Strong Earthquake Measuring 5.7 On The Richter Scale, Rocks Kenya On The Day Of Unveiling New Jubilee Party and ODM 10 Celebrations

Earthquake Rocks Kenya On The Day Of Unveiling New Jubilee Party and ODM 10 Celebrations, Is It A Portent Of The Future Perhaps?

                                        Video Update Of Earthquake In Bukoba Tanzania

An earthquake measuring 5.7 on the Richter Scale rocked the Western part of Kenya and Rwanda, Tanzania and Uganda on the 10th of September 2016 from 3:05PM  to 3:06 PM (UTC+3,GMT+3).

                                                         Patients Receiving First Aid 

Apparently the epicenter was deep in the heart of Lake Victoria,23 km ENE of Nsunga, Tanzania and at magnitude 5.8 on the Richter Scale it is one of the strongest earthquakes to hit the region in decades.

UPDATE: It is the strongest earthquake since 1900 which was felt within a radius of 150 kilometers.


        Damage Caused By Earthquake With Epicenter at Nsunga, Bukoba, Tanzania

Update 12:54 UTC : USGS predicts a MMI VII shaking near the epicenter which will be VERY DAMAGING as MMI VII correspondents to Strong shaking.

Update 12:53 UTC : Local reports are mentioning that houses and a church have collapsed in Bukoba, Tanzania

Update 12:50 UTC : Based on our findings today's earthquake might be one of the strongest of the last decades in the Lake Victoria region.

IMPORTANT Update 16:02 UTC : We are sad to report that at least 10 people have been killed and 100 injured due to this earthquake

A very dangerous and probably also damaging shallow earthquake struck the Nsunga area in Tanzania. We received alerts from scared people from Kenya, Uganda, Rwanda and Tanzania.




Most important Earthquake Data:
Magnitude : 5.8
Local Time (conversion only below land) : 2016-09-10 15:27:28
GMT/UTC Time : 2016-09-10 12:27:28
Depth (Hypocenter) : 10 km

                                             Storied Building Destroyed By Earthquake In Bukoba

USGS MMI VII Earthquake Classification

People

General alarm. Difficulty experienced in standing. Noticed by motorcar drivers who may stop.
Fittings :
Large bells ring. Furniture moves on smooth floors, may move on carpeted floors. Substantial damage to fragile contents of buildings.

Structures :

                                 Former Supermarket Damaged By Earthquake

Unreinforced stone and brick walls cracked. Low standard buildings cracked with some minor masonry falls. A few instances of damage to buildings of ordinary workmanship.

Unbraced parapets, unbraced brick gables, and architectural ornaments fall. Roofing tiles, especially ridge tiles may be dislodged. Many unreinforced domestic chimneys damaged, often falling from roof-line.

Water tanks Type I burst. A few instances of damage to brick veneers and plaster or cement-based linings. Unrestrained water cylinders (hot-water cylinders) may move and leak. Some common windows cracked. Suspended ceilings damaged.

Environment :

Water made turbid by stirred up mud. Small slides such as falls of sand and gravel banks, and small rock-falls from steep slopes and cuttings. Instances of settlement of unconsolidated or wet, or weak soils. Some fine cracks appear in sloping ground. A few instances of liquefaction (i.e. small water and sand ejections).

Additional Reporting EarthQuake-Report

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The Complete List of The 47 New Counties of The Republic of Kenya.

The Complete List of The 47 New Counties of The Republic of Kenya As Per the First Schedule 6 (1) of The Constitution of Kenya .

I was doing a random search for the 47 new counties established in the Republic of Kenya under the new constitution and I was surprised even horrified to discover that Google did not provide the relevant results from the top 20 SERP's. That could only mean one of two things, that either the web documents containing this piece of information have not been properly optimized or that they don't exist at all, with the latter being highly unlikely.

