Yaliyotokea November 2009

Wedding day of ‘tot killer’ dad Otieno, 31, is alleged to have slashed his wife's throat before killing their son Wilson on Monday night. Detectives believe Otieno flipped at their flat in Southwark, South London, after Jackline, 28, asked for a divorce. But the couple - said to be devout Christians - looked devoted to one another at their white wedding, attended by 200 guests. Wanted ... Bishop Gilbert Deya One friend who was at the ceremony in Lewisham, South London, in 2005 said: "They seemed so together. How could it come to this?" Otieno, who allegedly tried to cut his own throat, was under arrest in hospital last night. It was revealed yesterday that he is the unofficially adopted son of Bishop Gilbert Deya - who faces deportation to his native Kenya over a baby selling racket. It is alleged that infertile women from the UK flew to Kenya where Deya prayed over them and declared they were "pregnant by Jesus". The women then flew home with "their" babies - which Kenyan police say were actually snatched from poor young local women. Deya is wanted on five counts of abducting children aged 22 months to four years. The evangelist, dubbed the Miracle Baby Bishop, runs the Gilbert Deya Ministries in the UK. He was introduced to the Queen and Prince Philip in Catford, South London, during the 2002 Golden Jubilee. Otieno, sometimes known as Deya, worshipped at the Ministries' centre in Peckham, South London. Friends said he and Jackline came to Britain from Kenya six years ago. They described Otieno as a "reserved man" and Jackline as "more lively". Otieno was stable in hospital. A post mortem yesterday confirmed that Wilson died of a knife wound to the neck. Jackline was released from hospital and her 17-month-old daughter was unhurt in Monday's horror. Nicolas Cage visits Kenyan jail to talk to pirates MOMBASA, Kenya (AP) - Film star Nicolas Cage has visited a Kenyan prison holding suspected Somali pirates awaiting trial to highlight the problem of piracy in the Indian Ocean. Inmates danced for the movie star and shook his hand as he toured the Shimo La Tewa prison in the Kenyan coastal town of Mombasa. The prison has become a model for other jails in the country because of the reform work of its chief warden, Wanini Kireri. Cage, a U.N. Goodwill Ambassador on Drugs and Crime, told The Associated Press Television News on Tuesday that he wanted to meet with some of the suspected Somali pirates, hear their stories and understand what is fueling piracy off the Somali coast. "Then I'm in a position where I can actually make some sense and talk about it when I go back to the States where I go talk to different U.N. councils and discuss the matter," Cage said. Cage also gave out awards during his Tuesday visit to wardens in recognition of their outstanding work. He left Kenya Wednesday. Somali pirates are currently holding around a dozen ships and more than 200 crew, and attacks have increased in recent weeks as seasonal rains subsided. On Wednesday, pirates attacked the Maersk Alabama for the second time in seven months, though private guards on board the U.S.-flagged ship repelled the attack with gunfire and a high-decibel noise device. An international flotilla of warships now patrols the Indian Ocean and Gulf of Aden, but pirates continue to carry out attacks because of the millions of dollars that can be made from a successful hijacking.   Kenyan dies in US after accident A Kenyan man died after he was involved in an accident in the US.The man, who authorities identified as Samuel Kisaka Mwawasi, was driving home at about 3.15pm when his car veered off the road on Old National Highway, a few kilometres south of Atlanta’s Hartsfield-Jackson International Airport, US. Mwawasi was taken to Grady Memorial Hospital in downtown Atlanta, where he died. "He bled to death due to multiple internal injuries," said Mr Donald Mwawasi, the father to the deceased. Mr Mwawasi, who is from Taita Taveta District told The Standard his son, 28, was a student of economics at the Georgia Military University. His death comes barely a month after another Kenyan collapsed and died at Kennesaw State University, Atlanta. Mr Peter Ogego, Kenya’s ambassador to the US, sent condolences to Mwawasi’s family. "The frequency with which the Embassy is receiving these sad reports is worrying", he said.  Visitor from Kenya killed in car crash A young Kenyan woman who worked with young people in the Westminster Diocese in the summer has been killed in a car accident. Alice Ahenda, 28, a mother of three young children, was one of two special guests from Kenya invited by CAFOD to the Bright Lights Festival camp in July. She died in a road accident near Eldoret on November 18. Two people travelling with her were also killed. One other passenger survived the crash. Alice was a talented sportswoman and captain of the netball team as well as “captain of captains” for the women's teams at St John's Sports Society in Korogocho, Nairobi. She travelled to the Westminster as part of a 20-day tour of the country to share her story and example of using sport for peace, reconciliation, empowerment and young leadership. CAFOD staff in London, Kenya and Hexham & Newcastle, who worked with Alice, were stunned by the news. CAFOD Westminster  Diocesan Manager Tony Sheen said: “This has come as a great shock to all of us. Alice was an inspirational leader in her community. She was a lovely gentle person as well as a talented sportswoman. I know many young people in the diocese were touched by her story and example. I'm sure many of us have fond memories of Alice, which we will treasure. She will be sadly missed. Our thoughts and prayers are with her family.” Alice Atieno Ahenda was born in Korogocho the fourth largest slum in Nairobi and home to 120,000 people. Although she completed her high school education, she could not afford further education, so she joined a young people’s sports group at St. John’s Catholic Church in Korogocho. In 2005, Alice helped launch the St. John Sports Society to support young people in the slum through sport. The Sports Society welcomes youth of all faiths to play football, netball, karate, tae-kwondo, athletics, volleyball, boxing, basketball, darts and weightlifting. Teams meet three days a week to play together, pray and talk to each other. Through the society, many young people have begun playing a role in transforming their own lives and the lives of others in Korogocho. The Sports Society is now a symbol of community mobilization and youth empowerment and has been supported by CAFOD since 2007. Alice was elected captain of the netball team and chairperson of St. John Sports Society, a daunting task for a lady in a male-dominated society. In late 2008, she was elected secretary general of the sports society.  