
A five man gang armed with an AK 47 assault rifle raided the businessman’s home at Mitondoni village at about 1.00am and killed him as his wife Martha screamed for help.
At Lita market, the gangsters broke into the rented house of a local butcher, Patrick Nduva Maweu and shot him in the stomach.
The late Muithya’s wife,
Her husband quickly armed himself with a spear as the gangsters struggled to cut widow grills through which they managed to shoot him in the head, killing him instantly.
She said she surrendered some Sh.220, 000.00 and two mobile phones to the gangsters who left for Lita market, about 300 meters from their home.
Her mobile phone was later traced to Mutituni area, a few kilometers from Machakos town and the police are holding a suspect for questioning on how it got into his hands.
Senior police officers led by the Acting Eastern Provincial Investigations Officer Ms.Lilian Kiamba and Assistant Commissioner of Police in charge of Administration in the province Mr.Samuel Kimaru visited the scene as investigations got underway.
The general area of Lita, Kaviani and Nzaikoni, located atop Iveti Hills has been eventful in terms of crime. Businessmen have been killed and others have escaped death by a whisker as gangs hunt them down.
Former Kathiiani CDF chairman Philip Mutiso alias Wambithe who is a prominent businessman in the area was once shot on his leg by a gang that has terrorized the area for a long time and police believe that business rivalry may have a hand in he killings. Nevertheless, police appear unable to unravel the streak of murder cases in the area.
Kiamba said the manner in which the gangster attacked the two indicated they knew where they were going.
“It is not possible to get to a residential plot and head straight to a particular room mid way, leaving the rest”, she explained.
She said the DCIO Machakos Mr.M.Seif has been tasked to gather intelligence information and look into the nature of the previous attacks on the deceased.
“We appeal to the members of the public and even the media to assist us in our efforts to eradicate crime”. The detective confirmed police in Kangundo are holding some suspects in connection with the recent killings in the area.
Ex-Kyanzavi directors on theft charge
Four former directors of Kyanzavi coffee farmers company Ltd in Kangundo district were arraigned in a Nairobi court charged with theft of sh2.1million belonging to the company.The suspects, Judas Mbili Ndawa, Patrick Mutune Katuvi, Joseph Kivuva Kioko and Christopher Kanyambu appeared before the senior resident magistrate M/s Nyambura of the city hall law courts facing eight counts of theft.
The four who are also facing other cases of similar nature in different courts in
They were said to have jointly committed the offence on February 11, 2008 while being directors of the company.
The hearing of the case was fixed for October 30.
The court was packed with enthusiastic shareholders who turned up in large numbers to know the fate of their money.
Meanwhile, shareholders of the company have resolved that none of the former directors will be allowed to participate in the company’s leadership in future even if they are acquitted by the court.
“We have lost faith in them and we shall not at any one given time allow them to lead our company’’ said the aggrieved shareholders.
“These are people who do not deserve any mercy for having exploited and almost run down our company’’ they said.
The angry shareholders resolved to administer Akamba traditional oath called ‘’Kithitu’ against the four should they fail to return alleged stolen money.
‘’If they want peace with us they should return all our money they have not been able to account for failure to which they will have it rough from us’’ they said.
OCS sacked and charged
By Betty Munyithya.
A Police officer who assaulted a Kenya Power and Lightening company employee during the Eve of the New Year was sacked and subsequently arraigned in the Mwingi Law court to answer counts of assault and damaging property.
The then Mwingi deputy Officer Commanding Station (OCS) Mr. Ezekiel Bitok Kiptoo received his letter of dismissal from the Police Commissioner Major General Hussein Ali though his boss Jane Sang and was immediately arrested.
He was forced to spend a night in the Mwingi police cells where he normally locked up suspects before appearing before the Mwingi Principal Magistrate Mr. Daniel Ochenja to answer two counts of assaulting Mr. Jacob Kyule Maithya and damaging his property worth Shs 42,000 on January 1 2008.
