Iko Nini Bwana Seed?
WHAT UK NEWSPAPERS SAY - EXCHANGE RATE AGAINST THE POUND TODAY IS KSHS. 109.67
Two teenagers have been accused of pimping out fellow schoolgirls in an underground prostitution ring. Tatiana Tye and Jazmine Finley allegedly rented a flat and forced at least five girls, aged from 14 to 17, to undergo child sex abuse for profit. The pair, from Maricopa Country in Arizona, were also said to be working as prostitutes themselves. Police are treating the girls - both aged 16 - as adult suspects and have charged them with multiple counts of child prostitution, pandering and receiving the earnings of a prostitute. Phoenix police spokesman Sergeant Andy Hill said: "We have a situation of two girls, 16 years old, who are, in essence, pimps. "I think we were all surprised at, you know, were these 16-year-old girls that were arrested, were they running this business? And the answer is yes, they were. "But Tye, who has been interviewed from her cell awaiting trial, has denied the charges. She told local news channel KPHO: "I would never ever call myself a pimp or a madam. "I can't believe it's happening like this. "She also denied recruiting other girls. Phoenix police said they began an investigation last September after receiving information about child prostitution. They added that more arrests were possible.
Nairobi, Thursday 26th February, 2009. UN special rapporteur on extra judicial killings Professor Phillip Alston has described as systematic, widespread and carefully planned police killings in the country. Releasing a preliminary report on arbitrary killings, Prof Alston proposed an overhaul at the state law office and the dismissal of the top police hierarchy. Prof Alston was in the country for a ten-day fact finding mission under the invitation of the government to look into allegations of alleged extra judicial killings in the country. But in one of the harshest indictment of the country's security and justice systems yet, Alston recommended sweeping changes including the resignation of Attorney General Amos Wako for failing to prosecute offenders. "I have received detailed and convincing reports of countless individual killings," Alston said. "It is clear from the many interviews that I conducted that the police are free to kill at will. Sometimes they do so for reasons of a private or personal nature," he said. He said to end impunity an independent department of public prosecutions should be created alongside an independent witness protection programme.
He accused the police force of denying blatant evidence of police executions and called for the formation of an external police oversight body to investigate and institute prosecutions against officers responsible for human rights abuses. He described as fundamental misconception by the police force that allegations of human rights abuses by its members should only be investigated if they meet standards that can secure a conviction in a court of law. Alston investigated political violence last year in which 1,500 people died and 300,000 were forced to flee their homes following a disputed presidential election in December 2007. He also probed the alleged police killings of members of the outlawed Mungiki sect over the past two years and also alleged killings of civilians during a security operation to flush out members of the Sabaot Land Defense Force in Mount Elgon. In his recommendations, Alston said the government should institute an independent commission modeled on the Waki Commission to try uniformed officers responsible for human rights violations in Mt. Elgon. With respect to the accountability of the post election violence, he called for the establishment of a special tribunal to complement the international criminal court. During his tour, Alston visited Nairobi, Central, Rift Valley, Western and Nyanza provinces conducting private interviews with more than one hundred victims and witnesses. On Monday Prof Alston met the Prime Minister Raila Odinga where he expressed confidence that his report on extra-judicial killings in Kenya will form the basis upon which the Government can act to end the killings in the country. "I expect the government to take the report seriously and implement its recommendations once I present it to them," he said.
It's a lovely day in Qingyuan, in China's Guangdong province. The birds are singing in the trees; in the distance, the Bei river flows gently on; and along the streets echoes the unmistakable sound of an ox pulling a cart with two gigantic fake breasts on it. The vast, ball-shaped breasts were made by Chinese artist Shu Yong, and shown during a local arts show in Qingyuan. The sculpture was previously featured in an exhibit in Beijing that aimed to increase appreciation for natural curves in a country where plastic surgery is booming.
Kenya Power and Lighting Company (KPLC) pre-tax profit rose by 49 per cent in the six months ending December last year. The figure rose to Sh2.19 billion compared to Sh1.47 billion made during a corresponding period in 2007. The company attributed the performance to increased sales and a jump in tariffs during the period under review."We should be able to replicate that performance in the second half of the year, maybe with slight variations," Chief Executive Joseph Njoroge said. Reduction in the amount of energy produced by the hydro power plants and the consequent increased power generation from fuel based power plants saw significant increase in power purchase costs, which stood at Sh27.38 billion and accounted for close to 80 per cent of the company’s operating costs. Energy units purchased from fuel based plants rose by 140 per cent to Sh18 billion from Sh7.5 billion. International oil prices remained high during the June to December period, a factor Njoroge said contributed to the significant increase in fuel costs, which are a pass through component and do not constitute an income to the company. Speaking yesterday while announcing the half year results in Nairobi, Njoroge said the company had connected 98,252 new customers in the first half compared with 69,052 in the same period of the previous year. This translates to connecting an additional 200,000 new users to the system every year, a target the company said it would achieve given the high demand for power. "Despite the ongoing economic challenges both locally and internationally, the demand for electricity is growing and we will pursue strategies for expanding our customer base," he said, adding that KPLC would invest more in technology. Last week, the company announced plans to shift from the current meter system to pre-paid meters over the next five years. "In addition to this, we are in the process of connecting our large power customers to automatic meter reading, which will enable us to read their meters remotely from our offices," said Njoroge. Through the Energy Sector Recovery Project, KPLC is also implementing major projects to boost its capacity. - The Standard.
  
LEFT: British troops in Afghanistan are being killed by Muslim fanatics from the UK who have joined forces with the Taliban, says The Express. CENTRE: A revolution in financial regulation has been promised by the City watchdog as he outlined a series of tougher rules for banks and hedge funds, reports the FT. RIGHT: Alistair Darling is to give guarantees worth £600bn against toxic assets in a bid to tackle the credit crunch, says The Times.
An estimated 25,000 London temp jobs will be scrapped within months because of a new "tax on work", employers have warned.The impact could be so severe that City office temps, already being drastically cut back, will virtually cease to exist by the spring. But public bodies that are highly dependent on contract workers, including charities and hospitals, will also face crippling increases in costs. The proposed change means that from 1 April, all employers will have to pay 15 per cent VAT on the entire cost of hiring temps, including their pay.
Lorry driver held over fatal stabbing
A lorry driver has been arrested on suspicion of murder after a man died of stab wounds.Police were called to the M6 motorway near Birmingham earlier after three people were found with serious stab injuries. One man, aged 36, died from his injuries and two others, one aged 15, remain in a critical condition in hospital. Warwickshire Police said the 41-year-old lorry driver alleged he was attacked during an attempted robbery on his vehicle in an industrial estate in Coleshill, Warwickshire, in the early hours. The junction 7 exit slip road of the M6 has been closed northbound while inquiries take place. Anyone with information is asked to contact West Midlands Police on 0845 113 5000 or call Crimestoppers anonymously on 0800 555 111.
Bamburi Cement said on Thursday that it's 2008 pretax profit fell by 11 percent, citing post-election violence that hit the economy at the start of the year and the global slowdown. Profit fell to Sh4.8 billion ($60.30 million) compared with Sh5.4 billion in 2007, Bamburi, which is is majority owned by France's Lafarge said. "Last year could have been better, but it was good," Chairman Richard Kemoli told a news conference in Nairobi. Bamburi also blamed high energy costs and a one-off provision of Sh1 billion to cover losses after a fire in late 2007 closed its main plant in Mombasa for six months. Rival East African Portland Cement posted a Sh489 million loss for its first half ended December, mainly due to a strong Japanese currency that affected repayments of yen denominated debt.
 
A warder nabbed ferrying contraband cigarettes to inmates removes them from under his sweater. Prison warders are being search by their colleagues in prisons as they are suspected to be taking goods to the prisoners. The search is conducted at the main prison gate. But from the looks on the warders’ faces, this is a humiliating exercise that gets worse when an inmate passes by. "Unachungulia nini? Toka hapo mara moja!" (What are you looking at? Get lost!), screams a warder who is only wearing one shoe. In the room, several warders queue ready for the search. It was introduced a week ago to counter those bringing in contraband to the inmates. - MORE
Our 10-point delivery plan in UK
Home Office, 24 February 2009
The UK Border Agency has announced 10 wide-ranging pledges for 2009, which will help ensure that it meets its ongoing commitment to further strengthen the border, count people in and out of the country and target criminals.
Building on work already being done by the Agency to strengthen the United Kingdom's immigration controls, the pledges are as follows:
Located near Gatwick in south-east England, Brook House will have the capacity to hold more than 420 immigrants found to be not playing by the rules. It will help to deliver the Government's pledge to remove more foreign national prisoners this year than ever before.
2. April 2009 - Use our points-based system to ensure that migration matches the country's needs in hard times.
The Home Secretary announced changes to the entry requirements for highly skilled and skilled migrants on 22 February.
3. April 2009 - Start charging migrants to create a multimillion-pound fund to reduce the impacts of migration on local services.
The Migration Impact Fund is being set up in response to the Government's Green Paper The path to citizenship, published in February 2008, which said that migrants should contribute "to a new fund for managing the transitional impacts of migration, providing extra financial help to communities experiencing change from migration".
4. April 2009 - Introduce new technology to help detect drugs and other illegal goods.
Since April 2008, technology used in customs checks at ports has contributed to the seizure of illegal drugs worth over £260 million.
5. May 2009 - Be tougher on European criminals, removing European nationals who cause harm to our communities.
At present, criminals from countries in Europe are not considered for deportation unless they have been sentenced to at least 24 months in jail. This threshold will be reduced to just 12 months - bringing these criminals in line with those from outside Europe - in cases involving drugs, violent or sexual offences. There are also plans to target and deport low-level, persistent foreign offenders who cause harm in their communities but have not been given a prison sentence - for example, those who have continued to offend while on community service.
6. July 2009 - Start tough new visa controls, which will cover five countries.
Nationals of Bolivia, Lesotho, South Africa, Swaziland and Venezuela will need a visa whenever they travel to the United Kingdom.
7. August 2009 - Have completed delivery of new facial recognition technology in 10 terminals, giving British passengers a faster, secure route through the border.
The first facial recognition gates at a British airport were installed at Manchester Airport last August.
8. November 2009 - Issue 75,000 compulsory identity cards to foreign nationals.
Identity cards were introduced in November 2008 for some categories of foreign national living in the United Kingdom, and the programme was expanded to include more categories in February 2009.
10. December 2009 - Deport a record number of foreign prisoners.
In 2008, more than 5,000 foreign national prisoners were removed from the United Kingdom.
Kenya Parliament on Tuesday (24/02/09) evening adjourned but on a disappointing note after failing to pass two crucial bills despite resuming from the December recess to attend to a critical legislative business
Nairobi, Wednesday 25th February, 2009. Kenya’s lack of confidence in the Government should serve as a wake up call to President Kibaki and Prime Minister Raila Odinga, US envoy Michael Ranneberger has said. The envoy said the Steadman opinion poll released on Monday indicated Kenyans yearned for change. "The leaders need to take Kenyans seriously. Kenyans want to see fundamental change. They want to see reform agenda move ahead and see corruption being tackled," Ranneberger said. He expressed disappointment over the Government’s lack of zeal to fight corruption, saying: "It is also disappointing that the Government has not yet set up the interim electoral commission and special tribunal that is credible and acceptable to all Kenyans". Ranneberger , however, said he was hopeful the Coalition Government would heed the voice of the people and move faster in reform agenda including tackling corruption. He was speaking at Serena Hotel, Nairobi, after the launch of the Gallup World Poll in sub-Sahara Africa. Elsewhere, Justice Minister Martha Karua asked clergy and the public to keep the Coalition Government on its toes. Karua yesterday said while criticism on the Government may cause irritation and discomfort, it is a necessary part of a democratic society. "Criticisms can be irritating, but later when one thinks about it, you appreciate the value in reviewing your performance. Citizens of this country are entitled to express their displeasure," Karua said. - The Standard.
Lack of confidence in the Government should serve as a wake up call to
President Kibaki and Prime Minister Raila Odinga says US envoy
Ex-UN Secretary General Kofi Annan would hand a sealed envelope holding the
names of 10 top suspects to the Hague-based ICC when a 1 March deadline passes.
Ex-UN Secretary General Kofi Annan has warned Kenya not to delay any longer in setting up a special tribunal to try ringleaders of post-election violence. In letters to Kenya's president and PM, he warned the hold-up could jeopardise Kenya's stability and prosperity. Mr Annan said he would refer the matter to the International Criminal Court (ICC), as planned, if the court was not established within a reasonable time. Kenya's parliament failed to establish the tribunal on 12 February. Mr Annan brokered the deal which set up a power-sharing government in February 2008, ending the violence. In his letter, he said the ongoing failure to set up the court would "constitute a major setback in the fight against impunity and may threaten the whole reform agenda in Kenya". Some 1,500 people were killed and more than 300,000 others fled their homes amid the ethnic violence that erupted after elections in December 2007. Correspondents say the issue of finding justice for the killings has begun to strain the national unity government set up last year to end Kenya's worst bloodletting since independence from Britain in 1963. President Mwai Kibaki and Prime Minister Raila Odinga, who opposed each other in the elections, have so far failed to push the establishment of a special tribunal through parliament. Under the terms of a government-accepted inquiry, Mr Annan would hand a sealed envelope holding the names of 10 top suspects to the Hague-based ICC when a 1 March deadline passes. A number of MPs oppose the bill because they say the government cannot be trusted to try the ringleaders of the violence and argue that those implicated in the violence should be tried at The Hague. Correspondents say many Kenyans are unhappy at the government's lack of progress, and allegations of multi-million dollar graft scandals in the maize and oil sectors have added to the frustration.
The first camera-trap photographs of the critically endangered Northwest African, or Saharan cheetah, have been obtained in an experiment in Algeria. The images were captured as part of a project run by the Zoological Society of London (ZSL) and Office du Parc National de l'Ahaggar (OPNA). The animal is known with certainty to range in six countries: Algeria, Togo, Niger, Mali, Benin, and Burkina Faso. But the total population may be fewer than 250 mature individuals. The pictures come from a systematic camera-trap survey across the central Sahara. It managed to identify four different Saharan cheetahs using spot patterns unique to each animal.
Mr. David Njoroge Gitata of Durham North Carolina, USA, Eliservanson Ngae Gitata of Lakewood (Seattle, USA) has lost their mother back in Kenya the late Milka Wanjiku Gitata at St. Mary's Catholic Hospital, Gilgil, Kenya. Wife of late Elijohn Gitata Mbothu of Ndimu, Elburgon, Nakuru, Kenya. She is mother to David Njoroge Gitata of Durham North Carolina, USA, Eliservanson Ngae Gitata of Lakewood (Seattle, USA) among others. She is to sister Auguston Ngugi Karuga of London, UK and formerly of Lakewood, USA and Duncan Mwathi Karuga of Nairobi, Kenya among others. Family and friends are meeting in Ndimu, Elburgon, Kenya. The burial takes place on Tuesday 3rd March, 2009 at Ndimu, Elburgon, Kenya after a service at PCEA Mikeu, Elburgon. For further information in UK please contact Augustine Ngugi Karuga on 07506780538, in the USA contact David Njoroge Gitata on 9192109313, Evans Ngae Gitata on 2536780482. In Kenya you can contact Duncan Mwathi Karuga on 0720702111 or Mwaura wa Muthoni Tel: 0202394067.