Her main challenge as a leader was convincing young people, especially girls, that they can transform their lives and serve their community. Tiger Woods hurt in car crash by home JACKSONVILLE, Florida (AP)—Tiger Woods was injured when his sports utility vehicle struck a fire hydrant and a tree near his Orlando-area mansion in a gated Florida waterfront community early Friday. The Florida Highway Patrol said the world’s top golfer hit the hydrant and then a tree after pulling out of his driveway in his 2009 Cadillac SUV.Woods spokesman Glenn Greenspan said the golfer was treated at Health Central Hospital and released in good condition. The accident report classified Woods’ injuries as serious, but patrol spokeswoman Kim Montes said troopers consider the injuries serious if they require more than minor medical attention. The FHP said alcohol was not involved, though the accident remains under investigation and charges could be filed. No one else was in the car, Montes said. The accident happened at 2:25 a.m., though the FHP did not release the accident report until nearly 12 hours later. Parties are barking up the wrong tree SO BNP leader Nick Griffin’s decision to stir things up by running for MP in Barking, east London, is threatening to steal the general election limelight. No doubt, black residents of Barking will get the message loud and clear: get outta town by sunset on the morning after we go to the polls, if the racists win. Otherwise, you've only got yourself to blame when you wake up and realise that your neighbours just voted for you to have your rights revoked. For the main parties, this is a godsend, because now they'll be able to advocate the continued harassment of black youths in the name of law and order, and argue for the racist immigration policies (that lurk behind their every parliamentary twist and turn), in the name of appeasing the 'disillusioned white voter'. When are these so-called politicians going to get it in their heads that the 'disillusioned white voter' is more accurately described as the 'racist white voter'? We're all disillusioned. But when the disillusioned black voter (who, let's face it, has much more to be disillusioned about in hostile Britain) raises his head and threatens to vote 'black power', they don't run around changing policy to convince us otherwise. Let the racists vote for the BNP – they're going to anyway. If non-racist parties want to make a stand against the BNP in Barking, they'll have to unite behind one candidate so as not to split the anti-racist vote. Meanwhile, if you’re black I would advise you not to buy a house in Barking.   IDENTITY CRISIS: Tyrone Mears THE JAMAICAN motto ‘Out of many one people’ may have been taken too far by the Jamaican Football Federation in their cock-up over the status of Tyrone Mears, who played for the national team but had no Jamaican father. His old man was in fact from Sierra Leone. What is interesting about the Mears story is that this young man did not know for certain who his father was, and so in the world of citizenship and legal entitlements, surely he could play for anyone he dreamed? It is a particular predicament for young people of African-Caribbean and mixed-heritage backgrounds who are either in the care systems or with mothers who have mentally deleted the existence of the father. The real story here is about identity. It is interesting that in a world of increasing globalisation many countries, like those emerging from Eastern Europe, have increased their national pride. In Britain, the question of your roots outside of Britain is still relevant. We categorise black children as being of African or African-Caribbean heritage. Poor Tyrone Mears, playing out in the hills of Burnley, told reporters that he always assumed his father was Jamaican.   Boy, 4, stabbed to death at family home By Richard Edwards, Crime Correspondent A father was arrested today on suspicion of stabbing to death his three-year-old son. Paul Otieno, 31, was being held in a London hospital following the alleged attack on his son, after which detectives believe he stabbed himself. Detectives and medics went to their flat in Southwark, south east London yesterday evening and found the child had suffered several stab wounds. He was pronounced dead at the scene. His wife Jackeline, 28, had also suffered a knife wound to her neck and ear while her husband was covered in blood - mainly from wounds to his neck, stomach and feet, thought to have been self inflicted. Detectives found a 17-month-old girl unharmed in her cot in the flat. The family were taken to a south London hospital. Neighbours on the low-rise red-brick estate said that the father was brought out of the flat on a stretcher but halfway down the stairs paramedics had to resuscitate him before spending half an hour by the ambulance trying further to revive him. He is under police guard in hospital and has been arrested. It is understood he will be questioned later this week. His wife has been discharged and is being comforted by friends. Neighbours told The Times how they saw the mother screaming for her children in the aftermath of the attack. The family, believed to be from Kenya, Africa, were regular churchgoers. The Times understands that social services have told detectives that the family were not known to them and local police officers said that they had not been called to the address before. Kelly Turner, 34, a mother of two girls, aged seven and five, who lives on the floor above the family, said the first she knew of the incident was when she heard screaming from the mother. She said: “I heard her screaming downstairs in the car park, you could tell she was in shock because she had a wound to her neck and she was losing quite a bit of blood. She was saying ’my kids, my kids’. That is when the police came in and knocked down the door and said ’where are the children, where are the children?’”She said the family were “nice and quiet” and there had been no history of disturbances or noise from them in the block. She said they were known as regular church-goers. “The last time I saw them was Sunday, they used to go to church on Sunday, you could tell they were going to church because they would come out all smartly dressed,” she said. “There were never any disturbances before and they were always quiet. When they saw you they would smile and they would say hello. “He was just a sweet, normal little boy. He was very happy and smiley.” It is understood that they had only been living at the Lynton estate for a few months. A Metropolitan Police spokesman said the 31-year-old man had been arrested and remained under guard in hospital. The spokesman said he was in a “serious” condition. Officers from the Child Abuse Investigation Commandare waiting to question him. The spokesman added that officers are not looking for anyone else. He said: “Three people were taken to hospital - a woman, aged 28, who was suffering a neck wound; a girl, aged 17 months, who was unhurt and a man aged 31 who was suffering serious stab wounds. “A three-year-old boy found at the address was suffering stab injuries and he was pronounced dead at the scene. “The man remains in a south London hospital. His