I have therefore taken it upon myself as a Patriotic Kenyan and as an unabashed promoter of Search Engine Optimization,SEO and Search Engine Marketing to ensure that it gets the proper prominence it deserves among Google's Search Engine Results Pages, SERP's Here goes the 47 Counties of the Republic of Kenya as Established by the New Constitution.

COUNTIES
1.Mombasa.
2.Kwale.
3.Kilifi.
4.Tana River.
5.Lamu.
6.Taita Taveta.
7.Garissa.
8.Wajir.
9.Mandera.
10.Marsabit.
11.Isiolo.
12.Meru.
13.Tharaka Nithi.
14.Embu.
15.Kitui.
16.Machakos.
17.Makueni.
18.Nyandarua.
19.Nyeri.
20.Kirinyaga.
21.Murang'a.
22.Kiambu.
23.Turkana.
24.West Pokot.
25.Samburu.
26.Trans Nzoia.
27.Uasin Gishu.
28.Elgeyo/Marakwet.
29.Nandi.
30.Baringo.
31.Laikipia.
32.Nakuru.
33.Narok.
34.Kajiado.
35.Kericho.
36.Bomet.
37.Kakamega.
38.Vihiga.
39.Bung'oma.
40.Busia.
41.Siaya.
42.Kisumu.
43.Homa Bay.
44.Migori.
45.Kisii.
46.Nyamira.
47.Nairobi City.

The above 47 counties will form the basis for the new government structure of the Republic of Kenya you can acquaint yourself with the New Constitution and even download a copy of it in pdf format from The Kenya Law dot Org Website Here.and from The Nation Media Site Here

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Kenyans want Kibaki, Raila to work together.

Kenyans want Kibaki, Raila to work together
BY SIMON NDONG'A
Update 2 hours and 39 minutes ago
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NAIROBI, Kenya, Feb 15 - A section of Kenyans have called on the coalition partners to unite especially on critical matters that affect the country's well-being.

Those interviewed by Capital News on Monday said that the latest differences between President Mwai Kibaki and Prime Minister Raila Odinga indicate cracks in the Coalition government.

“The Prime Minister and the President need consult and make unanimous decisions. They should not take us back to 2007,” said a newspaper vendor.
“They should do their work like grown-ups!”

The President and PM differed in public on Sunday over the suspension of two Cabinet Ministers after President Kibaki overturned an announcement by PM Odinga who had announced the suspension of Ministers William Ruto and Sam Ongeri.

But a Nairobi businessman said: “They need to sit down together and have discussions before they come out in public. Now it is like they are fighting. President Kibaki is saying one thing while Prime Minister Raila Odinga is saying another. This is not good,” he stated.

The Chairman of the International Commission of Jurists Kenya Chapter Albert Kamunde said cracks were evident in the Coalition.

“Obviously, if a principal to the Coalition government asks a sitting Member of Parliament to resign, that indicates that there is a serious problem somewhere and should not be taken lightly,” he explained.

He also said that a quick solution to the scandals would restore donor confidence in the country.

“When we invite donors to come in and they have assisted the country. We are responsible to account how the money has been used. This is because they also have a duty to their tax payers to say how the money donated has been spent.”

Prime Minister Raila Odinga on Sunday announced a decision to suspend Agriculture Minister William Ruto and Education Minister Sam Ongeri saying that the forensic audit by the PricewaterhouseCoopers in the Maize scandal and internal audits on Free Primary Education, had laid credible foundations for the two to be investigated.

Mr Odinga had told reporters the move was taken after consultations with President Kibaki. However, the President later contradicted the suspension order saying that the two ministers would remain in office.

In a statement sent to newsrooms by the Presidential Press Service on Sunday evening, the President stated that no consultations took place between him and the Prime Minister on the matter.


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Martha Karua Sorry-Central MPs Have Endorsed Uhuru Madrinks For Presidency

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Political supremacy war in Central Province went a notch higher at the weekend with 15 MPs throwing their weight behind Finance Minister Uhuru Kenyatta.

