Angels and Demons: Vatican Breaks Silence to Review Film

Angels and Demons, the Da Vinci Code sequel starring Tom Hanks, has received a surprisingly good review from the Vatican.



Last Updated: 12:59PM BST 08 May 2009

Church officials condemned The Da Vinci Code on its release in 2006, calling it "an offence against God" because it was based on the premise that Jesus married and fathered children. They banned the film-makers from shooting the sequel inside the Vatican, forcing director Ron Howard to reconstruct the settings in Los Angeles.

However, in its first pronouncement on the film, Vatican newspaper L'Osservatore Romano described Angels and Demons as "harmless entertainment which hardly affects the genius and mystery of Christianity".

While the "gigantic and smart commercial operation" is filled with inaccuracies and stereotyped characters, the camera work is "splendid", Howard's direction "dynamic and alluring" and the reconstruction of St Peter's Basilica and the Sistine Chapel is "magnificent".

The film's success should prompt the Church to rethink the way it communicates its message, an editorial in the paper added, pointing out the"simplistic and partial" representation of the Church had captured the public imagination.

"It would probably be an exaggeration to consider the books of Dan Brown an alarm bell but maybe they should be a stimulus to rethink and refresh the way the Church uses the media to explain its positions on today's burning issues."

In the movie, Hanks reprises his role as Harvard symbologist Robert Langdon. When four cardinals are kidnapped and a bomb threatens the Vatican, Langdon is called in and his investigations lead him to a centuries-old secret society called the Illuminati.

The Da Vinci Code has taken $757 million worldwide despite being derided by critics. Hanks said of the two films: "We play fast and loose with an awful lot of fact, but a trickle of authenticity makes it plausible. It's not important, but it's fun."

Thanks To Anita Singh

Cool Stuff-Now Upload MP3 Files on SlideShare

you are using SlideShare to host your PowerPoint (or Keynote) presentations, the good news is that you can now use the same service to also upload MP3 recordings of your conference talks and the audio can then play in sync with your actual presentation slides.

upload mp3 to slideshare

The Advantage: Earlier, SlideShare required users to upload MP3 audio files to an external site (like your own web server or some podcast hosting service) but that led to problem - if the external MP3 hosting site went down temporarily for some reason, your SlideShare presentations too would go into silent mode for that duration.

Now that both the MP3 audio and presentation file are hosted on the same service (SlideShare uses the very reliable Amazon S3), the performance and availability would be much better.

slideshare audio synchronization

Here’s a demo on how you can sync slides and MP3 recording using the audio synchronization interface of SlideShare.

Limitations: SlideShare policies require that you use their MP3 hosting service only for uploading "recordings of a presenter talking" so if you want some background music to play with your photo slides, you’ll still have to hunt for other places to upload those MP3s.

Related resources:

Kenyatta’s Former House a Class of Heritage

HeliumThe Clubs And NightLife Of Nairobi

The cracks on the floor and walls are the only signs that betray the age of this 70-year-old house that is shielded on one side by an overgrown bougainvillea hedge.

But few people who see the simple house that blends inconspicuously among others at the new Githunguri District headquarters know either its age or what treasured secrets of Kenya’s Independence history it habours.

The house, which has become part of the infrastructure of the new district headquarters, was once the residence of Kenya’s first President, the late Mzee Jomo Kenyatta.

Mr Harry Thuku, son of the pioneer freedom fighter by the same name stands outside former President Mzee Jomo Kenyatta’s Githunguri house. [PHOTOS: JONAH ONYANGO/STANDARD]

It was part of the former Kenya Teachers College Githunguri where Kenyatta became an administrator in 1946 after he returned from a sojourn in London.

The college principal then was Kenyatta’s right hand man, the late Mbiyu Koinange who lived in another bigger house of similar design in the same compound.

Freedom fighters

Mbiyu, Kenyatta and the late former Minister James Gichuru were then members of the Kikuyu Central Association who all taught and lived at the college.

At one time, former freedom fighter the late Achieng Oneko also taught and lived in another college house.

It was while living in this house, in 1951, that Kenyatta met and married his fourth wife Mama Ngina Kenyatta.

Earlier, before going to London he had married Grace Wahu, then while in UK married an English governess, Edna Clarke in 1942, before marrying Mbiyu Koinange’s sister Grace Wanjiku when he returned in 1946.