condition is believed to be stable.” Simon Hughes, Liberal Democrat MP for North Southwark and Bermondsey, who lives a short distance away, said: ““There will be huge shock and horror throughout the community, especially from those of us who live nearby. The thoughts and prayers of the country will be with the little girl also found in the flat, and all the family. “Our thoughts are also very much with the police, NHS staff and other public servants who are dealing with this terrible tragedy. “I have immediately sent wishes of support and solidarity to be passed on by Southwark Borough’s police commander.” African countries must integrate to survive, says billionaire WITHOUT ECONOMIC integration, some African states will not survive, says African-born billionaire Mo Ibrahim. At a recent good governance forum, Ibrahim said African countries have been moving too slowly toward economic integration, AllAfrica.com reported. "Some of our countries, and I'm really sorry to say this, are just not viable. We need scale and we need that now -- not tomorrow, the next year or the year after," said the mobile phone tycoon, who now runs a company promoting business opportunities in Africa. He is also behind a foundation known for the world's biggest prize, the US$5 million Mo Ibrahim prize for good governance in Africa. "Intra-African trade is 4-5 percent of our international trade. Why? This is unacceptable, unviable, and people need to stand up and say this," Ibrahim said. “Who are we to think that we can have 53 tiny little countries and be ready to compete with China, India, Europe, the Americans? It is a fallacy." He added: “We are poor, we are hungry, we are going without. Something is drastically wrong. I think we have the right to ask our leaders: are they really serious?" he said.   Corruption at Safaricom Kenya by Jeremy Kinyanjui There appears to be a lot that is troubling wrong at the biggest corporation in East & Central Africa i.e. giant mobile phone service provider, Safaricom Kenya. Financial, technical and intellectual systems for one, are clearly stretched at Safaricom Kenya, and are at breaking point. Safaricom Kenya for instance, was meant to pay out a dividend of 10 Kenya cents per share on 9th November 2009, but there is no indication that this has been done (refer to the Safaricom Kenya Annual Report & Accounts for the financial year ended 31st March 2009, both hardcopy, & softcopy i.e. www.safaricom.co.ke) When a dividend for a publicly quoted company falls due, the practice is that formal announcements & protocols are set in motion, including formal notification of the declared dividend being made to the shareholders of the company, the Capital Markets Authority & the Nairobi Stock Exchange, by the publicly quoted company in question. Should any changes to the defined timetable arise for one reason or another, then the three key parties i.e. the shareholders of the company, the Capital Markets Authority & the Nairobi Stock Exchange, should again be immediately notified about the revision, and if need be, penalties/sanctions/reprimands applied on the Board of Directors & Management for this lapse. Safaricom Kenya is in a financial crisis by every indication. Safaricom Kenya carried out a month and a half long exercise asking shareholders to sign up and receive their dividends by way of Safaricom Kenya's M-Pesa money transfer service. As at the date of this letter i.e. 21st November 2009, there is no indication that payment of dividend has been effected to Safaricom shareholders who opted to receive their dividends through Safaricom Kenya's M-Pesa money transfer service, bearing in mind that Safaricom Kenya was meant to effect dividend payment for the financial year ended 31st March 2009, on 9th November 2009, as stated above. Even then, the decision by Safaricom Kenya to use M-Pesa to pay the 2008/2009 dividend to a substantial number of it's shareholders, reeks of deceit and outright theft of it's shareholders in particular, and the people of Kenya in general. According to data released following the high profile Safaricom Initial Public Offer of March 2008, the majority of retail shareholders were allocated 420 shares each following massive over-subscription. Safaricom incidentally, has approximately 850,000 shareholders, almost all of whom are small scale retail shareholders. As mentioned above, Safaricom Kenya is meant to pay out a dividend of 10 Kenya cents per share for the financial year ended 31st March 2009. This means that majority Safaricom Kenya shareholders are set to get a dividend of 42 Kenya shillings for the financial year ended 31st March 2009. It is claimed that that the Kenya Government does not deduct a 5% withholding tax for locals (i.e. Kenyans), for any dividend payment less than 50 Kenya shillings. The Ministry of Finance/Treasury is yet to confirm this, but assuming that it is indeed a statute in Kenya fiscal law, then majority Safaricom Kenya shareholders will therefore get a dividend of 42 Kenya shillings. Now here's the bombshell... Safaricom CEO Michael Joseph & Safaricom CFO Les Baille, claim that about a quarter of it's retail shareholders (approximately 212,500 shareholders), registered to receive their dividend payments for the financial year 2008/2009 by way of Safaricom's M-Pesa money transfer service. Safaricom Kenya charges 30 Kenya shillings for such M-Pesa money transfer transactions, meaning that many of the stated 212,500 retail shareholders, will receive a net payment of 12 Kenya shillings. What's more is that if there is no statute in Kenya fiscal law allowing for a waiver of withholding tax of 5% for any dividend payment less than 50 Kenya shillings, then the saga gets even more comical, because 5% of 42 Kenya shillings is Kenya shillings 2.10. Net dividend after deduction of 5% withholding tax for many retail shareholders will therefore come to Kenya shillings 39.90. A majority of Safaricom Kenya retail shareholders receiving their dividends through the Safaricom M-Pesa money transfer service, should therefore receive a net dividend of Kenya shillings 9.90 after the M-Pesa transaction fee of Kenya shillings 30 is deducted. This is assuming that there is no statute in Kenya fiscal law allowing for a waiver of withholding tax of 5% for any dividend payment less than 50 Kenya shillings. The difference anyway between Kenya shillings 12 and Kenya shillings 9.90 is not much. It is Kenya shillings 2.10, which is not even enough to send a local text message in Kenya. How about the remaining approximate 637,500 Safaricom Kenya shareholders? Why have they up to now not received their dividend cheques for the financial year ended 31st March 2009? These were meant to have been despatched on 9th November 2009 as mentioned above. Inspite of the fact that many of the remaining 637,500 shareholders will receive net dividend cheques of either Kenya shillings 42 or Kenya shillings 39.90, and inspite of the fact that Safaricom Kenya has made no arrangements and/or provisions