And in a bare-knuckle rejoinder, Constitutional Affairs Minister Martha Karua said Kenyans would not be easily hoodwinked.

"I don’t think Kenyans will be enticed to build dynasties," she said adding, "Every individual must be judged by his track record."

Justice and Constitutional Affairs Minister Martha Karua after attending a church service in Githunguri, Kiambu, on Sunday. Photo: Jonah Onyango/Standard

Speaking in Githunguri, Kiambu, Ms Karua added, "I expect to be judged by Kenyans, not 220 MPs in Parliament."

The MPs meeting in Gatundu South told Karua to go slow, saying the region’s bloc vote was Uhuru’s.

"Let everybody know that Uhuru is the undisputed leader of Central Kenya," said Kamukunji’s Simeon Mbugua. 

The leaders were speaking at Kimunyu Secondary School during a fundraiser. The move by the MPs will certainly pit Uhuru against Karua.

"Others moving around saying they want to be President are day dreamers," said Mr Mbugua.

Juja MP George Thuo set the ball rolling, saying Uhuru was politically mature and tested. Mr Thuo said time was ripe for the community’s political leadership to speak in one voice.

Uhuru, who accepted the endorsement, however, said the political leadership needed to focus on issues affecting Kenyans.

"We have problems facing the nation which need our attention," he said. 

Forget renegotiation

The MPs, mainly drawn from PNU, said there would be no renegotiation of the National Accord and urged ODM leaders to quit the coalition if they were dissatisfied.

Kigumo MP Jamleck Kamau said ODM was given an equal number of positions as PNU and should stop lying to Kenyans they got a raw deal.

"They know that most positions given to ODM in the power-sharing deal went to one region," said Mr Kamau.

Uhuru dismissed the Geneva meeting called by Former UN Secretary-General Kofi Annan, saying it was a waste of taxpayers’ money. "Annan should instead come to Kenya and meet us here," said Uhuru.

On the killings of the Oscar Foundation officials, Uhuru told leaders not to politicise the murders and called for speedy investigation.

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Kenya's Prime Minister Raila Odinga On The Warpath

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Prime Minister Raila Odinga on Saturday tore into the country’s security agencies over extrajudicial killings and said acts of impunity must be brought to an end and the rule of law restored.

Mr Odinga spoke a day after the US Embassy in Nairobi offered help in investigating the latest killings – those of Oscar Foundation director Oscar King’ara and official Paul Oulu.

And the matter threatened to throw the struggling grand coalition government into a fresh crisis over the strong positions taken by cabinet ministers.

The Prime Minister, one of the two principals in the coalition, has twice this week lashed out at the same government he serves and half of whose Cabinet members belong to his ODM party.

Mr Odinga appears to be growing frustrated with the government he helped form a year ago and this week asked for a renegotiation of the deal that brought his ODM and President Kibaki’s Party of National Unity together.

On Friday, he fired a salvo at government spokesperson Alfred Mutua saying that he did not speak for the grand coalition government.

Mr Mutua issued a statement on Wednesday alerting the public that the Oscar Foundation and members of the proscribed Mungiki sect were planning to paralyse transport the following day and warned that the law would take its course.

The protests went ahead Thursday, but the day ended tragically with the execution-style killings of Mr King’ara and Mr Oulu.

On Saturday Mr Odinga called for a halt to the “rule by the gun the security officers have displayed while purporting to discharge their duties in recent times. People should not be shot without following the due process of the law. We have had cases where the officers shoot dead innocent citizens before they plant a gun on the body of the deceased.”

He attributed the lawlessness to the collapse of the country’s justice system and said the office of the Attorney-General was guilty of abetting the practice after officers implicate defenceless people with trumped up charges to justify their actions.

On Saturday the police said they were questioning six people in connection with the killings Thursday evening near the junction of Mamlaka Road and State House Road

Intense scrutiny

Two weeks ago, the police and the AG came under intense scrutiny in a report prepared by UN special rapporteur on extrajudicial killings Philip Alston who accused the force of engaging in such killings, sparking outrage from the public.

