IKO NINI BWANA ONE JAN 2012

Revellers around the world are celebrating the end of 2011 and starting to see in 2012. Bad weather prompted some New Zealand planners to cancel outdoor events, but a fireworks display off Auckland's Sky Tower started at midnight (1100 GMT). Sydney is set to kick off New Year's Eve celebrations with a multi-million dollar fireworks display later. Samoa and Tokelau were first to toast in 2012 after skipping a day by jumping west across the international dateline. As the clock struck midnight as 29 December ended, the two South Pacific island nations fast-forwarded to 31 December, missing out on 30 December entirely. Samoa announced the decision in May in a bid to improve ties with major trade partners Australia and New Zealand, and neighbouring Tokelau decided to follow suit in October. Tourists and locals partied throughout Saturday as Samoa revelled in being the first country to ring in the new year, rather than the last. In New Zealand, heavy rain meant celebrations in Palmerston North, Mount Maunganui, Rotorua and on Wellington's waterfront were called off, the New Zealand Herald reported. Paris and other European cities will likely be glad to see the back of a year that has seen the continent embroiled in economic woes. For the UK, meanwhile, New Year's Eve is just the start of a year of festivities that will include the Queen's diamond jubilee and the London Olympics. In Brazil, revellers are set to enjoy a fireworks display on the beaches of Rio de Janeiro. And hundreds of thousands will pack into New York's Times Square later for the ceremonial ball-dropping at midnight.

The people of Southern Sudan are preparing for independence from the mainly Muslim and Arab north - but as politicians weigh the future, many ordinary southerners are worried about their cattle that graze the grasslands that will be divided by the new border. For the Dinka people of Northern Bahr al-Ghazal state, cows take precedence over almost everything else. In the dry season, they have traditionally shared grazing lands with the Misseriya and the Rizzigat - Arab tribes from the north, who cross into the south with vast herds. But during the long years of war between north and south this migration was accompanied by violence, killing and rape. - VIDEO

Minister for Public Service Dalmas Otieno (right) with his Permanent Secretary Titus Ndambuki

New Year came early for a million public servants, the disciplined forces and their families after the government announced a Sh6 billion medical insurance deal. The cover will be provided by the National Hospital Insurance Fund (NHIF). Each patient will only be required to fork out Sh100 as co-payment in public hospitals, including Kenyatta and Moi Teaching and Referral Hospital, for a range of medical services. But those visiting high cost private hospitals will be required to pay Sh200 in the arrangement that will also cover staff from the National Youth Service and Kenya Prisons. Each of the 220,00-plus staff under the scheme will be allowed to register four dependants — a spouse and three children. The children must be under 18 but those still in full time school or college qualify until they are 25. In a circular dated December 21, Public Service Permanent Secretary Titus Ndambuki said the NHIF will administer the cover starting on Sunday. He said the scheme will bring relief to civil servants and members of the disciplined services who have been meeting the high costs of medical bills from their own resources.

The circular, titled Introduction of a Medical Insurance Cover for Civil Servants and Disciplines Services, said the scheme will be partly funded by pooling the current monthly medical allowances payable to staff and funds allocated for medical ex-gratia and in-patient refunds. Currently, medical allowances paid to staff add up to about Sh4.3 billion per year. Additionally, the government allocates about Sh1.6 billion as ex-gratia payments to take care of medical bills for staff that exceed NHIF cover ceilings.

Currently, each civil servant pays a standard Sh320 to NHIF for health insurance. “This is to ensure that the quality of cover for the government employees is comparable to that of other public servants,” Mr Ndambuki said. He said refunds of inpatient medical bills will be stopped immediately. “You are required to stop payment of monthly medical allowances to all staff with effect from January 1, 2012. Stop further processing of any medical ex-gratia claims and inpatient refunds which will not have been committed in the vote-book by December 31,” Mr Ndambuki said. The scheme is similar to one unveiled by the Kenya National Union of Teachers (Knut) early this month, the difference being that teachers staff will only forfeit half their medical allowances. However, NHIF will also allow officers to cover additional members. In that case, they will pay extra premiums directly to the fund. The scheme will cover both outpatient and inpatient medical services.

“On commencement, offices will be expected to choose their preferred hospitals as per a list to be provided by NHIF,” Mr Ndambuki said. The facilities listed will be government, mission or private hospitals. According to the policy, there will be no limits on inpatient treatment in the health facilities for officials and their dependants. But there will be specified ceilings in high cost private hospitals for officers in specified job groups. Outpatient costs that will be covered include doctors’ consultation, laboratory tests and X-ray charges.

Others are prescriptions and dressings and pharmacy services. The cover also makes provision for life insurance for principal members at graduated rates based on their job groups. The staff will be legible for an annual mandatory general medical check-up. - Daily Nation.

Some UK rail users are paying almost ten times more than other European commuters for their seasonal tickets, yet fares are set to rise further still

Brits pay much more than Europeans when it comes to train fares (Pic: PA)

A 2011 season ticket from Woking in Surrey to London, including Tube travel, comes to a pricey £3,268, while a similar journey from Velletri to Rome sets Italian ticket holders back just £336.17, according to figures from the Campaign for Better Transports (CBT). This is not the only instance of vastly different prices, with similar journeys of around 21 to 24 miles in other European countries showing that rail users on the continent generally pay significantly less for their travel. Despite the fact that Brits already pay substantially more for trains, from January 2nd, UK regulated fares, which include season tickets, are to rocket by an average of six per cent. The overall average rise for all tickets stands at 5.9 per cent. While the government has scrapped plans to increase the annual price rise formula by two per cent, which would have seen regulated fare rising by eight per cent, it will still implement annual rises of RPI inflation plus three per cent for January 2013 and January 2014. On January 3rd the CBT is to join transport union TSSA in a 'fair fares' protest at St Pancras in London. Speaking on Sky News, shadow transport secretary Maria Eagle commented: 'UK rail commuters are taking a hit year after year after year, and all they are trying to do is to get to work. -'It does not have to be like this. We need to look at how the Europeans run their railways.'

The government has stepped up pressure on top civil servants wishing to contest in next year’s General Election to resign in two weeks. Head of Civil Service Francis Muthaura asked those wishing to vie for political seats to comply with the law and quit as soon as possible. “A public officer who intends to contest an election shall resign from public office at least seven months before the date of the election. Those who leave the service will be facilitated to do so in the shortest time possible,” he said in a circular dated December 22. The circular Political Neutrality and Integrity of State and Public Officers says officials intending to vie for seats in the next General Election face the sack if they breach provisions of the law requiring them to maintain political neutrality and integrity. Mr Muthaura’s directive comes soon after the Independent Electoral and Boundaries Commission (IEBC) set January 14, 2012, as the last day civil servants who want to contest in next year’s poll should hold their offices. The date is based on the probability that the elections will be held on August 14, 2012.

The High Court is expected to rule on the election date on January 13, just a day before the deadline for the officials to resign. The electoral commission also announced plans to set up a committee to ensure political parties and aspirants do not conduct harambees. These are some of the legal measures that follow the enactment of strict electoral rules aimed at ridding the political field of practices that often tilt the contest in favour of some individuals. Top public servants who have signalled their intention to stand for political office next year include permanent secretaries James ole Kiyiapi (Education) and Kennedy Lusaka (Livestock) and Administration Police Commandant Kinuthia Mbugua. Prof Kiyiapi has declared his intention to vie for the presidency while Mr Lusaka is eyeing the governor’s seat in Bungoma County. Mr Mbugua is seeking an elective post in Nakuru but has not named the specific seat he intends to contest. Mr Muthaura’s circular also seeks to guide both State and other public officers in the discharge of their duties to ensure they remain politically neutral. It forbids State and public officers from holding office in a political party. – Daily Nation

Habakkuk 2:3 reads: “For the revelation awaits an appointed time; it speaks of the end and will not prove false. Though it linger, wait for it; it will certainly come and will not delay.” Obstacles can't steal your dream without your permission. Former British Prime Minister Winston Churchill rallied blitzed, beleaguered Britain from the edge of defeat in 2nd World War with these memorable words: 'Never give up! Never give up! Never, never, never, give up!' Obstacles are inevitable; quitting is optional! When you walk in faith and refuse to quit, God guarantees your obstacles won't prevent your vision from being fulfilled. Though they were enslaved, Israel received the strength to overcome Egypt's efforts to break them. The story of their survival and success reads: '...the more they afflicted them, the more they multiplied and grew...' (Exodus 1:12 NKJV). Paul's dream of evangelising the world met roadblocks at every turn. Tightening his grip he declared, 'We are hard-pressed on all sides, but...never frustrated; we are puzzled, but never in despair. We are persecuted, but...never... deserted: we may be knocked down but we are never knocked out!' (2 Corinthians 4:8-9 Phps). Joseph's journey to the throne was a long one. It led him through betrayal, persecution and loneliness. His dream, still alive and unsurrendered, was put on hold for years. Now prime minister of Egypt, vindicated in the critic's eyes, his dream at last realised, he recalls the amazing way in which God accomplished it. '"For" he said, "God has made me fruitful in the land of my affliction"' (Genesis 41:52 NAS). Joseph refused to surrender his dream; it's what kept him alive. He looked for opportunities in his obstacles, and God made him fruitful, not by exempting him from affliction but by promoting him right there, 'in the land of my affliction'. Your obstacles can't stop God; don't let them stop you!

I take this opportunity to invite you in our Prayer Conference every Morning (Monday to Friday) from 6.00-7.00a.m. call this local number in UK Tel 02030042084 pin No.67299# and you will be able to join us for prayers. It is a free number with landline in UK.

ITS GOING TO BE THE PARTY TO CROWN 2011 IN TRUE FASHION.THE YEAR HAS BEEN ONE EVENTFUL YEAR WITH AMAZING

PARTIES AND THE BEST CROWDS EVER. TRIPPLE EM FOOD HAS BEEN HOST TO THE BEST EAST AFRICAN ARISTS AND

ITS TIME TO END THE YEAR WITH A THUNDER, A BANG!! RUKISHA NEW YEAR'S EVE PARTY IS DUBBED TO BE THE PARTY OF ALL PARTIES.

Doors open from 6pm - 6am,£5 before midnight and £10 afterwords.
Customary to our events, local dishes will be served through the night.

Your pilots to see you to 2012 will be Deejay Collo, DjBilly Billy and Djcymoh Cy

LETS ALL TRY AND GET IN EARLY TO AVOID LAST MINUTE SHOPPING TRAFFIC AND ESPECIALLY TO GET A SEAT AND TO BE AMONG THE CROWD AS WE COUNT DOWN TO THE NEW YEAR.

LMCC INVITES YOU TO CROSSOVER overnight celebration and thanks giving service to welcome 2012 Saturday 31st 9pm til morning at Full Gospel Church Chadwell Hearth Albany Road RM6 6BS. Come expecting to hear from God. There will be praise, prayer and prophecy. Many blessing as you plan come.

More to come on 08/01/12 a powerful praise and worship service at castle Green where Mary Mutungi and Joy Muturi will be singing to the Lord.

N:B Due to the service on 31st night Lmcc will not be having a Sunday service on 1st January. I trust that you will make it to the overnight if not see you for the praise Sunday on 8th January at Castle green.

Recently there have been numerous changes to immigration rules but very few people take notice or seek legal advice.

If you have pending application, or anyone wishing to submit an application or extend their visas at the Home Office either asylum, Human Rights or outside the rules, Student, work Permit holder, PSW holder, any Tier Holder, domestic worker, marriage, spouse family applications, Criminal records take note of the following and seek legal advice without delay. Better safe than sorry.

MERRY XMAS TO ALL FROM THE TEAM AT MARTYNSROSE SOLICITORS AND REMEMBER BETTER SAFE THAN SORRY.

A dead whale has been washed up on a beach in Kent. The 25ft (7.6m) whale was found at Epple Bay in Birchington by dog walkers at 08:00 GMT and the beach was cordoned off over fears for public safety. The British Divers Marine Life Rescue organisation, based in East Sussex, said it was believed the animal was a young Northern Minke whale. The body has been moved to a depot in Manston where a post-mortem examination will be carried out. In March a 45ft (13.7m) long sperm whale died after becoming stranded in Pegwell Bay. Minke whales weigh between five and 10 tonnes and prefer cooler waters. They feed on fish and krill and travel alone or in small groups.

Inflation and the eurozone crisis will have a negative effect on house prices next year. Property prices can be a depressing subject for both home owners and those looking to get a foot on the property ladder. In fact, while estate agents Knight Frank have estimated that the average house prices in the UK will have actually risen by 1.3pc by the end of 2011, with inflation currently at 5pc, property values are falling in real terms. We asked industry experts for their predictions for what 2012 would mean for the housing market.

I think house prices will fall by 5pc over the first half of the year and then flat line over the second half. I believe there is a significant risk that house prices could fall more than this given the current weakness of the economy and worrying outlook. Furthermore, we believe there are serious downside risks to this forecast and that house prices could well fall by more than 5pc given the current deteriorating economic situation and outlook.

We suspect that squeezed household purchasing power, a markedly weakening labour market and major concerns over the economic outlook will limit potential buyers and weigh down on house prices. And there is significant concern that banks' future ability to lend to homebuyers could be hit by difficult wholesale funding conditions. These factors are seen outweighing the support to house prices coming from extended very low interest rates. The squeeze on consumers' purchasing power should ease as 2012 progresses as inflation falls back markedly, and this may help house prices to stabilise in the second half of 2012 along with ongoing very low interest rates. However, unemployment is likely to rise appreciably further and wage growth looks set to remain muted so the overall environment will still be very tough for households.

The number of housing transactions is currently about half the pre-credit crunch level and next year's outlook is massively influenced by how the Eurozone debt crisis plays out. The major mortgage lenders rely for some of their funding, and in particular for their marginal funding, on the wholesale money markets. As, over the last few months, the markets have become increasingly concerned about how this crisis will be resolved the cost of borrowing new funds has shot up.

If the euro collapses the consequences on our banking sector will be severe because of the global nature of banking and the huge write-offs, which will be necessary on loans made to Eurozone banks which will become insolvent. The result of this will be that mortgage lenders will have no choice other than to reduce lending which will have a negative impact on the level of activity in the housing market and on property prices. I expect demand from buyers next year to be lower, primarily as a result of more difficult mortgage conditions, but also because the economic outlook will sap consumer confidence further, with unemployment, or the fear of it, a particular worry for many. I expect to see the number of property transactions in 2012 fall a little further. I also expect a small fall in house prices, in the region of 4pc, although as this year there will be significant variations throughout the UK and depending on property type.

I'd expect that next year would look broadly similar to this year. Mortgage availability has played a key role in the reduced level of housing transactions and there is very little expectation that next year's mortgage market will be any bigger and could even be a little down on this year. Overall, it looks like a flat market at best and a reasonable possibility of slight falls, balanced by the lack of property coming to market. There is likely to be big regional differences in house price movement and so local movement is likely to be of more interest to home owners than overall national trends.

We see little sign of any increase in base rate, and the lack of confidence in the economy means that house prices are unlikely to do anything spectacular. That said, we are seeing increased signs of activity at the top end of the market, with contract races for premium properties in the South East in particular. We're also seeing people choosing to invest in refurbishing older properties to achieve greater returns on their capital.

I anticipate 2012 to deliver a similar total of property transactions to 2011. I believe the first half of 2012 will be considerably stronger than the second, with early price gains eroded as the year goes on. We will see further demand in the sales market with an increased supply of stock for lettings due to high rental yields and increasing levels of buy-to-let funding made available by lenders. This will lead to growth and activity within the new homes market with developers confident in developing the land banks they have been building up over the past few years. I predict the lettings market will experience a healthy volume of business throughout 2012 with an increase in longer-term renting due to property values and mortgage availability making home ownership difficult for first-time buyers to achieve.

Next year will be a tale of the haves and have-nots. Those that are able to, will continue to de-leverage using lower interest rates to increase the rate of pay down on their mortgages. Those who find themselves in arrears will continue in arrears as they see the value of their asset eroding while struggling with higher living costs. We do not expect to see lenders pressing for foreclosure until they see an end to this housing market recession. Currently, 5pc of mortgages are showing significant arrears in the UK. Generally, the housing market will remain flat with low levels of supply on the market as families choose to reduce their mortgages rather than move. Most of the demand for housing will be in the private-rented sector due to the lack of higher loan to value mortgages and the threat of unemployment. However, it won't be all doom and gloom, there will be hot spots around the country where economic activity has remained strong and where new infrastructure improvements open an area up to commuters in strong economic zones. In areas of low economic activity, we expect to see house prices slide backwards gradually.

One Kenyan soldier and five Al-Shabaab have been killed after Kenyan troops raided the militants' patrol base in Tabda area south of Beles Qooqane. Several other militants were wounded during the Thursday 29th evening attack. Military spokesman Major Emmanuel Chirchir confirmed that four soldiers were injured but said they were receiving treatment on the ground. "On 29 Dec 2011 at 1900hrs, in Tabda area of Beles Qooqani, KDF soldiers raided an Al Shabaab position killing five Al Shabaab and many suspected wounded,' Chirchir said in a statement on Friday. "Following the raid one of our soldiers got critically injured and succumbed to his injuries. Four are receiving medical attention on the ground," Major Chirchir added. The military will release more details tomorrow (Saturday) during the weekly press briefing to be held at Vigilance house.

This year was the second warmest on record for the UK, the Met Office says. Provisional figures show that only 2006, with an average temperature of 9.73C (49.5F), was warmer than 2011's average temperature of 9.62C (49.3F). This year saw high temperatures for lengthy periods; including the warmest April and spring on record, the second warmest autumn and the warmest October day. Early figures suggest 2011 is ending with a "close to average" December John Prior, national climate manager at the Met Office, said: "While it may have felt mild for many so far this December, temperatures overall have been close to what we would expect. "It may be that the stark change from last year, which was the coldest December on record for the UK, has led many to think it has been unseasonably warm." All bar one of the top 10 warmest years on record have occurred since 1997 and all the UK's top seven warmest years happened in the past decade.

The Friends of Raila FOR A – UK got a dose of what was to come in the new year 2012 after a brief visit by the Kisumu County Governor aspirant Ms. Ruth Odinga while on her private visit to the UK. Ruth is a sister to the Kenyan PM Raila Odinga and the MD of Spectre International.

After a brief introduction by FOR A –UK Chairman Mr. John Baraza, Ruth engaged FORA-UK members in a stimulating discussion on the various forums that different presidential candidates in the crowded race for the next President of Kenya when President Kibaki retires next year. Focussing on Prime Minister Raila Odinga’s campaign, Ms Odinga elucidated that there were various forums working collaboratively for the grand aim of electing him as the next President. Even though the forums had the liberty to develop their own strategies, the common objective is achieve the 50% plus one votes that HE Raila Odinga needs to ascend the presidency.

On FORA and ODM, Ms Odinga said, “Kenyans need to understand the difference between ODM and FORA. Anybody irrespective of their political affiliation, be it to ODM, PNU, KANU, WIPER, GNU, UDM or whatever party can be a FORA member. FORA are Kenyans, who have seen the quality of leadership and courage of HE the Prime Minster Raila Odiga and are convinced, that the positive change that Kenya needs to foster can only be achieved through his stewardship among all the Presidential who have declared their interest so far. There are many Kenyans who will vote for candidates of their parties but vote HE Raila Odinga for the presidency because of his leadership ingenuity that he has exemplified throughout his political career. FORA seeks to give encouragement and assurance this category of patriotic voters and many others in ODM that the country is headed for greater development achievements in HE Raila Odinga’s presidency”.

Ms Odinga welcomed as many Kenyans as possible who truly wish to see the promise of anew Kenya to join FORA and be proud participants in the unstoppable change that HE. Raila’s presidency will unleash. Ms. Odinga clarified that whilst ODM as a political party has a wide agenda, FORA is mainly focussed on the election of HE Raila and the person who will be his running mate.

In a meeting that was attended by the FORA Interim Committee in the UK, the chairman assured Ms. Odinga that ‘Kenyans in the Diaspora will help to shape the next elections of 2012 because of their sheer numbers and their determination to see their votes used to elect a leader who will not only help them realize their dreams about their motherland, but also give all Kenyans the rights to prosperity that many have been denied by successive governments since 1963. In this regard, FORA-UK is determined to play a leading role in the civic education of Kenyans in the Diaspora”.

The Chairman added that estimates put the number of Kenyans in the Diaspora at about 3 million, majority of whom are of voting age and participate very actively in the economic development processes in Kenya through their remittances to, and investments in Kenya. The Kenyans in theDiaspora he said, wish to play this vital socialand economic development role in a governance environment that support them and appreciated their effort. It is for the faith that FORA-UK have in HE Raila Odinga that they have trusted him with the ability to create the enabling environment to make them a valued partner in the development of Kenya.

Ms. Odinga promised to inform the Kenyans in the Diaspora when she goes back to Kenya, about the guidelines on the issuance of the new generation ID’s after some Kenyans complained that the price of £30.00 for a new Kenyan ID card could be quite high especially for students and young Kenyans who form the majority of the young voters.

Commenting on the recent ODM elections in Kenya, Ms. Odinga said “we were so shocked by the level of political awareness of the electorate especially in our ODM grassroots elections. We lost most of our MP’s in the grassroots leadership as the public was voting on the basis of how engagedone had been with the public in the past. If an MP had not engaged with grassroots politics, they were thrown out by the electorate. This is a sign of things to come. Many MP’s who have had no development agenda on the ground will be sent home come next elections.”

In his opening remarks, the FORA chairman Mr. John Baraza calledon all Kenyans to shun tribalism and join hands to create a homogenous and harmonious society both in Kenya and in the Diaspora for the good of our country. Mr. Baraza said FORA-UK was open to all tribes of Kenya and people of all races, gender, age, class, ability and nationality. He urged more women to join the FORA ranks and take up senior leadership roles in FORA in line with their rights enshrined in our new constitution.

In her concluding remarks Ms. Ruth Odinga said, ‘Lobby groupsin the Diaspora like FORA-UK must be fully be engaged in promoting the civil education to Kenyans here in the Diaspora, to enable Kenyans to exercise their democratic rights to vote. They also need to make sure that the process of registering the voters is transparent to remove any thoughts or process of corruption and vote rigging as we saw in 2007 elections.’

This meeting was a prelude to the preparations of the anticipated visit of HE Rila Odinga to the UK in the new year.

Seven people have been killed in an early morning road accident involving a lorry, a Nissan matatu and a motor cycle at Muguga near Limuru along Nairobi-Naivasha highway. The accident occurred at 7.30 am when the driver of the lorry ferrying fish from Kisumu veered off his lane hitting the matatu headed for Nakuru and the cyclist. Central Provincial Police Officer John Mbijiwe told journalists in Nyeri that more than ten other passengers from the ill-fated matatu were rushed to the Kikuyu District Hospital with serious injuries. He said that the driver of the truck was overtaking another vehicle when veered off to the other side of the dual carriageway colliding head on with the oncoming matatu before hitting the motor cyclist, killing him instantly. Five passengers aboard the matatu, the driver of the lorry and the motor cyclist died on the spot. Mr. Mbijiwe said the accident caused heavy snarl along the busy road ,as the police, local villagers and other motorists struggled to remove the injured and the dead from the mangled wreckages of the two vehicles.

Interesting and unexpected facts can emerge from daily news stories and the Magazine picks out such snippets for its weekly feature, 10 things we didn't know last week. Here's an almanac of the best of 2011.

2. Bald people grow the wrong type of hair - so fine it's invisible to the naked eye.
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3. Aristotle is thought to have been the last individual to know everything that was known at the time.
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5. President Kennedy's famous line "Do not ask..." was inspired by the headmaster of his prep school.
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6. Princess Diana had two wedding dresses - one a back-up design in case her first choice was revealed before the big day.

Cases of exam fraud have risen dramatically, with nearly 8,000 pupils from 334 schools caught cheating in the Standard Eight national examination this year. Prof Ongeri noted that senior teachers, supervisors and even parents were involved in abetting the vice. In one instance, a teacher conned parents and candidates of Sh810,000 in the pretext that he would supply them with Kenya Certificate of Primary Education (KCPE) exam papers in advance. In another case, a pupil had answers written on a sandal he was wearing in the exam room. Prof Ongeri on Wednesday displayed the sandal as he released the KCPE results. He also showed a shirt with exam answers written on it. “Candidates have also not been left behind in innovating new ways of cheating,” said the minister.

Earlier, cheating was done by way of impersonation, candidates caught with mobile phones and also notes smuggled into the exam room. “But candidates have now turned to collusion with headteachers, supervisors, invigilators, parents and even the community where the school is located to cheat in exams,” the minister said. In another instance, a district education officer and a headmaster tried to bribe a supervisor not to report collusion. According to Prof Ongeri, when she refused to be bribed, “she was threatened with death and had to leave the region immediately.” Nyeri, Turkana, Laikipia and Busia counties recorded no cases of cheating according to the Kenya National Examinations Council (Knec) ranking. Seventeen schools in Nairobi County had their results cancelled due to exam irregularities, while 15 in Bomet, 13 in Meru and 11 others in Mombasa suffered the same fate. Other counties that recorded cases of schools cheating include Kwale (4), Kiambu (5), Makueni (5), Kitui (4), Nandi (6) and Samburu (5). However, Knec didn’t state the number of pupils whose results were cancelled in the 335 schools, but Prof Ongeri noted that this was 1.5 per cent of the total number of schools that did the test. – Daily Nation.

James Mweri* lived and worked illegally in the United States for four years. He was supporting a wife and child back home. He was also saving to build a home. Afraid of losing his money in case of an abrupt deportation, he sent almost every penny he earned to his wife in Kenya. When he was finally deported, he arrived in Nairobi to find that he was the victim of a scam of gargantuan proportions. “My wife had left my daughter with my grandmother and disappeared. She continued to receive the money I sent her but no one knew where she was,” he said. He now has little to show for the 16-hour shifts he used to pull at a nursing home for the elderly. “I lived with no luxuries, sending back everything I made and now my daughter and I are suffering,” he said. Kenyans in the diaspora send back billions of shillings, most of which go to support their families. According to a report released by Stanbic Investments, poor government policies and high transaction costs are to blame for the lack of higher remittance flows. However, Kenyans living abroad place the blame much closer to home.

Mr Leonard Mwamba, the Secretary of the Kenyan Community Abroad (KCA) German Chapter, said emigrants investing in Kenya have to content with the constant fear that their own families will swindle them. “I have heard this story thousands of times. There are so many people who have been hurt, families that have been torn apart,” he told Money on the phone. The situation is so bad that the Kenyan embassy in Washington DC has set up a database for people to report situations where they have been conned in botched long-distance ventures. According to KCA, investments in Kenya may provide returns that are sometimes 15 per cent higher than those in the adopted countries. Yet, some people are shying away from these opportunities. Land deals are the most susceptible to scams. False photographic evidence of “purchased” land is easy to procure and so are fake title deeds. Mr Mwamba, even with the resources at his disposal, has fallen victim to a land swindle. “I purchased land for Sh1.2 million only to discover that another person already had an original deed for the plot. Everything had cleared at the Ministry of Lands. I do not understand.” The broker who had facilitated the deal quickly hightailed, telling both parties to “sort themselves out”. The case is still pending in a Kenyan court.

Mr Denish Ope of the Mentor Group advises people seeking investment opportunities in the country to always use independent accredited agents in their dealings. Although the need to deal with people who are not relatives cannot be over-stressed, investors still need to know the people they deal with. A compromise can be found by having both a family member and an independent agent handle investment deals. “All financial transactions should require the authorisation of both the relative and the agent. It will make things more secure and the family won’t feel neglected,” Mr Ope said. Mr John Maina, the diaspora adviser in the Prime Minister’s office, suggests that investors should consult support groups before making important financial decisions. The government has set up a diaspora organisation while several other groups like the Kenya Diaspora Link, with networks across the world, can come in useful. The Diaspora Advisory Office at the Prime Minister’s office, launched in March this year, is currently consulting with stakeholders to create a system to protect and secure investments. “We are liaising with other government dockets to streamline the investment process and ensure accountability. We also act as an advisory centre to people abroad who might want to invest back home,” said Mr Maina. There has also been talk of creating investment vehicles geared specifically to people in the diaspora. One of these is the Diaspora Bond, which, according to Mr Mwamba, will “mobilise money for long-term investment in infrastructure and social amenities.” Investment experts caution against pouring money in ventures that require day-to-day management.