Former President Mzee Jomo Kenyatta [PHOTO: file/STANDARD]

From this house, Kenyatta went round the country urging hard work while campaigning for the return of land given to white settlers.

The teachers’ college was run by a group of Independent Schools, established then to cater for students who could not get a chance for further education in the colonial government schools.

The teaching-cum-political colleagues used the college to host members of the KCA and later Kenya African Union into their houses for night meetings for the then fledgling liberation movement.

Indeed, it is believed that it was here that the aggressive agitation that emboldened the freedom fighters in the build-up to the peak of the struggle in 1952 was fanned by plots hatched in Kenyatta’s house.

Apart from hosting local leaders, they also welcomed pan-African leaders for meetings to discuss the liberation of other African countries. Evidence of visits by Pan-African leaders is rooted in giant trees that they planted on their visits.

Some of the recognisable trees include a drooping cypress planted by Julius Nyerere, a bushy Muiri planted by Kwameh Nkurumah and a rotund, rugged blue gum planted by Kabaka Mutesa. All the seedlings were planted in 1949 in different parts of the 58-acre college compound.

Little documentation

A visit into Kenyatta’s two-bed roomed house and the sprawling compound of the former college is like a flip back into a part of the founding president’s life that is little documented.

The house’s sitting room features a huge, black, solid safe whose door is said never to have been opened since Kenyatta was arrested in 1952 when a State of Emergency was declared at the peak of the Mau Mau struggle.

Mr George Gitau, the vice-Chairman of Githunguri War Veterans Association (WVA) says the houses and the trees are a treasured possession for the new district headquarters.

"We have very fond memories of these houses and the trees in this compound. This place played a great role in the liberation struggle," says the 74-year-old man.

National heritage

The National Museums of Kenya (NMK) has gazetted the houses as part of national heritage. Githunguri DC Henry Wafula says he will ensure the houses and the trees are well preserved for historical purposes.

Mr Wafula says the administration will also petition NMK to preserve the trees.

Other houses include one that Mbiyu and Gichuru used and a dormitory that female students slept in. The houses, in the meantime are used to accomodate civil servants posted to the new district until a new housing block is put up.

On the lower side of the compound is a scene that was used as gallows to hang suspected Mau Mau fighters.

WVA members in Githunguri have erected crosses to mark the scene. Gitau recalls that five Mau Mau suspects were executed there in October 1952.

 Thanks To Maina Muiruri 

Kenya Finally Takes A Giant Leap of Faith As Goverment Information Now Available Online.

                                                           Image Courtesy of Green-e.org
Government services and information can now be accessed online.

An online portal spearheaded by KenyaICT Board now allows users access to essential documents and Government services in the Internet.


It also allows users to interact with Government officials.


Launching the portal, Information PS Bitange Ndemo said it aims at disseminating vital information quickly.


The information will now be available on the one-stop online platform: www.information.go.ke.


"The Government is committed to providing information to ensure citizens access it easily and faster," said Dr Ndemo during the launch at KICC in Nairobi, yesterday.


Record history


Ndemo said Kenya’s history since 1963 would be compiled and availed through the portal.


Acting ICT Secretary, Directorate of E-Government, John Sergon, said digitisation of key Government records was on.


Next month, the much-awaited Fibre Optic Cable (Teams) will land in Mombasa to open up the country to high speed and reliable Internet connection.


Since most Kenyans now access Internet through mobile phones, Ndemo said his ministry had written to Treasury to have the gadgets zero-rated.
Thanks To The Standard

What gadget will technology ‘kill’ next?

Albert Einstein once reckoned technological progress is like an axe in the hands of a pathological criminal. The man who came up with the theory of relativity has been justified, more than half a century after his death in 1955.


There is no stopping for the evolution of technology. What was considered a phenomenon a decade ago is now obsolete. For instance, a typewriter was a must

Gone are the days telecommunication was a preserve of the rich. The mobile phone has edged out landline in personal communication.

have for companies in 1970s and so was the Video Home Systems in 1990s. Today, computers, emails, mobile phones, CDs and DVDs are the things to marvel at. The big question though is whether they will withstand the storm.

Mr George Njoroge, the managing director of East African Data Handlers, predicts any technology that is bulky, stationary and has small storage capacity is on its deathbed.
"The trend is smaller and compact. People are looking for technology they migrate with. The issue here is mobility with technology," he said, adding technology evolves every two years.