He denied the two charges brought against him and was released on a cash bail of Shs 50,000 and a bond of Shs 100,000 with a surety of similar amount. The case was set for hearing on November 13, 2008.
Beastly men of Kaveani
TWO beastly men of Kaviani Market are facing life imprisonment in the face after gang raping a girl.
The thirteen year old girl is admitted at the Machakos general hospital in serious condition after she was gang raped by five men in a horrific overnight ordeal.
Two of the suspects were arrested after the area chief Mr Boniface Mumo got the shocking information early in the morning and subsequently raided their homes.
The standard six pupil was accosted by the men as she went home from Kaviani market in Machakos district shortly after 8.30pm. They dragged her to a nearby thicket and assaulted her in turns till about 5.00 am when they left her for dead. The other three managed to escape the dragnet as they had left their homes at the time of the raid probably after being informed their accomplices had been arrested. The Chief said the girl managed to drag herself to the road in the freezing morning temperatures of Iveti hills where she was assisted by good Samaritans.
She narrated to the villagers of Kaviani the brutality meted on her by the five men who are her neighbours and identified them during the eight-hour ordeal.
A medic at the hospital said the girl was passing urine with blood as doctors continued to treat and conduct tests on her. He condition was said to be serious but stable with her mother constantly by her side.
Meanwhile, a middle aged woman committed suicide in a hotel room in the middle of Machakos town. She took poison moments after taking a hearty meal of chips and chicken. The woman who is reported to have come from Yatta district was found lying in the bed with a half filled bottle of a pesticide labelled on the bottle as Lannate 90sp beside her
Strong defence for tourists
TIRED that police will not successfully deal with thuggery, Kaloleni residents in Machakos stoned to death three suspected robbers in a foiled robbery.
The three armed with black painted wooden toy pistols were killed by irrate mmbers of public who cornered them at Kaloleni market on the Machakos-Kangundo road.
Machakos Deputy OCPD Simon Gitonga said the gangsters had earlier robbed six people of money and mobile phones at the local gravity tourist attraction point near Kaloleni. They emerged from the bush brandishing the toy pistols and a knife and attacked the three men and three women as they enjoyed the scenery where vehicles and water defy gravitational forces.
Gitonga said a driver of one of the vihicles was stabbed and injured at the left side of his eye in the ensuing scuffle before they sped off in the other vehicle towards Kaloleni market.
He said one of the men in the adventure team jumped into the second car and followed the gangsters whose escape car stalled at the market after the engine went off. “As the panicked gangsters attempted to open the doors of the car to escape, the man chasing them arrived shouting “thieves, thieves”, attracting members of the public to the scene”, said Gitonga.
Armed with stones, rungus and other crude weapons, the irate members of the public pounced on the gangsters and killed them.
Machakos DCIO Seif Mamburuk who rushed to the scene moments later said they recovered the stolen car, money and mobile phones from the dead suspects.
Strong worded ruling in arson case sends shock waves
EVEN as a Machakos Court set free four school boys charged with burning down a dormitory at Kitie Secondary School, the ruling amounts to an indictment of the school’s management as a whole.The ruling is so harsh on the administration of the school that Principals with similar cases pending in court are having sleepless nights and stupor on their part is likely to be exposed in court.
Mrs. Oseko took on Principal Simon Kitheka, dismissing him as dishonest and that he lied to the court in an effort to have the boys convicted for other reasons and not evidence adduced.
She chided the school’s administration for not having a gate or a perimeter fence, creating an opportunity for anyone to walk into the school and set the dormitory ablaze.
She said the fact that the school did not have a perimeter fence and a gate exposed the school to a free for all situation where strangers could gain entrance from every corner.
The court took issue with the investigating officer Mr.Joseph Keru for displaying sheer incompetence, adding police investigators are supposed to be factual.
The Magistrate said the investigators are required to avail equal protection to both the accused and the accusers as they area both consumers of justice.