A bar or a matatu business might quickly fall by the wayside if you are not available to monitor it daily. In the light of the ongoing integrity crisis in the lands sector in Kenya, investors who are not in the country might be wiser looking at other sectors. “We advise the cautious members of our organisation to look at Treasury bills and stocks; there is more credibility and transparency,” said Mr Mwamba. Some relatives use the perception of wealth and prosperity around emigrants as an excuse to steal from them. According to Mr Richard Kinai, who lives in the United States, family members seem to think that the cash flow will always be there, no matter how much of it they waste. The situation, he points out, is quite different. “There are people here who hardly ever sleep and they make a pittance,” he said. People who have been stolen from by their own families find themselves with little recourse. While it is easy to sue a stranger for services not rendered, taking a family member to court would be heavily frowned upon.

“You can’t take your own brother or mother to court. In some cultures, that’s like asking to be cursed,” said Mr Mwamba. Families do not always lose the money send by their relatives abroad out of greed; some are simply inept at managing large amounts of money. Mr Paul Mwaura trusted his sister’s ability to manage the finances when he send school fees for his younger siblings. However, she was often unable to plan properly for the funds and would end up spending a year’s stipend in three months. “I now send only about Sh50,000 at the beginning of each term. They know that even if they use all the money, they’ll have to wait until next term,” he told Money. While emigrants recognise the damning role their families play in mismanaging their funds, they also believe that the government should take some of the blame. By Mr Maina’s admission, Kenya does not have structures to ensure secure investment of remittances. But things may soon change with the new constitutional dispensation that has increased the political clout of emigrants. The government is consulting experts on the modalities of setting up a framework to offer advice on investment opportunities.

*James Mweri’s name has been changed to protect his identity. – Daily Nation.

The Amish separate themselves from others for a variety of religious reasons, often citing the following Bible verses in support of their beliefs.

Because of their religious beliefs, Amish try to separate themselves from "outsiders," in an effort to avoid temptations and sin. They choose, instead, to rely on themelseves and the other members of their local Amish community. Because of this self-reliance, Amish don't draw Social Security or accept other forms of government assistance. Their avoidance of violence in all forms, means they also don't serve in the military. Each Amish congregation is served by a bishop, two ministers, and a deacon -- all male. There is no central Amish church. Worship services are held in community members' homes where walls are designed to be moved aside for large gatherings. The Amish feel that traditions bind generations together and provide an anchor to the past, a belief that dicates the way they hold church worship services, baptisms, weddings and funerals. – FULL INFORMATION

According to a new and innovative approach to estimating the future growth potential of countries — designed by professors at Harvard and Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) — East Africa could become the fastest growing region in the world between now and 2020. Uganda, at an estimated average annual gross domestic product growth rate of 6.41 per cent would have the highest growth potential in the world, followed closely by Kenya at 6.1 per cent, and Tanzania at 6.07 per cent.

Other economies in the broader East African region also top the list: Madagascar is 5th at 5.85 per cent, Malawi 7th at 5.6 per cent, Zambia 10th at 5.25 per cent, Ethiopia 23rd at 4.52 per cent, and Mozambique 31st at 4.26 per cent. Rwanda unfortunately was not included in this study, due to the reliability of available data, but is already amongst the world’s 10 fastest growing economies since the early 2000s. Note that on a GDP per capita basis, China and India are still projected to be the fastest growing economies in the world; East Africa though tops the list in terms of GDP growth.

Why is this the case? The reason East African economies could have such a high growth potential is because the current “complexity” of their economies is higher than what would be expected given their current level of income. The way complexity is measured is not easy to grasp, but it is essentially a function of how diverse and unique the capabilities of a country are. In other words, the more diverse a country’s capabilities (measured by the number of different products that it exports with a comparative advantage) and the more unique (ie measured by the number of different countries that export similar products with a comparative advantage), the higher a country’s complexity. As professors Hidalgo and Hausmann argue in their recent publication, “The Atlas of Economic Complexity: Mapping Paths to Prosperity,” countries tend to move to income levels that are compatible with the complexity of their economies. They also show that the difference between a country’s complexity and its expected complexity given its GDP per capita is predictive of future economic growth. According to the authors, this method has a 10 times greater predictive power than leading alternative indexes, such as the World Economic Forum’s Global Competitiveness Index.

Surprising? Not really. For us living in the region, the idea that the complexity of East African economies is greater than expected could come as somewhat of a surprise, given perennial structural problems, in particular: (i) weak manufacturing sectors, which in a country like Kenya only accounts for about 11per cent of GDP; and (ii) large trade deficits. Yet when you take a minute and think about it, East African economies do produce a whole range of products: processed food products (brands that come to mind are Azam, Brown’s, Brookside, Pembe, Inyange, Madhvani Group, Masaka Farms, Mukwano Industries etc), beverages (EA Breweries, Bralirwa, Nile Breweries, Del Monte, Inyange, etc), consumer goods (Azam/Bakhresa Group, Bidco, Chemi&Cotex, Mukwano, Sulfo industries), batteries (Eveready East Africa), plastics (KenPoly, RotoMoulders), paper (PanAfrican Paper Mills, Kenya Paper Mills, Supa Paper Works, etc), cement (Bamburi Cement, East African Portland Cement Company), tobacco (British American Tobacco, etc), paints (DuraCoat, Robillac Paints), cables (EA Cables), steel (Uganda Baati, Devki Steel, Mabati Rolling Mills, etc) … and the list goes on. This diversity in the region’s production capabilities is what drives the complexity that Hausmann and Hidalgo capture in their index.

Moreover, Hidalgo and Hausmann’s growth predictions are not surprising in that they are very much in line with current trends. It is impossible to ascertain how precise these estimates of the region’s growth potential are; but early indications show that they might not be too far off. These are the average growth rates of countries in Eastern Africa between 2005-2010 according to World Bank estimates: Ethiopia (10.64 per cent), Rwanda (7.8 per cent), Uganda (7.8 per cent), Tanzania (6.95 per cent), Kenya (4.8 per cent), and Burundi (3.6 per cent). What are the main risks to the region’s growth? According to our internal research at Laterite Ltd, the biggest domestic threat to this great growth potential in the region remains political uncertainty.

We substantiate this claim based on an analysis of Kenya’s 2007 election crisis, which we show has cost the country at least 3.5per cent of GDP and an estimated $4 billion to date (or about $100 per Kenyan). If current World Bank/International Monetary Funds predictions of future growth in Kenya hold, we expect Kenya to only have recovered the lost ground due to the 2007 election in 2013 — in other words, only in 2013 will Kenya’s economy be back on track as if the election violence had never occurred. That is a full five years after the fact — basically, an entire election cycle. This means that the current administration’s main achievement, economically speaking, will have been to reverse the effects of the election that brought it into power in the first place.

But how did we come up with these estimates? To estimate the cost of Kenya’s 2007 election, it is necessary to estimate what would have happened in Kenya had the election not occurred. We have developed a methodology called Proximity Controls which enables us to do just that. The idea is very simple: we find that countries with similar capabilities to a country of interest (in this case Kenya) are very good predictors of economic growth in that country over a long period of time. Additionally, we show that it is possible to create a linear combination of such countries that almost perfectly predicts economic growth in the country of interest.

To summarise, Hausmann and Hidalgo’s research reveals that — just like China and Taiwan 25 years ago — East Africa’s productive structure has the potential to quickly diversify and increasingly move towards more sophisticated products, thereby stimulating growth. Also, just like China and Taiwan, East African countries are not really “poor” from a capabilities perspective. 25 years ago China and Taiwan already had the capabilities to develop the diverse range of products that they produce today; it is in large part these same capabilities that have led them to their current income levels. It’s just that 25 years ago, “the cheque was in the mail.” East African countries have a similar potential today, but as we have shown using Kenya’s 2007 election crisis, political uncertainty could still spoil the party and mean the cheque is never really cashed. – The East African.

Mr. & Mrs. Johnson Kuria (Baba na Mama Kamau, Nottingham) have lost their sister in Kenya

Mr. & Mrs. Johnson Kuria (Baba na Mama Kamau of Mapperley, Nottingham, UK have lost their sister back in Kenya. For more information contact 07940597083 or 01159625771.

The founder and lead organizer of the largest Kenya Diaspora Investment Forum (KDIF) held in London is planning to contest a top seat in Murang’a County during the upcoming General Election in Kenya.

Born in 1966 in the then Ruchu Location, Kandara District in Murang’a County, Kenya, Julius Ndung’u Kaberere is a development and programme management specialist of international repute.

KDIF Forum 2006 was aimed at motivating Kenyans in the Diaspora, particularly in Europe and mainly in the United Kingdom to ensure that there is greater investment by the Diaspora communities back to their country. During the conference, nearly 1500 Kenyans in the Diaspora heard from speakers and facilitators on the best investment opportunities in the country.

The KDIF forum marked a turning point in the Kenyan Diaspora engagement with their mother country, spring remittance to increase to over USD$500 million annually. It encouraged other groups to mobilize more Kenyans to invest in real estate, stocks and other development. Julius recently received an award at the Kenya UK Achievers award for outstanding contribution in mobilizing Kenyans in the UK and Europe for investment back in their home country.

Julius attended Gacharage Primary School in Kandara District (1972-1980) and Thika High School (1981 – 1986).He then proceeded to study Economics at the University of Nairobi, from where he graduated with honours in October 1990. He has also undertaken many short courses, which include studies in Development Studies at the Birkbeck College University of London (UK), and certificates in health communication from the John’s Hopkins University (USA).

Julius has over twenty (20) years experience in community development, coordinating and managing development programs within national and international organizations. He specializes in project planning and management, strategic planning, capacity building, monitoring & evaluation, child rights programming, women and youth development.

Julius has worked at the Commonwealth Secretariat in London, UK since January 2004. In this role, he advises on Technical Co-operation and Strategic Response, within the Governance and Institutional Development Division (GIDD) of the Secretariat. He also manages the Commonwealth Secretariat’s capacity building programmes on Disaster Risk Reduction and Disaster Management.

His previous postings include, being an Advisor/Programme Coordinator on NGO capacity building project in the Pacific. He also held senior leadership roles within Kenyan NGO’s.

Julius has lived and worked in Kenya, Republic of Kiribati, Vanuatu and the United Kingdom. He has also undertaken programme related activities and travels to over 50 countries all over the world, 34 of them prior to joining the Commonwealth Secretariat in January 2004. He also chaired the Commonwealth Secretariat Staff Association (CSSA), a role he assumed since December 2009, when he was elected by an overwhelming majority of Comsec staff.

A formal announcement is expected when the date of the new General election is clarified in mid- January 2012.

The South Pacific island nation of Samoa plans to jump a day on Friday 30th December, 2011 to Sunday, New Year, 1st January, 2012 escaping a day. The Samoans will sleep on Friday and wake up on Sunday, switching to the west side of the international dateline in order to make it easier to do business with Australia, New Zealand and eastern Asia. This move will reverse a decision made 119 years ago to stay a day behind in order to facilitate trade with the United States, and will end Samoa’s claim to fame as the last place on Earth to see each day’s sunset, the Associated Press reports. However, neighboring American Samoa, a U.S. territory, will remain on the California side of the dateline.

This isn't the first time that Samoa has looked eastward: in 2009, the country switched from driving on the right to the left side of the road, in order to standardize with Australia and New Zealand. The changes reflect the country’s increased relations with the Asia-Pacific region. Prime Minister Tuilaepa Sailele Malielegaoi said that Samoa is currently missing out on two working days a week doing business with New Zealand and Australia due to being on the American side of the international dateline. Currently, when it is Sunday morning in Samoa, it is approaching Monday morning in New Zealand, Australia, China and Singapore.

"While it's Friday here, it's Saturday in New Zealand and when we're at church on Sunday, they're already conducting business in Sydney and Brisbane," Tuilaepa told the AP. vTuilaepa said he hopes to erase this year's December 31 from the calendar and celebrate the start of 2012 a night early. He pitched Samoa as a place where tourists will be able to celebrate two birthdays and two wedding anniversaries on the same date but different days, by taking a short flight between Samoa and American Samoa. Samoa, a Polynesian nation of 188,000 people, is located about halfway between New Zealand and Hawaii. Nearby islands include Tonga, Fiji and the Cook Islands.

Kenyans in the US are becoming sceptical about their chances of voting in the 2012 General Election. They accuse the Independent Elections and Boundaries Commission of not doing enough to ensure they take part. A US-based group, the Kenya Diaspora Vote, is launching a petition on Thursday to gather online signatures seeking assurances from the Kenyan government that they are not denied their constitutional right to vote. Mr Peter Kerre, who is spearheading the push, said the aim is to call on the government to avoid implementing measures that will curtail a free and fair process. He said the petition can be found on http://www.gopetition.com/petitions/kenya-diaspora-right-to-vote.html.

In March, Mr Kerre organised a protest against Vice-President Kalonzo Musyoka’s visit to the UN to request the Security Council for a deferral of the International Criminal Court cases facing the Ocampo Six. (READ: Kenyans in US protest over Kalonzo shuttle)

In a related development, two Kenyan lawyers in the US said a recent trip by the IEBC only heightened fears. Mr Henry Ongeri of Minnesota and Ms Regina Njogu of Washington DC said they were concerned at the slow pace at which a framework to allow the Diaspora to vote was being laid out. Mr Ongeri said a proposal that Kenyans could vote at the embassy in Washington DC and at consulates in New York and California was akin to disenfranchisement. “The proposal would be expensive for Kenyans not residing near the embassy and consulates,” Mr Ongeri said. “Kenyans back home only have to walk a short distance to the polling station,” he said. He said Kenyans living in the many parts of the US could spend $800 (Sh68,000) each on airfare, accommodation, food and lost income if they were to travel to vote. Mr Kerre and Mr Ongeri also rejected a proposal that ambassadors be appointed returning officers, saying they are political appointees. “There are tens of thousands of us here. The government can choose voting officers among us,” Mr Kerre said. Ms Njogu complained about the “snail’s pace at which the IEBC is moving.” The short time we have remaining to the elections will not be sufficient to ensure Kenyans who have acquired foreign citizenship will have their applications to regain their Kenyan citizenship adjudicated on time,” Ms Njogu said. – Daily Nation

A US-based group, the Kenya Diaspora Vote, is launching a petition on Thursday to gather online signatures seeking assurances from the Kenyan government that they are not denied their constitutional right to vote. CLICK HERE TO VOTE

Despite the impressive performance by pupils in KCPE exams, there were concerns over the declining quality of performance in languages. Education Minister Sam Ongeri blamed poor performance in Kiswahili and English to extensive use of Sheng, which he warned is spreading to senior members of society. In the results, pupils from rural schools performed better in languages than their counterparts in towns, where Sheng is prevalent. "Our suspicion is that adulteration of Kiswahili and English, where even senior members of the society, including top politicians, have turned to talk Sheng to endear themselves to the youths has affected performance in the two subjects," said Ongeri. The minister, who was irked by poor ranking of Kenya by Southern African Consortium for Monitoring Educational Quality (SACMEQ) in a survey, said the trend is hurting performance.

CLICK HERE FOR 2011 KCPE EXAMINATION ORDERS OF MERIT FOR THE TOP TEN CANDIDATES PER COUNTY

CLICK HERE FOR 2011 KCPE EXAMINATION ORDERS OF MERIT FOR THE TOP TEN CANDIDATES NATIONALLY

US home prices have fallen further in October despite record low mortgage interest rates, according to new data. The Standard & Poor's Case-Shiller index of 10 major metropolitan areas fell 1.1% from a month earlier and its 20-city index fell 1.2%. Atlanta was one of the worst performing cities, down 5% month-on-month. Last week, government-sponsored mortgage agency Freddie Mac said average 30-year mortgage rates had fallen to a record low of 3.91%. Chicago, Cleveland, and Minneapolis all posted monthly declines of 1% or more. For the year, average home prices across the US were down 3.4% in the three months to October compared to the same period in 2010. Americans have been reluctant to enter the housing market in the face of high unemployment and weak job growth.

But the house price index is seen as a lagging indicator of the market, as it is published with a two month delay, and is based on an average of the preceding three months. In contrast, separate data released before Christmas suggest that there may have been an improvement in the US housing market in more recent months. Home sales volumes rose in November, as did confidence among builders, who have been restarting building projects. This other data rallied investors, who believed a recovery in the housing market was on the way. "In light of the more positive housing numbers we've seen in the last week or so, this [Case-Shiller data] might be a bit of a disappointment," said Omer Esiner, chief market strategist at Commonwealth Foreign Exchange in Washington.

North Korea has begun two days of funeral services for late leader Kim Jong-il with a huge procession in the capital, Pyongyang. Footage showed tens of thousands of soldiers with their heads bowed as a giant portrait of Mr Kim was carried slowly through the streets. His successor and third son, Kim Jong-un, walked beside the hearse, images from state television showed. Kim Jong-il died of a heart attack on 17 December, aged 69, state media said. He has been lying in state for the past 10 days. - VIDEO

London Mission Christian Center held a dinner on 24th Dec 2011. The dinner was graced by a Sunday school play which was presented by the church's Sunday school with the theme of the shepherd, and wise men. Lennox, Brandon and Sean were the wise men while the play was narrated by Shem Kangonga. Gifts were presented to the children by the senior pastor in appreciation of their hard word. More than 20 children featured in the play. In his Christmas speech, pastor Antony read Luke 2:8-20. he encouraged everyone to take the simplicity of the shepherds who were won the heart of God and become the first to receive the Good news of the born Saviour. The pastor thanked the church for the great effort that it has put to ensure that London Mission Christian Centre is faithful to here original mission which is to ENRICH YOU TO REACH OTHERS. In the coming year more effort will be put in the outreach and winning of souls. On June the church will say HAPPY BIRTHDAY LMCC YOU ARE ONE YEAR OLD; This is something to look forward to.

More to come on 08/01/12 a powerful praise and worship service at castle Green where Mary Mutungi and Joy Muturi will be singing to the Lord.

An Australian zoo keeper had a lucky escape when an angry crocodile clamped his jaw onto a lawnmower being used to tidy the reptile's enclosure. Billy Collett was mowing the grass when the crocodile called Elvis leapt out of the water at the reptile park and snatched the still running mower from his hands. "It happened that fast, it was that scary," said Collett from the Australian Reptile Park north of Sydney. "We'd just started mowing, the croc's sitting about five foot away from me in the water, then (the) next second he's attached to the end of the mower, dragging it in, and almost taking me into the drink with him. "My heart almost jumped out of my chest."

The US Navy has said it will not tolerate disruption to a vital oil-trade route, following an Iranian threat to close it. Iran warned it would shut the Strait of Hormuz if the West imposed more sanctions over its nuclear programme. The US and its allies believe Iran is trying to develop a nuclear weapon - a charge Tehran denies. Reacting to Iran's warning, a US Fifth Fleet spokeswoman said it was "always ready to counter malevolent actions". The Strait of Hormuz links the Gulf - and the oil-producing states of Bahrain, Kuwait, Qatar, Saudi Arabia and the United Arab Emirates (UAE) - to the Indian Ocean. About 40% of the world's tanker-borne oil passes through it.

The US maintains a naval presence in the Gulf, largely to ensure the transport of oil remains open. The strait "is not only important for security and stability in the region, but also is an economic lifeline for countries in the Gulf, including Iran", Pentagon spokesman George Little said. "Raising the temperature on tensions in the Gulf is unhelpful", he said, but added that he was unaware of any hostile action directed against US vessels. US Fifth Fleet spokeswoman Rebecca Rebarich told the BBC the navy would be ready to act if required: "The US Navy is a flexible, multi-capable force committed to regional security and stability, always ready to counter malevolent actions to ensure freedom of navigation."

Strait of Hormuz

Kagiri Christine Muthoni (left) and Irungu Martin Waiharo (above) were joint best candidates with a total 442

Once again male students have dominated the top ten positions across the country in this year's Kenya Certificate of Primary Education (KCPE) exams. In the results released Wednesday by Education Minister Prof: Sam Ongeri, Kagiri Christine Muthoni and Irungu Martin Waiharo were the joint best candidates amassing a total of 442 marks out of a possible 500. 14 candidates were in the top ten spots with boys clinching nine and girls five. Announcing the results at Mitihani house, Ongeri said the candidates overall performance this year remained almost the same level as that of last year though 5,806 candidates scored over 400 points compared to 2,723 in 2010. "This year the quality of performance is therefore much better compared to last year" he said. Top candidates scored 442 marks compared to 434 and 438 scored by top candidates in 2010 and 2009 respectively. The top five counties in performance were Kirinyaga, Nandi, Makueni, Uasin Gishu and Busia. There are 47 counties in the country.

Candidates and parents can access the results from the Kenya National Examinations Council website - www.knec-results.ac.ke/ or through mobile phone by typing the candidate's index number and sending the message to 5052. He noted that students should not be made to repeat classes as this has a negative impact on performance. He highlighted schools in Kwale, Kilifi, Taita Taveta and Tana River as topping in the list of overage students who sit the KCPE examinations. Kilifi and Kwale lead the pack with 2,776 and 1,453 over-age candidates respectively. "Making children repeat classes and also taking them when they are overage above 14 years adds no value. The older the student the lower the performance," he added He therefore urged teachers, parents and other stakeholders to be in the frontline to reverse the trend.

Prof Ongeri said teachers and pupils colluded to cheat in the 2011 Kenya Certificate of Primary Education (KCPE) Wednesday. When releasing the results at Mitihani House, Nairobi the minister said in one case a teacher received Sh810,000 through the cash transfer service M-Pesa saying he was in a position to provide answers to exam questions. He said police were hunting for the teacher. The minister said cheating occurred mainly in examination centres where invigilators, supervisors and pupils colluded to gain unfair advantage. A furious Prof Ongeri said such teachers should be fired since they do not "add value". Prof Ongeri also directed his Permanent Secretary to ensure that head teachers do not force pupils to repeat classes. He said it was detrimental to Kenya's education system. The top candidate was Kagiri Christine Muthoni who scored 442 marks out of possible 500. She tied with Irungu Martin. The top five counties were: Kirinyaga, Nandi, Makueni, Uasin Gishu, Busia. Candidates can check their results on the Kenya National Examination Council website www.knec.ac.ke, the Education Ministry advised. - VIDEO

Making a gun salute with his fingers, this is the teenager stabbed to death in front of Boxing Day shoppers after a feud between rival gangs erupted in London’s West End. Seydou Diarrassouba, 18, was knifed in the heart after a fight broke out in a trainer store as the two groups were on a shoplifting spree on a packed Oxford Street. The victim was a member of the notorious London street gang ABM, which stands for ‘All ’Bout Money’, and the killer was believed to have been involved with the rival 031 Bloods. Territorial clashes between the two South London gangs have claimed several lives since 2007. - CLICK HERE FOR FULL STORY

Many of the presidential hopefuls spent the Christmas holiday putting final touches on their preparations for next year’s campaigns. The 2012 presidential race is crowded, attracting more candidates than any other election since the re-introduction of multiparty politics in 1992. Prime Minister Raila Odinga, who starts the race in pole position by virtue of being the contender leading the biggest party, has also made some radical changes. Out goes the old Orange Democratic Movement party slogan “Chungwa Moja Maisha Bora” and in comes a new slogan, “Change We Need”.

Vice-President Kalonzo Musyoka, another candidate who is buoyed by the trappings of incumbency, has gone a step further and renamed his party, Orange Democratic Movement-Kenya. It is now called Wiper Democratic Movement. Other strong contenders are Deputy Prime Minister Uhuru Kenyatta, Internal Security minister George Saitoti and MPs William Ruto (Eldoret North) and Martha Karua (Gichugu). Also in the race are Deputy Prime Minister Musalia Mudavadi, assistant minister Peter Kenneth, Foreign Affairs minister Moses Wetang’ula, former Cabinet minister Raphael Tuju, MPs Mutava Musyimi (Gachoka), Eugene Wamalwa (Saboti), and Education permanent secretary James ole Kiyiapi.

The aspirants are spending heavily, buying helicopters, setting up campaign secretariats, hiring staff at county levels and retaining campaign experts and PR gurus to clean up their image. Mr Odinga, vying for the presidency for a third time, has set up four separate offices in Nairobi with former Kenya Ports Authority chief Brown Ondego leading the fundraising team. He is yet to appoint a person to lead his main secretariat and double up as the campaign manager. The appointment of lawyer Paul Mwangi as his legal adviser has been interpreted to mean that the PM wants his core campaign team to reflect the face of Kenya. (READ: Lawyer Mwangi appointed to replace Miguna) Sources said the secretariats will be led by professionals and business people. Several lobbies such as Friends of Raila, ODM Network Team, ODM Youth for 2012 and ODM Women Congress have joined his campaign. A group of professionals from the Rift Valley has been formed to counter the anti-Raila wave in the region, and a coordinator is expected to head his campaigns in the diaspora. Video and more....

The Kenyan shilling was steady against the dollar on Tuesday 27th December, 2011 and is expected to trade in a range during the session as volumes remain low in the holiday season. The market has been facing a liquidity squeeze with the central bank's tightening measures, helping the shilling recover most of this year's losses and pushing up the interbank average lending rate to 29.3 percent from 27.6 percent. At 0715 GMT, commercial banks quoted the shilling at 83.65/85, unchanged from Friday's close. Markets were closed on Monday for Boxing Day. "Trading is tight and in a narrow range. We are not seeing much activity since most companies are still closed for the holiday season," Robert Gatobu, a trader at Bank of Africa said. Traders said no major movement of the shilling was expected during the session. Dickson Magecha, a trader at Standard Chartered, said there was little demand across the board that was well matched by inflows from the tourism and horticulture sector.

Ephesians 5:18 reads: “Do not get drunk on wine, which leads to debauchery. Instead, be filled with the Spirit.” The new birth doesn't automatically eliminate the old nature. We live in bodies that are susceptible to sin, so we must stay filled with God's Spirit. Paul says: 'Walk by the Spirit, and you will not carry out the desire of the flesh' (Galatians 5:16 NAS). Then he gives us a familiar illustration: '...do not be drunk with wine...but be filled with the Spirit' (Ephesians 5:18 NKJV). Notice: First, Paul's talking about yielding control of our life to God's Spirit. When someone's drunk we say they're 'under the influence.' Second, Paul's statement is a command. 'Be filled.' He didn't say, 'If you'd like to,' or 'It would be nice.' No, if you are going to please God then you must be constantly filled with His Spirit. Third, this applies to every believer. Sometimes we look at someone and say, 'They love Jesus so much; why can't I be like that?' You can. The difference is the filling of the Spirit, not the fact that they have something you don't. Fourth, you can't fill yourself. Like filling your car, you must regularly pull up to the pump. 'Blessed are those who hunger and thirst for righteousness, for they will be filled' (Matthew 5:6 NIV). Are you hungry? Are you thirsty? Fifth, it's a continuous action. You can't run your car on a single tank of petrol; you've got to keep going back to the source. The Spirit's filling is a dynamic, moment-by-moment experience. Why is it that way? Because we live in a world that depletes us spiritually and contend with a core of carnality that seeks to defeat us. So, '...be filled with the Spirit.'(Ephesians 5:18 NKJV).

Our Guest Singer today is Maggy Seurey from the Republic of Kenya – CLICK HERE

May God richly reward and bless everyone for your prayers and tireless support you have shown me

and my family during this difficult time. We truly appreciate all that you have done.

Mum will be laid to rest on Thursday 29th December 2011 in Kenya. Rest in Peace.

Mum, loved dearly by Sons Pastor Peter Kamau of ECC Slough, Nicolas Njogu of Hemel and

As with so many things, when it comes to neck pain, an ounce of prevention may be worth a pound of cure. It’s true that some causes of neck pain, such as age-related wear and tear, are not under your control. On the other hand, there are many things you can do to minimize your risk. One place to start is to look at how you sleep and what effect this may have on neck pain.

Two sleeping positions are easiest on the neck: on your side or on your back. If you sleep on your back, choose a rounded pillow to support the natural curve of your neck, with a flatter pillow cushioning your head. This can be achieved by tucking a small neck roll into the pillowcase of a flatter, softer pillow, or by using a special pillow that has a built-in neck support with an indentation for the head to rest in. Here are some additional tips for side- and back-sleepers:

Try using a feather pillow, which easily conforms to the shape of the neck. Feather pillows will collapse over time, however, and should be replaced every year or so. Another option is a traditionally shaped pillow with “memory foam” that conforms to the contour of your head and neck. Some cervical pillows are also made with memory foam. Manufacturers of memory-foam pillows claim they help foster proper spinal alignment. Avoid using too high or stiff a pillow, which keeps the neck flexed overnight and can result in morning pain and stiffness. If you sleep on your side, keep your spine straight by using a pillow that is higher under your neck than your head.

When you are riding in a plane, train, or car, or even just reclining to watch TV, a horseshoe-shaped pillow can support your neck and prevent your head from dropping to one side if you doze. If the pillow is too large behind the neck, however, it will force your head forward. Sleeping on your stomach is tough on your spine, because the back is arched and your neck is turned to the side. Preferred sleeping positions are often set early in life and can be tough to change, not to mention that we don’t often wake up in the same position in which we fell asleep. Still, it’s worth trying to start the night sleeping on your back or side in a well-supported, healthy position.