The factory where nuts are treated like poison
One factory, two very separate zones: Kinnerton's production plant. A man accused of sabotaging a food factory by scattering it with peanuts has walked free after charges against him were dropped. But the case highlights the threat this humble ingredient poses for those in the industry. Pick up a random product from a supermarket shelf and there is a reasonable chance it will display the warning "May contain nuts". Some consumer groups say the label is over-used and unnecessary, undermining more valid warnings and designed to cover the backs of the manufacturers. But food producers disagree, arguing it is irresponsible not to warn people who may have extreme reactions.
The author of the Kenya book of Records Mr. Kondia Mwaniki Wachira will be on Ben TV today (25/02/09) Channel 184 as from 13.30 to 14.30 p.m. He will be talking about Kenya Book of Records
Immigration and asylum statistics released
Home Office, 24 February 2009
Quarterly statistics covering immigration and asylum, and reports of migration from Eastern Europe were published by the Home Office today. Work applications from the eight accession countries have fallen to their lowest level since they joined the European Union (EU) in 2004, according to the latest Accession Monitoring Report. In the three months to December last year, there were 29,000 applications from workers from Poland, Lithuania, Latvia, Hungary, Slovakia, Slovenia, Estonia and the Czech Republic - down from 53,000 in the same period in 2007. The decrease is mainly explained by a drop in approved Polish applicants, which fell to 16,000 in the last quarter of 2008 from 36,000 in the same period in 2007. The statistics also show that the majority of workers coming from the A8 countries in 2008 were young - 78 per cent were aged between 18 and 34 - and only 11 per cent stated they had dependants living with them in the United Kingdom when they registered. Of those registered in 2008, 86 per cent were working for more than 35 hours per week. Although applications for jobseekers allowance from A8 nationals rose in the last quarter of 2008, of the 2,540 who made applications only 832 were put forward for further consideration. The Bulgarian and Romanian Accession Statistics show that applications from these two countries have also fallen. There were 920 applications for accession worker cards and 6,990 applications for registration certificates in the last quarter of 2008. For the same period in 2007 the figures were 1,260 and 8,845 respectively.
Border and Immigration Minister Phil Woolas said:
"The number of Eastern Europeans coming here to work is dramatically falling and research suggests that many of those that came have now gone home. Nevertheless, the Government is doing everything it can to ensure migration is working for the British labour market and the country as a whole. "We have already demonstrated the flexibility of the points system through the suspension of the low-skilled worker tier and our plans to toughen up the existing resident labour market test for employers. This will ensure that during these economic times, when people are losing jobs, people already here have the first crack of the whip at getting work." The control of immigration statistics for the last quarter of 2008 show that asylum applications have fallen by two per cent - down from 6,870 between October and December 2007 to 6,735 in the same period for 2008. The number of initial decisions to refuse or grant asylum was three per cent up, with 4,720 decisions being made in the last quarter of 2008 compared to 4,570 in the same period in 2007. Between October and December 2008 16,525 people were removed or departed voluntarily from the United Kingdom. This includes 2,570 failed asylum seekers and their dependants and 13,950 non asylum cases. This is a two per cent fall from the same period the previous year. A yearly comparison shows that overall removals and voluntary departures are five per cent up - increasing from 63,365 in 2007 to 66,275 in 2008. There was a fall of 15 per cent to 11,640 for those leaving who had claimed asylum (including dependants) but an increase of ten per cent to 54,635 for non-asylum cases in 2008.
Mr Woolas said:
"We are coming down hard on those who seek to abuse the system. Our tough new force at the border last year stopped over 28,000 individual attempts to cross the Channel illegally, while our asylum caseworkers are on track to conclude 90 per cent of new asylum cases within six months by 2011. "Our ability to return those who have no right to be here depends on detaining them and successfully repatriating them. That is why we will continue to work closely with the police, increase our detention capacity by 420 beds this year, and secure further agreements with key countries to take their nationals back." Today's control of immigration statistics also confirm that the UK Border Agency met its target to remove more than 5,000 foreign national prisoners in 2008. For the first time the quarterly control of immigration statistics includes a figure for the number of foreign prisoners removed - showing that 5,395 criminals were sent home last year.
Mr Woolas said:
"By exceeding the tough target of removing 5,000 foreign lawbreakers from the UK last year we have made it clear that Britain will not tolerate those that come here and break our rules. "There is no place in Britain for those that continue to abuse our trust. We now consider for deportation all non-EEA foreign nationals who go to prison for serious drug and gun offences no matter what the length of sentence." The control of immigration statistics also confirm that the UK Border Agency has met a key milestone in concluding 60 per cent of new asylum cases within six months by the end of 2008.
Cry, my beloved, mourning country
NAIROBI, Kenya, February 2009 - Kenya has indeed become a mourning country. That is now a well known fact. What has not come out clearly is that we have two sets of mourners. The first set involves ordinary Kenyans who have limited options for implementing remedies to the myriad of problems that afflict the nation. They, alas, squandered their chances during the elections by voting in leaders based on euphoria of phantom change and the lure of monetary inducements. Having lost their golden chance then, all they can do now is to mourn about anything and everything, from the failure to pay tax by the ladies and gentlemen they voted for barely 14 months ago to the melee of corrupt scandals that are unfolding with reckless abandon. Short of the recall clause in the constitution, the first set of mourning Kenyans have to wait for 2012 to spill blood and demonstrate their displeasure.
Proposed fee levels for immigration and nationality services in 2009/10
Home Office, 23 February 2009
The Government has today announced its proposed fee levels for all visa, immigration and nationality applications and services in 2009/10.
The revenue from these fees will enable the UK Border Agency to continue providing a world-class immigration service while reducing the burden on United Kingdom taxpayers.
The Government is currently delivering the biggest shake-up of the immigration system for 45 years, including:
- fingerprint checks before people come to the United Kingdom;
- a strong new force at the border;
- counting people in and out of the United Kingdom; and
- introducing identity cards for foreign nationals.
These important improvements cost money to deliver, and the Government's policy is that United Kingdom taxpayers should not bear the full cost of them.
In 2009/10 the UK Border Agency plans to spend over £2.2 billion on securing our border and managing the immigration system. Approximately 30% of this spending will be recovered through fees from applications and the services we offer. This will allow the UK to continue reaping the benefits of migration while also preventing abuse of the system.
Fees for visa, immigration and nationality services are reviewed regularly, with changes made when necessary. In setting the fees for 2009/10, the Government has continued to take into account the United Kingdom's international competitiveness at a challenging time for the global economy. Written Ministerial Statement - Charging for immigration and nationality services 2009/10
- Written Ministerial Statement - Charging for immigration and nationality services 2009/10 (335K opens in a new window)
Bush declines hardware store job
George W Bush has paid a jokey visit to a hardware store in Dallas, Texas, which offered him a job as a greeter. The former US president entered the Elliott's outlet with his security detail saying "I'm looking for a job", store manager Andrea Bond said. The owner of the Texas chain made the offer earlier this month in a letter published in a Dallas newspaper.
US Troops Will Quit Iraq By August 2010. President Barack Obama will withdraw most of America's troops from Iraq by August 2010, officials said Tuesday night. The withdrawal plan would fulfil one of President Obama's central campaign pledges. The officials, who spoke on condition of anonymity, said they expect the president to make the announcement this week. The US military will leave behind a residual force, between 30,000 and 50,000 troops, to continue advising and training Iraqi security forces.
Rise in foreign born UK residents
The number of people born overseas and resident in the UK rose to 6.5 million in the year to June 2008, says the Office for National Statistics (ONS). That figure was an increase of 290,000 on the 12 months to June 2007. Some 720,000 National Insurance numbers were issued to foreign nationals in the year to September 2008, new official figures also show. That is 7% down on the previous year - with a 21% fall for people from east Europe and other new EU states. The Annual Population Survey showed 4.1 million foreign nationals resident in the UK in the year to June 2008, compared with 3.8 million in the year to June 2007. But the number of short-term migrants entering England and Wales for employment or study purposes for stays of between one and 12 months fell to 374,000 in the year to mid-2007, a 13% decrease from the mid-2006 estimate. Asylum applications were 10% higher in 2008 at 25,670 but there was a 5% increase in removals and voluntary departures compared to 2007, with 66,275 leaving the UK that way. But the figures show a 2% reduction in applications in the fourth quarter of 2008.
The number of people granted settlement rights in the United Kingdom, excluding EU nationals, was 145,965, an increase of 17% on the previous year. This was largely down to an increase in the number of people granted settlement because of their job, which returned to 2005 levels. On Sunday Home Secretary Jacqui Smith said she was "raising the bar" for non-EU workers seeking skilled jobs. Immigrants should not be able to take them unless they had been advertised to British workers first, she told the BBC. Non-EU workers have to go through a points-based system to seek work but most EU citizens face no restrictions. Ms Smith told BBC One's Andrew Marr Show that it was right the government made sure that the points-based system was "responding to the current economic circumstances". "I'm proposing, for example, that it shouldn't be possible for somebody to come into this country to take a skilled job unless that job has been advertised to a British worker through Jobcentre Plus." From April, non-EU workers wanting to come to Britain without securing a job beforehand must have a master's degree - rather than a bachelor's degree, as currently - and a previous salary equivalent to at least £20,000. The Conservatives say the government is only tinkering at the edges of the problem and say a cap on immigrants from outside the EU is needed.
The proportion of overseas-born people living in Britain has risen to more than one in 10 after the number of foreign residents increased by 300,000 last year, it was revealed
A journalist attached to Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad’s entourage is shoved by Kenyan security officers on arrival at the Jomo Kenyatta International Airport Nairobi on Tuesday. The colourful arrival of Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad in a culmination of President Kibaki’s efforts to court new friends in the East was tainted by the manhandling of Iranian journalists who accompanied their leader, by his host’s security men on Tuesday. Pleas by the head of the Iranian Presidential Press and other officials to allow the journalists do their work, fell on deaf ears as the local security personnel kept shoving and pushing the journalists in an embarrassing display of lack of courtesy.
 
Local journalists had been herded in a corner about 50 metres away from the leaders and had earlier been given a stern warning not to move and at one point they had to shout at the security team which had totally blocked them from taking pictures of the leaders. President Ahmadinejad arrived in a presidential jet at around 5 pm accompanied by one of his vice presidents, the Foreign Minister Manoochehr Motaky and a delegation of nearly 100 officials and business people. For the Iranian leader, who has a frosty relationship with the US and major European powers, his visit to Kenya is seen as a mission to strengthen ties with some African countries. Last evening, President Ahmadinejad and his team held bilateral talks with his host before a state banquet. Turkish President Abdullah Gul’s visit last week also signals the extent of the Kibaki government’s foray into the East and new foreign policy thinking. - Daily Nation.
Kenyan govt to reclaim Migingo Island
Prime Minister Raila Odinga says the Kenyan government will reclaim Migingo Island and other Islands seized by former Ugandan president Iddi Amin Dada. Raila condemned the ongoing siege at the disputed island in lake Victoria pitting neighboring Ugandan forces and the Kenyan provincial administration. Raila said this in parliament while contributing to the adjournment motion. Raila's comments come just after East African community minister Jeffah Kingi raised the red flag over an alleged incursion by foreign troops. Raila called on the locals to be patient as the government moves to resolve the issue, adding that Kenya will reclaim five more Islands annexed during the reign of Amin. A Kenyan delegation led by the premier is expected to visit Uganda to discuss the issue next week. Last week, Ugandan forces reportedly arrested 12 Kenyan administration police officers who had been deployed to the area. Uganda has erected its national flag on the contentious Island.
Zimbabwe's Vice-President Joyce Mujuru tried to fund a multi-million dollar gold deal in defiance of international sanctions, the BBC has learned. The deal allegedly involved selling Congolese gold in Europe. There has been no comment from Mrs Mujuru, who was appointed five years ago by President Robert Mugabe as Zimbabwe's first female vice-president. She is one of about 200 Zimbabweans the EU has hit with sanctions, accusing them of human rights abuses. A company with offices in Europe, Firstar, says Mrs Mujuru's daughter, Nyasha del Campo, offered to sell more than three-and-a-half tonnes of gold from the Democratic Republic of Congo. Ms del Campo declined to comment on the allegations and says she is consulting her lawyers. Copies of e-mails seen by the BBC suggest the Zimbabwean vice-president was to pay the transport costs of delivering the gold to a refinery in Zurich. Mrs Mujuru was central to the deal, says Felix Eimer of Firstar. "The contact is from her to the gold mine. Nyasha was just the person that was co-ordinating the things for third parties," he said. "The person behind the deal and the person that organised the funding for the deal that was necessary to complete it and to enter the deal was her mother." Firstar says it withdrew when it realised who she was. The company says Mrs Mujuru then phoned its chief executive in Europe demanding the decision be reversed. The BBC has been unable to contact Mrs Mujuru. She and her husband, Solomon, a former head of the national army, are among the wealthiest and most powerful people in Zimbabwe, with extensive mining interests.
This Italian Job-style rescue saved a man trapped in a car that was hanging off a bridge. Passers-by sat on the boot of the Honda Concerto to stop it plunging into the river in Skipton, North Yorkshire. If the car had been rear-wheel drive, he would have been in the drink. It was still revving when I got to it,' said Phil Jenkinson, who freed the uninjured driver.
London, Tuesday 24th February, 2009. 10 years after Macpherson, the Met is still short of blacks and Asians in senior jobs. The Metropolitan Police has the same number of senior black and ethnic minority officers as it did 10 years ago when it was accused of institutional racism over the investigation into the Stephen Lawrence murder, it was claimed today. A new inquiry into allegations of racism in the force will today hear fresh claims over failures to promote ethnic minority officers to senior ranks. Serving and former police officers are to be questioned over claims of a "golden circle" of white officers and a culture of racism which prevents the promotion of ethnic minorities. One black police leader will say that the Met has fewer black officers in senior ranks than it did 10 years ago at the time of the Macpherson report. Alfred John, chairman of the Metropolitan Black Police Association, said that in the past two years more than three-quarters of all the Met's senior ethnic minority officers and civilian staff had launched race discrimination actions against the force. His claims will go before the Race and Faith Inquiry, which will hold the first of a series of one-day hearings today.
These samba school pupils show off outfits that leave little to the imagination at carnival in Rio de Janeiro. But one female samba dancer has gone even further - breaking the record for the smallest scrap of clothing ever in a Carnival parade. The O Globo newspaper says model Dani Sperle sported a sparkly silver headdress, a necklace, matching arm bands - and nothing else but a 3 centimeter (1.2-inch) long patch of cloth.
Timmy Mallett has at last found his calling - not as madcap TV presenter or a polka-dot wearing pop star, but as a respected artist. The I'm A Celebrity star said he was inspired to paint a series of landscape and seascape oils following his 'difficult time' in the jungle. Mallett, who was described by fellow contestant Nicola McLean as 'the most annoying man I have ever met', has staged several exhibitions since the reality TV show last December. 'Anybody who really knows me refers to me as Timmy and his palette - not Timmy and his mallet,' said the ex-host of 1980s hit children's show Wacaday. 'There's a right time for everything and painting just seems to have clicked and I've gone from strength to strength since the jungle.' Mallett has already sold 250 paintings to 'serious collectors' for £250 to £400 apiece and believes he has got what it takes to follow in the footsteps of Rolf Harris, his friend and neighbour in Cookham, Berkshire. 'I've learned a lot from Rolf's work but my paintings are still considerably cheaper than his at the moment,' the 53-year-old added. Mallett's collection includes Jungle Camp Fire - the notorious spot where he and David Van Day created the Biff Baff Boff song.