Typewriter
The emergence of computer has rendered the typewriter almost obsolete. But lovers of typewriters argue that it is self-contained since a computer on its own cannot print and always need electric power to function. Most people aged below 10 years now might have to read about it as part of history.

While modern typewriters are electric, the majority of typewriters for decades were manual. You could also not play games on a typewriter or access the Internet or send email, neither can it be connected to a telephone line. The only machine that could be connected was the Telex, which is also obsolete.

The computer has rendered the typewriter obsolete. Photos: Courtesy

Mr Daniel Karanja of Seda Agencies, a company that deals with typewriter repairs and supplies, says business has greatly been affected. The company, he says, has since stopped selling typewriters because it is hard to get the modern ones.

Computers have made work easier; one person can finish work that needed hundreds of people and longer working hours.

A computer can form its own logical deductions based on input from the operator, a fact Finance Minister Uhuru Kenyatta and his Education counterpart Sam Ongeri appeared to overlook when they blamed ‘errors’ in the mini-Budget and exam results on the computer.
A typewriter, on the other hand, cannot correct obvious errors without input from the operator and presumes every action is deliberate.


These are some of the reasons the world embraced the computer, almost immediately when it was introduced.
Computers have also evolved with the latest being a threat posed to desktops by laptops. The latter now enable one to work from the comfort of their vehicles or at home.

The snail mail
In the 20th century, posting a letter was the in-thing. For high school lovers, the words used to express love through a letter were one of the major tests for the intelligence of the boy or the girl. There were special foolscaps that had been specially made with some fancy colours and writings. It is actually said most schools had letter experts who had not only the expressions but also handwriting to match and whose services were engaged at a fee.


Job applicants had to keep checking their post office boxes for interview or job appointments. If a housewife was left in the rural home and fell ill, she had to write a letter and wait for weeks on end for the husband to reply or send money. People who did not have post office addresses were considered poor and outdated.


In addition, most correspondence in companies was also made through letters. Simply put, a letter was the in-thing.
Today, the world has changed. Save for Government offices that still insist on a physical letter while requesting for information, communication has been made easy via email. The electronic technology also allows users to send instant messages using chat services. And with the setting up of the fibre optic cable, we can only keep guessing where this technology will take us next.

Landline telephones
The effects of the mobile phones have not only been felt by landline phones but also cut across almost every area.
The post office, wrist watches makers, cyber cafÈ operators and the banking industry are still licking wounds following the entry of mobile phones.

Gone are the days when telecommunication was a preserve of the rich since they could have lines installed in their houses.
In the rural areas, the unlucky ones had to trek for long distances to make calls from a public booth and had to wait for long hours for calls from their relatives.


Statistics show that Kenya has more than 15 million mobile phone subscribers. In effect, anybody wishing to make a call does not have to go through the tedious process like it was a decade ago.

Landlines have now been left to companies, although mobile phone networks are also eating up into this space. Only conservatives still wear wristwatches, since phones are usually complete with a watch and an alarm. Mobile phone service providers have also enabled their subscribers to surf the Internet and send or read e-mails from their phones.
Social networking sites can also be accessed from the phones, thereby limiting visits to cyber cafÈs.
In the same breath, people prefer calling or sending an SMS (Short Message Service) to their loved ones to posting a letter. And the advent of mobile phone money transfer services — Safaricom’s M-Pesa and Zain’s Zap — has sent the banking industry back to the drawing board. For instance, M-Pesa boasts five million subscribers, which is far above the number of account holders in any local bank.


VHS tapes and players
What put Video Home Systems at a disadvantage to DVDs and VCDs was its bulkiness and cost. To start with, the size of the VHS player is almost three times bigger and heavier compared to DVD and VCD players. The aesthetic value added to a home by the latter two is also incomparable. The same case applies to the VHS tapes, which need a big space for storage, yet its memory size is the same as that of a VCD, while a DVD can be three times bigger.
On the other hand, the average cost of a VHS player is Sh8,000 while you can obtain a VCD player for as little as Sh2,500. An ‘empty’ VHS tape will cost you Sh500 yet with Sh6 you have a CD that you will use for the same purpose.
In most homes, VHS players have been condemned to the back of the cabinets with VCD and DVD players spotting the living rooms.