Research suggests that not just sleep position, but sleep itself, can play a role in musculoskeletal pain, including neck and shoulder pain. In one 2008 study, researchers compared musculoskeletal pain in 4,140 healthy men and women with and without sleeping problems. Sleeping problems included difficulty falling asleep, trouble staying asleep, waking early in the mornings, and non-restorative sleep. They found that people who reported moderate to severe problems in at least three of these four categories were significantly more likely to develop chronic musculoskeletal pain after one year than those who reported little or no problem with sleep. One possible explanation is that sleep disturbances disrupt the muscle relaxation and healing that normally occur during sleep. Additionally, it is well established that pain can disrupt sleep, contributing to a vicious cycle of pain disrupting sleep, and sleep problems contributing to pain.

Nairobi residents thronged various entertainment places to celebrate Christmas. Many said they opted to remain in Nairobi due to the hard economic times that could not allow them to travel upcountry. “I earlier planned to go and spend the Christmas with my larger family in Western but I could not manage because the fares suddenly went up,” said Mr Dennis Walela on Monday at Nairobi’s Uhuru Park. Mr Walela said it was difficult to ferry his family to the village and instead opted to send part of the cash to his parents. It was almost the same story, with Ms Esther Mwikali who had planned to join her family members in Makueni for the festive season. However, unlike Mr Walela who was discouraged by the skyrocketing fares, Ms Mwikali was unable to find a vehicle to take her home. “I was determined to join my family in Makueni even if it could have meant paying twice the normal fare”, she says. She expressed her disappointment at not being at her rural home during Christmas. She last visited her rural relatives two years ago. “Of course I’m disappointed at not being there, but I hope to go next time even if it will force me to buy my own car,” said the 38-year-old. Businessmen who had hoped to make a killing from those who thronged the Uhuru Park for the celebrations were disappointed. They said the huge number of people at the park did not translate into better sales. Mr Michael Kiana said on a normal day, unlike yesterday, he would have sold all his wares by midday. “The high cost of living is to blame for all this,” he said. In Embu, Christmas celebrations were low key, a thing attributed to runaway prices of most basic and essential commodities.

Maendeleo ya Wanawake Embu branch chairlady Rosemary Wanja Nthiga said the high cost of living had stopped many from celebrating the festivities. But in Taita-Taveta County, many resorts and recreation establishment reported booming business as droves of merrymakers with their families flocked into them. Shasha Camp, an up-market establishment in Mwatate District reported a high number of visitors compared to other times of the years. To lure visitors to the restaurant, the management had hired Tekelezi live band which became the major attraction. Ms Martha Wakio, a business woman from Voi District, who was one of the patrons at Shasha Camp, said she had brought her family to the restaurant to get a break from the normal hustles of a town and business. “Christmas comes once a year so it’s important that we appreciate this day to its fullest,” she said. In other towns, hundreds of worshippers flocked various churches for fellowship, with most expressing optimism about the coming year. “We trust that 2012 will be a better year in terms of people’s obedience to God and being our brother’s keepers,” said Mr Mwamburi Chao, a lay leader at St Jude Catholic in Mwatate. As some families were celebrating the holiday in their own way, food traders opened their stalls in anticipation of increased sales. “We must remain open to make this day a success for other people,” said Mr Maovo Kennedy, a vegetable seller at Mwatate market. Unlike in Nairobi, most traders in the area have been registering brisk business, a trend expected to continue until after new year. In Lamu, the festive season kicked off on Saturday evening amid pomp and fun fare that transformed the mainly Muslim town. Thousands were visiting the world heritage site, and tourists could be seen taking photographs. Hotels were busy serving delicacies besides playing music associated with upcountry towns. A contingent of the Rapid Deployment Unit (RDU) of the Administration Police could be seen patrolling the streets of Lamu to ensure no attacks disrupted the celebrations. - VIDEO – Daily Nation

The Ministry of Education will be releasing examination results for over 775, 000 candidates who sat the Kenya Certificate of Primary Education (KCPE) exams ON Wednesday. It is a moment of consternation for many as the next hurdle will be just how many of these gallant children will get form one places come January. The time for sitting examinations is usually a moment of great reflection. It is the time when those who are well prepared face the examinations with pride and hope while those who are not well prepared it is a time for utter disbelief as the questions get harder. Out a large number of over 1.3 million candidates who sat various other examinations, during the examination period over 775,000 candidates sat the Kenya Certificate of Primary Education – KCPE between November the 8th and 10th. The Kenya National Examination Council employed the services of over 180,000 contracted professionals including examiners to assist in handling examinations. The number of class eight candidates rose from 754,000 in 2010 to 775,839 this year registering an increase of 21,731 or 2.9%. For the first time in its history the KNEC used ICT in the registration of candidates under the E-registration program; At the briefing held at Mitihani House in Nairobi, KNEC CEO Paul Wasanga noted that examinations are the barometers of quality education in many countries and hence their validity and reliability which are determined by their management are therefore of paramount importance.

The Duke of Edinburgh has left hospital four nights after having a coronary stent fitted. The prince, who smiled and waved to reporters as he left, has now returned to the Royal Family's Sandringham estate in Norfolk. The 90-year-old had been in Papworth Hospital since Friday after being admitted following chest pains. Prince Philip missed the royal Christmas celebrations and had to sit out the traditional Boxing Day shoot. He sat upright and smiled broadly as he left the hospital. In a statement, Buckingham Palace said: "On departure, Prince Philip thanked the staff at Papworth for the excellent care he has received during his stay. "He is very much looking forward to rejoining his family." The prince is said to have been advised by doctors to rest. The BBC's royal correspondent Nicholas Witchell said it was not yet known whether doctors had advised Prince Philip to adapt his programme to make it "significantly easier".

DUBAI: A Kenyan administrative officer has been convicted and sentenced to life in prison after the Dubai Criminal Court found him guilty of smothering his Chinese girlfriend and dumping her body in a manhole on the Dubai-Al Ain Road in August last year. Meanwhile, the convict WO, 30, a former administrative manager at an airline, claimed that his lover, WJ, 26, a sales executive, was forcing him to marry her. In a confession before investigators, the convict was quoted saying that he could not marry WJ because as a Christian he was not allowed to have two wives. “I am not entitled to have two wives, besides my wife is here with me,” he said, adding that as the argument grew more heated, WJ threatened to inform police that WO had raped her.” “I was mad with anger and prompted to strangle her for about seven minutes,” he said. However, during the first hearing, the convict denied the murder was premeditated. “I did not mean to kill her, she collapsed and died,” he said. According to CID sources, the police arrested the suspect after a missing person report was filed at Al Rashidiyah police station by a friend of the deceased on August 19 last year. The friend informed the police that WJ had called her and said she was going to meet her Kenyan friend.

WO initially revealed to CID personnel that he met WJ at around 10pm and had dinner with her at a fast food outlet at a petrol station on the Dubai-Al Ain Road. Meanwhile, during preliminary investigations, an Emirati officer quoted WO claiming that he picked up WJ from her place in Nad Al Sheba and later dropped her back at around 8.30pm. The convict allegedly attempted to deceive the police that the deceased left him on the ground that she was going to carry out some business. The police then demanded that he bring his car for further legal procedures and during investigations, WO was suspected of involvement in the disappearance of WJ. The investigators noticed that he looked nervous during questioning. When WJ died he drove his car with her body in it to the Dubai-Al Ain Road. WO dragged the body out of the car and disposed it off in a manhole, after throwing her purse and mobile phone as well. The decomposed body was found 50 metres away from the main street as a strong stench was coming out of the drainage. According to forensic reports, the body had some fractures that might have resulted from the dumping. “It was totally decomposed,” reports revealed.

"Ultimate excellence lies not in winning every battle but in defeating the enemy without ever fighting" - The Art of War by Sun-Tzu

Brazil has overtaken the UK as the world's sixth largest economy, an economic research group has said. The Centre for Economics and Business Research (CEBR) said its latest World Economic League Table showed Asian countries moving up and European countries falling back. The CEBR also predicted that the UK economy would overtake France by 2016. It also said the eurozone economy would shrink 0.6% in 2012 "if the euro problem is solved", or 2% if it is not. CEBR chief executive Douglas McWilliams told BBC Radio 4's Today programme that Brazil overtaking the UK was part of a growing trend. "I think it's part of the big economic change, where not only are we seeing a shift from the west to the east, but we're also seeing that countries that produce vital commodities - food and energy and things like that - are doing very well and they're gradually climbing up the economic league table," he said.

A report based on International Monetary Fund data published earlier this year also said the Brazilian economy would overtake the UK in 2011. Brazil has a population of about 200 million, more than three times the population of the UK. The CEBR also said that Russia moved up one spot in its league table to ninth in 2011, and predicted that it would rise to fourth spot by 2020. It predicted that India, the world's 10th biggest economy in 2011, would become the fifth largest by 2020. And it said European countries would drop down the table, with Germany falling from fourth in 2011 to seventh in 2020, the UK from seventh to eighth, and France from fifth to ninth.

Farmers are being encouraged to do more to prevent the growing problem of livestock rustling across the UK. One insurer says cases of stolen animals more than doubled over the last year, compared to the previous year. In Lancashire, where the problem is particularly bad, police say they will be doing far more spot checks on vehicles carrying livestock. NFU Mutual estimates more than 60,000 sheep could have been stolen in the UK in the first 10 months of the year. The insurance company says 9,000 sheep had been stolen in north-west of England alone in the same period.

Here is the text in full of the Queen's 2011 Christmas message, which was recorded on 9 December - before her husband, the Duke of Edinburgh, was treated in hospital for a blocked coronary artery. "In this past year my family and I have been inspired by the courage and hope we have seen in so many ways in Britain, in the Commonwealth and around the world.

We've seen that it's in hardship that we often find strength from our families; it's in adversity that new friendships are sometimes formed; and it's in a crisis that communities break down barriers and bind together to help one another.

Families, friends and communities often find a source of courage rising up from within. Indeed, sadly, it seems that it is tragedy that often draws out the most and the best from the human spirit. When Prince Philip and I visited Australia this year, we saw for ourselves the effects of natural disaster in some of the areas devastated by floods, where in January so many people lost their lives and their livelihoods.

We were moved by the way families and local communities held together to support each other. Prince William travelled to New Zealand and Australia in the aftermath of earthquakes, cyclones and floods and saw how communities rose up to rescue the injured, comfort the bereaved and rebuild the cities and towns devastated by nature.

The Prince of Wales also saw first-hand the remarkable resilience of the human spirit after tragedy struck in a Welsh mining community, and how communities can work together to support their neighbours. This past year has also seen some memorable and historic visits - to Ireland and from America.

The spirit of friendship so evident in both these nations can fill us all with hope. Relationships that years ago were once so strained have through sorrow and forgiveness blossomed into long-term friendship. It is through this lens of history that we should view the conflicts of today, and so give us hope for tomorrow.

Of course, family does not necessarily mean blood relatives but often a description of a community, organisation or nation. The Commonwealth is a family of 53 nations, all with a common bond, shared beliefs, mutual values and goals. It is this which makes the Commonwealth a family of people in the truest sense, at ease with each other, enjoying its shared history and ready and willing to support its members in the direst of circumstances.

They have always looked to the future, with a sense of camaraderie, warmth and mutual respect while still maintaining their individualism. The importance of family has, of course, come home to Prince Philip and me personally this year with the marriages of two of our grandchildren, each in their own way a celebration of the God-given love that binds a family together.

For many, this Christmas will not be easy. With our armed forces deployed around the world, thousands of service families face Christmas without their loved ones at home. The bereaved and the lonely will find it especially hard. And, as we all know, the world is going through difficult times. All this will affect our celebration of this great Christian festival.

Finding hope in adversity is one of the themes of Christmas. Jesus was born into a world full of fear. The angels came to frightened shepherds with hope in their voices: 'Fear not', they urged, 'we bring you tidings of great joy, which shall be to all people. 'For unto you is born this day in the City of David a Saviour who is Christ the Lord.' Although we are capable of great acts of kindness, history teaches us that we sometimes need saving from ourselves - from our recklessness or our greed.

God sent into the world a unique person - neither a philosopher nor a general, important though they are, but a Saviour, with the power to forgive. Forgiveness lies at the heart of the Christian faith. It can heal broken families, it can restore friendships and it can reconcile divided communities. It is in forgiveness that we feel the power of God's love.

In the last verse of this beautiful carol, O Little Town Of Bethlehem, there's a prayer:

It is my prayer that on this Christmas day we might all find room in our lives for the message of the angels and for the love of God through Christ our Lord.

Shoppers and sports fans in Londonwill face disruption as Tube drivers go on strike. Members of the Aslef union will walk out today in a row over extra pay for those who work on Boxing Day. London Underground (LU) attempted to stop the strike going ahead but a High Court judge said it was lawful. The company says drivers have 43 days of annual leave and are contracted to work some public holidays. The industrial action has already forced Arsenal to postpone the game against Wolves which has been put back until tomorrow. Chelsea's game against Fulham does go ahead despite the travel disruption. The strike is also a blow for London's shops with many of the post-Christmas sales beginning today. Buses will still be operating as normal alongside trams and the city's DLR.

A worshipper is screened at the entrance of the Holy Family Basilica Nairobi December 25, 2011.

The Christmas Mass at the Holy Family Basilica, Nairobi was temporarily disrupted after faithful raised alarm over the presence of a bomb. Worshippers were preparing for the mid-morning sermon when police ordered everybody to evacuate the building. Nairobi PPO Anthony Kibuchi, who led the security agents including those from the General Service Unit (GSU) and anti terror unit, said they received a tip off from one of the church members who said there was a suspicious man in the congregation. “We got information that a suspicious character was among the congregation and we could not take chances”, Mr Kibuchi told reporters at the church compound Sunday. He said officers conducted security checks in and around the church and found it safe. “We have done our checks and I can say that the place is safe for the church sermons to proceed." Those who had been evacuated were later screened and allowed into the church. The scare comes days after Police Commissioner Mathew Iteere had cautioned Kenyans to be alert and report any suspicious characters to the police amid fears of an impending attack over the festive period. Somalia militia Al-Shabaab Kenyan sympathisers are said to have targeted churches, shopping malls and clubs among other places likely to be frequented by the public.

The UK's largest Christmas tree is this 113-feet (34.4 metres)-right, giant redwood tree at WakehurstPplace, Ardingly, West Sussex

and the Amazing Christmas fact is that the world's biggest tree (76 metres high) was put up in America in 1950. Telegraph.

Left, High Streets are hoping for a repeat of scenes like this in London's Oxford Street before xmas as many

Millions of shoppers are expected to hit Britain's high streets today in search of bargains in the Boxing Day sales. An estimated 5.6 million drivers will take to the roads, according to Green Flag breakdown. With sales at stores such as Next opening at 6am, Green Flag says more than one in 10 (13%) of those will set off between 5am and 9am. The rush is expected to peak at around 10.30am.

'We're prepared for a very busy Boxing Day and it looks like being an early start for the army of bargain hunters we're expecting through our doors', Peter Beagley, Braehead Shopping Centre, said. Business was brisk at shopping centres in the run-up to Christmas despite many families tightening their purse strings amid financial uncertainty. Aberdeen's Union Square shopping centre recorded its busiest festive period to date with a 32% rise in the number of visitors in the week before Christmas. Over 1.1 million shoppers passed through the centre's doors in December. General manager Ryan Manson said: "We expect Boxing Day to be another busy day as shoppers hit the high street to take advantage of the post-Christmas sales.

Five people died early this morning after two buses collided head-on in Kanga area near Mtito-Andei. The 2 am accident occurred after two buses collided head on killing the two drivers instantly. Deputy traffic police commandant Samwel Kimaru says eleven other passengers were seriously injured and were rushed to Voi district Hospital. Speaking to KBC on phone, Kimaru called on motorists and other road users to remain cautious to avert further road accidents. He called on motorist to avoid speeding and overtaking at wrong points adding that most accidents were as a result of reckless driving. Last week, eight people lost their lives in a similar accident near Makindu on the Mombasa-Nairobi highway after an Akamba bus rammed an oil tanker. Meanwhile, Vice President Kalonzo usyoka has called on Kenyans to be more vigilant during this festive season and report any suspicious individuals to the security apparatus immediately. Mr. Musyoka said all Kenyans should be conscious of their own security and especially during this time that the Kenya Defence Forces are engaged in the operation "Linda Nchi" in Somalia. He called on transporters and bus companies plying the Mwingi-Garissa Highway to be careful not to ferry criminals who might be linked to the Al-Shabaab - a terror group which Kenya is fighting to eliminate.

Twenty five people were injured Saturday evening after a grenade was thrown into a night club in Wajir town. The 8.30 Pm incident occurred at Ngamia Club which is within the Wajir Police quarters. Area District Commissioner Kenneth Nyaiyo says no one has been arrested in connection with the incident but added that investigations have been launched. Speaking to KBC on phone, Nyaiyo expressed confidence that the cuprits will be apprehended soon and called on members of public to volunteer any information that may lead to their arrests. The DC said that security has been beefed up in the area and assured the resident that they have nothing to worry about.

At least 10 people have been killed and many more injured in a bomb blast at a Catholic church near the Nigerian capital Abuja, officials say. The blast tore through St Theresa's Church in Madalla as worshippers gathered for Christmas services. A second explosion is reported to have hit a church in the central city of Jos soon after. An emergency official in Abuja told reporters authorities were struggling to cope with the casualties there. Security has been high after violence between Islamist gunmen and soldiers in northern Nigeria. But the BBC's Fidelis Mbah in Lagos says no trouble had been expected in the capital. National Emergency Management Agency (Nema) spokesman Yushau Shuaibu told the BBC that the Abuja explosion had happened in the street outside the church. But he said the church had been badly affected by the blast, and the number of dead was likely to rise.

Earlier he told Reuters news agency: "We are presently evacuating the dead and the injured, but unfortunately we don't have enough ambulances. "Most of our ambulances have gone to operate on the major highways of the country." Witnesses said windows of nearby houses had been shattered by the explosion. Officials at the local hospital said the condition of many of the injured was serious, and they were seeking help from bigger medical facilities. No group has said it carried out the attack. The security forces this week have been battling militants from the Boko Haram group, an organisation that wants to impose an extreme brand of Islamic law on the whole country. Dozens have been killed in gun battles, but the violence has been in the far north of the country, hundreds of miles from Abuja. Sectarian violence is rare in the capital. A January 2011 bomb blast at a bar near a barracks Abuja was blamed on Islamists. While most of the population across northern Nigeria is Muslim, the south is largely made up of Christians.

‘Lord, protect me from my friends; I can take care of my enemies.’ - F. Voltaire, French Philosopher

The Hampshire district of Hart has been named as the UK's most desirable place to live for quality of life. The annual study by the Halifax bank took into account factors such as jobs, housing, health and crime as well as weather, traffic and broadband access. The survey found that 95% of people in the local authority area of Hart were in good health and they tended to have incomes 40% above the national average. No places in northern England, Scotland or Wales were in the top 50 locations.

Customers flying Emirates A380s can now surf, share email or tweet their way across the airline’s network. The airline has launched Wi-Fi internet connectivity with a leading industry service provider on air. Customers can access the service in the sky onboard their plane using their Wi Fi enabled devices including smartphones, tablets and laptops. All customers have to do is open up their devices’ wireless connections, log on to the OnAir network and follow the simple steps to access the Internet. As part of a proving phase, customers onboard many A380 flights have been using the service for many months now as the system was installed and activated on the first few A380s last year. "Emirates recognises that being connected inflight is important especially on our longer flights. Adding Internet access is going to be a vital and ubiquitous part of any inflight experience, just as it is in everyday life on the ground," said Patrick Brannelly, Vice-President Corporate Communications Product, Publishing, Digital and Events. "As a result of our testing, we were able to learn a lot about what people would like to do with the Internet inflight." "Emirates has led the way in mobile phone use onboard with 91 aircraft currently allowing the service," he added. "We will continue to invest in additional communications products across our entire fleet,"he said. Wi-Fi services will initially launch on 11 of 19 Emirates A380s currently in-service, with the system due to be installed both now and in the future across the entire fleet of 71 Emirates A380s on order. In addition to Wi-Fi, from mid-2012 all new Emirates A380s will be delivered with a full range of Wi-Fi, mobile phone and mobile data services. – The Standard.

The entire team of Misterseed.com would like to take this opportunity to thank all our

Two Kenyans suspected to be coordinating Al-Shabaab activities in the east African nation surrendered to the country's anti terror police on Saturday. The move came hours after Police spokesman Eric Kiraithe released the photographs of Sylvester Owino Opiyo and Hussein Nderitu Abbas and called on the public to volunteer vital information on their whereabouts. "Police have cause to believe they have information which can assist us in unraveling any intended criminal activities by the Al- Shabaab in the country," Kiraithe told journalists in Nairobi earlier on Saturday. Kiraithe requested any person who may have information on their whereabouts to pass the same to the nearest police station or police officer. The two surrendered themselves to the Anti-Terrorism Police Unit (APTU) in Nairobi accompanied by their lawyer Chaacha Mwita. They were later questioned by the police and detained pending further investigations.

Kiraithe later confirmed the suspects were in police custody "The suspects have surrendered themselves and they are now being interrogated," he said. He did not indicate the charges the suspects are likely to face when they are taken to court on Tuesday next week. There has been heightened security around the country with security agencies at an unprecedented state of alert amid the latest reports that Al-Shabaab have planned attacks against Kenya and U.S. interests in the country. Kiraithe called on Kenyans to be on high alert and partner with the security enforcers by reporting any suspicious people to the police. "I know that we have not been to war but we are there now and we must change with the times. The times demand that we change certain behaviors and take interest of our surroundings," he added. The two suspects'lawyer Chacha Mwita said they decided to surrender to avoid any confrontation with law enforcement agents at a time when most Kenyans were enjoying their time during the Christmas season. "My two clients have surrendered to the police and they are now waiting to hear what the police have against them. Remember they already have a case pending in court over terrorism-related matters. So now we do not know whether they are wanted for the same or there are fresh charges," Mwita said. The Kenyan authorities issued a warning advising people to be cautious during the Christmas season in shopping malls, hotels, places of worship and other public venues.

Kenya recently sent troops into Somalia, where they joined the African Union peacekeeping force (AMISOM), to battle Al-Shabaab militants who had launched attacks inside Kenya. This comes as police reported that they were holding six people suspected of trying to unleash attacks on Kenyans during the busy holiday time. Four suspects were arrested in Nairobi while two were nabbed in Mombasa. Police are however, yet to release their names. Both individuals have cases pending in courts having been arrested in March and August. Police are reported to be in a state of alert to stave off any possible attacks during the holiday season as Kenyans congregate in social places to celebrate. Meanwhile, military operations commander, Colonel Cyrus Oguna said troops from the Kenya Defense Forces (KDF) and the Transitional Federal Government (TFG) of Somalia have stepped up operations inside the lawless nation, targeting Al-Shabaab personnel and equipment. "The Kenyan military has divided the operations into three fronts, the Southern, Central and Northern sectors. However the southern sector has been largely peaceful in the past week," Oguna told journalists on Saturday during a weekly briefing in Nairobi. He said the Kenyan naval forces have consolidated their control in the Indian Ocean coastline, noting that sea traffic was now safe with a few cases of piracy being reported.

During the past few weeks, scores of Al-Shabaab fighters have been killed by Kenyan troops in southern Somalia where the dual military operation has been targeting the militants blamed for sporadic abductions on Kenyan soil. Oguna said the KDF troops who were conducting patrols in the central sector launched two airstrikes against an Al-Shabaab training camp which resulted in the death of 17 militants last Tuesday. "However, a Kenyan military vehicle on routine patrol in the same sector drove over an explosive device but no military personnel sustained any injuries," he said. He added that they launched another two airstrikes on Friday in the central region of Somalia in an Al-Shabaab concentration area. He said the number of casualties will be released later. On Wednesday, Kenya's Chief of Defense Forces General Julius Karangi who visited the frontline said the troops battling Al- Shabaab militia had been put on high alert during the Christmas season in expectation of more aggressive attacks. "The soldiers remain on high alert. They will remain on a higher level of alert than before,"Karangi told journalists, when he visited troops at a military camp in Ishakani, about 4 km from the Somali border and a launching point for the Al-Shabaab operation.

Oguna said that the visit by Karangi also boosted the morale of the troops. He said that the KDF will not kill indiscriminately because the troops thoroughly research and validate a target before launching any strike as they as avoiding civilian casualties. He said that once KDF comes under AMISON mandate, the Operation Linda Operation will cease and its mandate within AMISON will involve peace enforcement and not peacekeeping. The Kenyan troops that launched cross border incursion in mid October have deployed on land, sea and air strikes in hot pursuit of the Al-Shabaab, which has promised revenge attacks. Kenyan officials blame the Islamist group or their sympathizers for a series of recent shootings and bombings in Kenya. But Oguna said that the Northern sector has been the deadliest for KDF as one of their soldiers succumbed to injuries on Thursday after taking part in a military operations against the militants on Tuesday. "Last Tuesday during a joint military operation involving the KDF and the TFG troops in the Northern sector of Somalia, several Al-Shabaab were killed but two KDF soldiers were seriously injured, " Oguna said. "One recovered from injuries but the other was airlifted to a hospital in Nairobi but died on Thursday," he said.

So far, Oguna said, a total of 10 KDF soldiers have been confirmed death, 12 have been injured and one is still missing at sea since the dual military operation begun in mid October. "A helicopter crash caused the death of five soldiers while the other five lost their lives in battlefield. There is a price to be paid to secure Kenya's peace and the military's spirits is not dampened by the fallen soldiers who are considered the heroes in this military incursion," he added. Kenyan security personnel patrolling the Somalia border have been hit with a series of explosion attacks since Kenya sent its troops to fight Al-Shabaab inside Somalia, often killing or injuring officers. Security forces at the border points are grappling with threats posed by the insurgents who have been laying landmines mainly targeting police and soldiers patrolling the Somalia border. The East African nation has been beset by a spate of grenade and landmine attacks since it launched cross border incursion into neighboring Somalia last month to pursue the al Qaeda allied Al- Shabaab militant group. Since the Kenya military incursion into Somalia several attacks believed to have been carried out by Al-Shabaab have occurred in Mandera, Wajir, and Garissa and Dadaab districts of northern Kenya even as the military reports gains against the Islamist group by capturing their military bases and killing scores of them.

Co-operative Bank of Kenya Agent is in the Republic of Ireland for a Week. If you would like to open a Co-operative Bank Account in Kenya you can get in touch with Sarah in Dublin on 003538-72679032. She is in Ireland until 28th December, 2011. She says it is very cold down there and she does not want a COLD NEW YEAR.

The construction is at the finishing stage where we are doing the painting and fitting work. The projected date of occupation is 15th Jan 2012. 20% commitment fee is preferred to a serious buyer. The title is free hold with no encumbrances. The home is barely 800 meters from Namanga Road, and 1.2 Km from Kitengela township. Asking price is Kshs 7.5 M.

Detailed description is: A three bed roomed house on a 40x100 feet plot, master ensuite as two other bedrooms share separated WC and shower with a detached unsuited domestic servant quarter.

A 2.7 M high perimeter wall with racer wire on concrete copping and a steel gate. A gravelled packing for at least three, with a landscaped lawn. Walls are finished with wall master externally with mansion hart concrete roof tiles while all the floors are in beautiful ceramic tile finish.

For more information please contact 0722-693437 (Engineer Wambugu), 0723-786359 Mrs Mungai or email wambugugm@gmail.com

Members of Chapel Royal Choir attempt to skate at the Hampton Court Ice Rink, near London. More than 1,000 people gathered at Stonehenge, Wiltshire, to mark the winter solstice. During the winter solstice, the sun is closer to the horizon than at any other time in the year, meaning shorter days and longer nights

Once again the country is on the grip of Finance Bill debate amid high inflation pressure that continues to eat into earnings and savings of nearly every household. With most borrowers from banks severely hit by the harsh economic times and due to high interest rates levied on the loans, there is growing feeling to keep the interest moderate through regulation as advocated by parliamentarians. But the disturbing question is — what is the likely impact of the financial measures on our fledging economy? Lead economists warn that there is no way one can standardise interest rates. President Kibaki and Prime Minister Raila Odinga early this week failed to persuade MPs to drop the proposed amendments to the Finance Bill. The principals could not rally the members behind Uhuru, who wants the proposed changes dropped. Amendments proposed by Gem MP Jakoyo Midiwo wants the law, through the Banking Act, to restrict commercial banks from charging interest of more than four per cent above the rates set by Central Bank. Midiwo further wants the banks be compelled to fix interest rates on customer deposits at not less than 70 per cent of the rate they would charged for borrowing. Uhuru, however, has tried to fight these amendments before the Bill come to the House, thereby delaying the introduction of the Finance Bill since the start of the month. In a confidential report that he tabled before Cabinet on December 6, Uhuru sought interventions arguing that these amendments were "suicidal".