Britain is ninth best place to settle
HSBC reveals Germany, Canada and Spain are perceived to be the easiest countries to settle in. According to the findings of the third and final Expat Experience report, which examines the integration challenges faced by expats relocating to a new country, Britain was the ninth easiest location in which to settle. Examining the cultural and social differences experienced by migrants, Australia, the United Arab Emirates and China were revealed to be among the most difficult countries in which to integrate. Australia ranked poorly on the number of expats who joined community groups; expats in the UAE found it difficult to make friends; and China scored relatively low for the number of expats who bought property. Martin Spurling, chief executive officer for HSBC International said: "We commissioned this independent survey to take a look into the lives and experiences of our customers who live across the globe and the transitional challenges they encounter from country to country. "This final report in our Expat Explorer series focuses on something that is incredibly important to all expats – their ability to fit in to their new home. "This is often the aspect that is most daunting, with many concerned about whether or not they will be able to make friends or feel like they belong in their adopted country. "Through this survey we have been provided with a fascinating insight into our customers’ lives which will help us also to best adapt to their offshore finance needs." Settlers in Britain rated local friends highly, and praised local community groups. However, difficulty with learning the language and with the acquisition of property both made the country less attractive.
The launching of the "Kenya Book of Records" kicked off very well in London on Sunday 22nd February, 2009. The publisher of the book Mr Kondia Mwaniki Wachira, who is the Managing Director of Marketing Society of Kenya officiated the launching by signing the books for those who bought them. The first event kicked off at CCBC Swahili Service in Barking at 11.00 a.m. where over 30 books were sold followed by another one in the afternoon at PCEA UK Outreach. Many of those who bought the book admired the writer's well researched work starting the history of Kenya as early as 1900. Many people in UK, Europe and USA have bought the book online. While addressing the congregation before launching the book the author Mr. Wachira promised to include Kenyans in the diasporas in the next edition. He is planning to have another launching in the USA before the end of the year. The Standard newspaper edition of Tuesday 24th February, 2009 carries a exclusive story about the book. CLICK HERE. Two more launching event will take place on Friday and Sunday. The Friday ceremony will be at the Kenya High Commission offices, 45 Portland Place as from 6.00 p.m. and the Sunday event will be in Oxford at 11.00 a.m. - CLICK HERE.
 
The publisher Kenya Book of Records Mr. Kondia Mwaniki Wachira signing the book at CCBC Swahili Service in London on Sunday - from left is Mr. Kamau, Dr. Martin Kayobe, the author Mr. Wachira, Mr. Duncan Ngari, Javan and the first Meru to be called to the Bar in the UK Mr. Kirugara and the right photo presenting the book to Rev. Kibathi of PCEA UK Outreach in their church after launching. MORE FOR HIS SPEECH
If you would like to speak to the author of Kenya Book of Records for any comments, anything you would like to be included in the next version or to congratulate him please contact him in UK on 07514922257.
Do you know who was Kenya’s first indigenous doctor, the first accountant, the first lawyer? And do you remember when Patrick Njiru competed in the first Safari Rally and when Kipchoge Keino won Kenya an Olympic gold medal? These Kenyan events of national pride are now recorded in a book on Kenyan records. Some happened long ago while others in living memory, but are now registered as Kenyan records. The first Kenyan book of records has been launched along the lines of the renowned ‘World Guinness Book of Records’. The publisher of the first-time chronicle, ‘Kenya Book of Records’, Mr Kondia Mwaniki Wachira, has delved to far back as the 1920s to bring out people, things and events that shaped Kenya. It is interesting flipping through pages of the country’s milestones. Kenya Book of Records is an amazing compilation of positive facts about Kenyans, by Kenyans, for Kenyans, and the world. The book offers a well thought out summary of Kenyas history, culture, herit... - CLICK HERE FOR MORE
"Take it easy my brother, men dies early because of women, if it is not your wife it is your daughter and if not your daughter it is your mistress. Take easy my brother." - A Nigerian pastor comforting his frustrated brother.
A majority of Kenyans wants Agriculture Minister William Ruto to resign to make way for investigations into his possible involvement in corruption, according to a new opinion poll. The Steadman poll released on Monday was carried out between February 18 and 20, when Mr Ruto survived a no-confidence motion in Parliament and shows that 56 per cent of the respondents want the minister to resign. And the people are demanding scalps, a full 71 per cent of those questioned said they would like Cabinet ministers mentioned in corruption scandals to leave the Cabinet. The survey also shows a shocking collapse of confidence in the grand coalition government, with 70 per cent of those polled saying that the government has achieved nothing apart from restoring peace after the disputed election. Less than a third believed the government was committed to the big issues facing the country and only 33 per cent expressed confidence that the perpetrators of the post-election violence will be punished. The majority (54 per cent) wants the grand coalition to survive the full term, but only a few (31 per cent) felt it would. This is a marginal decline in the 55 per cent who wanted it to serve the full term in a similar opinion poll last March and the 34 per cent who said they thought it will survive. Of the 1,012 interviewed in the survey, 719 (71 per cent) answered ‘yes’ to the question: “Do you think there are any Cabinet ministers who should resign now in order that investigations about their possible involvement in corruption can be investigated?” Asked to name the minister they believe should resign, respondents ranked Mr Ruto first, Energy minister Kiraitu Murungi (21 per cent), Trade minister Amos Kimunya (seven per cent), Security minister George Saitoti (five per cent), Prime Minister Raila Odinga (three per cent) and Justice minister Martha Karua (two per cent) - Daily Nation.
US shares have fallen sharply on concerns about the government's latest attempts to shore up the banks. The Dow Jones Industrial Average closed down 250.9 points, or 3.41%, at 7,114.8, its lowest since October 1997. But shares in the banks themselves rose sharply, with Citigroup up nearly 10% and Bank of America rising over 3%. The US government reiterated its determination to keep banks operating, but added it wanted the banks themselves to stay in private hands. There had earlier been reports that the government was planning to take a bigger stake in Citigroup and could even nationalise it. "People left and right are throwing in the towel," said Keith Springer from Capital Financial Advisory Services. "The biggest thing I see here is the incredible pessimism - the government is doing a lousy job of alleviating fears." Technology shares also fell on reports that a reorganisation is planned at Yahoo. The technology-based Nasdaq index fell 53.5 points, or 3.71%, to close at 1,387.7. The falls pick up from a tough week last week, when all the major indices fell by more than 6%. Earlier in the day, the FTSE 100 in London closed down 1%, the Cac 40 in Paris fell 0.8% and the Dax in Frankfurt fell 2% to close below 4,000 points for the first time since 2004.
  
The Pastor Joseph Njuguna well known as "Man of God" is publishing two more books - "The Hidden Traps in Drugs" and "The Woman who Prayed". He will be a guest speaker at the Great Works Conference in Luton on 28th February, 2009. As a young man, he came to the recognition that God had a particular purpose for his life after a 4 and a half year‘s of heroin addiction that nearly killed him Pastor Joseph Njuguna is clean of heroin, methadone and other class ‘A‘ drugs, in fact drugs of any kind. “I was in the last weeks of losing my life, I had lost contact with my family, I lost more than 8 friends most dead of heroin over dose, I couldn’t walk anywhere without people pointing, looking, watching me.” I was living in the street’s and homeless shelters. My whole life, from getting up to going to sleep, was about finding a way to supply my heroin for the day.” Police said I was one of the most prolific offenders in workshop because I had carried out so many burglaries, shoplifting, and theft. Looking back he describes how even store detectives recognised his face. - MORE
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Did you just miss it? You cannot let it pass by you - but in case you
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In case you forget everything else, just remember this one- it will be an
opportunity to network, enjoy a special delicacy with a very Kenyan touch and
who knows, you might be the one who shines most on the night and your light
goes ALL THE WAY TO THE LAND OF HAKUNA MATATA.
For more details, check it out through this
websites, www.misterseed.com (where you are
now) www.london2gether.com (the home) and www.africaexclusivenews.co.uk
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A former partner of the US woman who gave birth to octuplets in Los Angeles last month has said he could be their father, and that of their six siblings. Denis Beaudoin told ABC News that he had donated sperm to his former girlfriend Nadya Suleman three times. He has requested DNA paternity testing but said he would help Ms Suleman raise the children whatever the results. ABC said Ms Suleman had denied Mr Beaudoin was the father but had agreed to paternity tests being carried out. Mr Beaudoin told ABC's Good Morning America that Ms Suleman had asked him to donate sperm as she had ovarian cancer and was unable to have children.
Ruto wanted case dropped, says Jirongo
Lugari MP Cyrus Jirongo has claimed that Agriculture minister William Ruto demanded that a land scandal case against him be dropped in court as a condition for an alliance with Justice minister Martha Karua. Mr Jirongo said discussions on the case were held at his house. “Ruto wanted his case in court dropped as a condition for any pact but the reason I had called the meetings was to discuss the resettlement of internally displaced people,” Mr Jirongo said. The MP held a press conference on Sunday in reaction to Mr Ruto’s claims that the censure motion against him in Parliament was a political attack against him by Mr Jirongo and Ms Karua. He said when he realised that Mr Ruto was not keen on the subject of resettling IDPs, he sought the assistance of another powerful Central Province politician, whom he refused to name. He said the three meetings at his house were held to discuss the resettlement of displaced people, and not the 2012 succession battle. - Daily Nation.
Taxpayers in UK may become liable for £500bn worth of bad loans and investments made by Royal Bank of Scotland and Lloyds Banking Group, the BBC has learned. It would be part of the government's Asset Protection Scheme, under which taxpayers insure banks against future losses from such assets. RBS has a Thursday deadline to agree terms, while Lloyds has until Friday. The idea is to draw a line under bad assets to free up cash that the banks can lend to companies and individuals. BBC business editor Robert Peston says that if the deal is completed it will take the total support by British taxpayers to the banks to £1.3tn.
London, Tuesday 24th February, 2009. Northern Rock sparked a new bonus row today by insisting it would reward 500 executives despite making huge losses. The state-owned bank, which lost £1.4 billion last year and will be “significantly loss-making” this year, said the bonuses would be paid to managers for hitting “performance targets” and to help “retain good people”. About 400 junior managers will get bonuses of up to 10 per cent of their salary for last year. Up to 100 senior managers, possibly including directors, will also be entitled to bonuses. They will be paid in the form of IOUs which they will eventually be able to cash in. Chief executive Gary Hoffman said performance-related bonuses were “not a bad thing”. But Labour MP George Mudie, a member of the Treasury select committee, said: “It's appalling, yet another indication of how genuinely out of touch senior banking executives are with public opinion in Britain.” Last year Northern Rock was nationalised to save it from collapse.
The United Nations special team investigating alleged killings by police have met Mungiki sect leaders. A spokesman of the banned sect on Sunday claimed police have killed more than 1,000 youths since a crackdown on the movement began in June 2006. Mr Njuguna Gitau took a group of about 200 women, who claimed to be widows, to give evidence to the UN officials at the Kenya National Commission on Human Rights offices in Nairobi. "The list we have is the one we can claim as evidence, because relatives say they saw their loved ones being arrested before they went missing or their bodies were found dumped in thickets," said Gitau. Some of the women said they had not traced the bodies of their missing kin for burial. They said no one in Government was willing to explain the circumstances under which the men died or went missing. "All I know is that the police played a role in the death of my husband and I want action staken against them," said one of the widows. Some had pictures of their kin. The UN Special Rapporteur, Prof Philip Alston, was in Nyeri yesterday to receive evidence over the alleged killings, while his officials were in Nairobi. Alston said his final report on the findings would be ready in June, but an interim one will be complete by Wednesday. He said he would give the report to Government, the UN and the international community. "The final and detailed report on the findings of my investigation will be ready in June," Alston said in Kisumu, at the weekend. "The international community was concerned about brutal killings in the country and wanted the report to ascertain the truth behind the executions," he added. He said he would outline recommendations to end a repeat of such incidents. He declined to describe his findings, saying he would compare reports from the Government authorities and residents before compiling his own. Nyanza Province was worst hit by police killings during the post-election violence. Kisumu town bore the brunt of police brutality, with more than 100 people reportedly shot dead. - The Standard.
 
A heavy police presence formed part of the surreal scenes surrounding Jade Goody's £1.3million wedding. Three police officers joined private security guards at the gates of the country house venue while other officers in army camouflage uniforms were also on patrol. Six police vans, including a Land Rover, were also spotted outside Downs Hall hotel in Hatfield Heath, on the Essex-Hertfordshire border.Reality TV star Jade Goody has got married after being told by doctors she may only have months to live. The day before the ceremony, she kissed her fiancé, Jack Tweed, for photographers and Tweed (right) and the groom's party left for the wedding on Sunday morning dressed in women's underwear.
Migrants in UK face tighter work rules
London, Monday 23rd February, 2009. Immigrants should not be able to take a skilled job in the UK unless it has been advertised to British workers, the home secretary has said. The government had to make sure policy on overseas workers was "responding to the current economic circumstances", Jacqui Smith told the BBC. She has also ordered an investigation into the impact of the arrival of families of immigrant workers. The number of non-UK-born workers in Britain reached 3.8 million last year. Workers from non-EU countries are categorised by a points-based system that decides whether they can find work in the UK, while there are no restrictions on EU citizens. Ms Smith told BBC One's Andrew Marr Show: "Given the current economic situation, it is right for us now to look at that points-based system and to make sure that it is responding to the current economic circumstances. "I'm proposing, for example, that it shouldn't be possible for somebody to come into this country to take a skilled job unless that job has been advertised to a British worker through Jobcentre Plus." From April, non-EU workers wanting to come to Britain without securing a job beforehand must have a master's degree - rather than a bachelor's degree, as currently - and a previous salary equivalent to at least £20,000. "I am actually raising the bar," Ms Smith said. But Conservative home affairs spokesman Damian Green accused Ms Smith of tinkering at the edges of the problem. "Jacqui Smith is clearly worried that people feel nervous about the levels of immigration we have seen under this government," he said.
Home Secretary Jacqui Smith
"She's right to be nervous but what she's doing isn't anything like enough to meet the challenge. What is needed is an explicit annual limit on the number of people coming here. "That that would give people confidence in the system, we'd get the right numbers of people here as well as the right talents that we need in this country." The Home Office estimates its move will mean 12,000 fewer immigrants each year. The home secretary added: "I am proposing that we should more clearly link those areas where there are shortages of skills in this country with actually trying to grow the skills within British workers. "So we'll be putting skills reviews, skills action alongside everywhere where we identify a shortage." The employment of foreign labour has been a high-profile issue recently after a week-long dispute at the French-owned Lindsey oil refinery in eastern England, which was settled when operators Total agreed to hire more local employees. Ms Smith also said she had asked the Migration Advisory Committee to look at the issue of non-EU migrant workers' families entering the UK. "There are all sorts of questions that we might want to ask here: their access to the labour market; the extent to which they, as well as the people that they are coming with, need to demonstrate the contribution that they are going to make to the UK economy," she said.
They call themselves Kenyan celebraties. - CLICK HERE FOR MORE
Ryanair has confirmed it plans to close all of its airport check-in desks by the end of the year in a bid to reduce the cost of its flights. From the start of 2010, all Ryanair passengers will need to check in online in order to confirm their flights. Officials at the Irish airline said that, by reducing its costs at airports, savings will be passed on to passengers through lower fares. The carrier said that 75% of its passengers already checked in online. Spokesman Stephen McNamara said the airline saw the move as the "logical next step" in an effort to pass on savings to passengers through reduced fares. Ryanair chief executive Michael O'Leary told the Daily Telegraph that passengers will be able to leave their luggage at a bag drop but otherwise everything will be done online. "Ultimately, we want just one in five people to check in luggage," he said. The carrier said that 97% of passengers booked online already and 75% used the internet to check in.
