True State of The Kenyan Nation: Raila Odinga

[Omollo]

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The Jubilee administration has sent appeals for food aid all over the world.

The famine ravaging the land is the final repudiation of Jubilee policies on agriculture and food security. Droughts do not cause famines. Famines are caused by the failure to mitigate droughts. Jubilee promised to make our deserts bloom. The 1 million acre irrigation promise was just cheap talk. Yet the President says his Jubilee administration has delivered. Mr. President, where is the food?

Kenyans across all walks of life, from smallholder farmers to captains of industry are also wondering which economy the President was talking about. Pension funds and other investors in the Nairobi Stock exchange lost Ksh.120 billion in 2016. The slide continues. A record number of companies listed on the Nairobi stock exchange have issued profit warnings. More than 10,000 Kenyans were laid off by big companies last year. These lay-offsdesperately looking for projects to commission. Ksh. 1.5 trillion debt. That debt is now Ksh. 4 trillion and rising. As a Kenyan, has your income increased two and a half times since Jubilee came to power? Your share of the national debt has. And that debt is due and payable. That is why the cost of living is skyrocketing. That is why the Jubilee administration does not want to hear of better terms for doctors or nurses or anybody else. It has already mortgaged the country.

Before Jubilee adopted lies as a tool for governing, the Kenya Roads Board and the National Treasury published yearly reports on the developments in the infrastructure sectors, especially roads. KRB would publish how and where it has spent the proceeds of Fuel Levy while the National Treasury published reports on roads funded by the exchequer. Since Jubilee came to power, such reports have been made top secret, no longer available to citizens. The reason Jubilee wants to lie about roads. Yesterday, the President repeated the familiar lies that some 7000 kilometres of roads have been done. It is a lie.

We challenge are challenging the President to show Kenyans the 7000 kilometres of roads it has constructed in the last four years by category, status and region; what class of road, from where to where?

The President cannot take routine and periodic maintenance of roads; including the gravelling the earth roads, pothole patching, bush clearing and drainage clearance and report it as an achievement.

We challenge the President to give Kenyans a breakdown of the Government of Kenya funding as budgeted by stating which roads were earmarked for development in FY 2013/2014, FY 2015/2016 and FY 2016/2017, how much was spent and when they got completed.
Fellow Kenyans, the way Jubilee has ran Kenya is no way to run a country, or a business, or even family finances.

It is time to call this misadventure off, or we shall surely go over the cliff. As NASA our agenda first and foremost, is to return sanity and honesty to the management of our country, and stewardship of the economy in particular.

This is reflected in the seven pillar policy platform we have agreed on and articulated in our coalition agreement: National reconciliation and healing, resolving historical injustices, realizing equality of women, youth, persons with disabilities, and the disadvantaged communities and groups as mandated by the Constitution (Article 27), strengthening devolution

[Empedocles]

Millions of Kenyans are starving. As the President painted a glowing picture of its tenure and the nation yesterday, reports by the very government he heads indicate that the number of Kenyans facing starvation has risen to 2.7 million in 2017 compared to 1.7 million last year.

The Jubilee administration has sent appeals for food aid all over the world.

The famine ravaging the land is the final repudiation of Jubilee policies on agriculture and food security. Droughts do not cause famines. Famines are caused by the failure to mitigate droughts. Jubilee promised to make our deserts bloom. The 1 million acre irrigation promise was just cheap talk. Yet the President says his Jubilee administration has delivered. Mr. President, where is the food?

Kenyans across all walks of life, from smallholder farmers to captains of industry are also wondering which economy the President was talking about. Pension funds and other investors in the Nairobi Stock exchange lost Ksh.120 billion in 2016. The slide continues. A record number of companies listed on the Nairobi stock exchange have issued profit warnings. More than 10,000 Kenyans were laid off by big companies last year. These lay-offsdesperately looking for projects to commission. Ksh. 1.5 trillion debt. That debt is now Ksh. 4 trillion and rising. As a Kenyan, has your income increased two and a half times since Jubilee came to power? Your share of the national debt has. And that debt is due and payable. That is why the cost of living is skyrocketing. That is why the Jubilee administration does not want to hear of better terms for doctors or nurses or anybody else. It has already mortgaged the country.