for how these low value dividend cheques will be cashed, why have the dividend cheques not been mailed out yet? Is it because Safaricom Kenya does not have the money? Is it because Safaricom Kenya is broke? Is Safaricom desperately scrambling to raise funds to pay the 2008/2009 dividend, by amongst other ways, the just launched low denomination, lower market end Kenya shilling 10 & Kenya shilling 5 calling cards? Safaricom Kenya is desperate & is doing little to conceal it. The company reportedly made a very attractive gross profit of 45 billion Kenya shillings for the 2007/2008 financial year and an equally attractive gross profit of slightly less than 40 billion Kenya shillings for the 2008/2009 financial year. These are huge huge sums of money. Even assuming a flat Kenyan corporate tax rate of 30%, the quoted revenues would translate into approximate net profit amounts of Kenya shillings 31.5 billion and 28 billion for the financial years ended 31st March 2008 & 31st March 2009, respectively. Where is all this money? Where are all these so called "reserves"? Are they fictitious? Are they illusionary? Are they just on paper? Are these just doctored figures that keep being prepared & presented to the public? Safaricom Kenya has an issued share capital of 10 billion ordinary shares. Safaricom Kenya made a staggering 50 billion Kenya shillings during it's stated initial public offer of March 2008, because each Safaricom Kenya share retailed at 5 Kenya Shillings during the initial public offer. Add to this the staggering attractive approximate net profits above of 31.5 billion Kenya shillings & 28 billion Kenya shillings for two years in a row, and it becomes really baffling why Safaricom Kenya is not able to pay a dividend of only  Kenya shillings 1 billion for the financial year ended 31st March 2009, and why they are openly fleecing it's shareholders and Kenyans in general, by further stealing 30 Kenya shillings from every one of the approximate number of 212,500 shareholders who have "opted" to receive their dividends for the 2008/2009 financial year via Safaricom Kenya's M-Pesa money transfer service. The Safaricom Kenya dividend payment for the financial year ended 31st March 2009 comes to merely 1 billion Kenya shillings in the circumstances, because an issued share capital of 10 billion ordinary shares multiplied by the declared dividend of 10 Kenya cents, comes to only 1 billion Kenya shillings, a pittance for the "giant" Safaricom Kenya, the "biggest" corporation in this region i.e. East & Central Africa. Safaricom Kenya has also just issued a corporate bond for 2 billion Kenya shillings, and reported that it will issue similar such corporate bonds in phases. Why is a company with such huge reserves borrowing such small amounts of money from a hard pressed Kenyan public? Why does a company that has made huge staggering approximate net profits of 59.5 billion Kenya shillings over a two year period, have to go back to the Kenyan public to borrow a mere 2 billion Kenya shillings for it's "expansion" programmes. Moreover, this is in the midst of it’s failure to release a declared dividend for the financial year ended 31st March 2009 for a small amount of 1 billion Kenya shillings. Safaricom Kenya is in a heavily desperate situation & I would personally not be surprised to even hear that they have not paid their employees and/or suppliers. One even wonders what the real state of numerous other smaller Kenyan corporations/enterprises/businesses is. Safaricom has resorted to sending all manner of annoying, valueless, irritating & nonsensical near daily promotions to it's huge subscriber base of close to 10 million users, amongst other things, merchandising "branded" laptops at "throw away prices", asking subscribers to sign-up for English premier league updates for the "Big 4" English football teams i.e. Manchester United, Chelsea, Arsenal and Liverpool, and asking subscribers to download ring tones and/or "Skiza" tones from www.safaricom.co.ke. One of the annoying, valueless, irritating & nonsensical promotions even asked subscribers to download "gospel" tones from www.safaricom.co.ke at "premium rates", disregarding the fact that a huge number of Safaricom Kenya subscribers are not Christians. This is extremely insensitive & outrageously fails to recognise the cosmopolitan nature of Kenya's people, showing indeed, just how desperate Safaricom Kenya is. I mean why not just send out promotional text messages in Kikuyu, Luo, Gusii, Kalenjin, Taita, Kamba, Meru, Luhyia, Maasai, Somali, Samburu, Borana, Dorobo, Rendille, Gujarati, Sheng or any one of the numerous other dialects in Kenya, if this is the case. One also wonders what Safaricom Kenya sets out to achieve in sending out  promotional text messages for it's branded laptops that they claim cost "only" Kenya shillings 19,999. Are they targeting lower market end subscribers for whom they have just launched low denomination Kenya shilling 10 and Kenya shilling 5 calling cards for and for whom they look set to also further soon launch a Kenya shillings 2 calling card for, or are they targeting the higher end of the market that already owns laptops? This country is in serious trouble. Who else is enjoined in the Safaricom Kenya conspiracy of deceit, open lies and open theft? The Capital Markets Authority, the Nairobi Stock Exchange, Parliament, the Ministry of Finance/Treasury? In general, this is a good time to tread very cautiously. Safaricom Kenya is in dire straits, but so is the rest of the Kenyan economy. The Kenya Electricity Generating Company (KENGEN), has just announced the "successful" subscription of it's just issued corporate bond. East African Portland Cement has also just announced that it will soon issue a corporate bond to help offset it's huge loan servicing obligations pegged to the Japanese yen. Pan African Paper Mills, Webuye, is insolvent. The giant Kenya Planters Co-Operative Union (KPCU), is also insolvent. Uchumi Supermarkets is also desperately trying to remain relevant with all manner of announcements of the flashy financial instruments that they shall use in their recovery, despite the failure of their debenture issues. Barclays Bank of Kenya is also a big player in the long term syndicated corporate bond market, despite having declared enormous profits for a continuous 17 year period. Similarly, Kenya Commercial Bank recently saw the need for a rights issue despite also having declared huge profits for several consecutive years. The Kenya Government itself is heavily borrowing from the Kenya public and from overseas, and has only just announced a subscription "extension" of it's Infrastructure bond, "owing to great public demand", another way of saying, "Please guys, buy this bond... We are not playing and desperately need the money!" The global financial crisis whose "de facto" commencement can be said to be the spectacular September 2008 collapse of Lehmans Brothers in the United States, has noticeably began arriving in Kenya.