Two of Greece's most wanted men have staged a daring helicopter escape from Athens' highest-security prison - for the second time in three years. Serial armed robber and kidnapper Vassilis Paleokostas and his Albanian sidekick Alket Rizai were days away from trial for their 2006 escape. They fled Korydallos prison after a helicopter landed on the jail's roof and threw them a rope ladder. The aircraft was reportedly later found abandoned by a main highway. The road leads towards Greece's central mountain range, an area where Paleokostas, 42, was able to hide with impunity during previous years, says the BBC's Malcolm Brabant, in Athens. Our correspondent says the breakout is a damning indictment of Greece's prison system. Sunday's escape happened at around 1530 local time (1330 GMT), the Associated Press reports, adding that guards opened fire on the fleeing fugitives but were unable to stop them. "The helicopter was then found in the northern Athens suburb of Kapandriti but there was no trace of the fugitives," an unnamed police official told Reuters news agency.
The Kenya Power and Lighting Company (KPLC) will abolish post-paid electricity metering system and replace it with a pre-paid system within the next five years. KPLC Managing Director Joseph Njoroge said the company would in April embark on a pilot project covering 25,000 customers. "We shall roll out the project over a five-year period at an estimated cost of Sh5.5 billion," said Njoroge when he signed a pre-paid metering system contract with Actaris Measurement & Systems on Friday. The pilot project will cover customers within Nairobi’s Fedha Estate, Imara Daima, Villa Franca, Nyayo Embakasi Estate, Nyayo Highrise, Kibera, Woodley, Mountain View, Muguga Green, Hirani, Kasarani and Kahawa Sukari. He, however, said consumers would not be charged to transfer from post-paid to pre-paid technology. Njoroge said though the pilot project will be completed in August, the rollout would be continuous. "Any lessons learnt in the pilot project will be used to improve the new service," he said. Pre-paid metering gives customers a visual indication of their electricity consumption rate and enables them to manage its usage. The system will also save KPLC billions of shillings annually that is lost through theft and meter reading related costs. Njoroge said it would also enable the company improve revenue collection. When the company unveiled the project three years ago, consumer organisations opposed it saying it would lock out millions of potential consumers who could not afford to pay upfront. - The Standard.
Obama hails 'fastest' US tax cut
Obama called the stimulus plan the most sweeping in US history
President Barack Obama has said US tax bills will begin to fall from April, hailing a tax cut he called the fastest ever to take effect. In his weekly radio and internet address, President Obama said the typical American family would gain by at least $65 (£46) a month. He also pledged to cut America's trillion-dollar deficit. The tax cuts announced on Saturday are part of a $787bn stimulus plan approved by Congress earlier this week. The stimulus plan, aimed at reviving the US economy amid a global economic crisis, is split into 36% for tax cuts and 64% percent allocated for spending on social programmes. Mr Obama said the US treasury had already begun directing employers to reduce the amount of taxes claimed from pay cheques. The savings will reach 95% of American families, he said. "Never before in our history has a tax cut taken effect faster or gone to so many hardworking Americans," the president said. Mr Obama said work must now start on trying to stabilise the banking system, stem the fall in house prices and get budget deficits under control. He announced that he would call a fiscal summit on Monday to discuss the deficit. Mr Obama said he would then address the nation about his priorities on Tuesday before issuing a budget on Thursday.
"I'll release a budget that's sober in its assessments, honest in its accounting, and lays out in detail my strategy for investing in what we need, cutting what we don't, and restoring fiscal discipline," he said. However, he also warned of the challenges ahead. "As important as it was that I was able to sign this plan into law, it is only a first step on the road to economic recovery. "None of this will be easy. The road ahead will be long and full of hazards," he added. "But I am confident that we, as a people, have the strength and wisdom to carry out this strategy and overcome this crisis." The stimulus plan approved this week aims to save or create 3.5 million jobs, boost consumer spending and rebuild infrastructure. Over the past week, Mr Obama has also announced measures to assist families facing foreclosures, and those struggling to meet mortgage payments. But Republicans, only three of whom voted for the stimulus package in Congress despite calls by Mr Obama for bipartisan support, have said the new tax cuts are insufficient. They have also complained that the president's spending plans will leave the US economy saddled with debt for years to come. "We can't borrow and spend our way back to prosperity," Republican Dave Camp said in his party's weekly address. "If he [Mr Obama] is serious about dealing with the tough issues and getting spending under control, his budget will show it."
Mr. Isaac Kanyingi (below) is in London. The Life Ministry Kenya Student Venture Director arrived in the UK this week on his way to US. Isaac and his wife Tabitha graduated as high school teachers in 1990. They taught for several years until God called them to work with Campus for Christ (Life Ministry). Having experienced the spiritual needs of the High School students, they helped to begin Student Venture Ministry in 2002 in Kenya which is currently helping to reach out and disciple students. More than 2,500 students are being disciple in 26 schools. Their vision is to reach every student in every high school in Kenya. Your prayers and financial support are a great investment to this family and ministry.
 
CLICK HERE FOR THE VIDEO
Isaac has been involved in helping in a program that help our young boys and girls transit from childhood to adolescence. They have been training our young adults to be responsible, courageous and faithful to the Christian faith and this has proved very productive to all the candidates who have gone through it. They form an age group and an accountability group that check each other. He is heading to Atlanta Georgia, USA. This is a modern day incitation rite which does not include mutilation for girls but include them in the counselling program. They are planning to help begin this program in the UK and the US for Kenyan people in the Diaspora in 2010 summer. For any information please contact UK Rev. Kibathi - 07946700301, USA Simon Nderi - 770 527 8925. His contact in the UK is 07946700301 and in the USA is 07703314994. Email: ikanyingi@hotmail.com - VIDEO
Bishop JB Masinde from Nairobi, Kenya will be preaching at Abundant Life Fire Ministry, South London on Sunday 22nd February, 2009 as from 9 a.m. to 12.30 p.m. the address is 21 Hatcham Road, London SE15 1TW. For more information please contact Pastor Odima 07944827781.
Buying Real Estate in Kenya
Kenya real estate investments need not be complicated. Follow the rules and you will not fall into traps that others have. This is what you need to avoid. Don't buy a House before you see it: Sometimes, your sales agent will hype up the features of the house. It is best to arrange to see the property yourself. This way, you can make a good judgement on the property. For instance, how far is the property from local amenities? Is there a supermarket nearby? Just how close are the schools? children commute to school each day? Is the area likely to appreciate thus attracting good resale value or rental income? You can only verify such issues by viewing the property. In the event that you live abroad and can not view the property, find a relative or friend to take digital pictures for you and email them to you as an attachment.
Don't Buy a House without a Lawyer: This is a common trap that buyers often fall into. Always remember, lawyers are an investment, not an indulgence! Only a good lawyer can advice you on whether the seller has the right to sell, whether the property has debts attached to it and so on. Also, you may need to decide who should hold the title of the property. Ownership attracts various tax questions which your lawyer will help you to address
Check your Estate Agents Credentials: In most cases, you will find that Kenya real estate developers contract estate agents as sole selling agents. The agent will then require a twenty percent deposit to be made to secure the property. Don't give out your money before you verify whether the agent is trustworthy.
Don't be over concerned with price: Every one loves a good bargain. But when thinking of Kenya real estate investments, dispense with the idea that 'cheap is a bargain'. You may end up with a house that is not structurally sound or one that has other related defects. The best thing to do is to use a surveyor who can advice you about the house, its soundness, location and its re-sale price. This is essential as you may want to sell the house later.
Don't ignore ongoing costs: Suppose your estate agent tells you the house costs USD100,000, would that be the true cost of the house? What usually happens is that there are on going costs that often get ignored in any Kenya real estate investment. These include insurance, legal, mortgage and survey fees, taxes, maintenance and management fees. For instance, legal fees tend to be one percent of the value of the property. You need to factor in all these costs before you decide to go ahead and make the purchase.
Nairobi, Saturday 21st 2009. A day after parliament rejected the nine nominees to the Interim Independent Electoral Commission of Kenya tabled by the parliamentary select committee on Administration of Justice, details are emerging that senior government officials may have engineered the motion's defeat. Assistant minister for medical services Danson Mungatana is now accusing a section of Nyanza MPs of conspiracy to shoot down the motion on the grounds that the province was not represented. Thursday's rejection of the nominees by parliament came as a surprise to most members of the Parliamentary Select Committee more so because some of those who opposed the motion were part and parcel of the selecting committee. And one would wonder why they took part in the exercise of endorsing the nine nominees and then turn against the list on the floor of the House. Allegations are now emerging that the last minute about turn by the members was a well orchestrated revolt by a section of Nyanza MPs acting on instructions from a senior government official on grounds that a part of Nyanza was not represented in the commission. Mungatana accuses the said official whom he did not name for interfering with the process on the basis of tribalism. He said according to PSC an agreement had been reached to have Nyanza share the slots on the basis of ethnic balance. But Budalangi MP Ababu Namwamba says some may have opposed the list since some of the nominees have questionable interests and cannot be relied upon to be impartial. However Mungatana told off those claiming that the nomination of Cecil Miller would amount to a conflict of interest on account that Miller was representing him in an election petition case. He said the claim does not hold any water since Miller was also appearing for water minister Charity Ngilu in a defamation suit. The rejection of the nominees forced the government to stand down a motion of adjournment to allow for consensus building. When the parliamentary select committee meets on Monday next week, the chair Mohammed Abdikadir will be seeking members' goodwill to support the list of nominees and deliver a united front to the House to endorse the names before parliament goes on recess.
A UK car plant that directly and indirectly employs more than 6,000 people may be forced to close within days, a trade union leader has warned. Unite joint leader, Tony Woodley, declined to name the facility in question, but said it needed urgent state aid to stay open. Business secretary Lord Mandelson declined to comment, but urged people to "stop feeding the rumours". The comments came after data showed UK car production slumped in January. "We've got a car plant that, within just a couple of days, would have run of cash and needs serious financial help to stop over 6,000 people losing their jobs," said Mr Woodley. He said the government had to act to prevent "a catastrophe". Lord Mandelson said: "Rumours can very easily turn into a shockwave that destabilises a company or an industry and brings about the very outcome that we are seeking to avoid." He added that the government would help if it could.
Representatives of overseas newspapers, news agencies and broadcasting organisations
Home Office, 19 February 2009
The UK Border Agency has temporarily re-introduced the skilled worker category for representatives of overseas newspapers, news agencies and broadcasting organisations. The category is one of several that are being deleted as part of the changes to the United Kingdom's immigration system. Most representatives of overseas newspapers, news agencies and broadcasting organisations will be eligible to apply under tier 2 of the new points-based system. However, a small number of individuals may not qualify under tier 2 as they do not have a sponsor based in the United Kingdom. We will be introducing a more permanent solution later this year so that representatives whose employer is not established in the United Kingdom can apply under tier 2. When this happens, the old category will be deleted permanently. Representatives of overseas newspapers, news agencies and broadcasting organisations who are being posted to the United Kingdom for six months or less can apply to enter the United Kingdom as business visitors. To find out how to apply, go to the Visiting the United Kingdom section. Representatives of overseas newspapers, news agencies and broadcasting organisations who have a sponsor based in the United Kingdom and are being posted to the United Kingdom for more than six months can choose to apply under either the old category or Tier 2 of the points-based system. To find out how to apply, go to the Working in the United Kingdom section.
Banker runs up £43,000 bar bill in one night: report
Bankers have been blamed and bonuses have been slashed, but one City financier this week thumbed his nose at the financial crisis - running up a £43,000 bar bill, a report said on Friday. The unnamed banker stunned staff at a Soho club by ordering top shelf drinks at a party after the Brit Awards on Wednesday night, according to the report in the Evening Standard. After spending more than £37,000 pounds on champagne and vodka for friends in the VIP area of the Maya, the banker left a £5,000 tip for the waitress, said the report, quoting unnamed sources. The drinks included two methuselahs of Dom Perignon, which each hold the equivalent of about eight bottles, two jeroboams, the equivalent of four bottles each, of Cristal and three magnums of Cristal Rose. "Maya gets a lot of big spenders but this is a biggie," a spokesman for the club said. "The recession is hitting people hard, but it didn't seem to bother this man." "They racked up the bill in about two and a half hours."
With her swollen face and bloody lip, this shocking picture is believed to show pop singer Rihanna after she was allegedly attacked. The photo, which was posted last night on showbiz website TMZ, shows cuts and bruises around her forehead, cheeks and lips. Police in LA have now launched an internal investigation to find out who leaked the picture, branding its release "serious misconduct". In a statement cops said the snap "has the appearance" of one taken during a domestic violence investigation "involving entertainer Chris Brown". R&B star Brown, 19, was arrested earlier this month on suspicion of making criminal threats to an unidentified woman. He is alleged to have been involved in a fight with a woman in a car on the night of the Grammys and left the scene before police arrived. Brown later turned himself in while Rihanna has not been seen since the alleged attack. He released a statement saying: "Words cannot begin to express how sorry and saddened I am over what transpired." "I am seeking the counseling of my pastor, my mother and other loved ones and I am committed, with God's help, to emerging a better person. Rihanna, who is believed to be in hiding at home in Barbados, turns 21 today.
House repossessions up by 50%
The number of people who lost their homes soared by more than 50 per cent during 2008 to hit a 12-year high. A total of 40,000 properties were repossessed last year, up from 25,900 in 2007, the Council of Mortgage Lenders said. The group predicts the number will rise further this year with 75,000 people having their properties repossessed as the fallout of the economic downturn worsens and they fail to keep up with mortgage repayments. The grim statistics will add to pressure on the Government as it is revealed a scheme designed to stop people losing their homes has yet to help a single person. The Ministry of Justice also released figures showing the number of repossession orders made by courts in England and Wales during the final quarter of 2008. A total of 29,095 orders were made, on a seasonally adjusted basis, 14 per cent higher than during the same period of 2007, but broadly unchanged from the previous quarter. Unlike the CML figures, which show the actual number of people who lost their homes, the MoJ ones show the number of repossession orders that were made, not all of which will lead to homes being taken over by lenders.The data has been released amid claims the Homeowner Mortgage Support Scheme, announced in December, has still not been implemented by lenders, who are seeking more clarity and guarantees from the Government. Announced by Prime Minister Gordon Brown to the Commons, it would allow households with loans of up to £400,000 to defer interest payments for up to two years if they suffered a sudden and temporary loss of income.
Mr Brown told MPs the country's eight biggest lenders had agreed to sign up. Adam Sampson, chief executive of Shelter said: "Government has been guilty of rushing to announce schemes before the details are finalised. "What that does is to give many people who are facing repossessions hope that something immediately will happen and in practice help is in some cases six months or more away. "The false hope that some of them have been given by the too-early announcement of some of these schemes has only compounded the stress they're already feeling." Housing Minister Margaret Beckett said: "We are determined to do everything possible to ensure repossession is always a last resort, and are taking action to give real help now to households most in need. "Our mortgage rescue scheme is up and running, more free legal and debt support is available than ever before, and we have increased financial assistance to help people pay their mortgage if they've lost their job. "Lenders are playing their part too by agreeing to give more time to help households get back on track, and they are working urgently with us on the detail of our new scheme that should offer a safety net to families if they suffer a sudden drop in income in the current economic climate." Leslie Morphy, chief executive of homeless people's charity Crisis, said: "Today's repossession statistics make for grim reading, and prove the recession is well and truly beginning to bite for the real economy and real people. "We fear this many people losing their homes can only lead to an increase in homelessness."