Before Jubilee adopted lies as a tool for governing, the Kenya Roads Board and the National Treasury published yearly reports on the developments in the infrastructure sectors, especially roads. KRB would publish how and where it has spent the proceeds of Fuel Levy while the National Treasury published reports on roads funded by the exchequer. Since Jubilee came to power, such reports have been made top secret, no longer available to citizens. The reason Jubilee wants to lie about roads. Yesterday, the President repeated the familiar lies that some 7000 kilometres of roads have been done. It is a lie.

We challenge are challenging the President to show Kenyans the 7000 kilometres of roads it has constructed in the last four years by category, status and region; what class of road, from where to where?

The President cannot take routine and periodic maintenance of roads; including the gravelling the earth roads, pothole patching, bush clearing and drainage clearance and report it as an achievement.

We challenge the President to give Kenyans a breakdown of the Government of Kenya funding as budgeted by stating which roads were earmarked for development in FY 2013/2014, FY 2015/2016 and FY 2016/2017, how much was spent and when they got completed.
Fellow Kenyans, the way Jubilee has ran Kenya is no way to run a country, or a business, or even family finances.

It is time to call this misadventure off, or we shall surely go over the cliff. As NASA our agenda first and foremost, is to return sanity and honesty to the management of our country, and stewardship of the economy in particular.

This is reflected in the seven pillar policy platform we have agreed on and articulated in our coalition agreement: National reconciliation and healing, resolving historical injustices, realizing equality of women, youth, persons with disabilities, and the disadvantaged communities and groups as mandated by the Constitution (Article 27), strengthening devolution

Got the paragraph in red vigorously nodding my head in complete agreement and cheering Raila on when I remembered this:

1. (C) Summary. Severe tensions within the coalition government have been building in recent days and erupted on February 14 into what both sides are characterizing as a "crisis."

The revelation of major corruption within the Ministry of Education, headed by a minister allied to President Kibaki, sparked retaliatory release of a long-delayed forensic audit of the maize scandal allegedly tied to the Prime Minister's office as well as Minister of Agriculture Ruto.

In an effort to protect himself, Odinga on February 13 announced the resignations of two officials in his office. Caught off guard, President Kibaki responded by suspending eight senior officials implicated in both scandals. Seeking to regain the upper hand, Odinga on February 14 announced he was suspending the Minister of Education and Minister of Agriculture.

The President's office immediately disputed Odinga's authority to suspend the ministers, and announced that the two remain in place. Odinga is also seeking to reopen agreements on contentious issues with respect to the constitutional review process reached by the Parliamentary Select Committee a week ago.

We are in close touch with both sides to urge them to resolve the current imbroglio.

....

Based on credible reports from multiple sources, it seems clear that the maize scandal touches the families of both President Kibaki and Prime Minister Odinga, and key members of their teams (though Odinga's side is likely more culpable on the maize scandal; Minister of Agriculture Ruto has been openly hostile toward Odinga and is working closely with the Kibaki side, so Kibaki has an interest in protecting Ruto).

https://wikileaks.org/plusd/cables/10NAIROBI171_a.html

Didn't bother reading the rest of the statement.

Gosh, our politicians play politics with the starving voters.

Tsk tsk.

[RVtitem]

Raila is a moron. What eating does he believe can be got by training teachers/doctors compared tendering?

[Omollo]

I would be happy if you could delve in to this so called scandal.

There is a lot of media sensationalism that has over time acquired a tincture of truth without the facts being in place.

Here is my simple take: Naomi Shaban acting with rogue elements in Ruto's ministry (by then the most hated man for Kibaki-ists) were behind the heist.

There were other beneficiaries (MPs, Senior Civil Servants, etc).

The whole thing was intended to smear Ruto and Raila in one swoop. Unfortunately Raila acted rashly and turned on Ruto - a huge mistake (like I said then).

I can be willing to substantiate any part of this any time.