British African Chamber of Commerce a link for African investors

Yesterday the British African Chambers of Commerce (BACC) met at the Royal Overseas League in St James Park London for their Business in Action get together and semaniseme team was invited to take part in the event. BACC's main objectives are:
To create an inclusive link between the British Africans in the UK, all UK business communities and develop effective links over time with those in African countries.
To bring together the financial, intellectual and political resources to activate a benevolent and effective economic climate.
To promote trade and investment
to bring about sustainable economic development in the British African Communities in the UK and Africa.
The members benefit through
Networking as BACC brings business people together.
Great opportunities for buyers and sellers to meet
To foster investment opportunities
To highlight development opportunities in different areas and countries
To engage all communities
To develop themselves
Iintroductions are rewarded with commissions
The event was well attended noted was the number of Kenyans and Ugandans at the event. Membership is open and individuals and companies can join.
BACC's Kenyan diaspora manager is Nelly Kennedy from Watford.

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Reporting by semaniseme team

5 Kenyans charged with bilking state governments of $3.3 million

Semaniseme team welcomes Kenyan high Commissioner - London

This week semaniseme had the honours of being invited for a candid moment with the new Kenyan High Commissioner to the UK Mr Ephrahim Ngare.

The new kenyan high commissioner Mr Ephraim W. Ngare is one of the top 6 boys, Benjamin Kipkulei, Mugo of sandrack from alliance high school to go to makerere university in the 60s. He has been a diplomat for the last 24 years,served in Geneva and New york.
 
Before coming to London Mr Ngare established the kenyan tripoli embassy from scratch since libya and kenyan had broken the diplomatic ties in the early 80s.
 
He was given three days to move to london and since he landed time has been against him. Mr Ngare is yet to present his papers to the queen.
 
He struck me as being a hands on guy in 7 days he has studied the figures as far as UK and Kenya are concerned,this was good news to note that the trade imbalance between Kenya and UK is in favour of Kenya, UK bought Kenya's products to the tune of $324,000,000 as of last year and Kenya bought goods worth $204,000,000 a deficit of $120,000,000.
 
IDF pumps 40 billion shillings grants in primary and secondary education in Kenya. UK is the leading investor in kenya with 60 international firms in Kenya eg safaricom, unilever, homegrown, finlay tea, brookbond, metal box, barclays, standard, delmonte etc.
 
His excellency promised to improve the image of the high commission and to work closely with Kenyans in UK who regard the office as distant. Mr Ngare told us he is a great believer in three p "promote,protect,project".
 
He likes whistle blowers the wrong should not be tolerated, he said. Once settled he promised to invite kenyans to the kenya house.
 
He is off this week to Trinidad & Tobago for the commonwealth summit.

By Maina Kanyora - Semaniseme team

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Semaniseme meets Kenyan finest Golfers in London

Kenyan Golfing Society - Europe (KGSE) was initiated to bring together all golfers with Kenyan connections and living in Europe. It is also meant to introduce golf to people who have aspired to play golf, watch golf, or simply like to enhance social interraction among people in the Diaspora.

The society is open to any person who has a Kenyan connection whether by birth, marriage or simply would love to identify themselves with Kenya. One does not have to be a golfer to become a member.

November 14th KGSE held their tournament at Selsdon Park Golf Hotel, Sanderstead,South Croydon, Surrey in the evening the best players were honoured during their Annual general meeting. The winners were :
1. Godfrey Muraya
2. Ndung'u Thairu
3. Wambari Kairu

Lady Winner: Wambui Njau

The event was sponsored by M-Pesa

By Lydia Maina semaniseme team

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DRAFT CONSTITUTION AND GENDER FACTOR

The imperious constitution that Kenyans have been governed with since attaining our independent is flawed on gender issues just as it’s draconian on governance. The million dollar question with Kenyans spectrum is whether the draft constitution is clear on, Gender reforms, land reforms, separation of powers mainly from legislature, judiciary and executive. Time will tell when the draft is made public.

Many in Kenya will term gender as man and women; but the professional definition differs. Professionally gender is defined as “roles and responsibilities a society assigns to men and women on the basis of their sex. Gender is best reflected in household economics where is clear division of labour between men and women, girls and boys.

For a better sustainable economic development our new constitution needs to embody the principles of participation and equity characterised by the optimal use of human resources and fair compensation for work. This will promote the involvement of men, women in the production of goods and services, and equitable sharing of the benefits accruing from their inputs.

Our new constitution should adopt and acknowledge the convention on the elimination of all forms of discrimination against women (CEDAW) as bill of rights for women adopted by UN general assembly in 1979. In its 30 articles it defines what constitutes discrimination against women and sets out an agenda for national action to end such discrimination.

The new constitution needs to recognise basis of equality of men and women as equal of human rights and fundamental freedoms in the political, economic, social, cultural, civil or any other field. It is paramount that establishment of tribunals and other public institutions, to ensure the effective protection of women against discrimination are established under new constitution.