This picture, captured by a photographer on the Elkhorn Slough Estuary in California, captures the moment a sea otter decided to unleash his inner Scorsese by holding a video camera. The observant amongst you will note that the camera is covered in algae, suggesting that the otter probably picked it up from the bottom of the estuary. But we live in hope that, some day, the otter's home video will be found and shared with the world. Note for internet entrepreneurs - while ottertube.com may already be registered (although nothing's being done with it, seemingly) ottertube.co.uk is still available. You know what to do.
A Kenyan councillor in the UK will be vying for a parliamentary seat in the UK parliament. The unstoppable lady is determined to make history as the first African lady to be a member of parliament in the UK. Like President Baraka Obama, she believes in the slogan- YES WE CAN. Cllr Marianne Alapini will be standing for election in ERITH & THAMESMEAD FOR LABOUR. Watch her on the most controversial News Punch on SKY 184 as she talks to Journalist and TV Presenter Julius Mbaluto on Tuesday next week 24th Feb 2009. She is the councillor for Royal Barough of Kensington and Chelsea. Her mother is a Kenyan from Machakos, Kenya. She live in the UK with her mother. Her email: alapini@rbkc.gov.uk
 
Councillor Marianne Alapini (left) going for a parliamentary seat in South London and on right Councillor Alapini and Ruth Kirima in one of the Jamhuri celebrations in London.
“You have been reluctant to punish your friends who are greedy; you have neglected the Internally Displaced Persons; you have not acted decisively on insecurity and extra-judicial killings,” they continued." - Kenya's religious leaders rebuking Kibaki and Raila
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KENYA BOOK OF RECORDS
www.fairict.com
Kenya Book of Records. A book that every Kenyan should have. A team from Kenya is arriving this weekend to launch the book in the UK. The first launch will be on Sunday 22nd February, 2009 at 10.00 a.m. at CCBC Swahili Service Barking. Venue: Greatfield Temple, King Edward Road, Barking, Essex, IG11 7TR The team will have another launch at PCEA Church, London at 3.00 p.m. Venue: Brickfields Christian Centre, Welfare Road, London E15 4HT, Stratford. opposite Newham College Stratford Campus.
For those in the city there will be another launching at the Kenya High Commission offices, 45 Portland Place, W1B 1AS (date and time to be confirmed soon). Those in Oxford there will be launching in Oxford on Sunday 1st March at 12.00 noon. Venue: Legal Community Centre, Ridgefield Road, Cowley, Oxford OX4.
Who is the first Kenyan to come to the UK in 1905?
Who is the first Kenyan to get a degree?
Who is the first woman to get a degree in Kenya?
Get your answer from this book. I would call Kenya Guinness book of records.
The book costs £25 a copy and additional £3.50 for post anywhere else in the world.
For more information contact 07918712490 or martin.koyabe@fairict.com
CLICK HERE TO BUY THE BOOK ONLINE
www.fairict.com
Kenya Book of Records is an amazing compilation of positive facts about Kenyans, by Kenyans, for Kenyans, and the world. The book offers a well thought out summary of Kenya’s history, culture, heritage and record breaking achievements of its people over the years. This book not only deserves a feting tribute, but a place in Kenya’s literature achievement as a book that inspired both present and future generations of Kenyans to come. This book was launched in Kenya on Friday, 5th December 2008 for the first time.
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MPs fail to approve new ECK members
On Wednesday, the PSC had nominated city lawyer Cecil Miller to chair the Interim Independent Election Commission.
Parliament Thursday failed to approve the names of members who would have served in the interim electoral commission.A deadlock was reached when 67 MP's refused to endorse the proposed chair of the interim commission Cecily Miller expressing reservations over his credibility with another 67 supporting his selection.Deputy Speaker Farah Maalim has referred the matter to the Parliamentary Select Committee on the Constitution.One legislator however chose to abstain from taking a vote.The speaker who by law would have taken a vote to unlock the deadlock however chose to forgo taking a vote and the vote was hence lost and referred back to the committee for more deliberations.On Wednesday, the PSC had nominated city lawyer Cecil Miller to chair the Interim Independent Election Commission.Elsewhere, a tribunal to review terms and conditions of service for members of parliament was sworn in today by Speaker Kenneth Marende.
The 10-member tribunal will be chaired by justice-retired Akilano Akiwumi and will be responsible for remuneration of members of parliament. After 3 months they are expected to table recommendations that will assist members of parliament discharge their mandate of representing their various constituencies.The parliamentary service commission will facilitate the tribunal for this period. Members of the tribunal include, Sarah Irungu Muthoni, Connie Kivuti, Stephen Karau, Joseph Chirchir, Dominic Dabalen, Jason Namasake, Betty Maneno, Phoebe Asiyo and Hussein Abdi Farah. Meanwhile, agriculture minister William Rutto is yet to be cleared from allegation of engaging in corrupt deals in the sale of maize from NCPB. A day after parliament shot down a censure motion against the minister, Kenya Anti-Corruption Commission Thursday afternoon grilled the minister for at least two hours to explain what he knows about the allegations. Ruto came out looking composed saying he has given all the details the commission wanted but declined to ascertain whether indeed there was a scam involving him. He now wants the commission to speedily conclude its investigations and table the report but remained optimistic that he would be cleared.
Kenya's religious leaders rebuke Kibaki and Raila
President Kibaki and Prime Minister Raila Odinga leave Kenyatta Internaional Conference Centre in Nairobi after presiding over a funds drive for Nakumatt and Molo fire victims. Religious leaders rebuked them for the ills bedevilling the country. The Kenya Government took a beating from religious leaders for its ‘non-responsive’ leadership during a prayer service for victims of the Nakumatt and Molo tanker tragedies. President Kibaki and Prime Minister Raila Odinga were blamed for the country’s ills among them corruption, extrajudicial killings, tribal politics and poor leadership. Wild applause greeted the Clergy’s angry message as the two principals with whom they shared the dais looked on. “When you joined hands to sign the National Accord, Kenyans expected the best leadership ever…however, Kenyans are concerned that they are witnessing the opposite,” said representatives the Inter-Religious Forum Thursday outside the Kenyatta International Conference Centre, Nairobi. They also railed against impunity, unemployment, countrywide famine and the slow pace of reforms since last year’s post-election violence. The leaders included Bishop Boniface Adoyo of the Evangelical Alliance of Kenya, Prof Abdulghafur El-Busaidy of the Supreme Council of Kenya Muslims, Rev Peter Karanja of the National Council of Churches and Mr Rashmin Chitnis of the Hindu Council, and they all took turns reading the same harshly worded statement.
The FBI serves billionaire Sir Allen Stanford with civil legal papers alleging an $8bn fraud after locating him in Virginia.
Recession reduces total tax paid
London, Friday 20th February, 2009. The recession led to a £7bn fall in the amount of tax paid by individuals and businesses in January, data shows. Public finances, which usually rise as tax receipts come in, fell amid higher unemployment and lower company profits. Government borrowing for the full financial year is now expected to exceed its own forecasts of £77bn. The Conservatives said the debt burden would slow the UK economy's rate of recovery, but the government said it was committed to maintaining spending. Treasury minister Angela Eagle said: "What would be a disaster is to cut public expenditure now... of course it's important that we return in the medium term to sustainable public finances. "But you make the situation worse if you slash and burn at the beginning of a recession." For the first 10 months of the financial year, total borrowing was £67.2bn, close to the government's target for the whole of the year. Robert Chote, director of the Institute for Fiscal Studies, said that government borrowing for the full year could be "nearer £87bn." The Office for National Statistics (ONS), which publishes the borrowing figures, also announced that the debts of the Royal Bank of Scotland and Lloyds will be included in the public finances. It said this could add between £1 trillion and £1.5tn to public sector debt - between 70% and 100% of the UK's GDP. And shadow business secretary Ken Clarke warned that the UK's debt burden would only get worse. "We're beginning to measure the full extent of the the decline in public revenues," he told BBC News.
The government has collected less tax from businesses due to the recession
The surplus in the public balance sheet fell to £8.4bn in January - a month when many firms pay tax - compared to the £15.3bn surplus in January 2008. Government borrowing now stands at 47.8% of the UK's economic output. Last January, it stood at 42.2%. "It's clear that public sector finances are deteriorating quite rapidly," said Amit Kara at UBS. As as well as higher joblessness and lower corporation tax, fewer City bonuses have also contributed to the lower surplus. "Corporation tax revenues in January were nearly 25% down on the same month last year. And much of that may be gone for good," said the BBC's economics editor Stephanie Flanders. The temporary cut in VAT from 17.5% to 15% has also affected tax revenues. "The tax take is being hammered by the recession," said Howard Archer at Global Insight. And the next few months could see tax receipts falling further. "Tax revenues were 11% down on a year ago and the situation is likely to get a lot worse over the course of the year," said Andrew Goodwin, advisor to the Ernst & Young Item Club.
Increases in benefit payments to those who have lost their jobs also increases the debt burden on the government. The ONS said that it plans to incorporate the debts and liabilities of the Royal Bank of Scotland (RBS) and Lloyds Banking Group into the public finance balance sheet. It said this could add between £1tn and £1.5tn to public sector debt. But the full impact of the bail-out on the public finances will not be known until the banks are returned to the private sector. "Profit or loss is what matters. If there is a loss it will be a lot less than these headline figures," said Mr Chote. The government was forced to bail out RBS in October last year and now owns almost 70% of the bank. It also provided funds to smooth the take over of HBOS by Lloyds, and now owns 43% of the combined Lloyds Banking Group. The government needs to borrow money in order to raise funds to invest in the banks. Despite the ever-growing debt burden, the government has made it clear that it will borrow more money if necessary in order to boost the ailing economy. "Spending will rise sharply over the coming months... We expect the chancellor to be forced to make significant upward revisions to his borrowing projections when he presents the Budget. "Item expects public sector net borrowing to rise above £130bn in 2009/10," said Mr Goodwin.
Kshs 80m raised to help fire victims
Written By:PPS , Posted: Thu, Feb 19, 2009
Over 80 million shillings was Thursday raised towards assisting those who lost their loved ones in the Molo and Nakumatt fire tragedies Speaking at Kenyatta International Conference Centre during the fundraising and prayer service for victims of the fire tragedies, President Kibaki assured Kenyans that the Government will take appropriate measures to enhance disaster preparedness and response in the country. The President gave his personal donation of Kshs 2 million while other donations came from employees in the public service, parastatals, the private sector and common mwananchi. The President said the Government will put in place proactive disaster risk-reduction strategies in order to minimize injury, human suffering, loss of life and livelihoods as well as damage to infrastructure and eco-systems. President Kibaki also appealed to wananchi to avoid activities that could expose them to accidents like the Molo tragedy. "The loss of lives of over 160 Kenyans and the hospitalization of many more was indeed a national disaster that calls for prayers, reflection and united action," President Kibaki said. The President, at the same time, directed the Ministry of State for Special Programmes to begin immediate implementation of the National Disaster Response Plan to prevent further loss of lives and property due to accidents and other disasters. To facilitate effective disaster management, risk reduction response and co-ordination, the Head of State said the Government will implement a National Disaster Management Policy.
President Kibaki is received by religious leaders on arrival at K.I.C.C for Inter-Religious forum and Fund Raising meeting in aid of Nakumatt/Molo Fire victims. Standing by him are VP Musyoka, PM Odinga and Minister for Internal Security George Saitoti.
He said the policy addresses priority areas including establishment of the Ministry of State for Special Programmes as the focal point in addressing disaster risk reduction, establishment of a Disaster Trust Fund and increase awareness of risk preparedness. The President said the policy will also promote public leadership and commitment to disaster reduction and build multi-disciplinary and inter-sectoral partnerships and networks in disaster risk initiatives, improve scientific knowledge on causes of natural disasters and the resultant effects. President Kibaki added that the National Disaster Management policy will also strengthen regional and international partnerships in disaster risk reduction. "A Draft National Disaster Management Policy has already been prepared and will be presented to the Cabinet for consideration," President Kibaki said. He called on Kenyans from all religious affiliations to join hands in prayers for the nation, saying wananchi should pray for the healing and peace in the country. Said the President: "I wish to sincerely thank all those who have organized today's prayer service. The prayers were befitting at this time when our country is facing many challenges." He appealed to Kenyans to stand together and donate generously towards the Nakumatt/Molo Fire Victim Fund, noting that among those who perished in the fire tragedies were family bread winners. "In their death, therefore, their dependants have lost their source of livelihood. As a caring nation, it is our duty to extend a helping hand to the bereaved families and ensure they have all the support they need to continue leading normal lives," the President said.
The President said as a caring nation, Kenyans also have a moral duty to support those who are hospitalized in order to ensure they receive the best possible medical attention. President Kibaki said the monies raised through the fund will be used to assist survivors as well as bereaved families of both tragedies in settlement of hospital bills, provision of related humanitarian assistance, provision of social and psychological assistance to ensure that those who need counselling are able to receive it and provide orphans with food, healthcare and education. Noting that Kenyans have always responded generously to support their neighbors during their time of need, the President once again urged them to uphold and demonstrate this spirit by donating to the Fund generously so that the survivors as well as bereaved families of the fire tragedies can access the support they need. He expressed his sincere gratitude to all those who have extended a helping hand since the wake of the fire tragedies. Vice President Kalonzo Musyoka and Prime Minister Raila Odinga called on religious and political leaders to shun blame games and pool resources in promoting issues that will contribute to the realization of the goals of Vision 2030. The Vice-President appealed to wananchi to forget the past and unite in addressing the challenges facing the country. On his part, the Prime Minister noted that disasters which have befallen the country in the recent past should offer an opportunity for reflection on what went wrong and how to avoid a recurrence. Cabinet Ministers Naomi Shabaan and Prof. George Saitoti said Kenyans should effectively perform their roles in the on-going reconciliation efforts and ensure peace and harmonious co-existence prevailed in the country.The National Prayer Day whose theme was ‘God, restore our Nation' was conducted by the Inter-Religious Forum.
Minister wa urimi William Ruto riu ena gitumi gia kuhumuka thutha wa ndereti ya kwaga mwihoko nake kuhotwo mbunge muthenya wa ira. Ndereti iyo iratwaritwo mbunge ni mumbunge wa Ikolomani Bonny Khalwale . Abunge aria marareganire na ndereti iyo marari igana ria ikumi na keenda , nao aria marendaga ruto ainuke marari mirongo iri na eeri. Ambunge ana matinaikia kura onagutuika marari mbunge. Akirehe ndereti iyo Khalwale niarokiriire Ruto akiuga niwe utumite andu makue ni ng'aragu tondu mbembe cioriire moko-ini make.Agitetera Ruto niaraugire ni mbara ya kiuteti arahurwo tondu gutiri ihitia ona rimwe ekite kana uira wakuonania niaungumaniti. Thutha wa ndereti iyo kwaga kuhituka Khalwale niaraugire ikinya ria mbunge ni kionereria ati ambunge matiramakio ni ng'aragu iria igomeire muingi. Nake ruto niaraugire nimukenu ni ndereti iyo kwaga kuhituka na kuona ambunge mari na mwihoko nake akiuga riu magiriirwo ni kurongoreria maundu ma uthii wanambere. - Kameme Radio
TCP Antiseptic Liquid
Bishop JB Masinde from Kenya concluded his three-week gospel preaching tour in the UK on Sunday 15th February, 2009 at Interdenominational World Revival Ministry in East London. He was the guest speaker the evening conference where a large gathering attended. The joke cracking preacher took his reading from the book of Luke 1:34-36 and Romans 8:11. The bishop explained that when God speaks a word and when the word finds a man in spirit, conceptions takes place. Words has Power. He said that the world was created by the Word of God. " Genesis 1 "In the beginning God created the heaven and the earth. 2 And the earth was without form, and void; and darkness was upon the face of the deep. And the Spirit of God moved upon the face of the waters.3 And God said, Let there be light: and there was light." - "The Word of God is Power. Even the word of your tongue has power." The Bishop continued. "I am praying God that everyone in this conference will receive the uncommon blessing. Don't be like a Kenyan, Kenyans are good copy cats. Look for your idea and visions - don't copy from others. You have to work and live above average. I like my spiritual father Mr. Joe Kayo, he is an old man but growing strong. He was asked by a friend in Nairobi the other day: 'How are you Joe Kayo?' and he replied: 'I am still above an average preacher.' There could be credit crunch but God is above this. God work through destiny carriers. When God gives you a dream and vision, He fulfils it. You don't need a man to fulfil your dream." the bishop concluded. - CLICK HERE FOR MORE PHOTOS
 
Bishop JB Masinde (left) advised Kenyans to work together holding each other (right) in order to fulfil their destinies.