Speaking in his Gatundu South constituency, Deputy Prime Minister Uhuru Kenyatta called on security forces to ensure that the killers of the two human rights activists were apprehended immediately.

“We need justice, and police should speed up investigations. People should also stop politicising the killing and instead seek the truth … you cannot politicise everything,” Mr Kenyatta said.

“We should stop persistent wrangles in the coalition and concentrate on solving problems that face Kenyans for development. We should stop shouting at each other every now and then. ODM should accept whatever the party has been given and serve Kenyans.”

The Sunday Nation learnt that the US government has offered the services of Nairobi-based detectives from the US Federal Bureau of Investigation to investigate Thursday’s killings. A diplomatic note to the Foreign Affairs ministry says the American detectives are ready to “offer immediate assistance.”

“The FBI within the US Mission (Nairobi embassy) is standing by and is able to begin working immediately on the investigation,” read part of the note dated March 6, 2009 ....Read More

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UN official to probe Claims of Police Killings

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By Maseme Machuka

Kenya is on the spot over extra judicial killings.

A United Nations team is in the country to investigate the extent of "reports of increased arbitrary killings by law enforcers".

The UN Special Rapporteur on extrajudicial, summary or arbitrary executions, Philip Alston, will investigate from February 16 to 25.

Alston’s trip comes as the Kenya National Commission on Human Rights and the Oscar Foundation called on the Government to come clean on the killings.

Commission Vice-Chairman Hassan Omar told the State to explain deaths and disappearance of youth in Central and Nairobi provinces.

Mr Omar said independent investigation put the dead and disappearances at more than 1,500.

Oscar Foundation put the number at 8,000. Alston will meet Government officials, the Provincial Administration and MPs.

"His visit will also include meetings with survivors of torture and witnesses to killings, NGOs, academics and other civil society," read a statement from the UN.

Alston will report on alleged killings and reasons that may have prevented prosecution of those responsible.

"Based on information got during the visit, the Special Rapporteur will present a report on his conclusions and recommendations to the Human Rights Council," said the UN.

In a recent interview on KTN, Police Spokesman Eric Kiraithe placed the number of those who have disappeared at 3,000.

Last week, Justice Minister Martha Karua faulted the police and accused them of killing suspects instead of sending them to courts to stand trial.

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Obama Victory An Indictment of Our Local Political Leadership

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It is refreshing to watch how excited Kenyans are about Barack Obama’s swearing-in as the 44th president of the US. 

To be fair to Kenyans, Obama is a politician loved across the world. People are convinced the world is going to be a much better place during Obama’s tenure. 

You really sympathise with him considering the expectations he has to carry. For Kenyans, the feeling of affinity to Obama is natural because his father was Kenyan. 

Yet for everything that Obama represents, the Kenyan leadership and political class represent the exact opposite. Obama is a politician who has risen from obscurity to become the president of the US. In the country, however, to get to positions of national leadership it counts a great deal to bare the name of a prominent household. Here, people do not rise from obscurity to become national leaders, if it has ever happened it is in the extreme minority. 


Obama’s campaign was built and anchored upon ordinary people. He raised record-breaking campaign money because ordinary people were allowed to contribute to the campaign. So successful was his fundraising that after clinching the Democratic ticket he helped Hillary Clinton pay off some of her debts.
Currently the businessman behind the Sh7.6 billion-oil scandal involving the Kenya Pipeline, Mr Yagnesh Devani was among the top business people who attended the Sh1 million a plate luncheon for President Kibaki’s re-election bid in 2007. 

The Americans judged Obama on the content of his character, ideas and ideals. Here at home it makes no difference that one has brilliant ideas and philosophies. It does not count that one has a character of high standing. All that matters is whether one comes from the "correct" tribe. 

Obama took the oath of office at the age of 47. In this country it is unheard of that someone that young can become president. 