It was Mwalimu Julius Nyerere who said “women of Africa toil all their lives on land that they do not own, to produce what they do not control, and at the end of the marriage through divorce or death, they can be sent away empty-handed”

Same happens in Kenya political circles women hold the majority vote yet their political representation is marginalised by our electoral system and political parties mainly dominated by men.

Ng’ethe wa Mbiyu
KMDJ Chairman

Maasai People Willing to Stop Female Circumcision

BOSTON, Mass, NOVEMBER 7_The revelation that the Maasai would be willing to shed off the decades’ old practice of female circumcision, also known as female genital mutilation (FGM) received a mixture of shock and praise during a question and answer session soon after the screening of the "Maasai at the cross roads" documentary last week at Harvard University.

Many participants expressed shock that the cultural procedure that is meant to usher in young Maasai girls into womanhood still existed despite modern evidence that FGM is not of much help to a woman’s sexuality.

The 45 minute documentary, produced by Teri Gabriselen, a tourist who first visited Kenya over 10 years ago and vowed to go back to help  in the education of the maasai children, together with two film-makers, Joe Dietsch and Kristin Jordan received wild applause from the audience.

It chronicles the changes that the nomadic Maasai of Kenya are struggling to make to adapt to the increasingly difficult times occasioned by climatic changes that are wrecking havoc to their traditional means of livelihood which depended mostly on their animals for food.

In the film, many Maasai contend that they can no longer depend on their animals, making education paramount to every child if they want to have a future.

Many Maasai are therefore embracing any opportunity they can get to send their children to school, even if it means studying under an acasia tree, where Teri first saw a Maasai teacher scribbling on dirt in front of a group of children, a sight that inspired her to start the African Schools of Kenya as a way to bring more education to the maasai.

The documentary also revealed that in conforming with the culture, many  Maasai parents did not want to send their female children to school  fearing that if a girl gets educated, she will run away from the community and never get circumcised either.

This prompted heavy grilling of the producers by the audience who wanted to know more about the practice and why it has not ended.

Filmmaker, Joe Dietsch answers questions from the audience

Executive producer, Teri Gabriselen answers questions

Many women interviewed in the movie said that they did not enjoy sex at all after the archaic procedure.

“Sex feels like nothing after the circumcision,” one woman said in her native language through an interpreter.

The documentary also revealed the openeness of the Maasai people to start using condoms to protect themselves aganist the spread of the dreaded HIV Aids virus that is also ravaging their community in Kenya even though they disliked any discussion of the subject.

"If they are the only way to stop us from geing infected, then we can start talking about it", a Maasai man says in the film.

During the ensuing discussion, it emerged that although the Maasai continued to practice FGM, they did not like the consequences that it brings to their women.

Many Kenyans in the audience were similarly dismayed that the practice has not stopped among the Maasai.

“Other tribes like the Kikuyu not too long ago used to practice FGM and attached a serious cultural value to it, but they have completely stopped it,” said John Cheborot who drove from Lowell to attend the premiere. “This was all because of the education they got,” he added causing a loud applause from the learned friends at Harvard.

Cheborot's concerns were supported by the executive producer,Teri Gabriselen, who said that during discussions with the Maasai men as they shot the film, most men admitted that they secretly go to get better sex from Kikuyu women after their women are circumcised.

Guests congratulate Professor Calestous Juma, the narrator in the film

The Kikuyu is the largest tribe in Kenya and are neighbors to the Maasai, thereby interacting on the fringes for decades in many regions like Ngong, Kikuyu, Dagoretti, Nairobi and other areas.

According to our history consultant, Daniel Karanja from New Bedford, intermarriage between the Kikuyu and the Maasai has been common for many decades.

Many ethnic tribes in Kenya have shed the practice considered deplorable by many as it grossly hinders full functioning of the female sexuality.

  However, a considerable number of communities in different regions still continue the practice.

“This beats the logic why they have to circumcise their own women, only to go looking for the uncircumcised Kikuyu women,” said Teri, causing wild laughter from the auditorium.

However Teri was quick to add that all that the African Schools for Kenya wants was to give the Maasai children some education to sustain their future livelihoods and the issue of FGM can be left to individuals and their community.

  “If they decide to stop the practice, well and good, If they decide to continue with it, it’s entirely up to them”, Gabriselen said.

“The younger generation seemed eager to move away from the practice, and the older generation is seriously considering shedding the culture,” added  Joe Dietsch, one of the film-makers of the ground breaking documentary.

The second film-maker, Kristin Jordan, said that she was encouraged at the fact that the new opportunities that the Maasai are getting for education will lead to the total shedding of the retrogressive culture of FGM.

“When a woman is well educated, she will never agree to be circumcised,” said Jordan.

The FGM issue dominated the discussion so much that it was very clear that no one from any part of the world was excited about the archaic culture.

White people, a Chinese, Kenyans, Japanese, and a Ugandan all shot up and voiced their concerns and hope that the practice will totally end.

Ms. Betty Nalwa, a human rights lawyer from Uganda, however cautioned the audience to go slow on the FGM issue within the massai community, citing the need for people to look carefully at the spirituality of the Maasai.

Others in the audience however disagreed with Ms. Nalwa, saying that good sexuality goes hand in hand with spirituality.

The event was hosted by Sarah Hyunee of Harvard University and moderated Professor Calestous Juma, also of Harvard school of government.

Prof. Juma also served as the narrator in the documentary that left many people asking for more.

He thanked the many people who came for the "Maasai at the Cross Roads" premiere and hoped that more people would be inspired to do more such projects in Africa.

The premiere was followed by a reception and a demonstration by the organization, a media off-shoot from MIT that provides cheap laptops to children living in poverty in many different parts of the world.

OLPC is seeking to provide the cheap laptops to Maasai children within the ASK schools.