PO BOX 4365
Hamden, CT 06514.
USA.
To,
Mr. Moon
Secretary General, UNO.
Dear Sir,
RE: HONOR KENYANS, HONOR THE WAKI RECOMMENDATIONS:
Kenyans in one voice have said no to a Kenya Tribunal. They want the perpetrators of the post Election violence sent to the International Criminal Court. A motion tabled in the Kenya Parliament last month to allow for a Tribunal in Kenya to prosecute the Perpetrators of the Post Election Violence, was defeated. Mr. Koffi Annan gave the Kenya Government an additional one week for debate, against the already set deadline by the Waki Commission which investigated the violence. After that additional week, again Kenyans, through their Members of Parliament, said no to a Tribunal in Kenya. Now Mr. Annan has again given the Kenya Government 2 Months to set up a Tribunal in Kenya. In the year 1991, over 800 Kenyans were killed in similar circumstances as in 2008, and no action was taken by the Kenya Government to apprehend the killers. What convinces Mr. Annan that the Kenya Government can this time be trusted at all in the prosecution of the perpetrators of the violence?. In a very simple language, the Kenyans, through their members of Parliament, are telling the World that setting a tribunal in Kenya to try the perpetrators of the post Election Violence is a waste of valuable time and money. And failure to hasten the prosecution of those killers at the Hague will give the Kenya Government enough time to organize the internally state sanctioned terrorism, where the Kenya politicians in authority use the Kenya police to kill Kenyans and Foreigners in the guise of thugs.
The Kenya Government has failed to resolve many Political murders and crimes. The political murder of the former Assistant Minister for Tourism and Wild Life, Mr. J.M Kariuki, the former Minister for Economic Planning, Mr.Tom Mboya, the former Minister for Foreign Affairs, Dr. Robert John Ouko, Former Superintendent of Police Mr. Patrick Shaw, Father John Kaiser of Minnesota, USA, Former Superintendent of Police Mr. Ngangira, Former Superintendent of Police Mr. Kahumbi, the Former Minister for Lands and Settlement, Mr. Ronald Ngara, Mr. Masinde Muriro, Former University Student, Mr. Mururi, British Tourist Ms Julie Ward, Former secretary of the release Political Prisoners Organization, Mr. Karimi Nduthu, Mr. Pio Gamma Pinto, Bishop Alexander Kipsang Arap Muge and many others, remain unresolved up to this day. Thousands of junior police officers have been killed for disobeying orders to kill the challengers of atrocities and the many crimes committed by those in authority. On the night of the 25th. Of December 1998, men driving cars bearing foreign registration number plates, went to my house and demanded for the opening of the door. When the door was opened, they rushed in brandishing guns in one hand and walky-talkies on the other hand. Luckily I was away from my house that night.
When the newsmen asked Mr. Andrew Kimeto who was the assistant commissioner of police responsible of the town at the town, whether ha had sent anyone to my house, he said none of his staff had gone to my house the night in question. When I read the news in the newspaper, I knew death was eminent and I was surely going to die because of challenging corruption [read the Kenya Daily Nation Newspaper of the 27th. December 1998 under the caption” Buglers attack Priest while asleep”]. I fled Kenya that same day I read the newspaper. Not withstanding that on the 7th. of January 1998 I was pierced with an object which nearly killed me. At the peak of the pressures for the introduction of the multiparty system of Governance in Kenya, the wife of the former Us Ambassador to Kenya, Mr. Smith Hempstone, was attacked at a Highway in Kenya. Another US Ambassador to Kenya, Ms. Aurelia Brazil was harassed at Mai Mahiu in Naivasha Kenya. The last time Mr. Tony Worthington of the Labor Party of London visited Kenya, he was insulted and called ugly names for denouncing poverty and the rampant corruption in Kenya. Numerous Commissions of Inquiries set out in Kenya over the last 3 decades remain unresolved. The Kenya Government has been unable to resolve very many corruption scandals. What is that, that convinces Mr. Koffi Annan and others who supports the formation of a Tribunal in Kenya, that there will be judicial transparency in a Kenya Tribunal?. Who knows the Kenya system better than the Kenya Members Of Parliament and the Kenyans? The Voice of the Kenya Members of Parliament is the voice of the Kenyan people and the World should listen to it.
The Perpetrators of the Post Election Violence should be taken to Hague with immediate effect. Delay in the prosecution of the perpetrators of the post election violence will allow for the Governments state managed insecurity, which has always been common in Kenya whenever those in authority are identified and challenged over the atrocities and crimes they commit to Kenyans. This happened in the 1980s, when those in authority were identified with corruption and political murders. It also happened during the struggle for the multiparty system of Governance. Insecurity of the highest order is likely to be experienced in Kenya this time round. Many people are likely to be killed and many other frightening happenings such as car Jackings, attack in Highways, attack in homes are likely to occur in order to divert the attention of Kenyans and the international Community, from the recommendations of the Waki report in regard to the prosecution of those responsible of the Post Election Violence, some of who may be high ranking individuals in authority. Two times the Kenya Parliament has recommended for the prosecution of the perpetrators of the Post Election Violence at the Hague, ICC in Netherlands. The Kenya Parliament has twice objected to the formation of a Tribunal to try the perpetrators of the violence in Kenya.
A few months ago, the Kenya Prime Minister, Hon. Mr. Raila Odinga and the Minister for Agriculture, Hon. Mr. Ruto, aggressively demanded for a blanket Amnesty for the perpetrators of the violence. The Waki report recommended for the prosecution of the perpetrators of the violence at the ICC or by a Tribunal in Kenya. The Waki Commission gave a deadline for the formation of the Tribunal in Kenya. The Kenya Parliament objected to the formation of the Tribunal when the matter was taken to the Kenya Parliament for the first time. Latter, after the defeat of the bill in the Kenya Parliament, Hon. Raila Odinga incidentally met Mr. Koffi Annan at the World Economic Forum meeting and discussed the extension of the deadline in violation of the Waki recommendations. Kenyans living abroad and those at home have expressed their wish to have the perpetrators prosecuted at the Hague. Haste is necessary in the Prosecution of those perpetrators.
Failure to prosecute the Perpetrators of the Post Election Violence quickly and at the right place, will cost Kenyans the freedom of those Perpetrators. The freedom of those Perpetrators will mean a recurrence of similar killings in 2012, during the next Kenya General Election. 2012 may be extremely a very dangerous moment in Kenya history, especially now that all power hungry Kenyans know that the ticket and qualification for Power Sharing, is to own a powerful secrete militia that can cause enough havoc. Havoc that can command recognition and acceptance for Governance and hence Power Sharing. Stop diluting the Waki recommendations by providing new alternatives. Stop Violating the Waki recommendations. The Waki recommendation is likely to be completely distorted and rendered useless if the on going trend of introducing new issues and making changes to the Waki recommendations, is entertained. If Mr. Koffi Annan continues to make changes which undermine the Waki recommendations, what will stop the Kenya powerful corrupt Politicians from making similar changes and corrections of the Waki recommendations in their favour?.
Wouldn't the Waki recommendations become a toothless Bulldog in the end? Please go by Waki recommendations. The Waki Commission was right in every aspect of the recommendations. Kenya was unable to prosecute anyone in the 13 years of senceless killings. It failed to prosecute anyone for the 1991 Killing where over 800 innocent and defenceless children and women lost their lives. It failed to prevent the kiilling of over 1,200 innocent mothers and their children in January 2008. Even now, nothing tangible should be expected from a Kenyan Tribunal. The ICC in Hague Netherlands is the answer.
Sincerely
Isaac Newton Kinity
Former Secretary General
Kenya Civil Servants Union
CC.
World Leaders
UNO
UNHR
President Mwai Kibaki
Prime Minister, Raila Odinga
Kenya Media
Kenya Standard
The Daily Nation [Kenya]
Kenya Human Rights Commission
Kenya National Commission Fof Human Rights
The Law Society Of Kenya
International Media
Transparency
International Human Rights Organizations
www.misterseed.com – London
Outrage Over 'Obama Chimpanzee' Cartoon
A newspaper that published a cartoon appearing to portray Barack Obama as a crazy chimpanzee has been accused of racism. The New York Post cartoon shows two police officers, one with a smoking gun, standing over the body of a bullet-riddled chimp. The caption reads: "They'll have to find someone else to write the next stimulus bill." The image has outraged civil rights leaders and officials who say it echoes racist stereotypes. Black civil rights leader Reverend Al Sharpton described it as "troubling at best given the historic racist attacks of African-Americans as being synonymous with monkeys". But the Post's editor-in-chief, Col Allan, defended the cartoon as "a clear parody of a current news event". He said the drawing refers to a chimpanzee named Travis who was killed by police in Connecticut after it mauled a friend of its owner. In a statement, he hit back at the accusation made by Mr Sharpton, saying: "Again, Al Sharpton reveals himself as nothing more than a publicity opportunist".
 
The Governor of the Bank of England will apply to the Chancellor to start printing more money to kick start the economy, reports The Independent and on right Jade Goody is ready to die says the Daily Mirror, as pain from her cancer becomes intolerable.
London's busiest rail commuter lines face shutdown in the biggest co-ordinated strike action since the early Nineties.They include routes operated by South West Trains, First Capital Connect (Thameslink), National Express East Anglia and London Overground. Hundreds of thousands of commuters - who today learned that they pay by far the highest fares in Europe - would be affected by the action over job losses and working conditions. In 1994, industrial action by signal workers repeatedly closed the entire national network during a three-month dispute.m The first of what is likely to be a series of 24-hour walkouts could take place next month. Bosses at the RMT, the largest rail union, are to ballot nearly 4,000 staff at the four companies in separate disputes over jobs and conditions. Ballots will open on Tuesday, 3 March and close two weeks later on Tuesday, 17 March. Union leaders expect overwhelming support for industrial action. The union, by law, must then give the employers seven days' notice, meaning the first strikes could take place from Wednesday, 25 March. SWT has announced 660 job losses including ticket office, cleaning, platform, revenue-protection, information and clerical staff.
Hunt For 'Fraud Scam' Cricket Tycoon Stanford
US investigators who accused cricket tycoon Sir Allen Stanford over a multi-million-dollar fraud have admitted they do not know his whereabouts. Sources at the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) confirmed they were still searching for the billionaire. Stanford has not been seen in public since news of alleged fraud totalling £9.2bn (£6.5bn) broke on Tuesday. The news triggered a rush on the Bank of Antigua and the Stanford International Bank as panicked savers dashed to take out their cash. A Stanford Financial Group spokesman repeatedly refused to discuss the tycoon's whereabouts when contacted on Thursday. Reports suggest that Stanford attempted to leave the US on a private jet bound for Antigua, but was thwarted after the firm refused to accept his credit card. A spokesman for the SEC said it was unaware of the reports. Last year, the financier put on a million-dollar-a-man, winner-takes-all Twenty20 cricket contest between England and a team of West Indian all-stars. Stanford has made the Caribbean his home, and currently holds dual citizenship with Antigua and Barbuda, becoming the first American to be knighted by the Commonwealth nation in 2006. But the tycoon has had his assets frozen and been placed under a temporary restraining order as part of the SEC complaint, which was filed in a Dallas court on Tuesday. He was not needed in court for the complaint to be made. But US officials have been unable to serve the orders on him in person. The Texas-born businessman has been accused of fraud "of a shocking magnitude", the SEC said. The allegations relate to an $8bn (£5.6bn) certificate of deposit scheme and a separate $1.2bn (£840m) investment vehicle. It follows an investigation into Stanford and his firms Stanford International Bank, Stanford Group Company and Stanford Capitol Management.
Hunt For 'Fraud Scam' Cricket Tycoon Stanford
Fifteen oil workers rescued from a helicopter which crashed in the North Sea have arrived back in Aberdeen by boat "in good spirits". They were among 18 people rescued on Wednesday night after the Super Puma helicopter plunged into the sea about 125 miles off the Scottish coast while on the way to a BP production platform. Three others with minor injuries were airlifted earlier to Aberdeen Royal Infirmary before being discharged overnight. A spokesman for BP said those on board the boat were in "good shape" and their "spirits were high". The cause of the accident was not yet known, she told Sky News, adding: "We want to pay tribute to the people who helped us in this incident." The Air Accidents Investigation Branch is launching an investigation into what went wrong. It is sending nine people to Aberdeen.
Nairobi, Wednesday 18th February, 2009. A 119 final vote against 22 delivered Agriculture minister William Ruto straight from the jaws of a censure motion over the maize scandal that would have technically dealt a body blow to his political career. Had it passed, the censure motion ferociously moved by Ikolomani legislator Boni Khalwale would have seen parliament pass a vote of no confidence against the minister to make him the second to suffer the same fate in the 10th parliament after former finance Kimunya over the controversial sale of the then Grand regency Hotel. The motion was punctuated by emotive debate and hostile interjections of points order that stretched what would have been a normal call for a voice count to determine the outcome to a division. Earlier Ikolomani member Boni Khalwale had delivered a blow by blow account of the minister's alleged wrongful handling of the country's strategic grains reserves at the national cereals and produce board and urged the members to censure the minister. Khalwale maintained that the minister had misled parliament by declaring that the country's strategic grain reserve had 1.6 million bags of maize as at 30th June 2008 contrary to Hhalwale's figure of 2.6 million bags. Khalwale also put the minister to task to explain whether indeed maize had been exported to southern Sudan at a time when the country was experiencing famine. The minister was also accused of flouting the public officer's ethics act by allowing a company he is associated with him to supply jute bags to NCPB. But Ruto countered the allegations and denied any wrongdoing or impropriety in the maize saga.
But Ruto rubbished Khalwale allegations with equal measure and accused Khalwale of engaging in political malice. Documents tabled by the minister indicated that the country's grain reserves as at 20th June 2008 stood at 1.9 million bags. A total of 480,000 bags allegedly exported to southern Sudan were actually old stock and were sold to local traders. The minister exonerated Amaco insurance company ltd which he is associated with from any wrongdoing saying the said company has never engaged in financial dealings with the NCPB. Members who opposed the censure motion include Naivasha member and chairman of the Agriculture committee John Mututho, Trade assistant minister Omingo Magara and Energy minister Kiraitu Murungi. Kiraitu stirred raw emotions as party differences between him and Justice Minister who is the chairperson of Narc Kenya Martha Karua played themselves on the floor of the House. Kiraitu who belongs to the PNU had accused the Justice ministry of failing to contain graft and engaging in witch hunt to settle political scores. He dismissed the censure motion as an evil scheme plotted by detractors of Mr. Ruto to edge him out of the 2012 succession battle. The Justice Minister had called on the Agriculture minister to take political responsibility over the maize scandal and step aside to allow investigations to be conducted. Those who supported the censure motion include water assistant minister Mwangi Kiunjuri and medical services assistant minister Danson Mungatana. Out of the 145 members present during the heated debate, 119 voted against the motion while 22 supported and 2 abstained from the vote.