What I find hard to understand is why you do not give due credit to Raila's efforts. He is so far the only person to ever fire his staff accused of corruption. He did not defend them. Once he had the information he sent them packing. Kibaki did eventually take some of the civil servants in the warmth in a typical machiavellian fashion.

Now name one other politician in Kenya (other than Moi and Raila)  who has ever fired anybody accused of corruption

Got the paragraph in red vigorously nodding my head in complete agreement and cheering Raila on when I remembered this:

1. (C) Summary. Severe tensions within the coalition government have been building in recent days and erupted on February 14 into what both sides are characterizing as a "crisis."

The revelation of major corruption within the Ministry of Education, headed by a minister allied to President Kibaki, sparked retaliatory release of a long-delayed forensic audit of the maize scandal allegedly tied to the Prime Minister's office as well as Minister of Agriculture Ruto.

In an effort to protect himself, Odinga on February 13 announced the resignations of two officials in his office. Caught off guard, President Kibaki responded by suspending eight senior officials implicated in both scandals. Seeking to regain the upper hand, Odinga on February 14 announced he was suspending the Minister of Education and Minister of Agriculture.

The President's office immediately disputed Odinga's authority to suspend the ministers, and announced that the two remain in place. Odinga is also seeking to reopen agreements on contentious issues with respect to the constitutional review process reached by the Parliamentary Select Committee a week ago.

We are in close touch with both sides to urge them to resolve the current imbroglio.

....

Based on credible reports from multiple sources, it seems clear that the maize scandal touches the families of both President Kibaki and Prime Minister Odinga, and key members of their teams (though Odinga's side is likely more culpable on the maize scandal; Minister of Agriculture Ruto has been openly hostile toward Odinga and is working closely with the Kibaki side, so Kibaki has an interest in protecting Ruto).

https://wikileaks.org/plusd/cables/10NAIROBI171_a.html

Didn't bother reading the rest of the statement.

Gosh, our politicians play politics with the starving voters.

Tsk tsk.

[Empedocles]

I would be happy if you could delve in to this so called scandal.

There is a lot of media sensationalism that has over time acquired a tincture of truth without the facts being in place.

Here is my simple take: Naomi Shaban acting with rogue elements in Ruto's ministry (by then the most hated man for Kibaki-ists) were behind the heist.

There were other beneficiaries (MPs, Senior Civil Servants, etc).

The whole thing was intended to smear Ruto and Raila in one swoop. Unfortunately Raila acted rashly and turned on Ruto - a huge mistake (like I said then).

I can be willing to substantiate any part of this any time.

What I find hard to understand is why you do not give due credit to Raila's efforts. He is so far the only person to ever fire his staff accused of corruption. He did not defend them. Once he had the information he sent them packing. Kibaki did eventually take some of the civil servants in the warmth in a typical machiavellian fashion.

Now name one other politician in Kenya (other than Moi and Raila)  who has ever fired anybody accused of corruption

Why don't you name one politician (including Moi and Raila) who have pursued corruption suspects until they're locked up.

You can't.

And by the way, "stepping aside" does not equal firing.

It's BS.

[Omollo]

Your question is not framed to be answered. It is in fact not formulated in good faith. It is more of a rhetorical question.

For Raila to pursue a corrupt person until jail, must he not have the power and mandate to do so? If however your question covers a Raila without power (ordinary mwananchi) to fulfil that pursuit, then I have many past and current examples that show he has gone much further than any other politician and mwananchi. I am sure you know of the on going pressure on Waiguru, The Eurobond etc.

As concerns Moi, he had the power but lacked the institutions to follow through. However there is a long list of persons he fired (not just asked to step aside). These were mentioned in corruption and some did make it to court. I cannot vouch for conviction. I know that Jason Oluga and Ketan Somaia were jailed for theft committed in 1988 (Moi).

Why don't you name one politician (including Moi and Raila) who have pursued corruption suspects until they're locked up.

You can't.

And by the way, "stepping aside" does not equal firing.

It's BS.