There has been a joke since Obama was elected, about how when Obama was born some people were already in Government. Forty-seven years later when he becomes president of the US these same individuals are still in Government. That we have had the same crop of leaders for all that time probably explains why 45 years after independence we are still going round in circles.

During the US presidential campaigns the Republicans tried in vain to tarnish Obama’s character and image. The more they tried, the more desperate they looked. In Kenya, it is almost an unwritten rule that to rise to positions of national leadership one must carry a questionable past. Most of our national leaders are alleged to be involved in various scandals. It is as if the more questionable your moral and ethical standing, the easier it is to rise to positions of national leadership. It is no wonder we always go from one scandal to the next.
Obama, on the one hand, has nominated, to his Cabinet, a number of former rivals in the presidential campaign. The most prominent is Secretary of State Hillary Clinton. Obama has even nominated a Republican to the position of Labour secretary. 

The norm in Kenya, on the other hand, is to confine your political rivals to obscurity. You must keep your opponents as far away as possible lest they rock the boat. Local presidents surround themselves with their cronies and sycophants to feel safe during their tenure.

So much could be said of the difference between Obama and our politicians.
Beneath Kenyans’ celebration of Obama is a silent cry for a leader of Obama’s stature. Obama typifies what many Kenyans yearn for in their leaders, yet they realise that in the current crop of political leaders that is a far-fetched dream. 

Who knows, some young Kenyan somewhere is getting prepared and may one day emerge to capture the aspirations and hopes of the country. The Standard

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Second Journalist Found Executed In Kenya

By mdaku Posted On 10:47:00 PM // Leave a Comment

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The decapitated body of missing Kenyan journalist Francis Kainda Nyaruri has been found in a forest. He's the second journalist murdered within a year in the East-African country: New Zealand photographer Trent Keegan was murdered in May 2008.

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Nyaruri's gruesome torture-murder are very likely related to his exposes about the extortion and embezzlement practices of local police, an international media watchdog said on Tuesday.

Francis Kainda Nyaruri is the second journalist killed in Kenya the past year. In May 2008, New Zealand photographer Trent Keegan was also killed by unknown assailants in Nairobi. The East-African country is suffering from increasing ethnic-tensions and violence, and half of its population has now been plunged into famine because of last year's ethnic-violence. See


Paris-based Reporters Without Borders (RSF) said it was shocked by the killing of Nyaruri, a freelancer based in the southwestern town of Nyamira. see

His corpse showed that he had been extensively tortured: itt bore deep gashes and his hands were tied behind his back. He was found on Jan. 29 two weeks after he disappeared.

Nyaruri, who wrote for the private Weekly Citizen under the pen name Mong’are Mokua, had been missing since January 15, according to local journalists and relatives.

“We send our deepest sympathies to Francis Nyaruri’s family and colleagues,” said CPJ’s Africa program coordinator, Tom Rhodes. “We call on the police to pursue all possible leads and ensure that the perpetrators of this hideous crime are brought to justice swiftly.”

Nyanza deputy police Chief Larry Kieng confirmed to reporters that Nyaruri’s body was found in a thicket in Kodera Forest, Nyanza Province, on Thursday, decapitated with hands tied behind his back and marks on his body.

Nyaruri’s wife, Josephine Kwamboka, identified her husband at a Kisii hospital, according to local reports. Kieng said a team of senior officers had been dispatched to Nyamira to investigate the murder,

RSF said in a statement everything possible should be done to establish the motive for the murder and to bring those responsible to justice "keeping in mind its shocking symbolism for the Kenyan population".

"According to the privately-owned daily The Standard, Nyaruri had reported being threatened by police officers over several articles he wrote for a local weekly," RSF said.

Nyanza acting Provincial Police Officer Larry Kien'g said Nyaruri had complained to colleagues of threats by police officers in relation to articles he had written in a local weekly newspaper, the Weekly Citizen. Prior to his disappearance, Nyaruri had written a series of articles that exposed financial scams and other malpractice by the local police department, local journalists also told CPJ.