He was accused of “trusting” the school administration by assuming they were telling him the truth. “He even trusted the Principal who was even not present at the time of the said incident”. The Investigating Officer, she lamented was unable to identify the accused students in court adding “it is surprising when an investigating officer fails to identify people he has taken before court”.
The Magistrate said it was her considered opinion that the Investigating Officer did not investigate the case at all and that the boys were in court purely because Mr Kitheka identified them for arrest without any shred of evidence of their culpability.
Dismissing the case, Mrs. Oseko said there was no evidence to indicate the involvement of the four accused students either individually or jointly. “This is a case that should not have been brought to this court”, she declared as she set the accused persons free, triggering celebrations outside the courtroom as the boys hugged their parents and relatives.
The Anchor will run verbatim the ruling by Magistrate Oseko in the next issue. It is a compelling read!
Bursary:
By Betty Munyithya
UKNOWN people are likely beneficiaries of bursaries in Mwingi District. They use spurious names, identity card numbers and even false locations- yet the chiefs endorse the applications.
Consequently, Mwingi District Commissioner, Mr. Peter Kinuthia is warning Chiefs and their assistant against signing bursary application forms without proper verification of would be beneficiary details.
Mr. Kinuthia said some unknown people were out to benefit from bursaries allocated from the Ministry of education and the Constituency Development fund by giving false information. He said unless the administration scrutinizes all the information before signing the forms, many undeserving cases would end up benefiting at the expense deserving students.
Speaking at Musukini primary school in Mwingi central division where Kenya Charity Sweepstake donated Sh. 200,000 for building school latrine, Mr. Kinuthia said, some unscrupulous people wanted to benefit from the bursary fund by doubling the number of the orphans in the district.
He said the education board realized that the forms forwarded were too many than it has usually been the case and wondered whether there could have been a calamity that swept parents in the district within such a short period to justify the applications.
The DC said Chiefs and their assistants should be in the forefront of identifying the deserving cases since they knew their peoples background better. “I will hold you responsible if undeserving cases gets that fund,” Mr. Kinuthia told Chiefs.
Mr. Salesa Andano, the District Education Officer said education should be treated with a lot of concern. He said the district performance was not encouraging adding that good performance in the National examination is a collective responsibility and parents should stop shifting the blame to the teachers.
Mr. Andano further said teachers’ harassment cases due to imaginary Jinis have taken a toll in the education performance hence leading to low education standards in the district.
“Jinns do not exist in education environment and these are just mere campaigns to remove teachers in schools once parents are fed up with them.” He said
The Angry Mr. Andano warned the parents against the continued harassment of the teachers adding that if it persists they would be withdrawn to where education is needed most. “As parents let’s support the government initiative of employing teachers to raise education standards in the country,” Andano said.
Kitui Sacco reduces loans backlog
By Boniface Mulu
Kitui Teachers SACCO Society’s chairman, Mr. Anithony K.Mbiti has announced that the society has been able to reduce the loans backlog to one month.
Teachers who are members of the sacco feel the timeframe is a reasonable waiting period. Mbiti said that the demand for loans from their members is growing day by day “which means we need to strengthen our capital base which can be achieved by increasing our monthly contributions.” The chairman disclosed that the loans granted to members from January 2008 to September 2008 amounted to a total of 513,740,400 shillings. The said amount is BOSA loans (318,725,900 shillings), special loans (95,648,700 shillings) and salary advances (36,365,800 shillings). Mbiti said that of late some of their members have developed a tendency of loan defaulting. “You find that a member gets a loan from the society and before this loan gets fully repaid, he/she gets another loan from a commercial bank which leads to non recovery of the SACCO loan,” he said.
The society chairman said that other members get FOSA loans only to change their pay point to other commercial banks resulting to non recovery of FOSA loans. He told the members that if this trend continues, the society’s management will have no other alternative other than recovering those loans from the guarantors.
Mbiti said: “At this juncture I want to advise our members to shy off from bank loans which if not well managed cause some of our members withdraw from the society which is a very bad move taking into account that this might be the only savings this member has.”