Safaricom Chief Executive Officer Michael Joseph displays the Best Mobile Money Service award presented to Safaricom for its M-PESA services during the Global Mobile Awards 2009 in Barcelona, Spain.
Home Secretary Jacqui Smith is facing a parliamentary "sleaze" investigation over her second home allowance. The Parliamentary Commissioner for Standards, John Lyon, has written to Ms Smith calling on her to explain the £116,000 which she has claimed since becoming an MP. Ms Smith insisted she had done nothing wrong and said she was "very happy" to answer the commissioner's questions. Mr Lyon had previously rejected two complaints into her decision to designate her sister's house in south-east London - where she stays when she is in the capital - as her main home. The move has enabled her to collect at least £116,000 over the years in second home allowances on her constituency home in Redditch, Worcestershire, where her family lives. It is understood that the latest complaint was submitted by two of her London neighbours, Dominic and Jessica Taplin, who are challenging her claims over the amount of time she spent there.
Nairobi, Wednesday 18th February, 2009. Ikolomani Member Of Parliament Dr. Bonny Khalwale will Wednesday afternoon move a censure motion against Agriculture Minister William Ruto over the maize scam. Khalwale says the censure motion has been prompted by the Minister's conduct, with regard to the manner he has allegedly mishandled the purchase, storage, sale and distribution of maize from the National Cereals and Produce Board. The Ikolomani MP says the mismanagement has led to the scarcity of maize meal and current high cost of the commodity. Khalwale argues that the situation has resulted in a national disaster, with some Kenyans succumbing to death as ten million face starvation. Consequently, the Ikolomani MP wants parliament to censure the Agriculture Minister by endorsing a vote of no confidence in him to force him to resign. Khalwale is best remembered for successfully moving a censure motion against former Finance Minister Amos Kimunya in regard to the controversial sale of the Grand Regency Hotel (Now Laico Regency) and forcing the minister to resign to pave way for an investigation into the scandal.
Ruto has come under intense pressure over the maize shortage in the country
The Parliamentary Committee on Agriculture says it needs more time to complete investigations into the maize scandal. Committee Chairman John Mututho says they have received adequate information from Kenya Plant Health Inspectorate Service (KEPHIS), National Cereals and Produce Board (NCPB) and the Bulk Grain Handlers, adding that investigations involve the Ministries of Finance, Agriculture and the intelligence department. Meanwhile live parliamentary proceedings of an adjournment motion to discuss alleged extra judicial police executions were abruptly halted Wednesday morning after House Speaker Kenneth Marende ruled that the matter be debated in camera. This followed a point of order by Defense Assistant Minister Joseph Nkaissery proposing that live proceedings on the motion be withdrawn. Nkaissery had argued that some legislators were implicated in the formation of some of the outlawed gangs in the country and discussing such matters in public would intimidate security organs. In moving the motion, Limuru MP Peter Mwathi had presented documents including a Kenya National Commission on human rights report on the floor of the house documenting several alleged extra-judicial executions by the police.
Kibaki’s failing health put on hold all pledges he had made
The first time Kenyans heard of Kibaki’s ill health was an announcement, in late January 2003, that the President had been admitted to Nairobi Hospital to have a blood clot – the after-effect of his car accident – removed from his leg. Kibaki would continue to carry out his official functions from hospital, his personal doctor, Dan Gikonyo, assured the public, as long as he did not get overstressed. He suffered from high blood pressure and had been advised, amongst other things, not to wave his arms around. The statement failed to reassure. - CLICK HERE FOR MORE
3.8 MILLION UK JOBS GO TO MIGRANTS
A total of 3.8million people born overseas are working in the UK, according to figures released by the Office for National Statistics. The figure is equivalent to 13 per cent of the workforce. More than one in seven jobs in Britain is being filled by a foreign-born worker. The overwhelming majority of the workers – more than 2.6 million of them – are from outside the European Union. Overall, the proportion of overseas workers in the UK workforce has almost doubled over the past 10 years. The shocking figures, released to the Conservatives at Westminster yesterday, are being seen as the final death knell for Gordon Brown’s much-derided promise of “British jobs for British workers”. Last night there were growing concerns about further damage to community relation as the unemployment rate soared over two million in the recession. Demonstrations and wildcat strikes protesting at overseas workers allegedly getting preferential job opportunities in a series of major construction projects have swept Britain in recent weeks. Shadow Work and Pensions Minister James Clappison, who obtained the figures, said: “This is yet more evidence that Labour has failed to bring migration from outside the EU under control despite repeated promises to do so. He accused ministers of trying to bully statisticians in a bid to cover up the Government’s blunders over immigration.
 
Protestors demonstrate against British jobs going to foreign workers
 
Between October and December 2007, before the crisis took hold, there were 25,860,000 UK-born people in employment. A year later, with the UK officially in recession, the figure had shrunk to 25,582,000. Over the same period the number of non-UK born workers leapt from 3,605,000 to 3,819,000.
Museveni appoints First Lady Janet State Minister. President Yoweri Museveni announced the long-awaited Cabinet reshuffle late last night, with big surprises. In the shake-up, Museveni dropped ministers Dr. Ezra Suruma for finance, Gen Salim Saleh (micro-finance), Ham Muliira (ICT), Maj. James Kinobe (youth), Dr. Atwooki Kasirivu (lands), Prof. Semakula Kiwanuka (investment) and Kagimu Kiwanuka for economic monitoring. The big new comers are First Lady Janet Museveni who is now state minister for Karamoja, Gen Jeje Odongo bounced back as state minister for defence, replacing Ruth Nankabirwa who takes over from Saleh. - MORE
NI WAKATI WETU WA KUKULA
Githongo's new book
Regional and ethnic balancing, as well as the Kibaki succession jumped to the fore in heart-rending intrigues before the chairman of the interim electoral body was picked, The Standard can reveal. City lawyer Cecil Guyana Miller, 39, was the compromise to win the Parliamentary Select Committee on Constitutional Review’s nomination, and which could be tabled in Parliament today for ratification. The transitional electoral body Miller is expected to head — the Independent Interim Electoral Commission (IIEC) — replaces the Samuel Kivuitu-led defunct Electoral Commission of Kenya that was disgraced for mishandling the 2007 presidential election. If ratified, IIEC shall last two years from its inception, with its major tasks being laying the structures for the future electoral body and handling electoral disputes. "I want to make Kenyans have faith in our electoral body and ensure that electoral reforms that have for a long time been talked about are addressed," a delighted Miller said, in an interview with The Standard.
Should Parliament fail to endorse Miller, they would have former House Speaker Francis ole Kaparo and Institute of Education and Democracy boss Koki Muli to fall back to, the two having made it to the final shortlist of three out of a strong cast of eight. Two Cabinet ministers and an Assistant Minister kept their horse-trading tricks, rooting for candidates from their regions. A source at the meeting told The Standard how one Cabinet minister mobilised the panel against former Kenya National Commission on Human Rights (KNCHR) chairman Maina Kiai, earlier seen as a frontrunner for the seat. Kiai was among the heavyweights that fell by the wayside. His tough stance against the Government and certain ministers may have put paid his chances for IIEC chairmanship. Moreover, some PSC members said they were not keen on picking someone from a region whose leaders are already focused on the 2012 General Election. "There was consensus that persons affiliated to various political camps be dropped at a certain stage. It made work easier for Miller whose political affairs with the country’s leadership could not be traced," said a reliable source on the panel. Each candidate was discussed in detail, leaving only an Assistant Minister from the Rift Valley rooting for the former Speaker and a Cabinet Minister from Eastern Province vouching for Koki as the rest voted for Miller. Koki’s name was deleted on the final stretch on grounds she was from the same community as former ECK chairman Samuel Kivuitu. "It would have been a travesty of natural justice for Kenyans if we were to appoint an IIEC chair from the same region as the previous chair of ECK," said an insider. - The Standard.
The Parliamentary Select Committee on the Constitution has picked lawyer Cecil Miller as chairman of the Interim Independent Electoral Commission. Miller was among seven other candidates shortlisted for the job by a human resource firm, Manpower Limited.
Airline crew arrested at Heathrow Airport after drugs seized.
17 February 2009
For the second time in four weeks, 15 members of an airline crew were arrested today at Heathrow Airport after officers from the UK Border Agency seized approximately five kilos of cocaine with an estimated street value of £250,000. The crew were arrested after our officers discovered the drugs in a piece of baggage that had arrived on a South African Airways flight from Johannesburg. Following the detection, the case was passed to HM Revenue & Customs and enquiries are continuing.
A spokesman said:
"Crew members are subject to the same customs checks as any other person when entering the UK. Those arrested are now being held in custody and will be interviewed by investigation officers. HM Revenue & Customs together with the UK Border Agency play a vital role in the fight to prevent illegal drugs from entering the UK and in protecting our communities from the violence and corruption that always accompany this hideous trade.
"Anyone with information about activity they suspect may be linked to drugs s muggling should call our 24 hour Customs Hotline - 0800 59 5000."
Gaddafi's son flies into Kenya and into a temper
Although Kenya's tourism industry is in trouble, there is one wealthy visitor the country has been glad to see the back off. Al Saadi Gaddafi's brief holiday in the East African nation brought chaos from the slopes of Mt Kenya to the skies above Nairobi. Al Saadi, right, the third-eldest son of the Libyan President, arrived at the end of January with a modest entourage of 50 businessmen in a private jet. The party then hired helicopters to take them to their hotel to avoid Nairobi's notorious traffic. But the Libyans are also said to have brought in firearms. An official told The Standard, that they were not allowed to examine the plane. Al Saadi, who had a one-match career as a footballer with Italian side Perugia, had at least one hunting rifle with him and demanded to use it to hunt in the Maasai Mara game reserve. A member of Kenya's Wildlife Service told him hunting has been banned in the reserve since 1977. Al Saadi is said to have thrown a "tantrum". Libyan involvement in Kenya has been causing unease since the surprise sale of a Nairobi hotel last year. A Libyan state company bought the Grand Regency for a fraction of its commercial value, prompting an investigation which dragged in the central bank governor and the finance minister, Amos Kimunya. Last year, Al Saadi's younger brother Hannibal caused a diplomatic row with Switzerland after being accused of assaulting his staff at a hotel in Geneva. He was charged with assault but left the country after posting bail. - Source-The independent
Labour braced for defeat as Tories take 20-point lead in poll
GORDON BROWN'S poll ratings sank to a new low today amid signs that ministers and civil servants are preparing for a Labour defeat. A new Mori survey found that the Conservative lead increased over the past month from 14 points to 20. It put David Cameron on course for victory with a clear mandate, with the Tory vote up four to 48 per cent, compared with a two-point decline for Labour to 28 per cent. Nick Clegg's Liberal Democrats were said to be unchanged on 17 per cent. But Mr Brown's personal ratings are heading down among both the general public and Labour supporters. Out of all adults, just a quarter are satisfied with his performance while two thirds are dissatisfied - a satisfaction index of -38 per cent. That compares with +9 for both Mr Cameron and Mr Clegg. Among Labour supporters, Mr Brown enjoys a rating of +21, markedly down from +29 a month ago. Mr Cameron has a healthy +60 rating among Tories.
  
LEFT: The Daily Express leads on "shock figures" which show that more than one in seven jobs in Britain is being filled by a foreign-born worker. The paper also carries a picture of Jade Goody's two sons as they went to visit their terminally ill mother in hospital. CENTRE: The Daily Mail also focuses on foreign workers, saying that they now hold more than 13% of the total jobs compared to 7.5% when Labour came to power. RIGHT: Workers are being warned to expect pay freezes as the cost of living rises at its slowest rate for almost 50 years, experts have told the Daily Telegraph. Businessman and cricket entrepreneur Sir Allen Stanford makes the front page after being charged with fraud.
Cell phone makers Tuesday pledged to end one of modern life's chief frustrations --- and introduce a universal charger for handsets by 2012. An estimated 1.2 billion cell phones were sold in 2008, at least half of which were replacement handsets.
Nairobi, Tuesday 17th February, 2009. President Mwai Kibaki has declined to assent the Fiscal Management Bill 2008 into law. The proposed law sought to make MPs a key part of the Government's budget-making, and increase their scrutiny of the process. The Bill if signed would have compelled Finance minister Uhuru Kenyatta to table the budget policy statement by March 21 for scrutiny ahead of the budget day sometime in June this year. House speaker Kenneth Marende said that out of the 17 bills the 10th parliament has passed, the president has declined to sign one of the most crucial proposed law, the fiscal management bill 2008. Parliament passed the Bill on December 10 last year effectively increasing it's oversight function over the country's collection of funds and expenditure. The Bill was expected to anchor the Parliamentary Budget Office and strengthen the internal capacity of the House to lay bare the National Budget, and ensure equitable distribution of public funds. Under the new rules included in the Standing Orders of Parliament, the finance minister is expected to table the 2009-2010-budget policy statement by March 21 to the House. But with this latest development, that may not happen and treasury will continue to enjoy the monopoly of allocating the country's resources.
President Kibaki (foreground - right) chairs a past Grand Coalition Cabinet meeting. - The Standard
Karua and Ruto tore into each other at a Cabinet meeting
The two ministers on Thursday tore into each other at a Cabinet meeting described as “chaotic, hot and eruptive”. The emotional confrontation between Agriculture minister William Ruto and Justice, National Cohesion and Constitutional Affairs’ Martha Karua ended with her ominous warning to the besieged minister: “We’ll meet tomorrow (Wednesday) at the censure motion.” Cabinet meetings are not open to the Press and the Nation relies on interviews with those in attendance. During the argument, the President watched quietly, his only intervention to signal to those who wished to speak to do so. The meeting approved a send-off package for the sacked Electoral Commission of Kenya commissioners. But it was the quarrel between Mr Ruto and Ms Karua that many were talking about afterwards. Those who spoke to the Nation said that it was Mr Ruto, under pressure over the disappearance of thousands of bags of maize from the national stores even as the nation starves, who started it all when he accused Ms Karua of fighting him politically in public. “The Hon Martha Karua has been fighting me publicly over matters that can be easily sorted out within the Cabinet,” he is reported to have said. In his own defence, Mr Ruto alleged that the maize issue had been blown out of proportion. - Daily Nation.
UK inflation falls to 3%
Inflation has dropped to its lowest level since last April thanks to fuel prices falling at the fastest pace on record, official figures show. The key Consumer Prices Index (CPI) measure of inflation dropped to 3 per cent from 3.1 per cent in December, with falling car and transport prices also acting as a drag, the Office for National Statistics (ONS) said. But the fall was far lower than expected by economists as January sales on the high street failed to see the same level of heavy discounting as last year. The underlying rate of Retail Prices Index (RPI) inflation fell to 2.4 per cent in January from 2.8 per cent in December. The headline rate of RPI inflation, which includes mortgage interest payments, fell to 0.1 per cent in January from 0.9 per cent in December.
A married Chinese businessman who could no longer afford five mistresses held a competition to decide which one to keep. But the contest took a fatal turn when one of the women, eliminated for her looks, drove the man and the four other competitors off a cliff, Chinese media reported. The spurned mistress died and the other passengers were injured, the reports said. Police initially thought the car had plummeted off a mountain road in eastern China on December 6 by accident. Then they learned of the contest through a letter the dead woman had left behind, the Shanghai Daily newspaper said. The 29-year-old woman, identified only as Yu, was a waitress when she met the businessman at a restaurant in the coastal city of Qingdao in 2000.