Audiocassette

Audiocassettes have suffered the same fate as VHS tapes. CDs are the order of the day and anyone wishing to listen to good music must have a CD player. Only a few musicians are packaging music in cassettes, nowadays. Most people are actually using ‘home theatres’ which have just the CD and radio compartments. And even when a person buys a radio with a cassette compartment, it is rarely used.
Big memory and size have given the CD an edge. While a cassette can store a maximum of 16 songs each running for three minutes, a CD can accommodate up to 180 songs. In addition, the same space that stores four cassettes can accommodate more than 20 CDs. The latter can also be used in a computer while a cassette can only be used on a radio system with the specified compartment. Granted, it appears that CDs have taken a special part in the lives of most Kenyans and only time will tell what else will annex it.

Diskettes
It is official: the flash disk has superseded the diskette, also known as the floppy disk. With a capacity of 128KB (kilobyte), the floppy disk could not cope with the USB flash drives with a storage capacity of up to 128GB (gigabyte).
"You cannot compare the two. For instance, you can store a software on a flash disk which you can’t with a floppy disk," said Njoroge.

Some flash disks allow one million write or erase cycles and have 10-year data retention. They have a more compact shape, operate faster, hold much more data, have a more durable design, and operate more reliably due to their lack of moving parts. Additionally, it has become increasingly common for computers to be sold without floppy disk drives. USB ports, on the other hand, appear on almost every current mainstream PC and laptop. Of late, jewellery-like flash disks have been produced making it possible for people to use it for both a storage and artistic value.

Unlike, the floppy disks, the flash disks are not susceptible to computer viruses, which make them handy. At this rate, the diskette is in its sunset days.

The transistor radio (Medium Wave)

Remember those days when a radio had to be set at a particular direction for better reception? Days when a person standing between the radio and the direction of the airwaves would interrupt reception? Well, that is history.
With the entry of frequency modulation (FM) into the market, most Kenyans have forgotten the tedious process of tuning a station. Tuning in to a radio station is simple — at times remote controlled — since all one needs is an antenna. Save for state owned radio stations such as KBC English and Kiswahili service — which are also on FM — all other radio stations have not bothered to use the Medium Wave. Kenyans now enjoy better reception of radio airwaves.

Walkman
Although the Walkman is still popular in rural areas, the same is nearing extinction among urbanites. The audio cassette player was popular towards the end of the last century as it introduced a change in music listening habits, allowing people to carry their own choice of music with them.
But since the introduction of the iPod, MP3, MP4, polyphonic mobile phones and now iPhones, the Walkman is under threat. The latter are smaller, portable and can store many songs. In September last year, the iPod was the best-selling digital audio player series. More than 173 million pieces were sold worldwide, barely five years after its launch in 2003. Some iPods can take up to 1,000 songs at time. Thanks To Kiberenge

　

Killer Hand-Obama, Kikwete secret talks on Kenya

President Barack Obama’s administration could deploy its clout to force Kenya to hasten constitutional reforms.

For the second time on Saturday, the US Ambassador to Kenya, Michael Ranneberger, told The Standard on Sunday various options are available, including travel bans.

His statement reinforced another this month by Obama’s official emissary to President Kibaki and Prime Minister Raila Odinga, Johnnie Carson, who made it clear his brief was to "warn a friend" America could soon "flex its muscles". Ranneberger spoke against the backdrop of a closed-door meeting between Obama and Tanzania President Jakaya Kikwete. It is believed Kenya’s troubled coalition and the gradual loss of grip by the weak-kneed Somali government featured at the meeting.

A secure Kenya is viewed by America and the European Union as guaranteed vanguard against the spill over of terrorism from lawless Somalia.

The turn of events, coming at a time the local economy and political fabric are tattered, rekindle memories of the first months of last year, when then US President George Bush sent messages to Kibaki and Raila that power sharing was not a matter of personal preference but inevitable.

Again like it is today one man, who played a big role in breaking the ice between Kibaki and Raila, was in the loop – President Kikwete who had just been crowned the African Union chairman. Bush flew into Tanzania – and it is after they met that Kikwete crossed over to Kenya with a message now believed to have been choosing between power sharing and dispatch of United Nations peacekeepers.

At the time, before Bush landed and with Kibaki having named a half-Cabinet with Kalonzo Musyoka as Vice-President, the VP flew to Tanzania to meet Kikwete.