He said that the society is offering the ATM facility in conjunction with the Cooperative Bank of
On his part, the local Kenya National Union of Teachers (KNUT) executive secretary, Mr. Joseph Mwanzia Makuthu, announced that the teachers in this country will not sign the performance contract. “I am talking as a member of the KNUT National Executive Council and not as a Kitui KNUT branch executive secretary. We have said no and no is no,” Makuthu said. “The government has been tossing teachers like a ball,” the unionist complained. Addressing the gathering, the Mwingi branch of the KNUT executive secretary, Mr. Jonathan Kimanzi Mutambu, pleaded with the Kenya Union of Post- Primary Teachers (KUPPET) members and officials to return to the KNUT. Mutambu further called upon the government to hasten to give the country’s teachers what they are asking for in order to have them to work comfortably. He announced that the Kenyan teachers are tired to all the time being given a salary increment by the government by pressurizing it
The function was also addressed by among others the Kitui Teachers SACCO Society’s general manager, Mr. Jonathan M. Kiema, the Mutomo District Cooperative Officer, Mr. Leonard J. Syengo and the Kyuso branch of the KNUT executive secretary, Mrs. Susan Kambua Musee.
Woman elected first Kyuso KNUT branch Executive Secretary
By Betty Munyithya
Agnes Kambua Musee is the first Branch Executive Secretary for newly created Kyuso District branch of the Kenya National Union of Teachers ( KNUT). She becomes the second woman in the history of KNUT to occupy the prestigious Executive secretary seat by trouncing three male contenders.
Agnes Kambua a head teacher at
Other officials were Jerimond Mwasya Kimwele who was elected as the chairman, Maluki Ndana elected the branch treasurer and Mary Mwendwa elected woman representative of the new branch.
The elections were overseen by the union’s Acting Secretary General Laurence Majali. Majali maintains that teachers would not sign the controversial performance contract even if they were awarded their salary increment.
Mr. Majali said teachers were not begging for their salary increment because it was their right and could not exchange it with the signing of the performance contract.
He further said that teachers have been working under a defined performance contract in their scheme of work that included lesson plan, teaching, testing and remedial teaching. “These are structures of performance contract” he said amid cheers from the 1020 union members of the branch that turned out at
Mr. Majali said, “Teachers have a strong union to address their issues and it was not in order for the Government officials to continue with their roadside declarations that teachers must sign the performance contract without caring to consult their union officials first.”
“We think that what has been happening is tasting teachers mighty and we will want to show them that we are stronger than they imagined” he quipped amid strike, strike, strike cheers from teachers.
Mr. Majali said that although negotiations were ongoing between the teachers union and the ministry of Education things were not working as expected. He asked teachers to be ready to down their tools should the worse become the worst.
The Prime Minister Raila Odinga has maintained that every civil servant must sign performance contract and teachers were not exceptional.
The prime Minister has more than twice made it clear that teachers must sign the performance contract to be measured with during promotions and salary increments but Mr. Majali told teachers that promotion and salary increment should not be pegged on the performance contract. He said that these were teachers right.
Signs of inept leadership emerge
Get serious in fighting poverty, DO EFFECTS of political expediency and myopic leadership are now creeping into Ukambani as residents face conflicts with wildlife in worrying proportions.
Only three years ago, the clamour by shareholders for sub-division of the vast ranches- Aimi ma Kilungu , Kiu and Malili ranches- to turn them to farmlands reached its peak as environmental and wildlife conservationists opposing the move.
However, political expedience outdid genuine environmental and wildlife concerns as local leaders fronted by then Kilome MP Mutinda Mutiso and the pushed the National Environment Management Authority (NEMA) to give a nod to the plan even when the writings were on the wall.
Earlier, the authority had rejected the proposal to sub-divide the ranches noting that the ranch management had not submitted an Environmental Impact Assessment Report detailing what effects the sub-division would cause on environment.