The amendments, he said, would adversely affect other sectors of the economy. Bankers too, argue that the interest rates should be solely determined by market dynamics and not by law. Deloitte and TouchÈ Chief Executive Officer Sammy Onyango insist that the rates cannot be entrenched in the Constitution. "I have always advised against any attempts to fix interest rates in the Constitution. Because when the market fortunes change, then what happens?," said Onyango. Therefore, much as the MPs think that if the issues were articulated in the Constitution and the interest rates fixed, then the Central Bank and all banks will be gagged, scenario experts warn could seriously distort the market. Central Bank plays a key role in regulating interest rates to stimulate the economy, a role it has been able to effectively do within the confines of the law over the years, save for the latest woes. "All over the world central banks regulate the small banks,’’ says Onyango adding that Kenya is not unique to the idea. These are some of the fundamental questions that economists and political analysts tried to put across, as Parliament stood ground that it must effect the amendments at whatever costs. The MPs claimed that the executive wanted to gag them to protect the interest of the banks. However, economist sees the move by the legislator as wrong and a populist stand meant to woo voters ahead of the general elections.

Nairobi University political science don, Adams Oloo claimed that the MPs were just out to hoodwink Kenyans that they were advancing their interest. "But in reality, they were trying to endear themselves closer to the people because they know that they are about to return to the people to account for their performance." The political scholar claimed that as much as what the MPs were vouching for was good, they should not boast of political supremacy, because control in interest rates may not necessarily reduce inflation rates. Oloo said if the Bill is passed with the proposed amendments by Midiwo, then definitely it will leave banks without some control and probably not address the issue of high interest rates. "If banks are left unregulated... then they will fleece citizens... so it is vital to peg a certain caveat that will not allow them fix interest rates at will simply because our economy is liberalised," Midiwo had argued when tabling the amendments. Maurice Rapado, a banker says the move would scare away investors and subsequently lead to mass unemployment. "Restrictions would have an effect on our free market economy and only tend to hurt any meaningful growth," he explained. – The Standard.

Isaiah 65:16 “Whoever invokes a blessing in the land will do so by the God of truth; he who takes an oath in the land will swear by the God of truth. For the past troubles will be forgotten and hidden from my eyes.” Do you know you can bless yourself by what you say? The Bible says: '"He who invokes a blessing on himself...shall do so by saying, 'May the God of truth...bless me...because the former troubles are forgotten'."' Two important truths are taught in this Scripture: 1) Your own words have more power to affect you than anybody else's. Ultimately it's not what others say that counts; it's what you say to yourself after they get through talking! You always have the last word 2) You'll never enjoy what God has for you in the future while you're still living in the past. To enter the Promised Land, you must first leave the wilderness. So, come into agreement with God; begin to say what He says about you. This is no small matter. What you say from the time you get up in the morning until you go to bed at night not only influences your day, it influences the entire outlook and direction of your life. If you've been praying and asking God for specific answers, you can affect the outcome by making sure what you say lines up with what He says. In other words; get in harmony with God. Your body is God's temple, so be careful what you allow to come out of your mouth (1 Corinthians 3:16). Faultfinding and negativity destroy and tear down, but scripturally-based, faith-filled words open the door to God's blessings. That's why Paul writes: 'Let no...worthless talk [ever] come out of your mouth, but only such...as is...beneficial...' (Ephesians 4:29 AMP). So before you sound off, ask yourself; is this beneficial?

Our Guest Singer today is the late Evangelist Anastasia Karanja from Kenya – CLICK HERE

Kenya Gospel Singer Rachel Njeri from Nottingham UK was a guest at Kameme FM Radio on Friday 23rd December, 2011 where she was wishing listeners A Merry Christmas and Happy New Year on behalf of diaspora funs.

The entire Kenyan Community in Bedford wishes our friends, partners and Kenyans in UK a Merry Christmas and a Peaceful, Prosperous 2012.

We also take this opportunity to sincerely thank the Kenyan Community in UK for your support in what has been a very difficult year for our community, having lost two of our members, Peris Wahiga and Mr George Kibe .

Jack Waiyaki
Chairman
Kenyan Community Bedford
Tel/01234841824/07852552775
http://www.kenyancommunitybedford.org.uk

Dubai authorities have foiled an attempt to smuggle nearly two million fake dollar notes which were stuffed inside a large tea bag consignment that was sent by air from Kenya, newspapers reported on Thursday. The shipment was seized last month after customs authorities phoned the police and told them they had uncovered dollar notes inside tea bag boxes sent from the African country though a Kenyan shipping firm. “The shipment was addressed to an Asian man residing in Dubai…we checked the notes and found that they are fake,” aid Brigadier Khalil Al Mansouri, head of the Dubai detectives and criminal investment department. Emirat Alyoum daily also quoted Rashid Saleh, deputy director of the anti-economic crime division, as saying police seized the Asian man but he denied knowledge of the fake dollar notes.

He said the Asian man acknowledged he had met the sender in Dubai before and that he later asked him to receive the shipment and hand it to his sister in Dubai. “With the help of this Asian man, we managed to get the woman, who also said she did not know anything about the dollar notes,” he said. “She said she had been told by her brother that he was sending a tea bag consignment to a friend in Dubai and she was to deliver it to a third person called Hassan….after we seized Hassan, he first denied involvement but later confessed to investigators that he was expecting a small amount of fake dollar notes and that he was surprised to know about that big amount.” Saleh said Hassan had remained in touch with the sender in Kenya and that he and the sender’s sister had been referred to the prosecution.

The Duke of Edinburgh has been taken to hospital in Cambridgeshire after suffering chest pains, a Buckingham Palace spokesman has said. Prince Philip, who turned 90 in June, was taken from Sandringham to the cardiothoracic unit at Papworth Hospital for "precautionary tests". The Royal Family had been gathering at Sandringham, a traditional royal retreat in Norfolk, for Christmas. The BBC's Peter Hunt said it was not clear if he will stay in overnight. Our correspondent said the Greek-born prince was in strikingly good health and there had been no suggestion of ill health.

Police have banned all fireworks at Christmas and New Year Parties. The move is part of a raft of measures taken by the police service to forestall possible Al-Shabaab attacks. Open-air night parties have already been proscribed until further notice. NTV's Ben Kitili reports on the Christmas with a difference. - VIDEO

The French authorities have recommended that 30,000 women have faulty breast implants removed as a precaution. The government, which says there is no evidence of a cancer link, will cover the cost. The implants by French firm Poly Implant Prothese (PIP) were banned last year after they were found to contain a non-medical grade silicone filler. But the UK government ruled out routine removal, saying there was "no evidence" of a safety concern. It is thought some 40,000 British women have the implants. Health Secretary Andrew Lansley said: "At the moment we are are in a position where we have no evidence of a link to cancer. "We have no evidence of toxicity, we have no evidence of substantial difference in terms of ruptures of these implants compared to others. "So we don't have a safety concern that would be the basis for the routine removal of these implants." The UK medicines watchdog, the Medicines and Healthcare products Regulatory Authority (MHRA), has said there is no need for women with PIP implants to have them removed. However, anyone with concerns should contact their surgeon or clinic.

The Kenya Bureau of Statistics has endorsed a plan to introduce an additional device to help check speeding in public transport vehicles. The new gadgets have been approved by the Transport Ministry and the Transport Licensing Board. Endorsement by Kebs gives it a wider acceptance since the standards are normally developed on consensus among users and regulators. They will compliment speed governors which were introduced in 2004 under the ‘Michuki rules’, but have largely failed to regulate speed as they are easily disabled. The gadgets are estimated to cost between Sh40,000 and Sh100,000. The device will record a vehicle’s speed and store the information for later retrieval, in the same manner as airplane blackboxes. According to Kebs, the device could be made an integral part of speed limiters already in vehicles or independently to monitor the engine and the governor.

In a press release on Thursday, the agency said that the adoption of the devices was the only way speed limits could be enforced on Public Service Vehicles. Kebs noted that the introduction of speed governors on public service vehicles was a good idea poorly implemented. However, the new technology will be harder to tamper with since the vehicle’s speed can relay data remotely via GPS. The agency has recommended a failsafe measure that would lock a vehicle’s maximum speed limit at 20kph should it be tampered with. The gadgets could be used to provide evidence in court cases. However, critics say the trackometer is impractical and expensive. “The gadget gives you information after the fact. It’s useless because it can’t do anything to prevent an accident,” said Matatu Welfare Association chairman Samson Winaina. He suggested vigilance on speed governors and installation of more speed cameras on the roads Kenya has some of the highest road accident deaths in the world with more than 3,000 people dying annually. The holiday season in December is particularly brutal as matatus and buses rush recklessly. The device is a new front to control road carnage. Daily Nation.

Kenya Progressive Agenda, G47 Question, and Talk with the Mashinani/Grassroots in Kenyans

A Nkulumane 5 man,Titus Ncube got the shock of his life after a commercial sex worker he allegedly called to his hotel room turned out to be his daughter. Ncube is said to have collapsed while the 20-year-old daughter bolted after seeing her father. According to Sunday Mail, Ncube pleaded with the newspaper not to publish the story. "I am sorry for what I did. I spoke to my wife and my daughter. I apologised for my actions because I just wanted my family back," he said. The father of three revealed he forgave his daughter for being a commercial sex worker and hired a therapist to counsel her. "I don't blame my daughter for what happened and what she was doing. I feel it was her way of expressing her feelings about the problems in my family," he said. "She has stopped that and is going back to school next year. My marital problems are not over, but we have a marriage counsellor who is helping us to get over this most difficult period in our marriage." His wife, Rosemary, said: "If it were not for my children, I could have divorced him a long time ago. "But because I know the trauma that divorce has on children, I made a decision to stay."

Uncertainty has gripped medical circles following the death of a woman at the country's referral hospital from a disease with symptoms akin to Ebola. The young woman was brought to the Kenyatta National Hospital bleeding from all orifices. As Brenda Wanga reports, it will be another twenty four hours before test results reveal what the woman was suffering from. CLICK HERE FOR VIDEO

WASHINGTON - A two-decade ban on people with HIV visiting or immigrating to the United States may end soon through a Senate bill aimed at fighting AIDS and other diseases in Africa and other poor areas of the world. The U.S. is one of a dozen countries including Sudan, Saudi Arabia, Libya and Russia that ban travel and immigration for HIV-positive people. Even China, said Sen. John Kerry, D-Mass., recently changed that policy, deciding it was "time to move beyond an antiquated, knee-jerk reaction" to people with HIV. "There's no excuse for a law that stigmatizes a particular disease," Kerry said Tuesday at a speech to the Center for Strategic & International Studies HIV/AIDS Task Force. Even people with avian flu or the Ebola virus have an easier time than those with HIV when it come to applying for visas, he said. Kerry and Sen. Gordon Smith, R-Ore., are trying to repeal the ban, first implemented in 1987 and confirmed by Congress in 1993. The two have attached their measure to legislation which the Senate may pass this week that would provide $50 billion over the next five years to fight AIDS and other diseases in Africa and other poor areas. Foreign citizens, students and tourists can apply for a difficult-to-obtain special waiver for short-term visits, but an HIV-positive person has little chance of obtaining permanent residency.

DO YOU KNOW?: That before making Marriage or Spouse application, English test is now mandatory for majority applications to UK

The cost for applying for Settlement Visas for Spouses, partners, Child dependants, parents and grandparents have increased together with other mandatory requirements, maintenance and accommodation requirements. The changes have affected families of applicants who travelled to Kenya to submit applications for Settlement before seeking legal advice and have unfortunately lost the application fees.

It is important to note before making the application that the English test is now mandatory for majority applications to UK. If you submit your application before you have passed the English test, your application will be refused and you will not get a refund. [Children under 18 years and elderly relatives over 65 years are exempt].

It is also important to note that there is a huge backlog for applicants waiting to do the test in Nairobi; currently the available slot is end February/March. If you want to submit an application for settlement, do the exam in UK prior to travelling to Kenya, alternatively book the exam early.

Above all seek legal advice before leaving the UK otherwise you will be stranded in Nairobi for longer than you expected. There are also appeal fees to be paid.

Also check the maintenance and accommodation requirements changes before making an application as these are now mandatory too.

Airlines, travel companies and retailers are to be banned from charging fees when people pay by credit or debit cards, ministers will announce today. Customers are being charged as much as £12 to use their cards when they pay, though the transactions cost as little as 20p to process. In some cases, the surcharges are higher than the value of the item being purchased. Last night a Treasury minister said people were “sick” of being “ripped off” by the hidden charges. Legislation would be introduced by the end of next year. Mark Hoban, the financial secretary to the Treasury, said consumers should be able to shop around. “They have a right to understand the charges they may incur up front and not be hit through a hidden, last-minute payment surcharge,” he said. “We’re leading the way in Europe by stopping this practice. The Government remains committed to helping consumers get a good deal in these difficult times. Consumers are sick of the rip-off culture and we are determined to do what we can to end it.”

Over the past few years, card surcharges have risen sharply particularly among low-cost airlines, who were among the first to bring in the levies. The cost of booking a Ryanair return flight with a debit card has risen 15-fold to £12 since 2004. The charges have now spread to many other areas including cinema tickets, utility bills, holidays and even some government departments. The DVLA and HM Revenue and Customs charge extra for credit card payments. Consumer experts say Toyota levied a £75 fee to buy a car with a credit card. The fees are believed to cost consumers hundreds of millions of pounds a year. In many cases, the charge is only disclosed during the closing stages of the booking process, making it difficult for consumers to compare prices. Ministers intervened after Which?, the consumer watchdog, complained about the fees to the Office of Fair Trading (OFT), the regulator. In June, the OFT found that the fees were detrimental to consumers and proposed that firms should be more open about the levies.

Richard Lloyd, the executive director of Which?, said last night: “The Government’s decision to ban rip-off debit and credit card surcharges is a huge victory for consumers. “This announcement goes further than the Office of Fair Trading’s proposals, finally putting an end to these unfair charges. More than 50,000 people supported our campaign to see these fees stamped out. “Given that airline passengers alone pay more than £265,000 a day in card surcharges, businesses shouldn’t drag their feet over this. While the law will come into force at the end of 2012, we want companies to be upfront and fair over card charges today.” The European Union is to ban excessive card fees levied by airlines from 2014. However, the British ban will be enforced sooner and go significantly further. Earlier this year, Cavendish Elithorn, the senior director of the OFT’s Goods and Consumer Group, said: “The growth of internet retailing has brought massive benefits, but the increasing use of card surcharges is not one of them. “You can’t buy online with cash and people are frustrated about being asked to pay for paying. “Consumers find it harder to shop around and find the best deal if they have to invest time and effort in discovering surcharges. This also weakens competition between retailers which is bad news for the economy.”

Companies levying the fees have insisted that they are necessary to cover costs. All banks charge retailers a “merchant fee” for processing payments by debit and credit cards. Most banks refuse to disclose the amount charged because it often depends on the size of the retailers and their volume of transactions. For example, large supermarkets will be able to negotiate smaller merchant fees. In addition, credit card payments cost more to process than debit card paymentsdue to the charges associated with borrowing. There may also be extra security costs borne by the retailer in processing online card transactions. According to regulators, the cost of processing a debit card is about 20p. However, it can be one or two per cent for credit cards. A spokesman for the UK Payments Association said: “The credit card costs are per transaction. “If you are booking six tickets at once, or one ticket in one credit card booking, the processing costs would be the same. “It’s hard to see how companies can charge per item.” The move to ban credit card fees is the latest action by government to crack down on unacceptable bank charges.

Earlier this week, the Office of Fair Trading ordered banks to stop charging consumers so-called foreign exchange fees when they use their bank cards abroad. Banks had been accused of “charging customers for the privilege of taking money out of their own account”. The move could save consumers millions of pounds a year. The OFT has also waged a long-running battle against low-cost airlines to force them to disclose in advertisements and price comparison websites the actual cost of their tickets. The low advertised prices have traditionally excluded a wide array of “hidden” fees and taxes which can significantly increase the cost of tickets. Many low-cost airlines are thought to make the majority of their profits from the extra fees, including charges for luggage,checking in and other services which used to be free. However, the ban on credit card fees is expected to be vigorously opposed. Government officials are prepared to fight any attempts by airlines to avoid the bar.

Our fellow Kenyans, we are pleased to announce that the Friends of Raila - UK (FORA-UK) Chapter is officially up and running. In collaboration with other FORA Chapters in Africa, North America, Europe, Asia, Middle East and Australia, FORA-UK will in preparation for the 2012 elections organize, coordinate and spearhead the Presidential campaign strategy in the United Kingdom and other parts of Europe for our Presidential candidate, H.E. Raila Amolo Odinga, the current Prime Minister of the Republic of Kenya.

FORA-UK Executive Committee is currently chaired by Mr. John Baraza, with Pastor Joseph Odima as his deputy. The Secretary General is Mr. Macharia Gakuru who is assisted by Mr. Kizito Makokha. Mr. Frank Nzioka is the Treasurer, while Mr. Anthony Thuo is the Organizing Secretary. The Youth Leader is Mr. Eric Ogello. Ms. Esther Wairumbi and Ms. Gillian Raini are facilitating and coordinating FORA-UK women activities and develop of our Public Relations strategy.

We are asking all Kenyans of good will, friends of Kenya and all stakeholders in the development of democratic processes in Kenya, as well as stakeholders in the prosperity of our beloved nation, to join us in bringing to fruition the promises of the nascent change that has dawned on our nation. We remember with profound appreciation, the selfless and great political contributions that H.E Raila Amolo Odinga has made to our nation, some of which he has made through painful personal sacrifices for the love of the people of Kenya, all of whom he holds close to his heart. Of all the Presidential candidates that have so far announced their intention to contest the Presidency of our nation come 2012, none other than H.E Raila Amolo Odinga has demonstrated the visionary capabilities and wisdom that will be needed to guide our nation to the great heights that the new constitutional dispensation promises to take our nation to. This is the reason that we, the FORA-UK with our diverse ethnic diversity but united in the common love for our country, have chosen to be part of the international fraternity of "Friends of Raila" in the forthcoming campaign, and soldier with him all the way to State House. We are constantly reminded of the unity with which our Presidential candidate and H.E Mwai Kibaki, the outgoing President have demonstrated in planting the seeds of prosperity that are sprouting everywhere in our country, and in unity we cherish the value and joy of joining hands as Kenyans in his support.

We call upon all Kenyans in the Diaspora and in Kenya to join our grand objective, the realization of which will positively and irreversibly change the political, social and economic landscape of our great nation.

In the next few weeks, we shall be spreading out Raila's friendship from London to other parts of the UK and Europe. Our presidential candidate Hon Raila Amolo Odinga wants to listen to you, work with you, address your concerns and together make Kenyans proud of themselves and therefore a better Kenya for us all.

Are you interested in joining, contributing ideas, starting FORA in your county or supporting our course? Please email forauk@gmail.com,

The UK economy grew by 0.6% between July and September, official figures have shown, faster than previous estimates of 0.5%. Growth was driven by strong performance in the service sector and construction. However, the growth estimate for the second quarter of the year was revised down from 0.1% to zero by the Office for National Statistics (ONS). The ONS said the UK's economic growth in recent quarters continued to indicate a "fragile economic picture". Since the economy started growing again in mid-2009 it has regained just over half of the output lost during the five quarters of contraction. Despite the improved growth figure for the third quarter, analysts also warned that the UK economy was still heading for tough times. James Knightley from ING told the BBC: "The sovereign debt crisis is really hurting [UK] businesses. We could turn back into recession in the next couple of quarters." "We are are looking at flat growth in the current quarter, maybe a slight contraction of 0.1%. Early next year is key, when the debt crisis could come to a head - any [potential] credit crunch would be a massive constriction on the economy." Howard Archer, chief economist at IHS Global Insight, said he felt that more action from the Bank of England was likely in the new year. "It remains odds-on that the Bank of England will undertake further quantitative easing (QE) early in 2012 to try and boost the struggling economy," he said. "We strongly expect the Bank of England to announce a further £50bn of QE in February, and believe that a further £50bn portion is highly likely to follow in the second quarter (most probably May). Meanwhile, interest rates seem set to stay down at 0.50% through to the second half of 2013 at least."

For more information, Kindly contact Pastor Pauline 07743851895/ Margaret 07896000686.

OVERHEARD BY MR. SEED: "I have been married for 32 years now. I have been working in our community homes as a domestic worker. I have worked for more than 10 families since I came to UK. What I have experienced is that there is no marriage in our community abroad. Most of them are pretenders." A 62-year-old Kenyan lady in London

The rooms are in a house in South B where the owner want to sub-let for those on holiday. This include

bed and breakfast and the charges goes for KShs. 2,500 and also agree depending on how long to stay.

For more information please contact 0722600670 or 0736682428. Email: mwihakiew@yahoo.co.uk

A church being built of snow in Mitterfirmiansreut, Bavaria, Germany. Around 1,100 tons of snow will be used to complete the church by the end of December. The church will measure 26 metres in length and 11 metres in width and will seat 190 people.

The three people nominated to lead the fight against corruption will be vetted afresh by Parliament, House Speaker Kenneth Marende ruled on Wednesday. The Speaker said MPs only rejected a report of the Justice and Legal Affairs Committee that had found Mr Mumo Matemu, Prof Jane Onsongo, and Ms Irene Keino unfit to lead the Ethics and Anti-Corruption Commission (EACC) on Tuesday. He asked the Leader of Government Business, Vice President Kalonzo, to move a fresh motion seeking approval of the nominees. “It is my considered opinion that if the Constitution is to be interpreted, it must be absolutely certain that the National Assembly has unequivocally approved or rejected the nomination of this person… the Speaker should not be put in a position what the implication of any decision of the House is,” said Mr Marende before MPs broke for Christmas. The House resumes on any day before February 27, next year. Earlier, assistant minister Ndiritu Muriithi, Dr Boni Khalwale (Ikolomani) and Mr Olago Aluoch (Kisumu Town West) asked the Speaker not to submit the names to President Kibaki and Prime Minister Raila Odinga until he rules on the legitimacy of Tuesday’s vote.

“Nowhere in the Standing Orders does it say that if a negative motion is negatived in the House it will become positive,” Mr Muriithi said. Meanwhile, three Cabinet ministers and 10 assistant ministers defied President Kibaki and Mr Odinga by voting against the nominees. Ministers Dalmas Otieno (Public Service), James Orengo (Lands), and Chris Obure (Public Works) were among the 49 MPs who supported the report by the Justice committee. Immigration Minister Otieno Kajwang’, who had supported the nomination, was not in the House during the vote. Mr Danson Mungatana (Garsen) and Mr Harun Mwau (Kilome), who supported the nominees, also did not vote. Defence assistant minister Joseph Nkaissery did not vote. The 10 assistant ministers who rebelled against the Executive are Mr Bifwoli Wakoli, Mr Asman Kamama, Mr Manyala Keya, Dr Kilemi Mwiria, Mr Katoo ole Metito, Mr Peter Munya, Mr Julius Murgor, Mr Muriithi Ndiritu, Prof Ayiecho Olweny and Mr Wilfred Ombui. Sports assistant minister Kabando wa Kabando had opposed the names, but he was kicked out of the House before the vote was taken for questioning the impartiality of Deputy Speaker Farah Maalim who was presiding over the debate. “On issues before the House, we will not take orders (from the principals). The message that must come out is that there are issues that must rise above parliamentary groups and ethnic caucuses,” Mr Kabando said. - CLICK HERE FOR VIDEO

Councillor Daniel Munyambu and the family, Would like to invite you for their late's father's Mr Benson Kamau Munyambu, memorial service to be held on 24/12/2011 from 5pm at Councillor Munyambu's residence, address ; 12 CLICKETT END, SS14 1NG,BASILDON,Essex .

You can contact Pastor Chris, 07877165753 or Mary 07897472277 if you require further details.
Email:daniel.munyambu@yahoo.com
Your presence,prayers and support will be highly appreciated. To support this family, use the account details below;

Account Name: Daniel Kamau
Acc Number: 17992568
Sort Code. : 77-13-11
Bank. : Lloyds Tsb
Branch. : Basildon Town Square

Be blessed as you plan to come.

2 Kings 2:12 says: "Elisha saw this and cried out, "My father! My father! The chariots and horsemen of Israel!" And Elisha saw him no more. Then he took hold of his own clothes and tore them apart." Elijah and Elisha were out walking together when '...a chariot of fire...separated the two...Elijah went...into heaven. And Elisha...saw him no more...' (2 Kings 2:11-12 NKJV). One writer wrote: 'It's not wrong to depend on your 'Elijah' as long as God gives him to you. But God doesn't intend him to stay, and although the thought causes you to say, 'I can't continue,' you must.' There are times in life when we must go on alone, and draw from God the strength to do it. Here are three Bible examples: 1) Alone at the Jordan. Here Elisha '...took up the mantle of Elijah...struck the water...the water...divided...and Elisha crossed over' (2 Kings 2:13-14 NKJV). The river Jordan represents death. When you lose someone you loved and depended on, you ask, 'How can I go on alone?' You're not alone, God is with you! 2) Alone at Jericho. Here God used Elisha to purify the town's poisoned water system (2 Kings 2:19-22). Big shoes! You're not sure you can fill them. This is when God says to you what He said to Joshua, Israel's new leader: '...as I was with Moses, so I will be with you...' (Joshua 1:5 NKJV). 3) Alone at Bethel. Here Elisha was publicly humiliated, yet God vindicated him (2 Kings 2:23). Bethel, which means 'The House of God,' is where we go for strength, yet often get disappointed in people. Nevertheless, we must go on with God, knowing He will never fail us. One write explained, 'If we've come often to God in the sunshine, our anxious feet will find the familiar pathway in the darkest night, because going to Him has become second nature to us.'

Our Guest Singer today is Mrs. Ruth Wamuyu from the Republic of Kenya - CLICK HERE

North Korean leader Kim Jong-il's body is expected to be embalmed and put on permanent display. How do you preserve a body indefinitely? At the moment, the "Dear Leader's" body is on temporary display as it lies in state in the Kumsusan Mausoleum in Pyongyang. But there is already speculation that Kim Jong-il's body could undergo a long-term embalming process so that it can join his father's on permanent display in the mausoleum. This has not been confirmed by North Korean officials, and some reports suggest he may simply be buried to save the cost of the long-term maintenance.

WE REMAIN THE MOST RELIABLE IN THE MARKET. WE NOW TRANSFER TO YOUR EQUITY ACCOUNT INSTANTLY AS YOU WAIT. WE DON'T PLAY AROUND WITH YOUR MONEY: WE SEND IT!

Kenya Parliament forced to adjourn

Parliament was Wednesday forced to adjourn for two and a half hours amidst queries from the backbench on the whereabouts of the finance bill. MPs rejected attempts by the government to conclude business and proceed for the Christmas break questioning why crucial business like the finance bill, an audit report of public funds and the status of internally displaced persons have not been introduced yet the government is pushing for an adjournment. The motion seeking to have parliament shelve private members business and dispense with the report of the justice and legal affairs committee on the two foreign nominees to the judges and magistrates vetting board before proceeding for the long Christmas break hit a snag after MPs rejected it. Deputy leader of government business Amos Kimunya moved the motion to enable MPs use Wednesday morning, a day dedicated for the backbench, to transact government business. But several backbenchers opposed the move accusing the government of attempts to muzzle the backbench by failing to place private members bills on the order paper.

MPs Olago Aluoch, Dr Bonny Khalwale, Martin Ogindo, John Mbadi and Isaac Ruto claimed the government was trying to bull doze its way by failing to accommodate private members bills on the order paper before seeking the exemption. They described it a display of arrogance by the government. The defeat of the motion saw parliament forced to adjourn as there was no other business on the order paper to transact Wednesday morning. The adjournment would have seen MPs adjourn indefinitely raising questions over the fate of the finance bill which is required to be passed by 31st December 2011. Failure to have it passed would cause a financial crisis that would force the government refund any monies levied in taxation from the beginning of the financial year. The bill has twice been withdrawn from the order paper by the finance minister who has raised issues over the numerous proposed amendments. Among the amendments that has seen the executive panic are attempts to amend the banking act to regulate interest rates. Efforts by the government to build consensus to have the amendments dropped have not been successful with the latest attempt through a parliamentary group meeting held at the KICC on Tuesday failing to persuade MPs. Parliament resumes sittings Wednesday afternoon.