This round again Kalonzo left the funeral of Water Minister Charity Ngilu’s mother, saying he was flying to Tanzania to meet Kikwete. While there, his press service as well as the Tanzanian Press, curiously did not mention he had had closely-guarded talks with Kikwete, who was about to travel to the US. It is the journey that made him the first African leader to meet Obama as President.

As Kenya was told by Rannerberger, Obama would not set foot here, despite this being his ancestral roots, because of political disorder and jolt to the reform process.

Meanwhile, Ghana was celebrating Obama’s decision to choose her as his first stop as the President of the world’s only superpower.

In what our sources described as a "critical encounter", Kalonzo met Kikwete on May 15.

According to a report filed from Washington in Saturday’s Daily News of Tanzania, Kikwete and Obama discussed Kenya’s political situation and "other trouble regions of Darfur, DRC and Somalia".

Raila’s one-week tour

The details of the discussions were however scanty, but given the stand US ambassador in Kenya has taken on the confusion in the Grand Coalition, and the slow pace of reforms, and with Kikwete’s perceived ‘expertise’ on Kenya’s affairs, it cannot be ruled out the issues raised by Rannerberger featured.

Asked what was discussed by the two world leaders on Saturday, the ambassador, who has adopted grassroots-based healing and reconciliation effort among communities scarred by post-election violence, said he did not know.

Interestingly, Kikwete’s visit to the US also coincided with that of Raila’s one-week tour of the superpower nation, where a few weeks ago, his wife Ida, met Mrs Mitchell Obama.

Raila’s team was tight-lipped on whether he tried or may even have talked to Obama, or even what Ida discussed with US first black First Lady.

From Tanzania, the regular VPPS dispatches captured events involving Tanzania’s VP, Ali Mohammed Shein.

"The two (Kikwete and Kalonzo) met although no details were divulged and we have been warned against running the story," an editor of Rai, Tanzania’s weekly political newspaper, confirmed to The Standard on Sunday.

According to the journalist, Kalonzo flew to Dar on Friday, and was met by his Tanzanian counterpart who drove him straight to State House for a meeting with Kikwete.

"Officially, your Vice-President’s host during the two-day trip was Dr Shein and not Kikwete. We could not run this story because State House officials confided to us President Kikwete was sensitive over the Kenyan affair as he did not wish to be seen to favour any side of the political divide," the editor said in a telephone interview.

Although details of the Kalonzo-Kikwete meeting remain hazy, chances are the encounter was linked to the Obama meeting at the Oval Office on Thursday.

Kalonzo, a former Foreign Affairs Minister, played the same role, flying into African States shortly after the disputed presidential election, to give the PNU account to the international community.

It is not clear whether Raila was also in touch with the Tanzanian leader ahead of his meeting with Obama. The Standard on Sunday also could not establish whether Raila was scheduled to meet Obama, although Kenya’s ambassador to the US, Peter Ogego, said the PM was not expected in Washington.

A fortnight ago Obama warned President Kibaki and PM to ease political tension and fully execute the National Accord as crafted by former United Nations Secretary General, Kofi Annan.

His message, through Carson, was blunt: "The US is ready to take necessary steps should the coalition fail to implement the Annan agreement."

Tattered economy

The apparent scramble for Kikwete’s attention by local leaders is understandable. The Kenyan situation after all formed part of the agenda of Obama-Kikwete talks.

Obama’s dissatisfaction with the local political leadership comes in the wake of a gloomy Economic Survey report by Planning Minister Wycliffe Oparanya. With a just 1.7 per cent growth, Kenya’s economy is no better than warring Somalia’s 2.6 per cent.

And even as the US is increasingly lumps Kenya with failed States in the region, the disturbing aspect of the unfolding drama is the country’s inability to tap and take advantage of the US President’s roots.

The one man, who is running away first with possible political and economic advantage from Obama, is Kikwete. Since election as Tanzania’s President in 2006, Kikwete has enjoyed closer ties with the ‘Big Brother’. That was the case during the reign of 43rd US President George W Bush.

His country’s clout and fortune have correspondingly risen as Kenya’s plummet.

In mid-2006, for instance, Kenyans reacted angrily when news filtered through that Bush and Kikwete had discussed Kenya, during a bilateral meeting in Washington. Foreign Affairs Minister, Moses Wetangula, then an Assistant Minister, demanded a public apology from the two leaders.