  The fully functional wireless laptops cost $200 and can be configured to use solar generated power

Mungiki leader killed in Nairobi

Mungiki spokesman Njuguna Gitau Njuguna was on Thursday shot dead in Nairobi. He was gunned down by an unknown assailant inside a mobile phone shop in the city’s Luthuli Avenue at 4.15pm.

A sales girl said there was a heated argument between four men. “They walked in side by side and I thought it was the normal harassment by city council askaris (security officers). So I ignored it,” said the girl, who did not want her name disclosed. “The other men held Mr Njuguna like a prisoner,” she said.

“They were holding his shirt and trousers and they had sandwiched him,” she explained. Mr Njuguna in trying to break free, jumped on to the counter and held on firmly, the witness said. She said she thought the men were arguing until she realised that Mr Njuguna was begging for his life, pleading with the men not to kill him.

“One of the men, dressed in a polo shirt, drew a gun and shot him in the eye and stomach. By that time we were all on the ground,” she told the Nation at the scene. The killers casually walked away. His death comes a day after Mungiki leader Maina Njenga, recently released from jail, said his life was in danger. Mr Njenga claims to have converted to Christianity.

The government on Thursday quickly said the shooting was not done by the police. On Thursday night Internal Security Permanent Secretary Francis Kimemia said: “Police are on full alert and they will track down and know who did it. It is very easy to blame the police but let the law enforcers investigate the matter first.”

Mr Kimemia said reports from officers on the ground were that Mr Njuguna had been arguing about money with two other men. Mungiki has been accused of waging a campaign of bloodshed and extortion, including the massacre of dozens of villagers in Mathira in April. Mr Njenga was tried and set free over those killings.

A UN investigator said police had formed a death squad to eliminate alleged gang members. But there have also been reports of internal wrangling and gangland killings within the criminal sect.

On Thursday, Mr Paul Muite, one of the lawyers who defended Mr Njenga, said that Mr Njuguna on Friday expressed fears for his life, allegedly after being approached by members of the Kwekwe Squad, a police squad established to deal with the Mungiki.

The government announced that the squad was disbanded earlier in the year. Mr Muite said that Mr Njuguna informed partygoers at the home of Mr Njenga that they would kill Mr Njenga in a month, then spread propaganda that he had been killed by sect members, unhappy with his conversion to Christianity. It was not possible to corroborate Mr Muite’s claims.

Mr Muite said the killing, during a visit by ICC prosecutor Louis Moreno-Ocampo, was “striking”. “It is an extra-judicial killing ,” said Mr Muite. Mr Njuguna’s body was taken to Kamukunji police station where an officer said in Kiswahili; “This is the guy who has been disturbing us.” The body was later transferred to City Mortuary.

Kenyan Found Dead In Her Apartment In Topeka, KS

The Kenyan Community in Topeka Ks, is mourning the loss of one of their own, Edah Chepkung Tawarar. Eddah was found dead in her apartment on 10/30/09. According to a close friend of the deceased, Edward Wanjohi, Edah had been suffering from bleeding ulcers. Autopsy results however were inconclusive though a hole was discovered on her throat, Wanjohi told Jambonewspot.

According to another close friend to the deceased, Salome Ngure, Edah had gone to hospital on the previous night and released. However, she was asked to report to work the following day by her employer. She worked on the 7am to 3pm shift on Friday and she was later found dead in the early hours of Saturday 10/31/2009. Ms Tawarar did not seem to know too many people and the few that she knew are doing everything possible to raise the required $10,000 to send her body home for burial. Edah first came to the US in 1998 where she was attending the University of Wisconsin before moving to Topeka in 1999. A fundraiser was held on Sunday 11/08/2009 and an amount of $3,000 was raised which is far short of the amount required. Mr Wanjohi said their wish is to transport Edah’s body home this coming weekend. Her body has been moved to Brennan Mathena funeral home in Topeka.

Edah was the only daughter of Mr. and Mrs. Sammy Chemwey originally from Toroso locaton, Cheptais Division in Mt. Elgon District. Sister of Levi, Joshua, Emmanuel and Michael. Niece of Isaac, Bineah, Patrick, Vincent, Josephine, Violet, Rodgers, Evans and Peter Cheroti. Also of Rose, late Jamin, Henry, Florence, Christine and Diphus Chemorion, among many others.
If you would like to help in efforts to help facilitate her repatriation home, you can make contributions to-:

Bank of America (opened in Irving Texas)

Account name: Comfort Holding

Routing no: 111000025 —Account Number: 4810327092.

For further information, contact the following :

Edward Wanjohi: ( 785) 969-2807

Sally Ngure : (785) 845-7980

Source:Jambonewspot

Kenya Medical Personnel Make A Kill by Killing Foetus
By Gibson Amenya

Is a great challenge for us to rethink about pregnancy termnations that is gaining prominnence in Kenya of late find it funny that I can destroy an innocent creature in womb just because I dont want it. We stand to lose a great future generations when we allow this blatant abuse of humanity on pretext of removing unwanted pregnancies to continue unbated There are many  locations on  Tom Mboya Street where this act is so
rampant that you wonder really all those that are seeking this services were all raped or something like that.

Many school going girls are flocking here mostly on Saturdays and Sundays for this services. I did ask about  the cost and I  am shocked that one kill goes from 5K to over 12K depending on who is doing it from a Quack to a
specialist With over 10 killings done per week then Medical Practiners are making a kill by Killing Innocent Inborns.

Pregnancy is something that all we must be proud of but when we opt to get rid of it then where is one moral ethics. Let us debate on how mistaken pregnancies can be protected. You may opt to terminate your pregnancy due to harsh prevailing conditions maybe your poor but suppose you opt to carry the Pregnancy and seek support .