The Kenya Medical Research Institute (KEMRI) has put the country on high alert over the possibility of a bio-terrorism attack. With the ongoing fight against Al Shabaab, the research institute admitted that bio-terrorism posed the biggest threat to the country. According to KEMRI director Dr Solomon Mpoke, if not well handled the attack could be used as a weapon of mass destruction. To this effect, Mpoke said that they had heightened security to make sure that the deadly pathogens in their facility did not land in the wrong hands. "We have secured our fence and heightened security and in conjunction with our collaborators designed alert systems incase of a mysterious disease outbreak," The director at the same time said that they were working on the reduction of TB treatment period from the current six to four months. Despite facing various challenges the institute according to the director had managed to protect 55 percent of the minors from contracting Malaria. On his part, KEMRI chairman Dr Edwin Muingia expressed his concern that the body was losing its best scientists to other countries due to low wages. This he attributed to the funding as out of the Sh9B annual budget, the government contributed a partial 1B with donors chipping in. "The government is supposed to allocated two percent of its budget to research but that is not the case and this is costing the country dearly," And with the coming in of the devolved government, Muingia said that plans were underway to make sure the institute was represented in every County. Dr Elizabeth Bukusi the deputy director in charge of research and training said that they had made significant strides in the fight against HIV Aids. Bukusi said that a study conducted on discordant couples indicated that early treatment for HIV Aids reduced chances of spreading the disease to partners by 96 percent. "We are currently working on the male to male transmission of HIV Aids mainly in the Coast and it's a serious problem due to phobia and stigma attached to the issue,".

DO YOU KNOW?: Interdenominational World Revival Ministries in Manor Park, East London of Pastor Boniface Mbugua has changed their name to Revival House.

Kenyan gospel Singer in UK Rachel Njeri of Nottingham shaking hands with president Kibaki at State House, Nairobi on Monday 12th December, 2011. Rachel accompanied by another Kenyan gospel singer Loise Kim (2nd right) and Peninah Wanjiku (third) were among the guests invited to perform at State House Jamhuri Day celebrations. You can get Rachel Njeri in Kenya through 0720051255.

Former US ambassador to Kenya Michael Ranneberger is reported to have married his long time Kenyan girlfriend in a low key civil ceremony at the Attorney General's office in Nairobi on Friday. Sources said Ranneberger visited Sheria House in the company of his companion Ruth Konchellah on Friday mid morning and went through the procedure in the presence of witnesses before signing their marriage certificate. "They visited Sheria House on Friday morning and held a civil marriage ceremony before leaving for an undisclosed destination," said a source who watched the event. The former US diplomat has publicly admitted being in love with Konchellah, a charity worker he met while an official duty in Trans Mara in the early days of his tenure. "While attending a womens rights event in a small village of Enoosen in Trans Mara, I was impressed by the way she talked on behalf of women. I took notice. On a personal level, I have been fortunate to become a king to a certain lady, and she became a queen to me. That, to me, is a very fulfilling experience. I will keep everybody posted on that. I don’t want to say much about it at this point. It has been interesting. These things happen. Opportunities come by and one can only be grateful when these things happen that way,” Ranneberger is quoted in the media as saying in reference to his association with Konchellah. Konchellah addressed guests who attended Ranneberger's farewell party at his Muthaiga home on April 28. The two have been spotted in public together including having lunch at an Italian restaurant in the city centre and driving off in a sliver SubaruImprezza. Konchellah confirmed to the Star in an interview earlier this year that she and Ranneberger were partners. - The Star, Nairobi, Kenya.

Pastor Pete Kamau of Slough, Nicholas Njogu and Charles Ng'ang'a all of UK have lost their mother in Kenya today Wednesday 21st December, 2011. More later. Meanwhile you can contact Pastor on 07540787281, Njogu on 07584242382 or Charles on 07940077455.

Japanese bathroom products maker Toto unveils the eco-friendly motorcycle "Toilet Bike Neo", which uses bio-fuel from the discharges of livestocks or waste water, at the Eco Products exhibition in Tokyo. In Rwanda jails, they are using human waste for their cooking gas.

Kenyan Gospel Singer in UK Miss Beatrice Muniu performing during Christmas Dinner which was held at Revival House Church in East London on Sunday evening 18th December, 2011. Young and old joined in to mark the beginning of the season. Food, music and fun was in plenty. All the catering was done by Joe Catering 07508018091.

The Kenya Diaspora now says foreign Kenyans have technically been knocked out of vying for key seats in Kenya by "prohibitive and discriminatory clauses" in electoral laws. They say although the new Constitution allows Kenyans with foreign citizenship to vote in Kenya’s elections, clauses in the new Constitution practically knock them from contesting the presidency, parliament and the county assembly seats. Diaspora for Change, a pressure group of Kenyans living in the USA, Europe and Central and Southern Africa told pressmen in Nairobi Sunday that the Constitution should be amended to cure it of alleged discrimination and a census done to determine the actual number of Kenyans living abroad. A statement by the group said it will be "logistically impossible" for Kenyans to vote if polling stations will be Kenya’s foreign missions abroad, as indicated by the Independent Electoral and Boundaries Commission (IEBC). The statement also denounces suggestions to use embassy staff and high commissioners as returning officers, adding they are biased political appointees. Group chairman, Dr Joe Mwangi Symmon said his ability to go for Nairobi Governor in 2012 is threatened by residence laws in articles 99(2)(c), 137(2)(a) and 193(2) of the new charter, which says a person is disqualified from being elected to parliament, county assembly and as president if they have not been citizens of Kenya for ten years preceding the date of election. "It means that you have to renounce the citizenship of your naturalised country," Mwangi said, and accused the Kenyan electoral laws of treating foreign Kenyans as "second class citizens". Spokesman George Nyakundi said Kenyans abroad have a right to vie because "we have a lot of interests here." - The Standard

JKIA-city centre railway line to begin operations June next year

The railway line linking Nairobi city centre to the Jomo Kenyatta International Airport and its subsidiary stations will begin operations in June next year. Kenya Railways Corporation (KRC) Managing Director Nduva Muli has said construction work on the line was over 70 per cent complete. "We expect to put the facilities into use by February and June next year as we finalise patches of little remaining works while the projects are running,’’ Mr Nduva said. The Syokimau Service Station, which is under construction and is expected to link to JKIA, will begin operations in February. The line linking the city centre to JKIA is expected to start operations in June, as KRC moves to improve the railway network. Nduva disclosed that KRC planned to put to use most idle land belonging to the corporation. Recently, a decision by the State to relocate residents of Syokimau likely to be affected by the current project was widely criticised by the public.

Massive movement
The MD acknowledged the transport system had lagged behind urbanisation and was to blame for traffic congestion in Nairobi, Mombasa, Kisumu, and Nakuru. He said the Government was committed to exploring alternative means of transport to cope with the exponential growth of urban areas. Over the years, the urban centres have witnessed rising populations due to massive movement of people from rural areas in search of jobs, businesses opportunities. Consequently, there has been an increase in the demand for housing and transport facilities. "Infrastructure issues requires long gestation period and its my humble appeal to all Kenyans to support us implement the viable goals to bolster the transport system," Nduva said. He said KRC would manage concessions based on mutual agreement with stakeholders to fast track growth in the railway sector.

Ultra-modern
Already a master plan for a high-speed railway network that will service all parts of the country to accelerate faster movement of people and goods has been developed. The proposed rails include Lamu to Juba, Rongai to Kisumu, Nairobi to Addis Ababa, Mombasa to Malaba, and Kisumu to Kigali lines. KRC said they expect to construct a completely new line, which will link Nairobi city centre to Embakasi and then JKIA. Nduva was speaking in Kisumu at a consultative forum on the feasibility studies for the lakeside rail project. Meanwhile, the KRC boss revealed that a Sh40 billion ultra-modern railway line linking Kisumu to the hinterland and East African countries is to be rolled out next year. Nduva said KRC will roll out the project once it was through with thorough feasibility studies, which will factor socio-economic and political interests. "We have already advertised for feasibility studies and expect to start work by late next year and we are seriously committed to improving the rail transport," he said. On Thursday, they are to hold a consultative meeting with Mombasa stakeholders to come up with viable suggestions to effect the development plans. Kisumu Mayor Sam Okello disclosed that the town was working on a master plan to tap its under utilised resources. Okello disclosed that Kisumu had received Sh4 billion from the French Development Agency, which will be spent in redesigning the town to match the current developments. – The Standard.

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Members of Parliament Tuesday tore at the executive for the second time in less than a week accusing it of attempts to undermine parliament's independence. Ikolomani MP Dr Bonny Khalwale raised the issue Tuesday afternoon seeking the speaker's direction following an informal meeting Tuesday morning convened by the executive for MPs. Khalwale referred to contents of a letter allegedly authored by the executive inviting MPs to the meeting whose agenda was to have MPs build consensus on finance bill and on the nominees to the ethics and anti graft commission. Khalwale described the move unconstitutional and in breach of separation of powers. He asked the Prime Minister who was in the chamber then why he chose to address MPs on legislative issues at KICC as opposed to the floor of the house. But the PM defended the executives' strategy insisting it was a normal parliamentary practice world over for executive to lobby on legislation through caucusing. He said the executive decision was within the provision of the constitution. However speaker Marende undertook to deliver a ruling on the issue on Wednesday even as he advised MPs to resist any attempts to be unduly influenced. Marende admonished MPs not to be swept away by persuasion that has no soundness in law but pass legislation that are sound in law in consideration of the national interest. The issue comes days after Gwassi MP John Mbadi tabled a letter authored by head of public service ambassador Francis Muthaura urging a section of the executive to ensure MPs do not interfere with the finance bill.

The letter cited attempts by MPs to introduce unnecessary amendments which include inclusion of gratuity for MPs as winding up allowance, inclusions of a clause putting a ceiling on central bank of kenya's interest rates, and introduction of fresh clauses in the Finance Bill 2011/2012 which affects laws governing other sectors without involvement of these sectors. The letter claimed that the amendments are suicidal and may jeopardize negotiations with the International Monetary Fund. Mbadi described the letter an upfront to parliament's independence. The Gwassi MP revisited the letter urging the speaker to include it in Wednesday's ruling. Meanwhile, East Africa Portland Cement Company is now in private hands according to an MP. While seeking a ministerial statement this afternoon, Yatta MP Charles Kilonzo demanded to know the legal status of the company following a move by the government to dilute its shares. Kilonzo claimed that a recent annual general meeting held on the 15th Dec declared that NSSF which had 4 per cent shareholding offloaded its shares thus making the government a minority shareholder. He wants the minister for industrialization to inform parliament whether the government gave approval to the dilution of its shares. The Yatta MP also wants the minister to indicate the balance of the Japanes loan guaranteed by the government of Kenya.

TO A CHRISTMAS EVE'S (24TH DEC. 2011) AND NEW YEAR'S EVE (31ST DEC. 2011) PARTIES.

DJ SAM FROM LUTON AND OTHERS WILL BE ENTERTAINING ON THE NIGHT WITH BEATS FROM AFRO JAMZ, R&B, SOUL, REGGAE, OLD SCHOOL PLUS OFCOURSE ZILIZOPENDWA , ETC

A CHOICE OF EITHER FREE GLASS OF WINE OR SAMOSAS WILL BE GIVEN ON THE NIGHT TO THE LADIES IN A GROUP OF SIX OR MORE.

As the quest for working abroad heightens for many skilled and semi-skilled Kenyans, only a handful understand the implications of working in countries where labor laws are ignored. Media reports of brutality toward foreign laborers in Saudi Arabia have done little to deter determined Kenyans from seeking greener pastures. But has the search for a better life become modern-day slavery? The 2010 International Organization for Migration report Harnessing the Development Potential of Kenyans living in the United Kingdom cites the lack of employment opportunities and unattractive wage levels in Kenya as among the factors that have led to high levels of migration abroad. Approximately 3000 female Kenyan domestic workers are currently working in Saudi Arabia (although the number could be higher since some do not register with the Kenyan Embassy in Riyadh). Of these, 90 percent are from Mombasa, where a majority of residents share the same Islamic beliefs as Saudis, a factor that woos many into immigrating there. - FULL STORY

The Court of Appeal in Kenya has dismissed an application by the AttorneyGeneral Githu Muigai seeking temporal orders barring the arrest of Sudan President Omar Al-Bashir once he sets foot in the Kenya. The AG wanted the orders to be granted pending the determination of an appeal lodged at the court of appeal. The latest development means that the orders issued by the high court are still in force and should Al-Bashir steps in the country, he risks being arrested. The Court ruled that Attorney General Githu Muigai's application through deputy solicitor general Muthoni Kimani was insufficient and unconvincing. The three court of appeal judges stated that it could not reverse the ruling made by High Court judge Nicholas Ombija directing Prof Muigai and the Internal Security minister to arrest President Bashir if he sets foot in Kenya. Justice Ombija issued the warrant of arrest against the Sudanese leader following an application by the International Commission of Jurists (ICJ) last month. President Bashir responded by giving Kenya two weeks to have the ruling overturned or he would impose sanctions on Nairobi, which included expelling the country's envoy to Khartoum. The Sudan President is wanted by the International Criminal Court for war crimes, genocide and crimes against humanity committed in Darfur. A ruling on preliminary objection that was raised by ICJ is expected to be delivered on the 26th of January next year. ICJ argues that the AG has no capacity to represent the government in the proceedings on grounds that the case is criminal in nature.

Photo/FILE The Prevention of Cruelty to Animals Act, Chapter 360 of the Laws of Kenya prescribes the

manner in which animals should be transported, slaughtered, fed, and even accommodated.

Somewhere in Kenya today, a he-goat, sheep or well-fed bull is counting its final hours as it sullenly chews cud. By midday on Sunday, a zealous young man will be applying a knife to its throat as it lies helpless, legs held tight by ropes. Its leg will be roasting, another cut to pieces for stew, while its head will be boiling for soup. This is usually the highlight of the Christmas festivities or the start of the New Year.

But Josphat Ngonyo, executive director of Africa Network for Animal Welfare (Anaw) says the festive season marks a surge in offences related to the cruelty of animals. What many do not know is that there are laws that govern the way animals should be treated, transported and even slaughtered, and a breach should naturally have you in court. The Prevention of Cruelty to Animals Act, Chapter 360 of the Laws of Kenya, seeks to control experiments on animals. -But it also prescribes the manner in which animals should be transported, slaughtered, fed, and even accommodated. Remember, ignorance of the law is no defence, and by law, slaughter of an animal should be so quick as to pre-empt needless pain.

For those slitting the neck of the animal, this would mean having the knife at its sharpest for the butcher to make a quick, clean cut.

It would also mean that the knife should not be placed in the hands of one who has not had experience at the job, or would flinch at the sight of the first drops of blood. Mr Ngonyo says the way the animals are normally transported causes them unnecessary suffering.

Think of the chickens strung together by the feet and suspended on the side of a motorcycle or taking in the beating by the wind on the carrier of a bus. Think too, of the habit of putting a goat in the boot of a saloon vehicle simply because goats are cheaper in Ngong than they are in Buru Buru. It may not be clear how the animals actually experience pain, says Mr Ngonyo, but the fact is that they have the ability to recognise and feel pain or suffocate. Since animals are capable of being infuriated or terrified, it is criminally wrong to terrify or infuriate them. Equally, it is wrong to abandon them in circumstances likely to cause them unnecessary suffering, be underfed and denied water. Animals being transported should be provided with adequate food, water and shelter. If an animal is so seriously injured or diseased that to prolong its life would cause it unnecessary suffering, it should be destroyed in a manner that does not cause it unnecessary suffering.

Not many Kenyans care how they keep their animals, even when they are milk-producers bringing in good cash. Yet the law forbids keeping animals in grossly dirty or verminous conditions, hence the need to clean out the kennel, pen or cowshed at least weekly. In case of illness, injury or birthing, the keeper should seek veterinary help. Some residents of Ikolomani and parts of Western Kenya may wish to enjoy the festive season watching their favourite sport, bullfighting. The organisers may be eager to charge those visitors from town a fee to view live the events they only see on TV. Yet bull- and cockfighting are considered forms of cruelty to animals. Anaw communication officer John Mbaria insists bullfighting is illegal. In December 2008, Anaw alongside other animal welfare groups, successfully lobbied to have a bullfighting event in Nairobi cancelled. The law forbids organising for the fighting or baiting of animals. Dog baiting is setting dogs against a confined animal for sport. The confined animal is subdued by being incapacitated or killed, an act that is illegal in most countries. The law also prohibits anyone from wrestling, fighting or struggling with an untrained animal. Because the police might be dealing with bigger things, the law allows for civilian arrest or for one to “take reasonable steps to prevent the commission of the offence”, but a friendly word with a neighbour likely to be cruel to an animal should help. Read more.

Nairobi, Tuesday 20th December, 2011. President Mwai Kibaki Tuesday attended a Grand Coalition Parliamentary Group meeting at the Kenyatta International Conference Centre (KICC). The meeting was attended by the Vice-President Hon Kalonzo Musyoka and the Rt. Hon. Prime Minister Raila Odinga and Members of Parliament drawn from various parties that make up the Grand Coalition Government. During the meeting MP's candidly discussed the current economic situation in the country and steps that need to be taken to stabilize the exchange and interest rates. The PG also discussed the various steps to be taken to control inflation by lowering food and fuel costs. The meeting also discussed pending parliamentary business ahead of the recess.

Christmas comes up early at Kagwe, a drunk by the roadside while a pickup full of sheep heads to Kagwe a few metres from this picture!

Immigration and Appeals Tribunal fees

From today, Monday 19 December 2011 the fees required to be paid for some appeal cases before the tribunal

For more details contact MartynsRose Solicitors on 0208 538 1397, 07931 116 124

A man who buried his fiancee alive in a woodland grave and then claimed he only wanted to frighten her has been found guilty of attempted murder at Leeds Crown Court. Marcin Kasprzak, 26, shot Michelina Lewandowska with a stun gun, tied her up with packing tape and buried her in a cardboard box in woods near Huddersfield in May. Miss Lewandowska, 27, eventually escaped by using her diamond engagement ring to cut through the tape before kicking her way out of the shallow grave and flagging down a passing motorist. In a statement read outside court, Miss Lewandowska said she thought she was going to die. - VIDEO

Watch Dr. Sammy Gitonga from South Africa on BEN TV (Channel 184) LIVE on Tuesday 20th Dec. at 11.30 p.m. And for an exclusive millionaires dinner on Friday the 23rd Dec. at the Warldof Hilton Hotel at 7.00 p.m. Call 07789958600 or visit www.themillionaireclub.biz

UK Kenyan Pub readies for first Christmas

A UK run Kenyan pub in the midlands is readying for the festive period. The owner Mrs Milka Hust a Kenyan born, said ‘am now relieved that refurbishing and decoration work are now over and I am looking forward to serving a thousand customers’. Milka an experienced bar attendant also runs two other pubs in Nottingham and Lincolshire. The Rocket pub one of the inner city Coventry city pubs was previously a football boozer dominated by white customers is now more of a general pub appeal to all races and now serves African cuisine. Chapati, Mukimo, Irio , choma and Giheri are served all day in a separate section of the pub. ‘We now have buffet service on Sundays for families and it is encouraging to see how the numbers are going up, Milka said. - CLICK HERE FOR MORE

MPs said they believed that there is a mega-scandal in the works; that banks, with the blessing of the Central Bank, deliberately manipulated foreign exchange trading and that there are cartels tinkering around every industry of the economy to make a kill.
A congruence of an incompetent Central Bank of Kenya and greedy commercial banks out to make a quick buck are to blame for the woes that befell the Kenyan shilling, making it the worst performing currency in world, MPs have said. The legislators are sitting in an ad hoc Parliamentary select committee investigating the rapid decline in the value of the shilling. “We know that there’s a big scandal and we’ll expose it,” the chairman of the committee, Mr Adan Keynan (Wajir West, MP) told Smart Company, noting that the slide of the currency was deliberate. He vowed that his team would unearth all that went awry. The MPs said they believed that there is a mega-scandal in the works; that banks, with the blessing of the Central Bank, deliberately manipulated foreign exchange trading and that there are cartels tinkering around every industry of the economy to make a kill. The shilling started to cede ground to the dollar in early May when it traded at Sh84 against the greenback. The slide was gradual, but in July the trend gained pace, with the shilling hitting the Sh90 mark to the dollar by the middle of that month. By September, the local currency was in a free fall and by mid-October, it took a swan dive, hitting Sh107. This prompted President Kibaki to plead with the International Monetary Fund to fast-track loan approval.

The committee has met stakeholders in the monetary and fiscal policies sectors. They include bankers, the Exports Promotion Council, the Central Bank’s Monetary Policy Committee, economists, consumers, a former governor, scholars, and other government officials. The last of these meetings is slated to be with the country’s intelligence chief, Mr Michael Gichangi. The National Security Intelligence Service, which has the mandate to identify threats against the security of Kenya, has as one of its key departments gathering intelligence on political, social, economic, and security issues. It is this intelligence that the Keynan-led committee wants to access to tie the loose ends of its investigation. But bankers and economists believe that the ingredients were present in the market for the shilling to collapse. When they appeared before Mr Keynan’s team last week, they said the situation in Kenya was ripe for a rush on the currency. First, Kenya’s import bill is double the income from exports. With such a scenario, Mr Paul Tikani, the chief operating officer at the KCB Bank Group, told MPs that it was only “natural” that Kenyans will need more dollars to foot the bill. That meant increased demand for the dollar, and thus, according to the economics of supply and demand, the country has to pay more shillings to get the dollars. – Daily Nation.

Kenyans abroad sent home 81.3 million us dollars or just about 6.75 billion Kenya shilling in the month of October alone, a 39 percent climb from a year. For the first 10 months of the year, cash transferred home hit a record 725.1 million us dollars equivalent to 60 billion Kenyan shillings surpassing 2010's full-year total remittance. - VIDEO

Are you a man or woman of prayer - in UK or USA? Join us for 1 hour Prayer Conference

I take this opportunity to invite you in our Prayer Conference every Morning (Monday to Friday) from 6.00-7.00 a.m. (UK), Kenya (9.00 a.m.), Dallas, USA (12.00 midnight), Seattle, USA (10.00 p.m) and Boston, USA 1.00 p.m. Call this local number in UK Tel 02030042084 which is a landline and free in most of UK and USA landlines and then the Pin No.67299# and you will be able to join us for prayers. It is a free number with landline in UK.

James 4:7 reads: "Submit yourselves, then, to God. Resist the devil, and he will flee from you." When it comes to temptation, remember these seven things: 1) Never say 'never.' You never become so spiritual that you're immune. 'No temptation has overtaken you except such as is common to man; but God is faithful, who will not allow you to be tempted beyond what you are able, but with the temptation will also make the way of escape, that you may be able to bear it' (1 Corinthians 10:13 NKJV). 2) Realise you can stumble on the last lap. Because you haven't blown it yet, doesn't mean you can't. Satan is a master of timing, and he's in no particular hurry. 3) Acknowledge your basic drives. One writer said, 'There is nothing more powerful in bringing down the spirit of a man than the caresses of a woman.' Your flesh is powerful; once indulged it will always want more. 4) Understand that you are responsible. Sin is a choice. When you choose to abuse God's grace you pay the price, either now or later. 'Do not be deceived...whatever a man sows, that he will also reap' (Galatians 6:7 NKJV). 5) You're not a helpless pawn. You may not be able to change what happened yesterday, but your choice, empowered by God's grace, will determine what happens today and tomorrow. 6) If you've sinned, there's hope. God will forgive you and use you again. Jesus told Peter, '...I have prayed for you, that your faith should not fail; and when you have returned to Me, strengthen your brethren' (Luke 22:32 NKJV). 7) Stay safe by staying close to God. '...submit to God. Resist the devil and he will flee from you.' (James 4:7 NKJV).

DO YOU KNOW?: It is illegal to watch foreign TV in North Korea and the public have very little information outside their country

Members and friends of Revival House Church, London held their Christmas Dinner on Sunday 18th December, 2011 in their church. The colourful and well organised dinner was crowned by several activities and music was provided professional Nigerian Band. Food, fun and music was in plenty where everyone enjoyed with the popular Kenyan Mugiithi was on stage. The dinner was hosted by the church senior pastor Rev. Boniface Mbugua and his wife Geraldine. Seen above at the dinner from far right is Rev. Boniface Mbugua the hosts and his wife, Pastor Jane Njiiri, Margaret Njiiri and Mr. Seed. The photos below shows guests enjoying themselves as they caught up with Mugiithi with the Nigerian band leader joining in with an excellent mugiithi beat. Many guests were wondering how come the Nigerian team was playing the mugiithi beat better than we do.

Man Guilty Of Burying Lover Alive In Box

Join us for an exclusive Millionaires Christmas dinner with our guest speaker Dr. Sammy Gitonga who is the founder of Remnant Ministries International and the CEO of The Millionaires Club on the 23rd of December 2011 @ the Waldorf Hilton, Aldwych, London, @ 7pm, admission will be 75Pounds. This is an exciting time for the millionaires anointing to come to the city of London, for more information please contact 07789958600 or 07949758803, SEE YOU THERE!!!!!

A man has been charged with murder and arson after a woman was burned to death in a lift in her New York apartment building. Jerome Isaac, 47, allegedly sprayed Deloris Gillespie, 73, with a flammable liquid and then set her alight when her lift stopped on the fifth floor, police said. The attack is believed to have stemmed from a dispute over \$2,000, police added. Earlier, police released CCTV images of the incident as they searched for Ms Gillespie's attacker seen entering the lift in Brooklyn, New York. He was dressed as a pest controller, with gloves, a protective mask on his head and a container on his back. He then went to the fifth floor and lay in wait for his victim, who was returning home from shopping. The attacker was reported to have first glued shut the locks on the woman's apartment and then doused the lift door with accelerant. As she opened it, the man sprayed her in the face, then covered her from head to toe in flammable liquid. Ms Gillespie crouched down and threw her hands up to her face, as shopping bags dangled from her arms. Having cornered the woman in the lift, he then ignited a Molotov cocktail - a wine bottle filled with accelerant with a rag stuffed in its neck. The video went white as the woman was set on fire using the bottle's wick. The man then threw the bottle inside the lift, after crouching behind the door "as if he was anticipating an explosion", according to one policeman. Neighbours described Ms Gillespie as a "wonderful" person who always looked out for others. "Everybody in the neighbourhood would tell you, anything she had in her house she'd give you," Dorinda Thomas, 56, told the New York Post. "She was a wonderful lady, you understand."

Etibar Elchiyev poses with 50 metal spoons magnetized to his body during an attempt to break the

A stylist makes an adjustment as lingerie model Sheridyn Fisher wears a bikini made from lettuce leaves in Sydney, Australia, in a a new ad for People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals as part of a campaign to encourage people to take up a vegan lifestyle

Police today Monday 19th December, 2011 declared war on metal thieves as figures revealed the scale of the multi-million-pound crime racket sweeping Britain. Metal theft is now costing £1 billion a year and causing 16,000 hours of train delays. It is also leading to the deaths of two thieves a month as they attempt to strip cabling from electricity sub-stations or railways. In London alone cases of cable theft on the railways increased by nearly 70 per cent last year. Thefts at London Bridge station caused a total of 1,654 trains to be delayed in one month. Chief Superintendent David Chinchen said: "Metal theft is not a victimless crime but is causing increasing misery to commuters and householders, and costing millions to the rail industry and local authorities. We will use all the tactics we can to target what is a large scale theft of metal." Acting Inspector James Coomber, who is leading a new squad to target the crime wave, compared the metal theft racket to the drugs trade. He said: "Every time we lock someone up someone else fills their shoes because it is so lucrative. Everyone wants to have a go." Scotland Yard today announced a specialist squad, the Waste and Metal Theft Taskforce, which will target gangs who are taking metal from hospitals, graves, churches and railways. Based in Bexley, one of London's worst hit boroughs, it will target rogue scrap yards and lorry drivers. The unit is expected to be deployed in other boroughs including Newham, Tower Hamlets and Croydon. Thieves steal the metal to sell on to dealers who usually smelt it down before exporting it to developing countries such as China to fuel the demand for copper in industry and housing. The price of copper has doubled to more than £5,000 a ton since 2009. In the first two weeks of this month Met officers searched 275 scrap metal dealer yards and arrested 15 people for offences ranging from burglary to carrying waste metal illegally.