Two years later, Bush flew to Tanzania when the country was burning, from where he issued threats to Kenyans to stop further bloodshed and form a coalition government. Kikwete delivered the message and it worked.

Today, Kikwete still occupies that special and envious place in the eyes of American leadership.

Last Thursday, he met Obama in Washington. When Kikwete invited Obama to Tanzania, which former President Clinton like Bush, visited and snubbed Kenya, the new US leader’s response was more than curious.

"I would like to visit Tanzania. Last time I saw your country from the other side of Serengeti National Park," he said, referring to his 2006 visit to Kenya.

Then, Kibaki’s spokesman, Alfred Mutua, dismissed Obama as, "a junior Senator from Illinois". Mutua was reacting to Obama’s assertion corruption is undermining Kenya’s development.
Thanks To The Standard

Samuel Jackson Developing a Real Life Pirating Movie

Samuel Jackson's Uppity Films and H20 Motion Pictures have joined forces to secure the life rights of Andrew Mwangura, a negotiator between pirates and the owners of vessels hijacked off the coast of Africa. The two companies will together develop a feature film based on Mwangura, with Samuel Jackson set to portray the cinematic version of the character. Mwangura is a freelance journalist and ex-marine engineer who runs the Seafarers' Assistance Programme, a nonprofit group that offers humanitarian aid to all seafarers. No writer or director has been hired, as this project is still in the early developmental stage.

"(Andrew) has the trust of the pirates and the ship owners, and his loyalty is to the kidnapped crews that get caught in the middle of these episodes," Andras Hamori said. While Hamori was in Africa coordinating the arrangement, Mwangura negotiated a $3.4 million deal for the crew and cargo of a Ukrainian ship that had been captured. Mwangura seems like a fascinating individual and I'm actually intrigued by all these stories. Even if it turns out to be a small indie production, I'd love to see this brought to the big screen with Jackson. Hopefully it doesn't take too long to come together and they hire a writer and director soon.

topics: Thanks To Current dot Com

Museveni: My eyes are still on Migingo

President Museveni called Kenyan journalists to Kampala to deny the Lake Victoria Island he was referring to when he said it was Kenya’s but the water Uganda’s was Migingo.
Museveni also used the invitation to maintain his country’s ownership claim of Migingo, and to declare he was not about to apologise for his "Wajaruo are mad’ remark.
Instead, he said, Lands Minister James Orengo who he said called his citizens ‘hyenas’ owes his country

A joint Kenya/Uganda survey team is establishing ownership of the Migingo island.

an apology, and the youth who uprooted part of the Uganda-Kenya railway line in Kibera during post-election violence.
The Ugandan President made the remarks that infuriated Kenyans, with Parliament calling for either military intervention or the UN, while in Tanzania.
Yesterday, Museveni said his statement had been blown out of proportion and called for patience from citizens of the two countries as surveyors sorted out the dispute.
President Museveni argued his speech in Tanzania referred to Suba Island, which he said was in Kenya, but its surrounding waters were in Uganda.
His latest statement will certainly elicit sharp reactions from leaders, as the Ugandan leader seemed to change his initial position that he meant the disputed Migingo Island during the address on Monday.
He said Kenyans owed Ugandans an apology for blocking roads during post-election violence and for recently uprooting a railway line between the two countries.

