BLOOD AND TEARS
A mish mash of rubbish, my Diary, so where is Wanjohi Ributhi of "I will strike you until you are admitted in ward 4. As a youngster I didn't know what ward 4 was all about. It's only later in life when I realised the worker was talking about an emergency ward ! But my cousin and friend later killed a man. He was working in a butchery. The poor fellow took "ngimutu" - soup with lots of coagulated blood and refused to pay or had no money. My cousin rushed into the butchery, came back with a butcher's knife and stabbed the poor fellow to death. It was too fast for the fellow to realise the danger he was in.

Nice day's before the destruction of trees. At least in april you could feel the beauty of the long rains the floods notwithstanding. It was fun laced with outright danger crossing streams and rivers. Farmers read the weather and knew when to plant. My Mom was expert number 1. In my own small way I learnt how to read the rain if I had to go to school. It was simple. After that breakfast of sweet potatoes, roasted if you like, all dressed up and ready to go to school. Then suddenly it's raining cats and dogs. The decision was simple. Wait for ten minutes. If the rain stops, go to school. Rush to school more like it. If the rain does not stop, rush to school. Funny enough if you rushed into the rain, after ten minutes the rain would be gone. However if you waited for the rain to stop, you would miss school that day for it wouldn't stop ! So we were not scared of rain. For even if you walked in rain and arrived in school water flowing wet, somehow it never affected you. Hence small boys would dance in glee and chant, " Mbura ura, tutorie maria ma njuguini".

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BLOGGERS HAPPY NEW YEAR !

LORDS OF THE NGOS

Story extract from The Leader, issue No. 0072 Dec.15-Dec21, 2006. Reach them at: theleader@royalmedia.co.ke since they dont have a website.

So long, farewell, I want to say goodbye(sound of music)……cause I ‘m leaving, on a jet plane, I don’t know when I’ll be back again, oh babe how I hate to go(John Denver)………
Welcome to the world of the blue eyed girls and boys of the Kenya NGOs. They control a Shs 100 billion eye-popping welfare(farewell) industry, which would make our cash hungry MPs green with envy. Their’s are sleek hands, that grip the industry tighter than barnacles. They are less than ten. They drive the latest cars and live in plush upmarket estates in Nairobi. They spend most of their time in the air, crisscrossing the globe from one Western capital to the other. In the little time when they are in the country, they operate secretly, holding night meetings in exclusive hotels where they cut deals with each other. Welcome once again to the world of the cartel that determines who receives the Shs.100 billion plus from donors in the country. Below are our subject and their flagships.

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Kenyans here we come:
Davinder Lamba:
Co-convener NCEC
Mazingira Institute(lobby with consultancy status with UNEP)


Pheroze Nowrogee:
Co-convener NCEC
Daughter Binaifer Director Kenya Initiative at the Open Society International(OSI)


Prof Edward Akong’o Oyugi:
Social Development Network(SODNET)
Kenya Social Forum
Convenor of the Commission on Content and Methodology –World Social Forum

Betty Murungi:
Director Urgent Action Fund-Africa
Consultant Rights and Democracy of Canada
Director Kenya Human Rights Commission
Board member Kituo Cha Katiba
Board member Public Law Institute
Board member Women Initiative for Gender Justice
Board member Coalition for Women’s Human Rights in Conflict Situations
Dr Willy Mutunga:
East African Human Rights Institute
Kituo Cha Katiba(Kampala)
Director Rights and Democracy of Canada
Works for FORD Foundation
Board Member KHRC
4Cs
Prof. Makau Mutua:
Kenya Human Rights Commission in the US.
Chairman- Kenya Human Rights Commission
Board Member NCEC
Transparency International, Kenya
Director Human Rights Center, US
Director Center for Transitional Justice
Sits on the Boards of dozens International NGOs
Maina Kiai:
Chairman Kenya National Commission on Human Rights



Oduor Ong’wen:
Econews
Social Development Network
African Forum and Network for Debt and Development (AFRODAD)
Southern and Eastern African Trade Information and Negotiations Institute(SEATINI)
Third World Network(TWN)
Human Rights Watch Africa
Kenya Social Forum
Kenya Debt Relief Network(KENDREN)
Resource Mobilisation Coordinator–World Social Forum

Joyce Umbima:
Most powerful woman of NGO world in Kenya
Actionaid kitty on democracy
20 billion kitty to promote women agenda in politics by EU, USAID, CIDA, SIDA and UNIFEM
Executive Director of Kenya Alliance for the Advancement of Children Rights before joining Actionaid

Njeri Kabeberi-Kanene:
Executive Director Centre for Multiparty Democracy(CMD)
Board Member Kenya Human Rights Commission

Has any of them ever touched your lives ? Do you know anybody whose life they have touched ? If the answer is yes, and since it is Christmas time “go tell it to the mountains, over the hills and everywhere, that Jesus Christ is born”.

NAIROBI CITY COUNCIL THE GIANT IN SLUMBER

Nairobi City Council, the giant in slumber, has its first AUDITED accounts in the last ten years. Is this a sign of light at the end of the tunnel ? I believe charity begins at home and Nairobi is the gate to Kenya and therefore our mirror of ourselves and the rest of the country. Nairobi should lead so that the others can follow. The shacks, hobbles and potholes are an insult to the aesthetics. The litter, uncollected garbage leaking sewers etc. affect the environment of which we are part of and ultimately impacts on our performance: the Government, the ministers, the PSs, the Corporates, International bodies etc. Remember it is the headquarters of almost everything ! As long as Nairobi has not put its act together the rest of the country wont. Over to you M. K.

EVEREADY WHIMPER
Where Kengen and Scangroup first day at the bourse was with a bang, yesterday Eveready cut its teeth with a whimper. 13,000 shares were traded at Shs. 11. Second day trading though show that it is NSE that goofed !

MUMIAS SOUTH
Mumias share offer deadline has been extended for 3 days to stave off the possibility of under-subscription. It is the first offer since Kengen to head South. Although some analysts blame delayed Eveready refunds, I doubt this is the main factor. First Mumias is not an IPO and does not conform to the time tested concept of buy at the floor. Secondly it is competing with Eveready and Stanbic Uganda IPO. Treasury and CMA need to start staggering offers to avoid the kind of overlapping that is there at the moment. Note Mumias will start trading on January 30 2007. No one wants to tie their money that long while the same share is trading on the bourse. If you visit any broker now you will realize the interest is on Eveready refunds and Stanbic Uganda IPO. Only the Institutions can save Mumias. This is their chance though. Remember Kengen and the complaint of retail investors overcrowding the gravvy train !

AGOA KENYA TKO-ED
The announcement of the extension by the US Congress of African Growth Opportunity Act – AGOA to 2013 is food for retrospection and prospection. In 2003 during a meet the voter gathering I told my MP cum Assistant Minister that the 500,000 jobs could be easily created by taking advantage of AGOA. The fixed gaze he gave me convinced me he had digested my crazy story. I expected he would pass on the message to the powers that be. Four years down the line I can only think of Kenya being TKO-ed out of AGOA. We continue to deal with 67(stand to be corrected) Textile and Clothing items when AGOA has provision for over between 3000-6000 items. What a lost opportunity ! Any correlation between this and the ranking of the Ministry of Trade and Industry as the 7th worst performer? And the little we are doing we seem to be doing it badly.After four years of growth, Kenya's textile and clothing sales to the US fell from $272 million in 2004 to $267 million last year because of increased global competition from more efficient Asian producers.Other impediments include the pre-shipment inspection system that the Kenya Bureau of Standards introduced last year. I hope someone will take advantage of this new window.