Around 2,000 Samburu families have stayed squatting on edge of disputed territory, says NGO Survival International

The pastoralist Samburu have reported constant harassment from police with women allegedly raped and animals seized. Members of the Samburu people in Kenya have been abused, beaten and raped by police after the land they lived on for two decades was sold to two US-based wildlife charities, a rights group and community leader have alleged. The dispute centres on Eland Downs in Laikipia, a lush area near Mount Kenya. At least three people are said to have died during the row, including a child who was eaten by a lion after the Samburu were violently evicted in November last year. The London-based NGO Survival International said the Samburu were evicted following the purchase of the land by two American-based charities, the Nature Conservancy and the African Wildlife Foundation. The groups subsequently gifted the land to Kenya for a national park, to be called Laikipia National Park. Survival International said the land was officially owned by former president Daniel arap Moi, although AWF simply said it bought it from a private landowner. With nowhere to go, around 2,000 Samburu families stayed on the edge of the disputed territory, living in makeshift squats, while 1,000 others were forced to relocate, Survival said. Jo Woodman, a campaigner for Survival, said the pastoralist Samburu had reported constant harassment from police with women allegedly raped, animals seized and an elder shot as recently as last month.

"There has been an ongoing, constant level of fear, intimidation and violence towards the community, which has been devastating," Woodman said. A community leader, who did not wish to be named, described police harassment as enormous. He said police beat people, burned manyattas or traditional homesteads and carried out arbitrary arrests during the period leading up to and including the eviction last year. He said they also confiscated many animals and the intimidation has continued. "The situation has been really bad for a long time," he said. "[The Samburu] have nothing. Things like bedding and utensils were burned." Kenyan police were not available on Wednesday to comment on the allegations. Survival has written to the UN appealing for urgent action to put an end to the violence and provide assistance to the Samburu, who have gone to court to establish their right to the land. "In one incident, a Samburu elder was shot dead by paramilitaries," the group said in its letter to the UN committee on the elimination of racial discrimination, dated 7 December.

"The displaced community has nothing but their livestock, thousands of which were impounded – with no reason given – on 25 November 2011. This is an urgent and serious violation of the rights of this community, which has been left squatting beside its land with no amenities," Survival's letter said. The two conservation groups gifted the 17,100 acres to Kenya's government in November to create a national park to be run by theKenya Wildlife Service. However, since then a court has banned the KWS from proceeding with the conservation project until a ruling on the Samburus' legal case. Both US-based charities indicated they were watching the situation with concern but were unable to comment for legal reasons. John Butler, director of marketing for the AWF, said: "The African Wildlife Foundation does not condone violence. AWF has a longstanding history of working closely with local communities to ensure that conservation solutions benefit both people and wildlife. Unfortunately, we cannot comment at length on this issue due to a pending court case in Kenya."

Blythe Thomas, a spokeswoman for the Nature Conservancy, said: "The conflict over natural resources across Africa is a serious issue. Everywhere we work in Africa, we're working with local communities to address natural resource issues. We're closely monitoring this situation; unfortunately we can't comment at length due to a pending court case in Kenya."

Kenya has a history of land-grabbing by senior government officials, particularly during Daniel arap Moi's time in power. Land disputes are common as legal documents of ownership are often missing or have been forged. A request for comment from Kenya's Ministry of Forestry and Wildlife went unanswered. However the minister, Dr Noah Wekesa, was quoted as telling parliament last month that KWS had ceased all activity on the land, which would not be gazetted as a national park until the other legal case was resolved. The Samburu's legal case was heard in the town of Nyeri on Wednesday and lawyer Korir Sing'Oei said the court confirmed that the KWS had secured registration of the land. "The court has turned a blind eye to the pleas of the Samburu community and allowed these illegalities to subsist," he said. "The transfer [of the land to the KWS] is totally unlawful and it's in flagrant violation of the interests of the Samburu community."

The court had agreed to give further direction on the matter in January. Korir Sing'Oei said he intended to address the violations of rights in a separate case. "Last year, when the community was forcefully evicted from the land ... their homes were burnt down and livestock confiscated in their hundreds and lots of their women were violated," he said. "Given the powerful actors who have vested interests in the land, this issue has been really hushed up in the local media," he added. The lawyer said the evicted Samburu had no intention of leaving Laikipia, a popular destination for wildlife-loving tourists and the area where Prince William proposed to Kate Middleton in a rustic lodge. "Where would they go to? They have absolutely nowhere else to go," he said. The community elder said running away was not an option. "That's the place you call your home ... it's where you were brought up and where your children call home. It's an ancestral land." – The Guardian, London

Children react as they look at Polipaka Gattaiah, who stands at seven-and-a-half feet tall and claims to be the tallest man in India, in the southern Indian city of Hyderabad.

KENYANS KEEP REAL ESTATE AS PREFERRED INVESTMENT VEHICLE

Real estate has emerged as the most preferred investment vehicle among Kenyans despite the recent excitement generated by shares at the Nairobi Stock Exchange. A market survey by a group of leading land and property experts has shown that shares at the Nairobi Stock Exchange and Government securities were the closest competing alternatives with bank deposits at the base of the ladder. The exploratory survey had 41 per cent of investors saying they preferred land to all other investment choices as opposed to 25 per cent who preferred trading in the stock market. Only 22 per cent opted for government securities as an investment choice. According to Nelly Mbugua of Kenya Valuers, investors who initially buy land for speculative purposes end up entering the lucrative business of real estate development. “Kenyans now buy land for development purposes as land with property is much more profitable in the long run than an undeveloped plot, especially for areas close to the urban centers,” said Ms Mbugua. A resurging economy that grew by 5.8 per cent last year has seen an increase in land values due to a housing boom in the upper middle and upper class zones. Ms Mbugua said this had pulled investors to real estate although trading in shares was also picking up due to high liquidity in the market.

The high liquidity has attracted competitive mortgage products as well as unsecured loan packages giving investors capital venture into the real estate business. The shift in investment outlook towards property development is being felt in major urban centres, particularly Nairobi, Kisumu and Mombasa as people start accepting living in towns beyond the working age. This has spawned demand for residential and commercial properties adjacent to urban centres. Mr Moses Nyakiogora, the chairman of Institute of Quantity Surveyors of Kenya, said that long term financial security was the main factor behind preference for real estate by investors. “If you invest in real estate then you have some security in the form of property that you have put up,” said Mr Nyakiogora. Mr Nyakiogora, however, insisted that due to the huge amount of money involved, the interest in real estate may soon be overtaken by shares, which accommodate people from across all income categories. The research was carried out by a group of property experts as part of their preparation towards setting up a Kenya Property Index (KREX) that will be used to gauge the level of land and housing transactions in the market. The report was based on responses from financial institutions, insurance companies, fund managers, property owners and high net worth individual investors among others. - http://african-report-journal.blogspot.com - East Africa Report - Boom in Property Sector - VIDEO

• Isaac William involved his wife and three children in the scam
• Two daughters worked in a bank where they laundered money to Dubai and Pakistan
• He covered the fraud as 'charitable work' but HMRC couldn't find evidence that it actually happened

To his congregation, he was an inspirational Christian pastor who had dedicated his life to raising money for the poor, homeless and sick. Isaac William, 61, his wife Venus, 54, and their three daughters appeared to be the very model of Christian charity, funding housing, hospitals and education in Pakistan. But in reality, the preacher at St Nicholas Church in Tooting, South London was swindling taxpayers out of £2.6million in a tax fraud to pay for a million-pound property empire in Britain and abroad. The 'crooked' businessman who ran a security guard company, made profits of over £6million exploiting illegal immigrants who were forced to work around the clock on a pittance and live in cramped caravans and huts sleeping on the floor. To avoid paying VAT, income tax and national insurance, William hid the profits into a number of bank accounts including his charity account named 'The Great Commission Evangelical Fellowship'.

Venus William, Isaac's wife, (left) helped launder the cash to build a property portfolio including eight homes - two in Pakistan. Their youngest daughter, Sophie (right) was a law graduate

But the money was then withdrawn in cash and laundered by his wife and daughters, Sylvia, 34, who worked for Lloyds Bank, Maria Gunasekara, 33, a business manager for Barclays and their younger sister Sophie, 26, a law graduate. The family used the cash to build an impressive property portfolio which included eight homes in London, Surrey, Hounslow and Walsall and two holiday homes in Pakistan. The father of six also splashed out on luxury sports cars and frequent trips to Dubai and Pakistan. But the authorities became suspicious when a van belonging to William was stopped by police who found a gang of illegal foreign workers. An investigation by Her Majesty's Revenue and Customs revealed he had failed to declare £5million in profits and owed £1.1million in VAT, national insurance and tax between 1998 and 2008, which added up to £2.6million in lost interest to the taxpayer. His wife and daughters - two of whom had been trained in money laundering as part of their work - laundered £1.3million of the profits, wiring the cash to accounts in Dubai and Pakistan. Now William has been jailed for four years after admitting ten counts of cheating the public revenue at Kingston Crown Court.

Maria Gunasekara (left) and Sylvia William (right) both worked for banks where they picked up the skills to launder money by wiring £1.3million to bank accounts in Dubai and Pakistan

Judge Susan Tapping said the 'crooked' businessman ran a 'dishonest and exploitative business.' She told him: 'Your working practices were dubious and exploitative and you used people who had no right to be here.' She added: 'The worst part was to use his wife and daughters to launder money. They wouldn't be here if it wasn't for him. It helped his family to begin to own their own homes. 'He may well have used this money for charity but most of this was sent abroad.' The court heard that the pastor born in Karachi, Pakistan came to Britain in 1989 on a six month visa to do a Christian studies course at Spurgeon's College, London, but he overstayed his visa and was not given leave to remain here until 2000. Paul Brogan QC, defending, said William had set up a scout movement in Karachi, but 'it was charitable work at the expense of the British taxpayer.' He said: 'The business was ran with virtually no records being kept and he ignored his responsibilities, not only to keep records but to account for his profits and he accepts that over the years he declared little and failed to pay the taxes on his profits. - Daily Mail, London

New rules in UK to stop a resurgence in risky mortgage lending are likely to be imposed in 2013 by the Financial Services Authority (FSA). The regulator's revised proposals still intend to bring in "common sense" standards that will stop home buyers borrowing more than they can afford. Lenders are being told they must assess the affordability of loans better. But some flexibility is being allowed for existing customers who might have been prevented from remortgaging. Lord Turner, chairman of the FSA, said: "While the excesses of the pre-crisis period have largely disappeared from the current market, it is important to ensure that better practice endures in future when memories of the crisis recede and the dangers of poor practice return." The regulator wants to stop any possibility of a return to the early years of the past decade, in which some lenders handed out mortgages with only cursory checks on borrowers' real ability to repay. The most notorious examples were the "Together" mortgages offered by the Northern Rock bank, which granted loans worth 125% of the value of homes. In some other extreme cases, lenders offered mortgages worth seven times a borrower's income, or allowed them to exaggerate their real income, especially in the case of "self-certified" mortgages.

It's with deep regret to announce the passing to glory of Mr Benson Kamau Munyambu who died on Friday 16th December 2011 at the age of 89 years. He is from Kairi Village, Gatundu North. He was the loving husband of Mrs Veronica Kamau, father to Councillor Daniel Munyambu (UK), Simon, Wandui, Kung'u, Nyathira, Nge'ndo, Joseph, Gathoni & Njeri. He also left many grandchildren. Meeting are been held at Councillor Munyambu's residence, address ; 12 CLICKETT END, SS14 1NG,BASILDON,Essex. The meetings takes place as from 6.0 p.m. to 9.00 p.m. upto Saturday 24th December, 2011. You can contact Pastor Chris, 07877165753 or Mary, 07897472277 Email:daniel.munyambu@yahoo.com. To support this family, use the account details is Account Name: Daniel Kamau Acc Number: 17992568, Sort Code. : 77-13-11, Bank. : Lloyds Tsb and Branch. : Basildon Town Square.

N Korean leader Kim Jong-il dies

North Korean leader Kim Jong-il has died of a heart attack at the age of 69, state media has announced. Millions of North Koreans had been "engulfed in indescribable sadness", the KCNA news agency said. People were seen weeping in the capital Pyongyang. His son Kim Jong-un was described by KCNA as the "great successor" who North Koreans should unite behind. Pyongyang's neighbours are on alert amid fears of instability in the isolated and poor nuclear-armed nation. South Korea said its armed forces were on alert and the country was on a crisis footing. Japan's government has convened a special security meeting. China - North Korea's closest ally and biggest trading partner - expressed shock at the news and pledged to continue making "active contributions to peace and stability on the Korean peninsula and in this region". Asian stock markets fell after the news was announced.

· * North Korean state television has announced that leader Kim Jong-il has died at the age of 69.

· * He suffered a heart attack on board a train outside the capital, Pyongyang, on Saturday.

· * He had led the communist nation since the death of father Kim Il-sung in 1994, and is expected to be succeeded by his third son, Kim Jong-un.

Left, an overview of Kitengela town and right, Maasai women sell ornaments at Ole Polos in Ngong; Photo/JENNIFER MUIRURI

Kajiado is the richest county, according to new government statistics that have exposed the massive disparities in wealth among the country’s regions. Only 12 in every 100 people in Kajiado are classified as poor in a country where the average number of people considered not to be rich is 46 per cent of the total population. Kajiado’s wealth status is radically different from the poorest county, Turkana, where 94 people in every 100 residents are considered poor. (IN PICTURES: Kajiado County). The findings are contained in the first ever audit of wealth and poverty since the new Constitution was passed, with a key accent being the devolution of resources to the counties. According to a new report released this week, more than half of the people in 23 counties are living below the poverty line underlining the serious differentials in livelihoods. Only half of the country’s 47 counties have their residents listed as living above the national poverty averages. Countrywide, 46 per cent of the country’s population of 40 million live in poverty.

So uneven is the distribution of wealth that the document notes that many Kenyans will look to devolution to help even out the country’s richness. “The data on education and health, water and sanitation, access to electricity and the road network tell the story of historical inequities and to some extent the failure of the State to equalise opportunities for Kenyans,” the report, dated December 2011, states. “Kenyans have embraced devolution with such passion because they expect that it will help fill these service delivery gaps.” The document suggests that positive developments in counties rated as rich should be borrowed to benefit those that fair poorly.

The commission challenges counties to focus on wealth creation so their achievements could spread out to other parts of the country to improve overall development. According to the report, the distribution of poverty will have significant implications in the distribution of money to the counties. This is because there is always a link between poverty and other social aspects such as access to health services and development. Also to determine the distribution of cash to the counties will be the population of the regions. It is the first time that counties, created by the Constitution that came in force last year, have been listed based on their wealth status. Read more......

The declaration by parliament's Justice and Legal Affairs Committee that the three nominees to Kenya's new anti corruption body are not passionate enough about the fight against corruption, elicited a heated debate in parliament on Thursday with a majority of legislators disagreeing with the committee's decision.Women MPs were particularly irked by the report, since two of the nominees are women.After conducting interviews with the three; Mr Mumo Matemu, Prof Jane Kerubo Onsongo and Ms Irene Cheptoo Keino, the parliamentary team concluded that that they were not the right people to steer the country's fight against corruption. The team also concluded that all the nominees had excellent careers with excellent academic qualifications but would be misplaced if appointed to lead the anti-corruption commission. - VIDEO

“If the trend continues, estates along Thika Road in future may become the next Karen." - A Nairobi Developer

Councillor Daniel Munyambu of Basingdon, Essex, UK has lost his father back in Kenya on Friday 16th December, 2011. For more information please contact 07551526956 or 07897472277.

Superhighway dream haunts city residents as rents set to shoot up

The Thika Superhighway, arguably the best road in East Africa, is expected to ease traffic congestion and connect the capital to central, eastern and northern Kenya. However, the road is doing more. Thika Road, as it was originally known, is becoming a superhighway to some of the finest estates in the country. Property developers eager to cash in on opportunities from construction of the highway have rushed to build multi-million-dollar modern estates, complete with shopping malls and schools, along the key route. The scramble by real estate investors has seen the replacement of traditional economic activities, mainly coffee and sisal farming and ranches. As the road whose construction started in January 2009 nears completion, areas along its length that initially housed middle- and low-income houses are being transformed into high-end estates, akin to those in Westlands, Kileleshwa and Karen — exclusive suburbs in the capital.

The projects include Sahara Ridge, Tatu City, Flame Tree, Migaa, Jacaranda, Maki, Oakfield Valley, Fourways Junction, and Thika Greens Golf Estate. Jacaranda Gardens estate, stands on 20-acres of land comprising 840 two, three, and four-bedroom apartments whose prices range from Sh5.8 million to Sh8.8 million. At Maki estate, a spacious five-bedroom maisonette standing on a half-an-acre plot sells for Sh18 million. The houses, according to the developer, Ideal Property Agents, have jacuzzis (large bathtub with a pump that moves the water around), among other facilities. And as they build the residential areas, developers are optimistic that the completion of the superhighway will lead to an increase in high-end houses. However, the rapid development of modern residential areas has not impressed “original” residents of existing estates along the route, such as Kahawa Sukari, Zimmerman and Githurai. Residents fear that low-end residential apartments in the area may be demolished and replaced by newer, high-end estates. “We were happy when the road was being constructed, since we knew that it would ease traffic congestion. But it has led to an upsurge of modern estates that make our smaller houses appear like slums,” said Fred Bwire, a resident of Githurai estate. Bwire worries the new estates will drive up rents, which currently run between Sh5,000 and Sh12,000. He said even the highest rent in the old estates is affordable.

“The modern houses are costing twice the amount. We cannot afford the rent,” he said. “Construction of Jacaranda Gardens began as soon as work on Thika Road started. The estate is now complete. Most people in these areas cannot afford the rent in the estate,” he told Xinhua. With the new homes commanding much higher rental yields, Bwire fears the existing low-income houses will be bulldozed to make way for more high-end estates. “If the trend continues, estates along Thika Road in future may become the next Karen. Investors are seeking high returns from their properties. If demolishing the current houses and putting up new structures will bring high returns, they will do it,” he said. Besides real estate developers, supermarkets are also scrambling for fortunes the highway has brought. These include Uchumi and Nakumatt supermarkets with the latter now completing a shopping mall four kilometres from Muthaiga round-about. “The shopping mall indicates the need to serve a growing population with higher purchasing power,” Architectural Association of Kenya chairman Steven Oundo said. - Sunday Nation.

Daredevil tourists dangle their legs over the edge of a dizzying 1,982ft tall cliff face. Brit Greg MacDonald took this picture at Pulpit Rock in Norway. The enormous cliff face attracts hundreds of thousands of thrill seekers each year. Many simply enjoy the stunning view from the plateau but the very brave stand and sit on the edge of the gigantic rock face.

Eight people, died on Sunday morning after the bus they were travelling in collided with a tanker ferrying paraffin near Makindu. The Akamba bus was heading for Mombasa while the truck was heading towards Nairobi when they collided between Masimba and Kiboko, about 30 kilometers from Makindu Town. Speaking to journalists, Makindu Divisional Police boss Sarah Duncan said the Akamba bus driver survived the accident and told police that the truck had veered onto the Mombasa bound lane.

The police boss said five people who included two men a child were injured and rushed to the Makindu District Hospital. The dead included six women, a man and a child. Meanwhile, the truck driver and his loader are reported to have fled the scene as police cordoned off the area following spillage of paraffin. The accident comes two days after Police commissioner Mathew Iteere appealed to motorists and other road users to observe traffic rules to avoid fatal accidents this festive season.

People look for missing relatives among houses swept away by the floods (left), centre damaged

vehicles in a ditch in Balulang and right, people move their stock to safer areas amid the devastation

The number of people killed after a typhoon hit the southern Phillipines has risen to more than 500. Hundreds more are missing and an estimated 100,000 are homeless after torrential rain triggered by tropical storm Washi caused rivers to burst their banks while people slept in the Mindanao region. Among the worst-hit cities are Cagayan de Oro and Iligan. At least 521 people have died, the Red Cross said. Those missing include a prominent local radio broadcaster, who was swept away while trying to save his neighbours, according to the city's mayor. Authorities said several people drowned in floodwaters on the island province of Negros Oriental, whose southern tip was nipped by the eye of the storm.

Many people managed to escape by climbing onto their roofs, while tens of thousands fled to higher ground. "We stayed on top of our roof. All we could see were lights flashing while we made a hole on our roof to climb on," said one female survivor. Ayi Hernandez, a former congressman, said he and his family heard a loud "swooshing sound" and water quickly rose ankle deep inside his home.

He decided to evacuate to a neighbour's two-storey house. "It was a good thing because in less than an hour the water rose to about 11ft (3.3 metres)," he said. The local government has declared a state of emergency in the flooded regions and sent food and water to the thousands of displaced families. Britain's Foreign Office has advised against all travel to the flood-hit region. For more....Video

(Reuters) - A comprehensive solution to the euro zone debt crisis is beyond the region's reach, rating agency Fitch said, warning that six of its economies including Italy and Spain could be hit with credit downgrades in the near future. The warning late on Friday, the second time in two weeks that the bloc has been threatened with multiple ratings markdowns, heightened pressure on leaders to get to grips with the turmoil. Fitch also said it might also cut AAA-rated France within two years and urged the European Central Bank to take a more active firefighting role. One ECB policymaker said on Saturday that time was running out to come up with solutions to a crisis that could spark a global slump. Another said the bank would not expand the bond buying programme it launched to keep a lid on vulnerable states' debt costs. Underscoring tensions within the bloc, a week after a key EU summit failed to reassure financial markets the crisis was being tackled, Italy's Prime Minister Mario Monti urged EU policymakers on Friday to beware of dividing the continent. ECB ratesetter Erkki Liikanen said that, to prevent a flurry of ratings downgrades and a credit freeze, the continent's leaders needed to act fast to beef up the rescue funds designed to provide a safety net for debt-laden member countries.

"The worse scenario is that the negative cycle continues, uncertainty grows, which would lead to a global recession," Liikanen - a member of the bank's governing council -told Finnish public broadcaster YLE in an interview on Saturday. International Monetary Fund head Christine Lagarde had said no country was immune from the crisis and each needed to act to head off the risk of a global depression. In a swipe against Germany, Italy's Monti said Europe's response "should be wrapped in a long-term sustainable approach, not just to feed short-term hunger for rigour in some countries". Pushing for governments to eliminate their bloated budget deficits, Germany has led resistance to allowing the ECB to ramp up its bond purchases to a big enough scale to douse the crisis. But Fitch added to the pressure for just such a move. The agency said that, following the EU summit, it had concluded that "a 'comprehensive solution' to the eurozone crisis is technically and politically beyond reach". "Of particular concern is the absence of a credible financial backstop," it said. "In Fitch's opinion this requires more active and explicit commitment from the ECB to mitigate the risk of self-fulfilling liquidity crises." A second ECB policymaker, Juergen Stark, said expanding bond buys would not end the crisis, while swift implementation of the plan on closer fiscal union agreed at the summit was crucial. "Don't ask too much of the central bank," Stark - who steps down from the executive board at year-end - was quoted as saying on Saturday in pre-released extracts from a German magazine interview.

Daring Ana Julia Torres shared a magical moment with Jupiter the lion at a Colombian animal shelter in September. Torres, a 52-year-old teacher, founded the Villa Lorena shelter 17 years ago, which protects about 600 animals seized from drug and animal traffickers, circuses, or those abandoned by their owners. Torres rescued Jupiter from a circus 12 years ago.

Shearforce Security Services (UK) Limited has extended its services to Kenya. The Security Company, which has opened its Offices in Nakuru, Kenya, started its Security Services operations in Kenya in early July, this year, (2011). Seen on the picture on the left is the Rift Valley Provincial Commissioner, Mr. Osman Walfa, taking the salute from some of the Shearfoce Security Officers who took part during this year's Mushujaa Day Celebrations' Match-Past Parade at Afraha Stadium in Nakuru, Kenya. On the right, the PC Mr. Osman Walfa is seen explaining a point to the Shearfoce Security Service (UK & K) Limited Company's Chief Exexcutive Officer, Mr Duncan G. Ngari. Looking on, left, is Mr. Ason Manyala the Security Company's Manager in Nakuru. For more..click here.

Hebrews 11:6 reads: "And without faith it is impossible to please God, because anyone who comes to him must believe that he exists and that he rewards those who earnestly seek him. God longs to be believed! The Bible says: 'Without faith it is impossible to please God, because anyone who comes to him must believe that he...rewards those who earnestly seek him.' Faith is a powerful spiritual force. It's the thing God responds to. But we must expect our faith to be challenged. The enemy will cloud our mind with doubts and fears. When he does, we need to examine our heart and see what it says. We can believe God's Word in our heart, even when our mind questions it. So we need to stand on what's in our heart, not on what's in our head. We must not believe our doubts; we must challenge our doubts and believe God! Sometimes doubt begins with distraction. When we're distracted from God's promises, we start to doubt. As we think more and more about our problems, our faith begins to waver. We must focus like a laser on God's promises, His power and His willingness to work on our behalf - and merely glance at our problems. We don't deny their existence, but we refuse to pay too much attention to them. James writes: 'But let him ask in faith, with no doubting, for he who doubts is like a wave of the sea driven and tossed by the wind. For let not that man suppose that he will receive anything from the Lord; he is a double-minded man, unstable in all his ways' (James 1:6-8 NKJV). We must be anchored to what God says, and not drift all over the place when our circumstances begin to change.

I take this opportunity to invite you in our pray Conference Prayer every Morning from 6-7a.m. call this local number in UK Tel 02030042084 pin No.67299# and you will be able to join us for prayers. It is a free number with landline in UK.

Climber Dean Potter scales El Capitan in Yosemite National Park, California. Dean says: "I'm addicted to the heightened awareness I get when there's a death consequence. My vision is sharper and I'm more sensitive to sounds, my sense of balance and the beauty all around me. A lot of my creativity comes from this nearly insane obsession. Something sparkles in my mind and then nothing else in life matters..." and on right is ....Dean was just one of the intrepid explorers pictured by equally fearless photographers Jimmy Chin and Mikey Schaefer. The duo also captured a group of daredevils seemingly jumping to their deaths from the edge of the rock formation Half Dome in the US national park. - CLICK HERE FOR MORE

A message for Aspirants 2012 elections in Kenya regardless of their political parties, their will be a meeting coming up soon; Venue in London Tel: Anthony on 0795 197 2623.

Flash floods sparked by a tropical storm in the southern Philippines have killed at least 180 people and left scores missing, officials say. Many of the victims were asleep when it struck Mindanao island, killing many in Iligan City and Cagayan de Oro. Tens of thousands of people have fled to higher ground, the authorities say. Benito Ramos, head of the national disaster rescue agency, said reports were still coming in and the casualty figures could rise. Mr Ramos said the floodwaters had risen alarmingly fast overnight as people slept. "Massive flooding had been reported over the region, especially in Iligan City and Cagayan de Oro City," he said Residents are rescued from floods in Cagayan de Oro City, Philippines. 17 Dec 2011 Many people in Cagayan de Oro were trapped in their homes as floods rose rapidly Rivers burst their banks after 25mm of rain fell in 24 hours. Large areas were left without power and some domestic flights were cancelled as winds of up to 90 km/h (55mph) swept across the island. A landslide killed at least five people in the east of the island, the national disaster agency said. A military spokesman, Colonel Leopoldo Galon, said an entire army division - some 10,000 soldiers - was involved in the rescue efforts around Cagayan de Oro. Nearly 100 dead bodies - most of them children - had already been found in the city, officials say. Forecasters said the eye of Tropical Storm Washi had passed close to Dipolog City, west of Iligan City, early on Saturday and it was now heading out into the Sulu Sea.

A breathtaking image of the worlds longest cross-sea bridge stretching 26 miles made our top images of the year. The Jiaozhou Bay Bridge was opened at the end of June in China's eastern city of Qingdao with a total investment of more than 10 billion yuan (£930m) and greatly shortens the time from downtown Qingdao to its outlying regions. - MORE PHOTOS

One of the born and bred residents of the semi arid county is Titus Ole Naikuni the chief executive of the Kenya Airways. Naikuni spoke to NTV on the challenges awaiting the first county administration of the Kajiado and also other pertinent issues around the country's transition to the new constitution. - VIDEO

The US financial regulator has brought civil fraud charges against six former top executives at mortgage giants Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac. The Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) said the executives had misled investors about the companies' exposure to risky subprime mortgages they held when the housing bubble burst. Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac were rescued by the US government in 2008. Those charged include former chiefs Daniel Mudd and Richard Syron. Mr Mudd was fired from Fannie after the government took over. Mr Syron resigned from Freddie in 2008. In a statement released through his lawyer, Mr Mudd said the lawsuit "should never have been brought" and said the government had reviewed and approved all of the company's financial disclosures. "The SEC is wrong, and I look forward to a court where fairness and reason - not politics - is the standard for justice," he said. Mr Syron's lawyers said the case was "without merit" and said the term subprime "had no uniform definition in the market" at that time. Fannie and Freddie both entered into agreements with the government on Friday, accepting responsibility for their conduct without admitting or denying the charges. The companies also agreed to co-operate with the SEC on the cases against the former executives.