You may have helped Kenyans get a future Obama,Tecla Lorupe,Paul Tergat even Maina Njenga ,etc a most sought Nuclear Engineer. As we look at vision 2030 we have to look ways to protect our inborns if creating a law to support those who  get unwanted pregnancies.

Gibson Amenya
Operations
Enigma Consultants Kenya Limited
Email: gibson.amenya@enigma.or.ke
Email:info@enigma.or.ke
For Audit,Taxation,Training Staffing Services

 

Raila to meet Mungiki leader Maina Njenga

Prime Minister Raila Odinga is to meet released Mungiki boss Maina Njenga in a few days over alleged threats on the sect leader’s life.

By BILLY MUIRURI and EMEKA-MAYAKA GEKARA
Sunday, November 8 2009

In an exclusive interview with the Nation over the weekend, Mr Odinga said it was disturbing that top leaders of the sect had become targets and nothing seemed to have been done to ensure their security even after some of them publicly raised concern for their lives.

And on Sunday, Bishop Margaret Wanjiru of the Jesus is Alive Ministries led a delegation to visit Mr Njenga at his Isinya home. Later, she was quoted on the KBC Web site saying that she had advised Mr Njenga to go into hiding.

At the weekend, Mr Odinga had said: “I will meet him (Mr Njenga). He is a Kenyan and I am a prime minister of all Kenyans. If a Kenyan comes crying that his life is in danger, I cannot ignore him especially when his close friend is killed after raising a similar concern.”

In reference to last Thursday’s killing of Mungiki spokesman Njuguna Gitau Njuguna, the PM said: “I find it untenable that a man would be killed in a busy city street that is under surveillance of CCTV and three days later no one has been arrested. It is worrying.”

Though Mr Odinga did not disclose the day he would meet Mr Njenga, a source familiar with the Prime Minister’s diary said it could be by the end of this week. “There is such a meeting. It will be in a few days from today (Saturday). We shall let you know the actual time of the meeting,” said the source who did not wish to be named.

Speaking at his Treasury office on Saturday, Mr Odinga said it was public knowledge that many youths had been killed in the country especially in Central Province in unclear circumstances and this trend could not be wished away. “It is true developments in the province point to a breakdown of law and order,” Mr Odinga said.

Mungiki, an illegal sect, has been responsible for high-profile slaughter, including the massacre of 29 villagers in Mathira in April. It runs extensive and brutal extortion rackets especially in the transport industry.

Its criminals also extort “taxes” from home owners and have terrorised villagers across Central Province and some slums in Nairobi. Police identify Mungiki as the biggest internal security threat facing the country.

Executions

The force has been accused of responding to the menace through illegal executions, allegations that were taken to the UN Human Rights Council by Prof Philip Alston. The confirmation that the PM could meet the Mungiki leader came only two days after Mr Njenga issued a statement saying that some people wanted to kill him.

A week ago, Mr Gitau visited Mr Njenga at his Kitengela home together with his lawyer Paul Muite where he is reported to have said that both he and Mr Njenga were targeted for elimination. Mr Njenga, who claims to have converted to Christianity, has also said that a highly placed source in the security system had warned him that certain people were saying he will be killed within a month of his release.

Mr Njenga, who has expressed interest to meet with the PM on several occasions in the past, is yet to record a statement with police. Mr Njenga was recently freed after the government withdrew charges relating to the Mathira massacre.

Mr Muite had claimed that Mr Njenga swore an affidavit in which he allegedly identified top politicians and other leaders who were secret members of the illegal sect.

Mr Odinga’s foray into “talking to the sect” started in April 17 last year when he was sworn in as Prime Minister. In his address, he extended an olive branch to the sect saying he would engage them in dialogue.

Found dead

At the time, Mr Njenga’s wife Virginia Nyakio and Mr Njoroge Wagacha, a Mungiki official, had been found dead four days earlier in a Gatundu forest, sparking violent protests by Mungiki members in various parts of the country in which more than 10 people were killed.

Two weeks later, two officials of the Kenya National Youth Alliance, Ndung’u Wagacha and Naftaly Irungu were shot dead in their car as they went to see Njenga at Naivasha prison. All of them are yet to be buried.

 

Zimbabwean in Miss Black Britain 2009 finals

A 22-YEAR-OLD Zimbabwean beauty whose dream it is to find a cure for some of life’s killer diseases has made it through to the final of a national modelling competition in the United Kingdom.

Gertrude Chatukuta, 22, is now just a vote away from becoming Miss Black Britain 2009, after beating off competition from thousands of rivals.
Miss Black Britain seeks to showcase,celebrate and embrace black beauty and the diversity of it. Celebrating the physical and inner beauty of young black women in Britain.
The modest student, who is studying medical and biological sciences at Manchester Metropolitan University, had to be persuaded by friends to enter in the first place. Now Gertrude, after winning through a bikini qualifier, will battle for top honours at the Mermaid Hotel in London on November 14.

Gertrude, from Brierfield, near Burnley, who came from Zimbabwe six years ago, said: “I take part in a lot of charity work so if I win the competition it will give me a chance to support a number of causes and offer them more exposure.
“It means a lot to me that I have made the final because I have only been modelling for just over a year and this is a major competition. I really hope Zimbabweans will get behind me.”
Gertrude said she hoped to become a bio-chemical pharmacologist, pioneering research into rare condition and diseases, after her graduation.

Organisers of the pageant want the winner of the 2009 competition to become a role model to change the perception of young black culture in the media, which they believe portrays “an overload of reports of gang violence and gun crime”.
Fashion giants including Selfridges, Moet & Chandon and Harvey Nichols have already sponsored the event, which will also showcase up and coming black music.
Previous winners of Miss Black Britain have gone on to shoot glamorous photo shoots in exotic locations including the beaches of St Lucia.

Gertrude, who is in the third year of her degree, said: “I have been allocated a specific phone number which anyone can text to cast their vote.”

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