The conservationists had argued that turning the ranches into farmland would cause desertification and block the wildlife migration corridor from Tsavo and Amboseli parks to parts of Ukambani, Rift Valley and
They also argued that the land was most suited for ranching or wildlife conservation and turning it into agricultural use would have far reaching environmental effects like drought, deforestation, soil erosion among others.
Speaking during the burial of a popular Makueni Councillor David Musau at the height of the clamour, the then minister for Environment and now Vice President Kalonzo Musyoka, unashamedly said he would prevail on NEMA to allow the conversion of the ranches into farmlands.Musau, alias Mashambani was a right hand man to Kalonzo and was at the forefront in the campaign to share out the land to members.
In spite of the conservationists’ spirited contest of the decision to convert the land to farms that saw the ranch subdivided into 10 acre plots followed by a massive human settlement, political considerations held sway.
The shareholders frustrated with continuous loss making by the ranches under various management teams, had also pushed for sub-division to enable them make use of the land in other ways or sell it.
Later, a South African company was reported to have been interested in buying the ranches at very attractive prices a move that gave thrust the sub-division pressure.
Only about four years later, what the environmentalists and wildlife conservationists warned against has come to pass with increased human-wildlife conflicts increasing year by year.
What used to be a lush natural forest range land is now a decimated arid area, dotted with small farms that may not make economic sense. There is no evidence of the South African Investor spoken about to lure shareholders to agree to the directors’ machinations. Even as at now, key directors of the farm still sell land on daily basis, arising from fraudulent allocations that followed the sub-divisions and the whole are is certainly Ukambani’s
The Machakos District Warden Mr. Justus Manza is warning of an increment of human-wildlife conflict in parts of Machakos, Makueni and Nzaui district following an influx of wildlife from neighbouring game parks in search of water.
Mr Manza says that in recent weeks wildlife movement from Tsavo and Amboseli and parts of Kajiado district into parts of Makueni, Machakos and Nzaui have been witnessed especially in Athi River Area, Lukenya and Kilome areas.
He attributed the movement to water shortage resulting from heavy drought in the region forcing the wildlife to wander in search of water in their traditional grazing areas and water points that have now been occupied by human settlement.
He said villages near Kiu secondary school killed a buffalo and sold the meat before Kenya Wildlife Service staff recovered the head.
The warden who is in charge of the larger Machakos and Makueni districts said that several people have been injured by wildlife but they have kept it secret for unknown reasons.
Curious figures from Forest Department
The forest sector in Machakos District raised 2.24 million tree seedlings through private nurseries and forest extension services during the last financial year.
This figure is boubtful, given the lethergy afflicting the forestry department in Machakos. Moreover, the main seed bed at the head office has been without seedlings for a long time.
However there has been qrowing awareness in the private sector and it is possible that the greater chuck for this number is not public oriented.The figures were presented by Deputy DFO Mr Charles Ochieng during a District Monitoring and Management Unit meeting.
He said that the forest cover in the district was low adding that they were trying to address the problems of destruction of trees and hills through planting trees and sensitizing the public through extension services.
At the same time Mr. Ochieng’ said that lack of funds was a main set back to development of forestry in the District adding that some projects have not been completed.
Mr. Ochieng’ said that forested hills like Muumandu, Uuni, Kiteta, have been invaded by squatters who have been difficult to evict.
Devki shows the way as
MOST industries within
Spearheading these efforts if industrialist Narendra Raval Guru who is the Chief Executive Officer at Devki Steel Plant.
The effort is coordinated by environmentalist Mr. Jeremiah Simba where they target over 500,000 for planting within eastern region.
The campaign under the Corporate Social Responsibility framework has seen most of industries establish tree nurseries, raising different species which can withstand drought.
Guru told The Anchor that the plan is to ensure that the municipality has enough trees to mitigate the emitions from industries in Athi Rive and added that the strategy will be enhanced in the coming days. others have been buying tree seeds and established tree nurseries in various institutions as below
Devki alone has been purchasing tree seeds of different species and distributing them to various institutions raising over 50,000 seedlings. In October this year, Devki Steel plant is raising over 100,000 seedlings for donation. The firm has collected heaps of red soils from Mua Hills because the Athi-river soils are not wholly supportive to the process, according to Mr Simba.