Guinness World Records adjudicator Rob Molloy and Dr Manoj Pahukar of Wockhardt hospital measure Jyoti Amge at a press conference in Nagpur, India. The 18-year-old was declared the shortest woman in the world, measuring 62.8 centimetres (24.7 inches) by the Guinness World Records.

As the wildebeest gets ready to migrate through Serengeti plains in Tanzania and cross River Mara in Kenya tourists queue on Serengeti plains to see these Seventh Wonder of the world the same is happening as East African Community returning home are queing at Serengeti Freight Forwarders Ltd. in Essex to have their cars and letters shipped to East Africa. Among those who visited the Serengeti Offices on Friday 16th December, 2011 was Pastor Munga (white) from Gilbert Deya Ministries London seen above posing with the directors of Serengeti. Want to ship a car or quick letter to Kenya or another part of East Africa Serengeti. For more information please contact el (+44) 01375 855917 Fax (+44) 01708202477 or info@serengetifreight.co.uk - www.serengetifreight.co.uk

A John Lewis photo of Christmas pudding bin bags which are selling at a rate of one pack every 15 minutes

A woman wrapped up against the cold and with ice on her eyebrows and eyelashes is seen in Hulunbeier, Inner Mongolia, China

A John Lewis photo of Christmas pudding bin bags which are selling at a rate of one pack every 15 minutes

A woman wrapped up against the cold and with ice on her eyebrows and eyelashes is seen in Hulunbeier, Inner Mongolia, China

Kenyans in the diaspora will only be allowed to vote for presidential candidates in 2012, IEBC chairman Ahmed Issack has announced. They will not be able to vote for MPs, senators, or governors. However voters in Kenya will be able to pick six candidates in the first election under the new constitution. They will vote for president, MP, governor, senator, women representative and county representative. Independent Electoral and Boundaries Commission chairman Issack was talking at Brooklyn town hall in Minnesota yesterday. The IEBC is currently on a week-long tour of the United States to share views with the diaspora on registration and voting. At a later stage diaspora voters will vote in referendums. If that is successful, they will then be allowed to participate in parliamentary and senate elections.

Issack said embassies and consulates will act as polling stations while ambassadors and their deputies will be hired as returning and presiding officers for the independent commission. Ambassadors are arbitrarily appointed by the executive and many are ex-politicians who have been of immense help to the current system. Some analysts question how independent they would be as returning officers. Article 83 of the constitution sets only three conditions for Kenyans to register as voters. They must be adult citizens, ofsound mind and have no conviction for an election offense in the preceding five years. The article says administrative arrangements for registration of voters and the conduct of elections shall not deny an eligible citizen the right to vote or stand for election. Article 82 however says, “Parliament shall enact legislation to provide for the progressive registration of citizens residing outside Kenya, and the progressive realization of their right to vote.” Issack urged all Kenyans living abroad to register with their embassies. He assured the meeting that their information will be kept confidential. “We don’t care if you are an illegal immigrant here. We know some of you came here as students and are doing all manner of things now. All that we are saying is that if you have a passport or and ID, then register with our embassies so that you can vote," he said.

Many Kenyans abroad cannot home because their visas have expired, particularly those in the USA. It is estimated more than 3 million Kenyans abroad remit close to Sh100bn annually to the Kenyan economy. Issack said the ongoing reforms in the judiciary and police are a sign that the IEBC will deliver free and fair elections. He vowed that Kenya will no longer be used as an example of a country that holds poor elections. The IEBC acting CEO James Oswago told the packed hall that Kenya's proposal was inexpensive unlike India which requires its citizens to return home to vote. Most of those at the meeting said they would prefer to have polling stations in strategic locations across the USA instead of travelling to Washington DC or New York to vote. The IEBC believes it will be a challenge to complete voter registration in time because constituency boundaries are still being delimited. The IEBC has so far registered 12.4 million voters but is targeting 8 million more. “It means that some voters will have to be transferred to the polling stations of their choices when the exercise is over. Yet waiting for the boundaries to be determined first before embarking on voter registration, could mean delaying thepublishing of the voter register and subsequently elections,” Issack said. All voter registration must come to an end 90 days before elections. Voters will be given 90 days to inspect the register and confirm their details. So voter registration must be completed six months before the elections. – The Star.

JE, HUU NI UNGWANA?: Mwanaume mzima kukunyua pombe mapaka anakonjoa kwa kitanda?

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Motorists are facing treacherous conditions with ice warnings in place for the whole country until Monday. There will be no let-up in Britain's cold snap as sub-zero temperatures continue throughout the weekend. The Met Office issued warnings of ice which are due to stay in place until 10am on Monday, Saturday morning is due to be cold and frosty and, in places, an icy start, according to forecasters. Some areas will have scattered rain, sleet and snow showers, and there may be some repeats of winter wonderland scenes many parts of the country saw on Friday.

Northern Ireland, Wales and the South East woke up to the white stuff on Friday as heavy rain brought by a low pressure system turned to sleet or snow. There was 6cm of snow recorded in Glasgow, 2cm in High Wycombe, Buckinghamshire, and 4cm in parts of Northern Ireland. Lower-than-average temperatures will continue and the mercury is likely to drop to minus 1C in the south of England and Wales, minus 2C in Yorkshire, minus 4C in the Borders and minus 6C in Scotland over the weekend, said Clare Allen, forecaster for MeteoGroup, the weather division of the Press Association. "We've been experiencing snow mainly over higher ground, in Wales, Scotland, the Pennines, the Lake District, but it's wet and sleety snow so is not settling," she said. "The rest of the country is expected to remain very cold with widespread frosts and everywhere below zero, apart from the South West. There will be some more wintry showers, mainly in the north and west, with hail, sleet and snow expected in Scotland and northern England."

Motorists have been urged to take extra care on the roads - on Friday Cumbria Police said they were called to a number of incidents on the A595 at Moota where motorists slid off the road. The AA also warned drivers to make sure they are prepared for the unsettled weather. The Highways Agency said it is well prepared for the cold weather, with a fleet of 500 state-of-the-art winter vehicles on stand-by and enough salt to deal with severe conditions. The recent cold weather led Ladbrokes to slash the odds of a white Christmas to a 3/1 chance that London will have snow on December 25. Edinburgh and Glasgow saw their odds cut to 9/4.

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Hard-up students turn sex workers

Hard-up students in UK are increasingly turning to the SEX industry to provide work as living costs, tuition fees and youth unemployment soar, it was claimed today. They are also getting round the financial squeeze by subjecting themselves to medical experiments and gambling. Many universities have been allowed to treble tuition fees from next year under government reforms. But the move is making it even more difficult for frustrated students to make ends meet while axing the education maintenance allowance (EMA) for 16 to 19-year-olds has also piled on the pressure. A helpline called the English Collective of Prostitutes reported a spike in students calling in when the reforms were announced. Spokeswoman Sarah Walker said: "We have seen an increase year-on-year since the time that the student grants system was axed. "There has definitely been a spike again since tuition fee changes were brought in. "It is anecdotal evidence but we have definitely seen an increase."

The Department for Business, Innovation and Skills insisted the financial package available to students including loans was "generous". And a Department for Education spokesman said: "It is down to schools and colleges themselves to award bursaries to young people who need the most help. "If students are really struggling financially, they need to speak directly to their tutors." Estelle Hart, national women's officer for the National Union of Students (NUS) which made the claims, was seriously concerned. She said: "Students are taking more dangerous measures. "In an economic climate where there are very few jobs, where student support has been massively cut, people are taking more work in the informal economy, such as sex work. "It's all dangerous unregulated work, simply so people can stay in education."

DO YOU KNOW?: The fraud at Ardhi House lands office was so serious that the system had created a full fraud department starting from the top bosses down to the messenger. There was a representative in every department and the receipt was being issues by only one person. Many other institutions are operating the same and it is only time which will tell. Coming soon the banks which are also worst hit by fraud with some bankers assisting in providing the information outside. Unconfirmed reports says some people in the banks are making as much as KShs. 1 million a day by providing the information.

Thousands of people who have settled on illegally allocated land in Athi River will be evicted. A report by a taskforce formed to establish irregular appropriation of public land in Athi River also identified about a dozen fraudsters behind the illegal business. "Those who have settled on illegally acquired or irregularly allocated land must be evicted and land reverted to the lawful owners, who may need to be assisted to access their land," read part of the report. National Housing Corporation, National Social Security Fund, Numerical Machinery Complex, East African Portland Cement Company Limited, Kenya Meat Commission and the Meat Training Institute own the land in question. "There has also been serious encroachment and illegal occupation of church-owned land, land owned by cooperative societies and individuals by persons operating fraudulently in cartels in the area," read part of the report. Chairman of the taskforce, Mr John Abduba, revealed there are no squatters in Athi River but there are about 10,000 slum dwellers staying on the affected land. He said irregular land appropriation and acquisition had seen proliferation of fake land ownership documents, which were then used to dupe unsuspecting land buyers into purchasing non-existing land.

The report, with a number of recommendations, was handed over to Internal Security Minister George Saitoti and his PS Francis Kimemia, who promised to act. Abduba said his team established there were genuine landowners who could not access their land because of marauding gangs in the area. "To stop this impunity by unscrupulous land peddlers, the Government must urgently establish mechanisms for investigation, arrest and prosecution of these perpetrators," said Abduba. He said the gangs had been subdividing and selling the land to alleged landless locals and IDPs. The team recommended that all land be protected through proper land administration, as established by law, irrespective of ownership. Saitoti said the taskforce was prompted by complaints over illegal land ownership in the area, which had security implications. He directed Police Commissioner Mathew Iteere to investigate and arrest those behind the transactions. – The Standard.

Mayor Of London Boris Johnson Mark The Arrival Of The First New Bus For London. London Mayor Boris Johnson waves from a new prototype red double decker bus in Trafalgar Square on December 16, 2011 in London, England. The new bus design mimics some of the features of the iconic red London Routemaster bus and is scheduled to come into service in 2012. The original Routemaster was introduced in 1956 and a number of them are still in use on heritage routes in London, following their withdrawal from regular routes in 2005.

David Cameron says the UK is a Christian country

David Cameron has said the UK is a Christian country "and we should not be afraid to say so". In a speech in Oxford on the 400th anniversary of the King James Bible, the prime minister called for a revival of traditional Christian values to counter Britain's "moral collapse". He said "live and let live" had too often become "do what you please". The PM said it was wrong to suggest that standing up for Christianity was "somehow doing down other faiths". Describing himself as a "committed" but only "vaguely practising" Christian, the PM admitted he was "full of doubts" about big theological issues.

Youths stand in the pond located at a police school, after having their heads shaved and on right Members of the punk community were punished by authorities (Picture: EPA/HOTLI SIMANJUNTAK)

Indonesians living a punk lifestyle have been punished and 'cleansed' by police acting upon Islamic law at a concert. Cowering before police before their heads are shaved, you would be forgiven for thinking these are hardened criminals. But they were among 65 punk rock fans arrested by baton-wielding police at a concert in Indonesia. They had attended an event in the northern province of Aceh, the only region of the predominantly Muslim nation of 240million to impose strict Islamic law. Tearful ‘offenders’ had their spiky mohawks buzzed off and body piercings stripped away.

Police shave the heads of detained youths at a school in Aceh Besar and on right an Indonesian police woman cuts the hair of a detained punk at a police school in Aceh Besar in Aceh province (Picture: AFP/Getty)

Why? Why, my hair?’ said Fauzan, a 20-year-old punk rock fan. Dog-collar necklaces and chains were also taken from the youths, who were thrown into water for ‘spiritual’ cleansing, police chief Iskandar Hasan said yesterday.
After replacing their ‘disgusting’ clothes, he handed each a toothbrush and barked ‘use it’. The youths’ ‘moral rehabilitation’ involves ten days of military-style discipline and religious classes before they are sent home, Mr Hasan added. Youths have complained about police harassment before but it is not clear why Saturday’s concert was targeted.

Russian ship hits iceberg off Antarctica

Several crew from a stricken Russian fishing boat have taken to life-rafts in icy Antarctic waters Friday as rescuers said it could take five days to reach them. The Sparta began taking on water after hitting an iceberg and sent out a distress call from near the Antarctic ice shelf about 2,000 nautical miles (3,700 kilometres) southeast of New Zealand. The Russian-flagged fishing boat with a crew of 32 -- 15 Russians, 16 Indonesians and a Ukrainian -- is on a 13-degree list after being holed 1.5 metres (five feet) below the water line. Officers have remained on board and are pumping water from the hold while some crew have taken to life-rafts "as a precautionary measure", the New Zealand Rescue Coordination Centre (RCCNZ) said. The RCCNZ has called for help from vessels working in the Southern Ocean but heavy sea ice made their movement difficult and they are "not expected to reach the area for four to five days", search coordinator Ramon Davis said. The New Zealand vessel San Aspiring is 470 nautical miles away and should reach the Sparta by Tuesday.

The Sparta's sister ship, Chiyo Maru No 3, is only 290 nautical miles away but has no capacity to cut or break through sea ice, and another vessel is only 19 nautical miles away but is hemmed in by ice and unable to proceed. There were no helicopters in the area that could undertake a rescue but a transport plane from the Antarctic Research Centre at McMurdo Station was able to fly over the Sparta and make contact as well as assess the ice conditions. "So far, the crew has managed to keep up with the ingress of water. They have also attached a tarpaulin on the outside of the hull which is helping slow the rate of water into the hold," Davis said. "They have asked us to supply them with more pumps to allow them to increase the pumping speed, and also provide backup to the pumps they are already working with." Davis said RCCNZ was investigating options for delivering pumps to the stricken vessel. "If they can get all the water out of the hold that might lighten the ship enough for the hole to be above the water line, and allow the crew to repair the damage.

A bitter chill has swept across Britain, with snow and heavy downpours hitting most of the country. Northern Ireland, Wales and the south east of England woke up to snow as heavy rain brought by a low pressure system turned to sleet or snow. The north and parts of Scotland also saw snowfall overnight, with 6cm recorded in Glasgow. High Wycombe, Buckinghamshire, saw 2cm of snow, and 4cm fell in parts of Northern Ireland. Billy Payne, forecaster for MeteoGroup, the weather division of the Press Association, said: "We have had an area of low pressure just south of the UK and as it has moved away the rain associated with it has turned into sleet and snow, mostly across Wales and southern England. "Across the UK there is a fair bit of wintry showers and snow. Quite a lot of the country has seen either sleet or snow." Mr Payne said temperatures are set to be between 2C and 5C for most of the day. He added: "It is very cold, London is not expected to rise much above 5C. Some parts of the Scottish Isles will not get above 0C." However, it is not predicted to last as the snow and the downpours are expected to move away to the east. The Met Office has issued severe weather warnings for large patches of the country and the Environment Agency put 33 flood alerts in place, including in the Midlands, the North West, the South East and the South West. There were minor delays on the A27 in Chichester due to flooding, according to the Highways Agency website. Drivers are being warned to take care on the roads as the weather is likely to bring hazardous driving conditions. Highways Agency spokesman Jason Glasson said: "I advise drivers to plan ahead before setting out. Check the Met Office weather forecast and road conditions and allow extra time if travel conditions are poor, or delay the journey if conditions are really severe."

Downpour: Dave Meakins holds one of the apples which fell from the sky in Coundon, Coventry, on Monday night

After a series of storm warnings, drivers in the evening rush hour were prepared for almost anything. Except, that is, for it to start raining apples. Scores of them battered car roofs and windscreens before landing in the road at a busy junction in Coundon, Coventry. The deluge of fruit brought traffic to a standstill at 6.45pm on Monday 12th December, 2011. A 20-yard stretch of the B4098 was left strewn with green slush after the incident. One motorist, who was travelling with her husband, said: ‘The apples fell out of nowhere. They were small and green and hit the bonnet hard. Everyone had to stop their cars suddenly.’ The phenomenon is believed to be down to a mini tornado which touched down elsewhere, sucking apples from the ground or from trees. Such a powerful vacuum could have travelled for many miles before the tornado’s energy dissipated, depositing the fruit over Coventry. Another theory is that the apples could have fallen from the hold of a plane. Brian Meakins, 63, was stunned when he opened his front door and found his garden full of smashed apples.

The retired forklift truck driver said: ‘At first I assumed kids must have thrown them because we do get the occasional egg and apple thrown but there’s way too many for that.’ Jim Dale, senior meteorologist from British Weather Services, said the event was probably caused by ‘returning polar maritime air’. ‘Essentially these events are caused when a vortex of air, kind of like a mini tornado, lifts things off the ground rising up into the atmosphere until the air around it causes them to fall to earth again. ‘Returning polar maritime air is such an unstable condition and it basically means air returning from the polar regions which is very unstable. ‘We’ve all heard of fish and frogs falling from the sky and apples is certainly unusual because they have some weight to them but it is not out of the realms of possibility.’ – Daily Mail, London.

On October 5, 1967, thousands of maggots fell like rain over Acapulco, Mexico, after a heavy storm.

In 1996 dozens of frogs were reported to be falling from the sky in Llanddewi, Wales and again in Croydon, London in 1998.

More recently, on August 18, 2004, fish fell from the sky on to the village of Knighton, Powys.

In August 2007 fish also rained down in the streets of Great Yarmouth, Norfolk after a mini-tornado at sea.

The explanation is down to a typical spell of British summer weather, where a few hot days are often followed by a thunderstorm.

Vigorous updrafts on a hot day may have sucked the frogs, fish and other small creatures into a developing thunder cloud, only to deposit them again in heavy rain downwind.

Caught under London after Jamhuri Day celebrations last week were from left to right Mr. Osieyo and his wife Mrs. Osieyo (far right) from Bellingham, South London posing with Mr. Sang (hat) and Councillor Elizabeth Kangethe of London. They were caught hundreds of feet under the city of London going to pick up the underground train - Piccadilly Line at Hyde Park Corner. CLICK HERE FOR MORE PHOTOS

The eurozone is facing a "bleak" winter, audit firm Ernst & Young says. A "mild" recession is likely in the first half of next year, leading to economic growth of just 0.1% for the whole of 2012, it predicted. Ernst & Young also said unemployment in the eurozone was unlikely to fall below 10% until 2015. Meanwhile, Greece - Europe's most indebted country - said that it was on course to have its worst recession ever in 2011. Greek Prime Minister Lucas Papademos warned on Wednesday that his country's contraction would be greater than the 5.5% currently forecast. Greece's economy shrank by 4.5% in 2010, when it received its first bailout from the EU and International Monetary Fund.

Last week, 26 of the 27 members of the European Union backed new fiscal rules to keep budgets in line, with only the UK abstaining. But many fear that the budget pact will still not be enough to prevent more countries from seeking a bailout. On Wednesday, the euro fell below $1.30 for the first time since January. "The reforms agreed at the summit on 9 December were a step in the right direction and the response seems to have been mildly positive," according to Ernst & Young. "Yet investors remain very concerned about the commitment and ability of eurozone governments to implement reforms quickly." The audit firm predicts that eurozone growth will recover to between 1.5% and 2% in 2013. "The uncertainties hanging over the Eurozone can only continue to dampen the enthusiasm for European companies to make long term investment and recruitment decisions," said Mark Otty, Ernst & Young's managing partner for Europe, Middle East, India and Africa.

The shilling on Thursday rallied against the dollar to hit the Sh85-mark, registering an 8-month high. The last time the shilling traded at this level was in March this year. This is a 20.56 per cent recovery from the historic low of Sh107 on October 11. By close of trading Thursday, commercial banks quoted the shilling at Sh85.00/30, compared with Wednesday’s performance of Sh87.20/40 to the dollar. “We are now looking at Sh84 levels next week,” African Banking Corporation (ABC) senior forex dealer Julius Kiriinya said. Forex dealers attribute this bullish trend to the decision by Central Bank to mop up excess liquidity in the market through repurchase agreements, continued inflows from tourism, tea, and horticultural sectors, as well as the International Monetary Fund’s approval of the Extended Credit Facility for Kenya on Monday this week. “Slow demand for the dollar and the tight liquidity is forcing traders to sell off their dollar reserves to fund their short shilling positions,” added Mr Kiriinya. – Daily Nation.

The chairman of the French central bank, Christian Noyer, has said ratings agencies should downgrade the UK before France because its economy is weaker. US agency Standard and Poor's recently warned France its rating could suffer over the eurozone crisis and downturn. "The downgrade does not appear to me to be justified when considering economic fundamentals," Mr Noyer said. The British Government responded by saying the UK had a credible plan for dealing with its deficit. Speaking to French regional newspaper Le Telegramme, Mr Noyer said any downgrade should start with Britain "which has more deficits, as much debt, more inflation, less growth than us and where credit is slumping". Britain was not identified as a credit risk by Standard and Poor's in its report earlier this month. The spokesman for UK Prime Minister David Cameron said: "Credit ratings are a matter for credit rating agencies but we've put in place a credible deficit reduction plan and you can see that credibility in the UK's bond yields." There is a sense of frustration across the eurozone that last week's summit in Brussels seems to have done little to calm the financial markets, the BBC's Chris Morris reports.

The man President Kibaki and Prime Minister Raila Odinga nominated to lead the war against corruption was sensationally linked to the vice in an acrimonious debate in Parliament on Thursday 15TH December, 2011. The chairman of Public Accounts Committee, Dr Boni Khalwale, tabled documents claiming that Mr Mumo Matemu had failed to collect Sh2.4 billion in tax arrears from a company while at the Kenya Revenue Authority. “This matter has been brought to me by a patriotic Kenyan who knows the importance of Parliament… this information touches on a man whom we want to sit on this important commission,” said Dr Khalwale. Mr Matemu has been nominated as chairman of the Ethics and Anti-Corruption Commission, with Ms Irene Keino and Prof Jane Onsongo as his deputies. – Daily Nation.

Up to 13,500 military personnel will help to provide security at the London 2012 Olympic Games, the Ministry of Defence has announced. Security would be police-led but the military would make a "significant contribution", the MoD said. Some 5,000 troops will support the police, up to 7,500 will provide venue security and 1,000 will provide logistical support. Last week, ministers revised the Games security budget from £282m to £553m. In addition to the 13,500 figure, there will be a 1,000-strong unarmed contingency force ready for deployment in the event of an "Olympics-related civil emergency".

IMF head Christine Lagarde has said the world economic outlook is "gloomy" and no country is immune from rising risks. She said all nations, starting with Europe, needed to head off a crisis with risks of a global depression. "There is no economy in the world immune from the crisis that we not only see unfolding but escalating," she said. "It is going to be hopefully resolved by all countries, all regions actually taking action." Meanwhile, ratings agency Standard and Poor's downgraded 10 Spanish banks by applying new ratings criteria. And France's official statistics agency, INSEE, said that it expects the Europe's second-largest economy to fall into recession in the final three months of this year and the first quarter of 2012. France, Spain and Italy have been facing rising borrowing costs. Many investors fear one will be the next eurozone member to need a bailout.

Speaking at the US State Department in Washington, she said global economic leaders now needed to take a rounded approach towards addressing monetary weaknesses, such as those underscored by the current eurozone debt crisis. "It is going to require efforts, it is going to require adjustment, and clearly it is going to have to start from the core of the crisis at the moment, which is obviously the European countries and in particular the countries of the eurozone." Ms Lagarde mentioned economic bright spots in Asia and Latin America, which she said had taken, with IMF help, steps during crises in the 1980s and 1990s to address weaknesses in their banking systems and their financial frameworks. "All those challenges that they faced in the days of the Asian crisis, of the Latin American crisis, have now served them well," Ms Lagarde said. On Thursday, a closely-watched survey suggested the downturn in the 17 economies that share the euro had eased slightly in December. The composite survey of thousands of firms by Markit showed a continued contraction - but at a slower rate than in November.

President Mwai Kibaki with other Heads of State during the 5th Ordinary Summit of the International Confrence of the Great Lakes Region in Kampala Uganda.

Kampala, Thursday 15th December, 2011. We are keen to stamp out Sexual and Gender based Violence- President Kibaki. President Mwai Kibaki has today reaffirmed Kenya’s support and commitment towards the eradication of sexual and gender based violence. President Kibaki asserted that Kenya equally upholds international conventions that safeguard the rights of women and other disadvantaged members of the society. The President particularly assured that the country was committed to the Convention on the Elimination of All forms of Discrimination against Women (COVAW). Speaking during the International Conference on The Great Lakes Region Head of States Session on Sexual and Gender Based Violence at the Speke Resort, Munyonyo, Kampala, the President said that Kenya’s commitment to the protection of the rights of its citizens was unwavering, including the right to live without fear of any form of violation. “Our new Constitution, which we promulgated in August 2010, emphasizes the protection of women, men and children from all forms of violence, including harmful traditional practices, and provides for freedom from any form of violence”, he said.

To stamp out sexual and gender-based violence, the Head of State enumerated important pieces of legislation that the country had put in place to safeguard violation of fundamental human rights such as the Sexual Offences Act, the Counter Trafficking in Persons Act as well as the Prohibition of Female Genital Mutilation Act. Other legislations awaiting enactment include the Marriage Bill, the Matrimonial and Family Protection Bill, Domestic Violence Bill and the Equal Opportunity Bill. “Once the legislative and institutional framework is complete, Kenya’s capacity to reduce sexual gender-based violence will be greatly boosted”, said President Kibaki. The Head of State said the Government had taken measures to create awareness among wananchi as well as building capacity in the medical, security and judicial personnel to enable them deal effectively and speedily with cases of sexual and gender based violence at all levels.

“My Government has also intensified advocacy on sexual gender-based violence and undertaken countrywide civic awareness to popularise existing laws and protection measures. We are currently engaged in capacity building for medical, security and judicial personnel in dealing with sexual gender-based violence cases at the County level”, he said. The President noted that a pilot programme for One-Stop Centres to assist victims and survivors of sexual gender-based violence has been launched and plans are underway to roll out the project throughout the country. “These Centres will go a long way in ensuring that the welfare of victims is effectively addressed by medical, psycho-social and judicial service providers”, he said. President Kibaki hailed the contribution of the First Ladies and the Ministers for Gender of the countries of the Great Lakes Region in combating sexual and gender-based violence in the region.

He also thanked development partners in the region for their dedication to the fight against sexual and gender based violence noting that through such synergy effective measures to eliminate sexual and gender-based violence could be put in place. President Kibaki added that Kenya is also developing a framework on the implementation of the United Nations Security Council Resolution 1325 on the inclusion of gender perspectives in humanitarian planning in post-conflict peace-building and governance, as well as Resolution 1820 on the protection of women against sexual violence. “We look forward to the full implementation of these instruments so that we can effectively combat sexual gender-based violence and achieve our common objective of creating a haven of peace, security and development in the entire Great Lakes Region”, he said. The theme of the Special Session was “United to Prevent, End Impunity and Provide Support to the Victims of Sexual Gender-Based Violence in the Great Lakes Region”. The session was also attended by Presidents Yoweri Museveni of Uganda, Michael Sata of Zambia, Chairman of the African Union Jean Ping, representatives of the United Nations and Governments of the Great Lakes region.

SPEECH DELIVERED BY HON. OTIENO KAJWANG’ – MINISTER OF STATE FOR IMMIGRATION AND

\REGISTRATION OF PERSONS DURING THE OFFICIAL COMMISSIONING OF THE NATIONAL IDENTITY

When I was last here in June last year, I was commissioning a Passport Issuance System to apply for and obtain your passports from London.

I have received feed-back that this intervention has reduced the waiting time for renewal of passports considerably.

Today, I have come to commission an Identity Card Registration System. This will allow young Kenyans who have turned eighteen while abroad to apply for and obtain their National Identity Cards without having to travel to Kenya to make the application.

This initiative is an answer to the new Constitutional obligation on the government to provide travel documents and identity cards to Kenyans as a right rather than a privilege.

The Constitutional provision on dual citizenship now makes it possible for you to acquire any other citizenship without relinquishing your Kenyan citizenship. You may use your passports (Kenyan/ Foreign) interchangeably.

Those who were forced to revoke their citizenship before acquiring new citizenships can now re-gain Kenyan citizenship on application.

Children who were born abroad by Kenyan daughters who were not considered Kenyan citizens are now Kenyans.

The children now acquire both the citizenship of their mothers and fathers at birth.

The question of participating on the elections of your President and other representatives is now settled. The Independent Electoral and Boundaries Commission will soon be making arrangement to register Kenyans as voters everywhere.

For two days in Geneva, Switzerland I have been participating in a conference referred to as The Global Forum on Migration and Development.

Governments over the world recognize the valuable contribution the Diaspora community make in the development of their home economies.