Uganda President Yoweri Kaguta Museveni

"I am being asked to apologise while Kenyans uprooted a railway line and blocked roads. They are the ones together with Lands Minister Orengo who should first apologise then I see whether I should do the same," he said.
Uproot Railway Line
He also downplayed remarks he made in Tanzania saying he never meant to soil the good relationship with Kenya. "I never intended to hurt anybody but if you want me to apologise I will but if you could convince me that I was wrong. I was reacting to a question on the tendency of the Luo youth to uproot the railway line and leaders’ outbursts on Migingo," he told an International Press conference in Kampala.
He said he never intended to denigrate any community, adding the Migingo issue was being blown out of proportion. He clarified his country had no issue with Kenya and promised to abide by the findings of the joint survey team.
"Uganda has contributed its share towards the demarcation and the survey currently under way and we would accept the findings. But as far as I know, the island is in Kenya while its surrounding waters are ours," said the Ugandan President.
Both Kenya and Uganda have contributed Sh280 million for the survey.
Foreign Affairs Minister Moses Wetangula on Thursday told Parliament Kenya would be identifying all its boundaries as directed by the African Union.
President Museveni, who called a press conference at his Kampala State House, denied there was bad blood between him and Prime Minister Raila Odinga.
He said he respected the Odinga family recalling Raila’s father once led the East African Union that rallied regional leaders in the fight for liberation.
"I have no differences with Raila. We do occasionally talk on telephone and whenever I am in Nairobi we consult," said Museveni.
Asked to comment why he rushed to congratulate President Kibaki despite the election dispute, Museveni said he was merely going by the results announced by the disbanded electoral body. He said his decision was in line with international practice.
Museveni, who fielded questions from Kenyan journalists, declined to comment on the Grand Coalition Government terming the issue a Kenyan internal affair.
Asked why even after admitting that Migingo Island is basically a Kenyan fishermen’s outpost, he had continued to station military officers on the Island, Museveni said: "Even after we agreed with President Kibaki to lower our flag, there was need to retain the officers there for security reasons."
Museveni said it was his desire to see East Africa realise its dream of becoming a united entity, with one president and currency.
He said it did not bother him who would become the first regional president, but said he was committed to the dream.
Commenting on the presence of Ugandan soldiers along the Kenya-Uganda borders in Turkana and Pokot districts, Museveni said this was as a result of cattle resulting.
"Our soldiers are there to deal with cattle rustlers and their Kenyan counterparts are aware of their activities."
He denied he was an expansionist. "We know our international boundaries and we will always respect them. We are not out to claim new territory," he said.

Mau Mau seek damages over British torture

The British Government will on June 23 be issued with a claim for torturing Kenyans for a decade.
A representative of Leigh, Day law firm, Mr Dan Leader was in Nairobi Sunday and addressed a news conference attended by lawyer Paul Muite, Mr George Morara of the Kenya Human Rights Commission (KHRC) and Mau Mau War Veterans Association members led by chairman Gitu Kahengeri.

Mau Mau veterans Katana Kalume (left) and Mr Joseph Karisa during a Press conference in Nairobi, on Sunday. [PHOTO: ANDREW KILONZI/ STANDARD]

Detailing how the British Government perpetrated atrocities against Kenyans between 1950 and 1960, the leader of the London-based law firm said he had been instructed by the KHRC to issue a claim for compensation against the British government on behalf of the Mau Mau War veterans.
Mr Morara says the commission has documented 40 cases of castration, sexual abuses and unlawful detention carried out by officers of the British government. In recent years, following exhaustive research, it has become clear the torture and inhuman treatment of Kenyans during the emergency period were a result of policies sanctioned from the highest levels of government in London.
"As President Barack Obama recently said, during the Second World War, Winston Churchill was adamant that Britain does not torture people even when it seemed expedient to do so," Leader said.
Indeed, Obama’s grandfather, Onyango Obama, was a victim of the crackdown on Mau Mau when he was detained in mid-1950s.
Self respect
Though it has taken long, Mr Muite said the Mau Mau issue will never go away.
The veterans, he said, must be assisted into regaining their self-respect and dignity and the Britain Government should pay for what they did to them.
It has taken long to secure justice because the movement had been illegal in Kenya for 51 years. It was banned in 1952, but President Kibaki lifted the ban in 2003.
After a campaign and the revelation of the massacre of eleven Kenyans at the Hola Detention Camp that Britain was forced to close detention camps and stop barbaric practices when dealing with freedom fighters.
Leader says he has the opportunity to make the British government come to terms with this stain on British history and apologise to the Kenyan people. 
Thanks To The Standard

Sh9.2b: Detectives target junior staff Who will take the blame?