Nyaruri left his residence in Nyamira at about 7:30 am on January 15 and traveled 19 miles (30 kilometers) to Kisii to purchase construction materials, local journalists reported. His wife Kwamboka told reporters that she had spoken to him at 11 a.m. the same day but did not hear from him again. see

Ever since last year's elections, Kenya's large number of ethnic-minorities, all pulled together inside one artifical 'colonial-era' border, has had repeated outbreaks of increasingly violent ethnic-violence.
Thanks To Digitalpoint
You Can Kill The Messenger But You Cant Kill The Message,Thats my humble Opinion-Mdaku.

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POLYTRICKS-ODM: We’re Unhappy With Coalition Partner’s Conduct

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ODM has called a crisis National Executive Council meeting.

Party Secretary-General Anyang’ Nyong’o on Sunday told The Standard the party was unhappy with the trend where PNU was solely making decisions on national matters.

Prof Nyong’o confirmed that the meeting would be held on Wednesday and the Prime Minister would attend.

The meeting will also discuss the Constitution, which Nyong’o claimed was being violated by Head of Civil Service Francis Muthaura.

Nyong’o expressed ODM’s displeasure at the conduct of its coalition partner, which he said was beginning to slip outside the National Accord and Reconciliation Act.

Respect us

"We are not happy about the President’s action," Nyong’o commented.

And the party’s Parliamentary Group secretary Ababu Namwamba said ODM was also concerned about the intentional overlapping of the office of the Head of Civil Service onto the responsibilities constitutionally reserved for the PM.

"As partners in this coalition, we are asking for some respect," Namwamba said.

The party’s deputy Organising Secretary Benjamin Lang’at cautioned President Kibaki against using Muthaura to derail the coalition government.

"We want to tell Kibaki to take caution that Muthaura’s illegal activities are threatening the country’s peace," said the Ainamoi MP.

Gem MP Jakoyo Midiwo expressed ODM’s impatience with Muthaura’s activities.

"Muthaura has been sent to undermine the PM, and Kibaki’s signing of the media Bill despite advice from the PM not to is a signal that he still believes this is his government," Midiwo added.

Keep off

On Sunday, Namwamba, who is also the Vice-Chairman of the Parliamentary Select Committee on constitutional review, told Muthaura to keep off the reform exercise at Anniversary Towers.

Lands Minister James Orengo accused Muthaura of taking Raila for a subordinate and accused Kibaki of setting Muthaura against the PM.

Nominated MP Rachel Shebesh claimed civil servants were undermining ODM ministers.

"We have reliable information that PSs have been instructed to undermine our ministers and assistant ministers," the MP said.

ODM will also address the food and fuel situations in the country.

Courtesy Of The Standard

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Power Corrupts,Absolute Power ,Corrupts Absolutely.

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Even as journalists covered Jamhuri Day celebrations at the Nyayo National Stadium, it was clear something more important preoccupied their mind.


Campaigns against the passing of the Kenya Communications (Amendment) Bill 2008 overshadowed the celebrations on radio and television stations.

Appeals to President Kibaki to send the draconian Bill back to Parliament went parallel with the pomp and colour at Nyayo stadium.                                                                           Journalists Protesting The Media Bill.

Despite the President and Prime Minister Raila Odinga steering clear of the issue, the media and public anger was conspicuous. In the field and newsrooms, journalists ensured the 45th Jamhuri Day events did not obscure their cry for freedom and justice.

The media had made frantic efforts to intercept the Bill before it got to the floor of the House. But MPs, angered by a parallel campaign to have their allowances taxed, saw in this Bill a weapon to hit back and punish the media. Without minding the consequences, it took only 25 out of the 222 MPs to pass it this week.

Now that the horse has bolted, focus has turned on the President to stop it.