We feel you at home when we receive critical remittances that make a difference in the life of numerous families. Our government equally feels your contribution to our foreign reserves. The Diaspora community remittances stands at No.3 as the highest contributor to our Foreign Exchange earnings. ($ 1 billion).

You participate in our economy in the property market and the Sovereign Bond Issues.

I’m sure you are aware of the opportunities that exist for investment in Property Development, Tourism, Education and Agriculture, Home development, Conference Tourism, Higher Education and Irrigation.

You can each become our Ambassadors in discussing these opportunities with possible investors. Give them confidence that Kenya is a safe and profitable investment destination. We seek to increase the Direct Foreign Investment (DFI).

We are a super-power in sports especially athletics. There is tremendous potential in development of young talent with significant benefit to the athletes and the country. You may wish to persuade investors in this rich market.

It is now my humble duty to declare the National Identity Card processing facility at the Kenyan Mission officially commissioned.

The Czech Republic and Hungary have said they will not sign the new European Union pact unless tax harmonisation plans are dropped. The announcement comes less than one week after the EU summit hailed as bringing unity to all but one of its member nations. In Brussels, 26 of the 27 members of the EU backed new fiscal rules to keep budgets in line, with only the UK abstaining. Neither Hungary nor the Czech Republic uses the euro, and tax harmonisation plans were not explicitly discussed as part of the changes at the summit. Nonetheless Hungarian prime minister Viktor Orban and his Czech counterpart Petr Necas said they wanted to take active roles in negotiations, adding they are concerned the pact may take away their independence on tax policy. Mr Necas said: "We support the solutions which result in the stabilisation of the eurozone.

A young mother has died of liver failure after taking a few extra tablets of paracetamol a day to help her deal with post operative pain. Desiree Philips, 20, was prescribed antibiotics and over-the-counter paracetamol following a routine operation to remove several benign breast lumps. But nine days after the operation the young mother from LLanelli, South Wales, was admitted to hospital with liver failure, the Daily Mail reported. Although Ms Phillips underwent a liver transplant, she died a week later at Birmingham Queen Elizabeth hospital. Her father, Des Phillips, said he believed his daughter had only taken "a few extra tablets" of paracetamol a day. The sad news highlights the hidden danger of repeatedly taking slightly too much paracetamol, known as a staggered overdose. Only last month, a study published in the British Journal of Clinical Pharmacology warned that staggered overdoses can occur when people take a little more paracetamol than they should, usually to relieve a range of common causes of pain such as headache, toothache, abdominal or muscular pain.

A staggered dose of paracetamol is also more difficult for hospital staff to diagnose, compared with someone who has tried to take their own life with a massive overdose of paracetamol, the same study found. People who have deliberately taken an overdose of the painkiller have high levels of the drug in their blood which can be detected with a simple blood test, but this is not the case with a staggered overdose. Under these circumstances someone can have low levels of paracetamol in their blood but be at a high risk of liver failure and death. Study leader Dr Kenneth Simpson, of the University of Edinburgh, said: "They haven't taken the sort of single-moment, one-off massive overdoses taken by people who try to commit suicide, but over time the damage builds up, and the effect can be fatal. "On admission, these staggered overdose patients were more likely to have liver and brain problems, require kidney dialysis or help with breathing and were at a greater risk of dying than people who had t According to the NHS, adults should never exceed the recommended dose for paracetamol which is two (500mg) tablets of paracetamol, every four to six hours, up to four times a day. Paracetamol is also sold in combination with other painkilling drugs and in cold and flu medications. Always consult with your pharmacist or doctor if you are considering using a number of these products, to avoid exceeding the daily recommended dose.

We are now counting down to this great event. Below are some of the discussions/agenda points for the meeting.

1. Update on UK Immigration law/changes. Are you believing God for makaratasi, case is pending, in the process of applying or appeals, then this is your meeting. Come and get necessary updates from the solicitors in attendance. Don't perish for lack of information.

2. Olympic games creates an opportunity for over 20,000 jobs. Are you looking for employment? Informed business people who are also involved in one way or the other with the process of recruitment will be in attendance to advise you on how to seize this opportunity. Don't be put off by the job titles on adverts - they possibly are just looking for transferable skills. Book yourself into the meeting.

3. Mr Abraham Mwaura, Immigration Attache at the Kenya High Commission in London will be available to engage on one to one basis for those with issues relating to their Kenyan status (passports, IDs etc).

4.Update on charity work done so far in steps to raise awareness of the needs/fate of children with learning difficulties/disabilities in Kenya - (especially in the slums and villages). You will be shocked what these vulnerable people go through. They need your voice and support.

5.Our very own Artist, Beatrice Muniu will be in attendance with some of the songs from her new album-you cannot afford to miss this.

6. Without fail,we will pray for each other and for our beloved Nation, Kenya. Come and hear great testimonies of answered prayers from last meetings, and your faith will be built.

6. Finally and Most important of all - God Himself will be in the Sanctuary, giving us the ever powerful Word needed to face 2012 and the days ahead. A time to re-focus.

The shilling on Wednesday closed trading at 87.20/40 to the dollar to hit a six-month high, helped by inflows from the tourism sector, horticulture, increased remittances from Kenyans in the Diaspora and depressed demand for the greenback. The shilling on Wednesday closed trading at 87.20/40 to the dollar to hit a six-month high, helped by inflows from the tourism sector, horticulture, increased remittances from Kenyans in the Diaspora and depressed demand for the greenback. This is the strongest point the shilling has rallied against the dollar since July, recovering its value by 18.69 percentage points from its lowest point of 107 against the dollar on October 11. Bank of Africa forex dealer Gerishon Kanori indicated that the expected increase in cash reserves ratio to 5.25 per cent from 4.75 per cent, effective Thursday, has also tightened liquidity in the money market and given the shilling a shot in the arm. Cash reserves ratio is the minimum amount of customers’ savings that a bank must retain by depositing with the Central Bank. “Central Bank is expected to mop up about Sh7.5 billion from the market when the new CRR rate takes effect,” Mr Kanori said. Another forex dealer at KCB said traders are also trying to trim up their positions because they are confident inflation might come down due to the rains, which are expected to boost the country’s grain reserves. “The tight monetary policy and expected ease in inflationary pressure has also seen people trim up their dollar positions,” KCB forex dealer Benard Omenda said.

Kuchu and Lucy contact in Kenya. Njuguna (Kuchu) 0700209344 and Lucy (Mama Njeri) 0718178752.

Day in pictures: 14 December 2011

An Armed Forces of Malta officer shouts out orders during a military parade to mark Malta's Republic Day in Valletta. Malta, a former British colony, became a republic in 1974, 10 years after gaining independence. On right Members of the Popular Defence Forces ride camels during their 22nd anniversary celebrations in Khartoum, North Sudan.

Among those caught at the Jamhuri Day celebrations in London on Friday 9th December, 2011 was from left to right – Pastor Alex Mkapa, HE High Commissioner E. Ngare and Councilor Daniel Munyambu of Basingdon, Essex, UK. On right Colonel Nderitu the Military Attache at the Kenya High Commission London welcoming Ghana High Commissioner in the UK into the Jamhuri celebrations.

The stigma of HIV - four places, four people

From India to Kenya, and Tajikistan to Bolivia - the daily difficulties that face people with HIV are often the same no matter what country they live in, and no matter how many thousands of miles they are apart. In Stigma Under the Lens - marking World Aids Day on 1 December - the charity Christian Aid has worked with Magnum Photos, an international co-operative of photographers, to document personal perspectives of the disease. Here, take a glimpse at the lives of four HIV positive people. CLICK HERE FOR VIDEO

Thika Superhighway to be completed by March 2012

The Kenya National Highway Authority has confirmed the new 8-lane superhighway from Thika to Nairobi will be completed along its entire length by March, with Thika's first residential development due to open in July to travel times to central Nairobi that will take less time than from Karen. The Bahati Ridge development will complete its first phase of 72 homes, being 55 Townhouses, 9 Villas and 8 Bungalows, in July 2012. "Thika residents working in the Capital will perhaps take a lot shorter to hit Museum Hill than it will take those from Karen, Lang'ata, Mlolongo, Embakasi and Burururu," said Ms. Clara Ouko, the Kenya National Highway Authority, and Communication Officer. Dr. Alphonce Omondo who has been travelling daily from Thika to work in Nairobi reports that travelling times have already fallen sharply. "The traffic jam has already eased. I had been leaving my house at 5am and even at times arrive late, but I now leave at 5.45 am, yet the highway is not yet done," said Dr. Omondo, who works as a pediatric doctor in one of the leading hospitals in Nairobi. Currently, 80 per cent of Lot 1, which starts at Kenyatta Avenue and runs to Muthaiga has been completed by China Wu Yi Company. Sinohydro Corporation's Lot 2, which starts at Muthaiga with an 8-lane dual carriageway to Kenyatta University, is 92per cent complete. Lot 3 running from Kenyatta University to Thika, and being built by Shengli Engineering Construction Company, has 68 per cent of the construction completed.

All works in the highway will be complete come March 2012 said the highways authority, speeding traffic on East Africa's busiest highway, carrying over 70,000 vehicles a day, with flyovers, under-passes, interchanges, pedestrian grade separators, cross drainage systems and modern street lighting. The completion of the superhighway will save Nairobi drivers an estimated Sh50m a day in fuel consumption, mechanical damage, stress and pollution and the economy more than Sh2bn worth of man-hours annually. For those keen to take advantage of the reduced travelling times, and extra facilities in and around Thika, including ample IGCSE school places compared with the waiting lists in Nairobi, the opening of the town's first residential gated community represents near perfect timing. "Bahati Ridge homes and the newly accessible Thika now opens an opportunity for a quality of lifestyle at only half the initial investment required to access similar homes and lifestyles in the city's existing suburbs," said Gilbert Kibe, the Managing Director of the Bahati Ridge Development Limited. "It is now certain to emerge as a vibrant dormitory town for the city, with developments such as Bahati Ridge opening up the opportunity for clean air, space, peace and easy acess to top-quality schools, hospitals, shopping malls and leisure facilities," he said. Bahati Ridge is building cottages, villas, townhouses and bungalows in a stunning rural setting just 3kms from Blue Post Hotel, on Gatanga Road, off the new Nairobi-Thika Superhighway.

“Njîtagwo Nyawîra, na gwitû nî Laikipia District, Baba etagwo Lord Carberry na mami witû arî Lady onaniî njîtagwo Lady Nyawîra, baba arî na mîgûnda mîngî gûkîra Lord Delamere!” The white lady with a Kenyan flag was caught explaining to Pastor Jane Njiiri that she is a Kenyan from Laikipia and her father a large piece if land. On right is Kenyan Gospel Singer in UK Judy GG posing with the Toast Master at Inter Continental Hotel, London during the Jamhuri celebrations last week.

DO YOU KNOW?: 27 officers has been sacked at the Adhi house since the land saga started

Euro hits new 11-month dollar low

The euro has fallen further against other major currencies as fears continue over the eurozone's future. The euro fell below $1.30 for the first time since 12 January. Against the pound, one euro bought 83.85 pence, while the pound was worth 1.19 euros. Last week, 26 of the 27 members of the European Union backed new fiscal rules, with only the UK abstaining. But many fear that the budget pact will still not be enough to prevent more countries from seeking a bailout. European stock markets were in negative territory on Wednesday. London's FTSE 100 and Frankfurt's Dax were both down about 1% by lunchtime, with the Paris Cac 40 index trading 1.76% lower. In other developments, the costs of borrowing for eurozone countries continued to diverge. Italy's government paid an interest rate of 6.47% to borrow 3bn euros for five years at a bond auction, up from 6.3% last month. At the same time, Germany - whose debt is viewed by markets as the safest place within the eurozone to invest - saw its borrowing costs fall further. At an auction of 5bn euros' worth of two-year bonds, the yield was 0.29%, down from 0.39% last month.

Barclays Bank of Kenya managing director Adan Mohammed (left) and Cooperative Bank managing director Gideon Muriuki before the committee on depreciation of the shilling at County Hall, Nairobi, on December 14, 2011 . Five commercial banks in Kenya were on Wednesday named as among the top players in the industry that manipulated foreign exchange trading leading to the rapid slide of the Kenya shilling against the major currencies. Mr Shakeel Shabbir (Kisumu Town East) alleged that Barclays Bank of Kenya, Equity Bank, Standard Chartered Bank, Family Bank and the KCB Bank Group were behind the speculative acts in the money market, which led to the rapid dip in the value of the shilling in October this year. The MP named the banks under parliamentary privilege during public hearings at the Nairobi’s County Hall. The hearings are conducted by an ad hoc select committee investigating the rapid decline in the value of the shilling. Senior managers from the Barclays, Cooperative, KCB, Equity, and Housing Finance attended the meeting. He said the banks had cornered the market, in their bid to make “super-normal profits” had gone to the Central Bank, borrowed lots of money and bought US dollars, thus putting pressure on the shilling. Mr Shabbir said a form of insider-trading had taken place, and now the cartels in the banking industry had “made their money and disappeared leaving Kenyans with a lot of loans.” “You’re not the only ones, but you’re among them. You’ve been able to manipulate the Central Bank of Kenya, so, you’re now benefitting from the high interest rates while borrowers are suffering,” Mr Shabbir said. – Daily Nation.

SURFING ON A 67FT WAVE

A surfer has been pictured riding one of the biggest recorded waves ever to hit Irish shores.. Jayce Robinson was photographed catching the major Atlantic swell at Mullaghmore Head, which produced waves of up to 67ft. The daredevil dislocated his knee - and his board snapped in half - during his efforts on Tuesday. But Mr Robinson, from St Ives, is no rookie to the surf. He is the former top Association of Surfing Professionals (ASP) European junior - and hits the waves in international surfing competitions as much as possible. The 22-year-old, who has been surfing since he was just seven, told Sky News Online: "It was definitely the biggest barrell I've ever surfed.

The Student Loans Company is contacting some of its customers by telephone amid fears of a fraud attack. The company says it is calling those customers whom it has "identified as being at risk of having their details compromised". The student loan system is facing sustained "phishing" attacks, with 1,400 websites shut down this year. Customers are being told to be "vigilant with their personal details". The company says it cannot confirm whether or not any private details of customers have been hacked - arguing that it does not want to supply any further information which could be useful to fraudsters.

Bahati Ridge is a unique, middle income integrated development in Thika on 90 acres of land. The focus of the development is a holistic, wholesome lifestyle that combines residences, shopping, recreational and office facilities. Bahati Ridge is a flagship project for Kenya. The development is designed to set new standards and will be marketed as a destination address. The master plan, road, water and power networks have all taken into account the expected population in both the residential and commercial facilities of the project. The residential population is expected to be about 2,000 people housed in 337 homes while the commercial population will be roughly 500 people: 200 in the school, 200 in the hospital and 100 staff overall. This gives a total population of about 2,500 people. Vehicle population is expected to be about 700 cars for the residences and 100 cars for the commercial population. Situated in Thika, a mere 45-minute drive from Nairobi’s Central Business District (30 minutes on the soon-to-be completed eight lane super-highway), Bahati Ridge presents an exciting selection of townhouses, villas, bungalows and cottages that feature beautiful hill country views, a tranquil rural ambience and a refreshing escape from city chaos. Discerning homeowners will love this 90-acre integrated gated community and all the benefits of country living. Each residence will be a short five-to-ten minute walk from the common centre. The centre is the hub of community life, and features a supermarket, cafe, salons and restaurants providing a convenient meeting place full of diverse options. For more information visit www.bahatiridge.co.ke – CLICK HERE FOR MAP

The Government has agreed to consider compensation for victims of the recent demolitions in Nairobi but only on a case by case basis. Lands Minister James Orengo while responding to debate on the joint report on the demolitions said only genuine victims will receive some restitution but not equivalent to the value of property demolished or property lost. He however said the compensation will be pegged on availability of resources. Orengo regretted the manner the demolitions were carried out but defended the move to clear the area of structures that pose a security threat. MPs however demanded to know a clear program of compensation with Chief Whip Johnstone Muthama saying victims should know when the compensation will begin. Nominated MP Millie Odhiambo urged the government to root out influential landlords of informal illegal settlements. She claimed some MPs were landlords to property in Kyangombe. Turkana central MP Ekwe Ethuro challenged the Lands minister to take advantage of the committee's recommendations and reform the land sector. Lari MP David Njuguna urged Orengo to embark on a cleanup of his Ministry to shield Kenyans from fraudsters. Mutito MP Kiema Kilonzo said compensation must be expedited arguing that if the country has money to fight the al shabaab it should set aside some funds for compensation. Parliament endorsed the report unanimously.

Meanwhile Prime Minister Raila Odinga was on Wednesday exonerated from claims that he owns land in the controversial Syokimau area. Finance Assistant Minister Oburu Odinga admitted that the Prime minister was one of the directors of the company alleged to own land in Syokimau in 2001 but resigned in 2003. He accused Water Assistant Minister Ferdinand Waititu of dragging the Prime minister in the demolition saga in a scheme aimed at maligning him. He spoke even as Lands Minister James Orengo promised to release the names of influential personalities owning land in Syokimau and other areas that were not ready for alienation. Orengo hinted that most of the names include top government officials and some Members of Parliament own land adjacent to the Jomo Kenyatta International airport. Gwassi MP John Mbadi demanded to know the connection between the Prime minister owning land and the demolitions also seeking to know whether the land alleged to be owned by the PM is at the same site where the demolitions took place. Lands Minister Orengo undertook to respond to the issue comprehensively when he responds to the motion by the joint committee probing the recent demolitions in Nairobi. Orengo was issuing the statement to clarify on documents tabled in parliament yesterday during debate on the committees report.

Orengo said while documents tabled by Assistant Minister Wavinya Ndeti were genuine, her allegations that they were two separate titles for the same land was erroneous. Orengo also clarified that most of the informal settlements demolished although not within the flight path did not conform to the civil aviation act and were a threat to security. He informed Parliament that his Ministry has finalized drafting an eviction bill which will guide demolitions. He however said in future all demolitions will be carried out within the law, urging the internal security docket to coordinate demolition efforts to ensure it is carried out in a humane way. Parliament is yet to fully adopt the report of the joint committees probing the recent demolitions in Syokimau, Maasai village, eastleigh, Mitumba estates carried out in the city recently. The report recommends compensation to victims of the demolitions, an audit by government within 90 days of all public land grabbed, an audit of land occupied by security installations, it gives the government 90 days to establish the national land commission and the same time to adopt the Ndungu land report on public land among many other recommendations.

Kenyans can now breathe a sigh of relief following a downward revision of fuel products by the Energy Regulatory Commission(ERC). ERC has revised petrol prices in Nairobi by 5.07 shillings, diesel by Sh3.33 while kerosene will also trade 4.13 cheaper. This means that petrol will retail at Sh110.97 per litre in Nairobi while diesel will sell at 119.06 shillings per litre and kerosene will trade at 90.74. The drop is largely attributed to the strengthening shilling which average at 93.64 in the Month of November. In a statement the ERC said“Taking into account the costs of imported products and products refined locally, the overall result is that the maximum allowed price of super petrol in Nairobi decreases by Sh5.07 per litre.” Wednesdays' fuel price decrease by the ERC was received by Kenyans with more optimism that the prices will continue decreasing especially in this holiday season. The recovery of the shilling which has surged up by 8.2% since the last review to settle at 93.64 compared to 101.96 was enough to impact on the prices. Petrol will thus sell at Kshs.119.06 in Nairobi, Kshs.115.79 in Mombasa and Kshs.120.79 in Kisumu. Diesel will also trade cheapest in Mombasa selling at kshs.107.72, in Nairobi it will sell at 110.97, and 112.93 in Kisumu. The reduction in cost of especially diesel and petrol is expected to bring down transport cost especially in this holiday season. A decrease in diesel prices following its overutilization in industries is also expected to have a bearing on other commodity prices and an overall impact in stemming the rising inflation. Just last month's increment fuelled inflation to a new high of 19.72%. The reduction in cost is also expected to have an impact on electricity prices compounded by the heavy rainfall that is expected to improve water levels in dams heavily relied on for hydroelectricity which constitute about 60% of Kenya's overall energy requirements. Kerosene another important fuel especially for domestic use is also expected to improve people's income leaving the poor in society with more savings even after lighting and cooking.

Justice team rejects nominees to graft body

In the first successful assignment by the hitherto wrangle ridden justice committee, members have vetted the nominees to head the ethics and anti corruption commission and submitted the report to parliament after 8 months of bickering. Committee Vice Chair Njoroge Baiya tabled the report that rejected the nominees explaining that though all of them possess exemplary academic credentials, they lacked the passion to fight graft. The committee is urging Parliament to reject the nominees which could further undermine the fight against graft. Mumo Matemu had been nominated as Chair while Professor Jane Onsongo was to deputize him and Irene Keino was nominated as commissioner.

Unemployment reached a 17-year high today after another 128,000 joined the jobless ranks, taking the total to 2.64 million. A series of grim figures delivered a pre-Christmas blow to the Government, with youth and female unemployment showing big rises and the number of people claiming jobseeker's allowance increasing for the ninth month in a row. Travel giant Thomas Cook added to the gloom by announcing more than 600 job losses and 115 shop closures. Employment fell by 63,000 in the quarter to October to 29.11 million, while the number of people working in the public sector dipped below six million for the first time since 2003. The unemployment rate is now 8.3%, up 0.4% on the quarter - the highest since 1996 - while the jobless total is now worse than at any time since 1994. Unemployment among 16 to 24-year-olds increased by 54,000 to 1.03 million, the highest since records began in 1992.

The Office for National Statistics also reported that women's unemployment increased by 45,000 to 1.1 million, the highest figure since 1988. The number of people out of work for longer than a year rose by 19,000 in the latest quarter to 868,000, the worst figure since 1996. Jobseeker's allowance claimants increased by 3,000 last month to 1.6 million, the ninth consecutive monthly rise and the highest total since the start of 2010. The number of job vacancies fell by 8,000 to 455,000, while 161,000 people were made redundant in the three months to October, down by 1,000 on the previous quarter. The number of economically-inactive people, including students, those on long-term sick leave, looking after a relative, or who have given up looking for a job, fell by 54,000 to 9.33 million. Public sector employment fell by 67,000 in the third quarter of the year to 5.9 million, including 59,000 in local government and 9,000 in the civil service.

Thomas Cook has said it will close 200 UK stores over the next two years as part of its UK business turnaround plan - 125 more than previously announced. Staff at 115 of the affected stores are expected to be informed of their fate on Wednesday with the loss of 661 jobs. News of the closures came as the travel firm reported a £398m ($616m) loss for the year to the end of September. The world's oldest travel agency has been looking to cut its debts to restore the confidence of investors. In November, it secured £200m of new financing, just days after seeing its shares plunge 75% in one day. Its lenders, including Barclays, HSBC, RBS and UniCredit, agreed to provide the new facility until 30 April 2013.

The government will now be forced to compensate victims of the recent demolitions in Nairobi after parliament unanimously endorsed the report of the joint committee probing the recent demolitions in parts of Nairobi. MPs said the Ministry of Lands should shoulder the blame for fraudulent land deals arguing that it was not the responsibility of individuals to determine the authenticity of documents. They blamed the government for failing to advise victims of the demolitions especially those in Syokimau when they had just began constructing instead of waiting for completion to demolish. They demanded that the Lands Minister James Orengo cleans up his ministry to weed out corrupt officers. Assistant minister Kabando wa Kabando challenged Orengo to spearhead reforms in his ministry to protect Kenyans from such land scams. Eldama Ravine MP Moses Lessonet questioned how the approved allocation by parliament for the computerization of land transactions went. Mathira MP Ephraim Maina criticized the government for targeting the poor in the evictions questioning why the huge buildings on Mombasa road built on road reserve have not been demolished as the government rushes to target the marginalized. Embakasi MP Ferdinand Waititu again implicated the Prime minister Raila Odinga and Assistant Finance Minister Dr Oburu Odinga of being behind the demolitions. He tabled documents which he claimed were the results of a search that shows that the two own huge tracts of land through a company named New Point claiming they instigated the demolitions. But nominated MP Millie Odhiambo demanded evidence linking the Prime minister to the demolitions insisting that owning land does not amount to instigating the evictions. Waititu however insisted that his information was factual. Orengo expressed concern over the allegations saying the land cited by Waititu was not within the area discussed in the report.

He said the motion should not be used to malign others without tangible and verifiable proof. Orengo said Waititu should have tabled the documents with the speaker before issuing the allegations which he described as name calling. Orengo warned Waititu over the path he had taken saying he should be the last person to talk of land fraud in the country. Internal Security assistant minister Orwa Ojode also demanded evidence from Waititu how the company associated with the Prime Minister initiated the demolitions and whether it was criminal for the Prime minister to own land in the country. Waititu claimed that the land owned by the Prime minister through his company is at KPA an area where the demolitions took place. He claimed senior people were behind the demolitions because the properties affected were outside the flight path. Waititu said only a senior person in the country could have instigated the demolitions. Kabando accused Orengo of attempting to shield the PM.

He claimed that the PMwas not beyond reproach accusing Orengo of attempting to subjugate debate. Tempers flared with MPs raising points of orders following Kabando's statement. Temporary speaker Dr Joyce Laboso was forced to intervene directing MPs to conduct themselves with some decorum. It was an issue that saw party rivalry revived with MPs allied to PNU rising to support Waititu while those allied to ODM demanding evidence linking the PM to the demolitions. Nominated MP Millie Odhiambo claimed parliament has been turned into a theatre of the absurd accusing Waititu of being a landlord at Kya'ngombe. She claimed that soon MPs will begin blaming the Prime Minister for everything including a bad marriage or for siring a white child. Waititu however could not provide evident linking the Prime Minister to the evictions only claiming the selective way it was carried out point out to a superior person being behind it. Other contributions saw MPs support the report and its recommendations. The report seeks to have the government compensate victims of the demolitions, resettle those evicted from Eastleigh airbase, audit all public land, establish a national land commission within 90 days in addition to adopt the Ndungu land report on public land, enact an eviction law among other recommendations.

2 Corinthians 4:16 explains: "Therefore we do not lose heart. Though outwardly we are wasting away, yet inwardly we are being renewed day by day." Paul writes: ‘….Though our outward man is perishing, yet the inward man is being renewed day by day' (2 Corinthians 4:16 NKJV). There's an outer you; your body, reputation and persona. And there is an inner you; your character, spirit and soul. The outer you is what everybody sees, the inner you is invisible. The outer you can be coerced by other people or forces, the inner you is always free to choose. The outer you is temporary, the inner you is eternal. Like it or not, the outer you is 'perishing.' From age twenty-five, bones begin to lose calcium and get brittle, skin begins to lose elasticity and shrivel, and age spots begin to multiply. If you're over thirty, you lose thousands of brain cells every day. Weight starts shifting from the poles of your body toward the equator. And everyone in your life who's over thirty wants you to know they understand. They love you, but frankly, they're looking forward to it. You can fight it, but you won't win. You can lavish time and money on the outer you: exercise it, starve it, Botox it, stretch it, lift it, tuck it, tan it and dress it up in John Lewis, yet the truth is, '...all are from the dust, and all return to dust' (Ecclesiastes 3:20 NKJV). But here's what's important: You will never cease to exist. Your spirit, the inner you, is in the process of becoming something either unbelievably good or unimaginably dark. That something is the main thing God sees when He looks at you. It's what matters most to Him. So work on the inner you!

I take this opportunity to invite you in our pray Conference Prayer every Morning from 6.00-7.00a.m. call this local number in UK Tel 02030042084 pin No.67299# and you will be able to join us for prayers. It is a free number with landline in UK.

The amount of cash stashed at the European Central Bank overnight by nervy banks reached an 18-month high of €346 billion (£293 billion) today, in a fresh sign of the continuing strains on the eurozone's struggling financial institutions. The cash pumped into the ECB's overnight deposit facility - despite the low 0.5% interest rate paid on the funds until tomorrow - added to the mounting evidence of a credit crunch among European banks choosing to hoard funds rather than lend. ING Bank analyst Martin Van Vliet said: "This reflects the strains on the interbank market at the moment - there's been a strong upward trend in the amounts that some banks are depositing with the ECB." Europe's sovereign debt crisis has seen scores of banks shut out of money markets, forcing them to turn to the ECB to help. The central bank's figures revealed that 197 European banks borrowed a total of €292 billion from the ECB today - the highest amount since June 2009. The figures come amid reports of talks over another bailout for Commerzbank, Germany's second-biggest bank.

Kenya Gospel Musician from Nottingham UK Rachel Njeri (white) was among the Gospel Singers at State House to Mark the 48th Jamhuri Day celebrations. Seen above greeting President Kibaki before joining hands together with Loise Kim (cream far right) and Peninah Wanjiku (red) where they made an excellent performance.