[Georgesoros]

Most people in here are educated but lack the the critical thinking skills necessary to succeed. Most of us cant even see that its wrong for a country to have the rich flying helicopters to funerals while the govt begging for food from outside to feed the hungry!!! 

[Omollo]

Most people in here are educated but lack the the critical thinking skills necessary to succeed. Most of us cant even see that its wrong for a country to have the rich flying helicopters to funerals while the govt begging for food from outside to feed the hungry!!! 

I disagree just slightly.

I think the problem is my tribe can not be found to be in the wrong. So all stops are pulled in a collective "nationalist" effort to "defend" the "nation". The people who offer the defence are not lacking in the tools to know that they are simply lying. No! They know they are defending the indefensible. They however allow themselves the privilege of rationalization: It is all politics, they claim.
 

[Georgesoros]

THe country lacks the legal foundations to prosper to greater heights. Parliament is an extention of the executive and the judiciary is still non functional as cases from 1980s are still languishing. What kind of country can you built with such.
How can Uhuru send an SOS for food assistance while helicopters have become the political statement?
There are more jobless people than there were 5 years ago, and these people have so called degrees.

 

Most people in here are educated but lack the the critical thinking skills necessary to succeed. Most of us cant even see that its wrong for a country to have the rich flying helicopters to funerals while the govt begging for food from outside to feed the hungry!!! 

I disagree just slightly.

I think the problem is my tribe can not be found to be in the wrong. So all stops are pulled in a collective "nationalist" effort to "defend" the "nation". The people who offer the defence are not lacking in the tools to know that they are simply lying. No! They know they are defending the indefensible. They however allow themselves the privilege of rationalization: It is all politics, they claim.
 

[Empedocles]

Your question is not framed to be answered. It is in fact not formulated in good faith. It is more of a rhetorical question.

For Raila to pursue a corrupt person until jail, must he not have the power and mandate to do so? If however your question covers a Raila without power (ordinary mwananchi) to fulfil that pursuit, then I have many past and current examples that show he has gone much further than any other politician and mwananchi. I am sure you know of the on going pressure on Waiguru, The Eurobond etc.

As concerns Moi, he had the power but lacked the institutions to follow through. However there is a long list of persons he fired (not just asked to step aside). These were mentioned in corruption and some did make it to court. I cannot vouch for conviction. I know that Jason Oluga and Ketan Somaia were jailed for theft committed in 1988 (Moi).

You know, sometimes I wish Raila does win, just to enjoy watching you and Pundit seamlessly change positions.

[Omollo]

Your question is not framed to be answered. It is in fact not formulated in good faith. It is more of a rhetorical question.

For Raila to pursue a corrupt person until jail, must he not have the power and mandate to do so? If however your question covers a Raila without power (ordinary mwananchi) to fulfil that pursuit, then I have many past and current examples that show he has gone much further than any other politician and mwananchi. I am sure you know of the on going pressure on Waiguru, The Eurobond etc.

As concerns Moi, he had the power but lacked the institutions to follow through. However there is a long list of persons he fired (not just asked to step aside). These were mentioned in corruption and some did make it to court. I cannot vouch for conviction. I know that Jason Oluga and Ketan Somaia were jailed for theft committed in 1988 (Moi).

You know, sometimes I wish Raila does win, just to enjoy watching you and Pundit seamlessly change positions.

won't be the first time. My friend Pundit was pro Kibaki when I was KANU. He joined KANU and l left shortly after for NARC. We both left NARC and met in ODM for a while. He dumped ODM for URP while I stayed. I stayed out of the last election while he supported jubilee.

We are winning this time and will make a post election deal with WSR to isolate certain incorrigible people. Am sure we shall work together. I would like Ruto with us because he keeps Raila in check and grabs Mudavadi's balls staying him away from pulling Raila into corruption. For now he's a respectable opponent. He's lost some hitting power but then I think he spends more time on making money. He's still trying to get steady financially. I understand that.

He's the only one I allow to stop me when I set my guns on an empty head. I will one day meet him and buy him a beer even though am a teetotaler and abstentionist. All cash I save from non drinking goes to charity. The figure is based on my last drinking bill plus the inflation rate. Iwinjo