Street protests

Yesterday, television stations juxtaposed the celebrations with pictures of street protests. They scrolled on screens calls by diplomats, media organisations and individuals condemning the passing of the Bill.

Commentators interrupted the Jamuhuri Day subject to remind the President and the nation how some clauses in the Bill could hurt freedom of expression.


Not even the State-owned Kenya Broadcasting Corporation was left out. They carried on the campaign even as Raila and Kibaki were addressing the nation.


Yet this was just the peek of a campaign the media has conducted since last year to ensure the Kenya Communications (Amendment) Bill did not become law in its present form.

On Thursday evening, KTN Managing Editor Linus Kaikai iced it with a personal letter to President Kibaki, urging him to correct the wrong done by Parliament. Kaikai reminded Kibaki of a recent tete-a-tete they had at Maasai Mara Game reserve. He reminded him of his past pledges to protect the media and took him through instances when journalists and media houses had been unlawfully raided and harassed by State authorities.

On Madaraka Day last year, Kibaki assured the country the protection of freedom of expression and the Press. He said the Government would continue to work with the media to ensure Press freedom is respected and enriched. He said this was essential not only because it is a basic right but also because it is vital for development of democracy. Towards the end of the year, then Information Minister Mutahi Kagwe held numerous sessions with Media Owners Association (MOA) over the same Bill. Eventually Mutahi bowed to public pressure and shelved it.

In came his successor Samuel Poghisio, who reintroduced the Bill this year. From the MOA, the Kenya Editors Guild to the Correspondents Association, the minister has heard them all. In the past three weeks, media owners have held five high-level meetings with Government officials over the Bill. The proposal was to defer the debate to allow more consultations.

Poghisio says the Government has no interest in muzzling the media or to control their content. But judging from history, there is every legitimate reason to express reservations.
Courtesy Of Wahome Thuku of the standard

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Kibaki Speaks At Last It Is The Party of National Unity-PNU

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Finally The President Of The Republic Of Kenya  and Commander in Chief of The Armed Forces,H.E Mwai Kibaki has broken his silence and decided to name the party whose ticket he will use to contest for  his Second and final term(We Hope) for the presidency of our beloved country Kenya.There had been a lot of grumbling among the so called Kibaki friendly parties as to which party ticket he was going to Select to vie on,out of the myriad Parties (42)at last count that were supporting his half of the Governing Coalition,After the ODM Side Opted Out of Government.He had snubbed calls by parties like NARC-KENYA,AGANO and even DP which had been struggling to catch his eye and endorse him as their flag bearer,he had maintained a studious silence and fence-sitting stance over the matter as he is want to do under such circumstances.

But today at exactly 3.31 pm he unveiled his preffered party,PNU the Party of National Unity,a party which was registered sometime in August this year ,and which will be an amalgamation of all other Kibaki friendly parties.After unveiling the vessel for his re-election,he invited all other like minded parties to coalesce under this party and work together for his re-election.


Well while this did not come as a surprise to many since the local dailies had already preempted this move as speculation had been rife that his allies had toyed with names like the GNU,the Grand National Unity party of Kenya and NARC-ASILI ,before finally settling on PNU.last week one of his cabinet ministers Mr Kiraitu Murungi said as much in a public rally he even mentioned the name of the party as the Party of National Unity.The other parties with the NARC root name were discarded because of their associations with the original NARC party with which he swept to power in the 2002 general election,and which suffered from many internal wranglings forcing the president to form the GNU,Government of National Unity.

Now it seems like truly the race for the General elections has begun in earnest,Parliament is to be dissolved shortly to pave way for the games to begin.ODM should now have a clear picture of how their main competitors campaign will pan out. The next couple of weeks will be very interesting to watch but no doubt the campaigns have been taken a notch higher by this announcement,lets watch and wait and see how all those groups working for his reelection gel under this vessel and energize themselves for the bruising battle ahead, watch this space,as we keep you posted on how the Orange party will respond to this development.

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