Guru says the National Cement Company is also developing its own tree nursery to ensure that the neighborhood is afforested ahead of its commencement of cement manufacturing.
“ Our strategy is to ensure that the environment within which we work is under tree cover because we know the advantages that trees bring to our environment”, said Guru
At Primarosa Flowers, a tree nursery was established in April 2008 raising 150,000 seedlings. During the rainy season they will plant 10,000 and donate the rest to institutions and communities in Eastern Region.
At Steel Plant,– next to Mto-wa-Mawe, they are raising 20,000 seedlings by November to mitigate the Carbon Dioxide emitted at the plant. Out of these, 1,000 seedlings will be planted within the factory and the rest distributed to local communities.
Athi- stores Ltd, one of the mining companies practicing rehabilitation after mining at Lukenya Hill, they have raised over 30,000 seedlings which will be used for rehabilitation at Lukenya, Ngurunga, and Garissa where they extract materials.
Last year 2007 the company donated over 20,000 seedlings to schools around Kyumbi.
Passolona stones, Bamburi cement, Orbit chemicals, Harvest Ltd, Warids flower farm, Athi River mining, Abuto springs, chloride (ABM), and Portland cement have also shown some efforts of planting some seedlings within their premises.
Tree planting in Athi-River area would have progressed well if the Kenya Association of Manufacturers (Athi river Chapter) had shown clear support of tree painting within all its member industries within but it seems as if they have forgotten the programme, says Mr Simba
All mining industries NEMA should come up with law enforcement plans to ensure that they backfill their quarries after mining.” Tree planting should not be for interested firms but should be a policy because indigenous trees are lost every time they extract raw materials, from fresh grounds.”, he added
“If all Athi river industries can support tree planting programme fully, it is possible to raise and plant over 1 million tree seedling per year”, he stressed.
High turn over of Town Clerks
MACHAKOS Town Clerk Stephen Mbondo is moving to Nakuru. His posting to Nakuru comes hardly after one year since he was posted to Machakos to succeed Mr Joseph Koech.
His transfer puts in jeopardy the Performance Contract he signed as Town Clerk in Machakos and this time round, evaluation of his performance remains difficult since the targets he set to achieve can not be met due to the transfers.
Local Government sources say the ministry remains the biggest threat to performance of Local Authorities due to their irrational basis of moving chief officers.
Last year,
Mr Mbondo’s designated successor- Mr P.Ogola who is coming from the Narok County Council will face his evaluators later this year in a council where he never made any performance commitments. The same thing will happen to Mr Mbondo in Nakuru.
In the last one year, all major Ukambani Local Authorities have had changes at the level of Town Clerks and Treasurers.
Veteran Local Government official Timothy Kamili was posted to the County Council of Masaku from City Hall, Mr George Wambua was moved to County Council of Kitui , Mr Wisdom Mwamburi was moved to Municipal Council of Mavoko from Mombasa, Mr Danson Ngugi was elevated County Clerk to County Council of Makueni and now Mr Ogola to Machakos from Narok.
Indeed the changes have also affected Town and
Certainly many other changes that have not been captured in this story have taken place in local council and the same has taken place in other councils in
ONLY 48 councilors have obtained passports in readiness for John Harun Mwau’s trip to
This is the emerging reality as it became apparent that civic leaders still have a long way to go by first obtaining birth certificates before presenting their applications fro passports.
Trip coordinator Davis Musau said the reality emerged when councilors were called upon to provide details of their passports. Many of the councilors turned up without a copy of passport as required and said they needed assistance to trigger fast issuance of Birth Certificates.
Separately, Pastors have made an appeal to be included in the trip. Sources say that a group of churchmen have met Mr Mwau and he had indicated that he would consider their request to be included in the much touted trip to
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