The Sh9.2 billion riddle took a different turn when junior employees at the Finance ministry expressed fears they could be victimised as detectives visited the Treasury to investigate the scandal.
Detectives from CID’s Economic Crimes Prevention Unit went to the Treasury yesterday as the Parliamentary Budget Committee announced a preliminary report on the Sh9.2 billion Supplementary Budget deficit would be released today.
MPs allied to Finance Minister Uhuru Kenyatta rallied to his defence, claiming he was victim of political sabotage.
But at the Treasury, some employees expressed fear that powerful forces in the ministry might sacrifice them as scapegoats over the Sh9.2 billion scandal. A financial analyst at Treasury, who asked not to be named for fear of victimisation, said detectives should expand their investigation beyond junior employees to cover the entire Micro-Economic Working Group of permanent secretaries and directors of planning at Treasury, Finance and Planning as well as the Office of the President, besides the Directorate of Planning involved in the budget making process.
The official argued that the Sh9.2 billion said to be unaccounted for during requisition for the Supplementary Budget cannot be blamed on a "computing error" when about five PSs, directors and chief planning officers of several ministries were involved in processing the information for three months.
Allegedly inflated
"It is not easy for a computer error to occur on 120 items for a value that is so glaring," the official said of the reported items on which personal and other allowances were allegedly inflated.
At the Treasury, sources told The Standard that detectives spent several hours interviewing junior employees in the Budget Office who had been summoned on Saturday evening and told to come to the office yesterday.
Our sources intimated that Finance Permanent Secretary Joseph Kinyua also met the detectives in his office on the ministry’s 12th floor.
Some ministry officials said there was nothing unusual about Mr Kinyua being in office on a Sunday as his working week included the weekend.
Initial reports had suggested that Uhuru was expected at his office, but aides said he was attending a family function instead.
Mr David Murathe, the minister’s aide, denied that the minister was set for interrogation: "He is attending a family function."
Separately, former Justice minister and Gichugu MP Martha Karua said the coalition Government abetted corruption and restated her relief for quitting Cabinet "because I did not want to be counted among them", she said.
Earlier in the day, Uhuru was in President Kibaki’s backyard, Othaya, where several central Kenya MPs rallied to his side, claiming that the Supplementary Budget figures had been deliberately "cooked up" to taint Uhuru’s image and clip his presidential ambitions in 2012.
Speaking at Othaya Catholic Church, Uhuru, in obvious reference to his Treasury woes, said: "Lazima tuachane na hii siasa ya kuchimbana sababu haiwezi kutufaidi." (We must stop politics of undermining one another as it will not help us).
Murathe now claims the minister is a victim of a conspiracy by entrenched interests at Treasury and political opponents.
He further blamed MPs who approved the Motion, authorising the contested Sh26 Supplementary Budget on April 30 without scrutinising it.
Imenti Central MP Gitobu Imanyara, who first blew the whistle on the affair, claimed "officials at Treasury were cooking figures to loot public coffers" allegedly to plough into a secret kitty.
Speaker Kenneth Marende has ordered an investigation by parliament’s Finance and Budget committees.
Remained silent
As police and Intelligence officers moved to investigate possible fraud and sabotage, church leaders remained silent on the Sh9.2 billion riddle.
The sermons at Holy Family Basilica, St Andrew’s and the All Saints Cathedral in Nairobi shied away from the matter.
But central Kenya MPs were deafening in their support for Uhuru. MPs David Njuguna (Lari), John Mututho (Naivasha), Simon Mbugua (Kamukunji) and Assistant Minister Lewis Nguyai said the "error" was a scheme by forces at Treasury to taint him and injure his 2012 quest for top office.
Mr Njuguna said the forces, and some of their political lieutenants, were keen to see Uhuru fail.
"This is real sabotage! They are putting a wedge between the President and Uhuru and want to paint him as a fraudulent person. This is staging mistrust in one community and portraying it as untrustworthy," he said.
Mr Mbugua, who also attended the Othaya harambee with Uhuru, said there was a conspiracy to taint Uhuru and pegging the scandal on him ahead of 2012.
"We read a lot of politics in this matter to dent the name of the Deputy Premier," said the Kamukunji MP.
Mr Mututho said the Finance docket was sensitive and asked that the minister be given a free hand to come up with his own team.
Summon minister
"This will ensure that if anything goes wrong, it will be squarely blamed on the minister. As it is now, it is clear that a section of the team must have misadvised the minister," he added.
But Bishop Enos Lanoga of the Church of the Latter Saints asked for thorough investigation into the matter and culprits behind the puzzle be arrested.
Lands Minister James Orengo said Uhuru’s decision to allow investigation into the Sh9.2 puzzle was right as the truth would come out.
"Uhuru did the right thing to allow scrutiny into the matter. Times for Government officials becoming defensive whenever issues arise should not be allowed," Mr Orengo said after a church service at Ukwala ACK Church in his Ugenya constituency.
Meanwhile, the chairman of the Parliamentary Budget Committee Otieno Ogindo says the joint committee expects a preliminary report from Treasury today.
"After examining the preliminary report, we will summon the Finance minister to appear before the committee for his submission," Mr Ogindo said.