Housing Slump: Prices Fall By 10.2% In 2008
UK homes lost 10.2% of their value during 2008, the first time the Department for Communities and Local Government has recorded a double-digit drop since it began collecting the data in 2003. The steep fall reported during December contrasts with more recent figures on the property market, which suggest buyers may be beginning to return. The Royal Institution of Chartered Surveyors (RICS) earlier reported falling prices had prompted people to seek out bargains - with enquiries rising for the third month in a row. The Halifax and Nationwide house price indexes show how property has been hit hard by the economic slump, with prices dropping by 20% since their peak in the summer of 2007. According to Nationwide, prices had reached a high of about £186,000. The Halifax said it was even more, peaking at just under £200,000. Since then, prices have almost continually fallen. In October, 2008, the Halifax said house prices fell by 13% in 12 months - the biggest drop since records began 25 years ago. But the market may be turning around - the Halifax recorded a 1.9% increase in prices for January, bringing an end to 10 consecutive months of falls. And nearly half of chartered surveyors believe that the bottom of the market is now in sight. Existing homeowners are the main source of the increased interest in the housing market, according to the RICS. But first-time buyers are continuing to be frozen out of the market as lenders demand high deposits. Only 23% of surveyors reported a rise in interest from people taking their first step on to the property ladder. There are now just three mortgages available for people with a 5% deposit, and 88 for those with a 10% one. Instead people now need at least a 40% deposit for nearly one in four mortgages on offer, according to Moneyfacts.co.uk.
The latest national house price figures are to be released this morning - and they could show some tentative signs of recovery in the housing market. A new survey claims there have been signs of a small upturn in recent weeks. The Royal Institution of Chartered Surveyors (RICS) said falling prices have prompted potential buyers to seek out bargains - and enquiries have risen for the third month in a row. The Halifax and Nationwide house price indexes show how property has been hit hard by the economic slump, with prices dropping by 20% since their peak in the summer of 2007.
Mortgage Lending At 35-Year Low
The number of mortgages taken out by house hunters fell to its lowest level since 1974 during 2008, the Council of Mortgage Lenders says. Just 516,000 mortgages were taken out for house purchase last year. That is 49% fewer than during 2007, according to the council. Net lending, which strips out redemptions and repayments, for all types of mortgage also dived sharply, dropping to £39.7bn in 2008, from £108.2bn a year earlier. There was also steep fall in the number of first-time buyers getting on to the ladder. Just 194,200 people bought their first home in 2008, 46% fewer than in 2007. That slump in first time purchases continued in December, with just 12,100 people taking out loans collectively worth £1.4bn - the lowest levels since the CML's monthly records began in 2002. First-time buyers have been hit hard by banks and building societies tightening their lending criteria. They now put down an average deposit of 22% of their property's value. The credit crunch and fears over jobs have also forced house hunters to delay purchases. CML director general Michael Coogan said: "The shortage of mortgage funding and reduction in the number of active lenders has reshaped the mortgage landscape in the space of a year." The CML has warned that net mortgage lending will turn negative this year.
Nine members of the Metropolitan Police's crime squad in Enfield, north London, have been suspended from duty in an anti-corruption investigation. The force said two more officers have been placed on restrictive duties for the duration of the inquiry. The investigation centres on the alleged mishandling of property. No arrests have been made. In a brief statement, the Met said it "demands the highest levels of honesty and integrity from its officers." A spokesman would not confirm any more details but said the suspensions would not affect day-to-day policing.
HARRODS owner Mohamed Fayed launched an attack on Scotland Yard today as he was cleared of claims he sexually assaulted a 15-year-old girl. The billionaire said he had been "victimised" in the course of a nine-month investigation by specialist sex crimes detectives. The 76-year-old said it was wrong he had been named before any proceedings had been brought. Mr Fayed was interviewed by police about the alleged assault at his Knightsbridge store but never charged. Today the Crown Prosecution Service, which has been assessing a file on the case submitted by Met detectives, said there was no prospect of securing a conviction and that no charges would be brought. Mr Fayed immediately spoke of his anger. "The investigation has reached an obvious and proper conclusion," he said. "But I have to ask why it took so long and why it was handled in such a way as to cause me and my businesses the maximum degree of damage. "This should never be permitted in a democratic society. The leaks, the false stories, the innuendo all make a bad situation worse. "I am shocked the system can be manipulated in such a way. It cannot be right an accused person is publicly named before proceedings are brought.
Fayed: I was victimised over false sex attack claim
"Now I know how distressing it is to be victimised in this way I intend to fight to ensure others on the receiving end of false allegations are properly protected." His spokeswoman added: "The first Mr al Fayed knew of any allegation, let alone a complaint to the police, was when a story appeared on the front page of a newspaper. That story was almost certainly deliberately leaked to the press. "At the precise time of the alleged offence, which Mr al Fayed learned was supposed to have taken place at Harrods, he was at Fulham Football Club, in full view of television cameras, enjoying a match. "Mr al Fayed has been shocked by the way this has been handled by the police. He believes it cannot be right that an accused person is publicly named before proceedings are brought." Rene Barclay, the CPS's director of complex casework for London, said in a statement: "During the course of a thorough investigation, extensive enquiries were made and statements were taken from a number of people. "Having reviewed those statements and other material submitted to us we concluded that, in the light of the conflicting evidence and the absence of sufficiently reliable accounts of crucial events, there was no realistic prospect of conviction." Police questioned Mr Fayed, who has always strongly denied the allegation, in October.
Nairobi, Tuesday 17th February, 2009. Security apparatus are on alert over possible terror attack from Somali extremists linked to al-Qaeda. They are reportedly unhappy with the co-operation between Kenya, US and European countries in the war against piracy, a major source of revenue for terrorists and other criminal gangs in Somalia Internal Security Minister George Saitoti said on Monday they are taking measures to ensure the attack does not occur. "We are aware and monitoring whatever is going on especially in Somalia. I am not dreaming because the threat is real and we have been victims," he said. Prof Saitoti said "things are not normal" especially along the Kenya-Somali border. He made the remarks when he met PPOs at the CID Training School, Nairobi. PPOs run intelligence and security matters. The minister said foreign militias at the Mandera border were a security threat. The extremists were especially unhappy with the agreements Kenya has signed with foreign partners to arrest and charge pirates who terrorise ships off the Somalia coast. "They plan a revolt because they think Americans are helping us to tame them," said an officer who did not want to be named. Saitoti also cited a US report by a spy agent, who warned that Kenya was likely to face terror attacks as extremists plot to hit US targets. Saitoti termed the remarks serious. "We judge the terrorist threat to US interests in East Africa, primarily from al-Qaeda and al-Qaeda-affiliated extremists in Somalia and Kenya, will increase in the next year," Mr Dennis Blair, overseer of US spy agencies, was reported telling the Senate last week. Blair said al-Qaeda network in East Africa was planning operations against American, European and local targets. Kenya has been a victim of terror attacks. In the most serious in 1998, more than 200 people were killed. The security apparatus are also concerned by threats from some of the terrorists against Prime Minister Raila Odinga. - The Standard.
The race for the chair of the new Interim Independent Electoral Commission has narrowed down to eight. Former National Assembly Speaker Francis Kaparo and former Kenya National Commission on Human Rights Chairman Maina Kiai are among those shortlisted for Tuesday’s final interview.
Agriculture minister William Samoei Ruto is expected to face a trying week in his political career when a motion of censure filed by Ikolomani MP Bonny Khalwale comes before the House Business Committee (HBC) on Tuesday evening. Sources close to the HBC confirmed that the motion by Dr Bonny Khalwale would be given priority. Should the HBC sanction the motion, it could come up for debate as early as next Wednesday afternoon.
A fresh controversy has broken involving 6,500 tonnes of maize detained at the port by the Kenya Bureau of Standards. The bureau, which is lawfully mandated to ensure the quality of everything that the public consumes, has declared the maize unfit for human consumption. But other competent government agencies, including the Government Chemist and the Kenya Plant Health Inspectorate Service, say there is absolutely nothing wrong with the maize. Now a source close to the National Cereals and Produce Board (NCPB) is alleging that it is all part of a clever plan to sell the maize, worth Sh276 million, at a throwaway price as animal feed. The buyer will almost certainly mill it and sell it as ordinary flour at a neat profit, according to the source, who cannot be named without compromising his position. The new revelations come as Agriculture minister William Ruto, who is fighting for political survival, was questioned by MPs for four hours at Continental House on Monday—from 3pm to 7pm. The Parliamentary Committee on Agriculture is trying to get to the bottom of the maize scandal which has rocked the cereals board and put Mr Ruto’s career in jeopardy. 
Agriculture minister William Ruto arrives at Continental House, Nairobi, on Monday to meet the parliamentary committee on Agriculture.
Some of his colleagues in the Cabinet have been asking for his resignation and corruption investigators have been called to investigate NCPB. Also summoned by the MPs were top officials of Kebs and Kephis as well as Agriculture PS Romano Kiome. The Kephis team, however, was not grilled on Monday but their interviews were pushed to another day. NCPB was represented by lawyers, their technocrats. The maize, imported from South Africa late last year, has been lying at the port even as 10 million people suffer food shortages. The price of a two-kilogramme packet of maize flour is retailing at a high of Sh120 in most parts of the country. Kephis, the Government Chemist and Kebs were on Monday still not in agreement on whether the maize should be released to the consumer, three months later. Two private companies have certified the maize, part of an 8,100-tonne consignment bought by the cereals board, as fit to eat. The Nation learnt that NCPB, on the advise of Kebs, had declined to have the maize off-loaded and wanted it shipped back to South Africa “based on the level of discoloration.’’ An MP who was at the meeting said of the fresh twist: “We believe the maize is good for human consumption but somebody somewhere is trying to be clever.’’ The chairman of the committee, Mr John Mututho, declined to give details of the meeting, saying only that Mr Ruto had shed a lot of light on the matter. He said: “We are investigating the actual trigger of price wars...we now have the hypothesis and it is the one we are testing and will only disclose it in our final report,’’ said the Naivasha MP. - Daily Nation.
Fresh from recording a massive pretax profit of Sh5.02 billion, Equity Bank is now widening its reach in Nyanza Province. The bank at the weekend unveiled four more branches in the province as it moved to consolidate its growth and expansion across the country. Equity — currently Kenya’s fastest growing banking institution — opened branches in Siaya, Mbita Point, Kisumu and Homa Bay districts on February 14. All events were officiated by Prime Minister Raila Odinga. Equity has based its strategy on services for the poor and its profits have doubled every year for the past five years as it expanded and targeted Kenyans who previously held no formal bank accounts. The highlight of the weekend events was a consultative meeting in Siaya and a dinner hosted by the bank for the business community from the region at the Tom Mboya Labour grounds in Kisumu. And as part of the launch activities in the region, the bank will simultaneously conduct financial literacy campaigns to encourage people to seek credit in the bank. Last Thursday, Equity Bank announced a Sh5 billion profit for the year ending December 2008, which is a 111 per cent rise compared to Sh2.378 billion posted in the previous year (2007). Equity's profits have grown despite tough times last year, when the local economy saw a bout of political unrest that hit key sectors. - The Standard.
Mystery 'Fireballs' Fall From The Texas Sky
Authorities in Texas are baffled after being flooded with reports of burning debris falling from the sky. Terrified onlookers were heard screaming when the mysterious "fireballs" were filmed mid-morning on Sunday. They were captured by television cameras recording a marathon in the state capital Austin. No one has explained where the debris has come from, amid numerous reports of sightings to the Federal Aviation Administration. The city's Sheriff's Office sent up a helicopter to investigate but it returned with no hard evidence. There were initial concerns the fireballs originated from a collision of two space satellites last week. A US and a Russian communication satellite smashed together 500 miles above Earth. But US Strategic Command has since said the two incidents are unrelated. The Federal Aviation Administration said it had warned pilots to be aware of possible space debris following the satellite collision. Russia's Mission Control chief said clouds of debris will circle the planet for thousands of years and threaten numerous satellites. The debris field from the collision is described as huge but scientists are still trying to determine the full scope of the crash.
A further multi-billion bail-out for Lloyds Banking Group was not being ruled out today as shares fell again. After a beating on the markets, the merged bank was worth just £10 billion at lunchtime — despite having had £17 billion of taxpayer funds poured in last year. Ministers remained open to another taxpayer-funded injection of cash and, although it was being played down hard, the last resort option of full nationalisation was not being dismissed, a year after Northern Rock was taken into public ownership. Treasury minister Stephen Timms said neither a bail-out nor nationalisation was on the cards but, equally, the Government would not shrink from taking action to safeguard the newly created superbank, formed from the merger of Lloyds and stricken HBOS.
UK recession to be 'worse than expected'
The CBI said the Government will also have to borrow around a £100 billion on top of their expectations. Spokeswoman Lai Co said ministers had spent heavily to bail out the banks and cut VAT but there was now less money coming in. In its latest dire warning on the economy, the CBI said the economy will shrink by 3.3 per in 2009, compared with its November forecast of a 1.7 per cent contraction. Ian McCafferty, CBI chief economic adviser, said many countries had been forced to revise their projections down in recent months as the severity of the recession became apparent. "I think circumstances have changed. The Pre Budget Report was done in October, November and we have seen a dramatic and global change in conditions, literally in the last six to eight weeks," he said. "Given the rapid contraction in global economic activity and the continuing credit squeeze, we believe the UK will be mired in a deep recession for the whole of 2009, lasting six quarters in total and accompanied by a significant rise in unemployment." The CBI revised its joblessness forecast upwards to a peak of just over three million in 2010. Average earnings growth is expected to drop in the first three quarters of this year to a low of 1.1 per cent, as people become increasingly prepared to accept pay freezes and cuts. Wages are only predicted to return to the current level of growth - 2.5 per cent - in the last quarter of 2010. Businesses, which have been battered by the credit crunch and an increasingly savage recession, have already made painful cutbacks on staff and costs. The CBI said it anticipates firms will scale back investment throughout the forecast period, with a 9.2 per cent drop in 2009 and a 1.7 per cent fall in 2010. Consumers worried about losing their jobs are forecast to slash spending as they try and build up their savings. As a result household spending is predicted to fall 2.7 per cent in 2009, remaining in negative territory in 2010 with a 1.2 contraction.
"Let me warn you my friend!! I just came back from US a few days ago and believe you me, the amount of security that is involved at the airport! I would advice anyone who has anything to hide not to bother going there, they take your finger prints and you iris, and not forgetting we had a British passport and within the 1 hour we were there 10 black people had been pulled to one side even those who had European PP, so be very careful whatever you do." - Twiggy
 
Nairobi's Eastleigh residents on Monday protested against the alleged illegal sale of Eastleigh Health Centre and Clinic to a private developer. Police used teargas to disperse them and on right police arrest a man who was said to be among the protesters at Nairobi's Eastleigh estate on Monday. Residents claimed that Eastleigh Health Centre and Clinic had been illegally sold to a private developer. Police used teargas to disperse them.
Docklands homes fall by £72,000, but prices elsewhere are on rise
Asking prices for homes around Canary Wharf have plummeted by more than 16 per cent in the last month as the banking crisis continues to hit prices near London's financial centres. Almost £72,000 was wiped off the average asking price in the area in a matter of weeks. New figures released today show that the average in Tower Hamlets fell from £448,071 in mid January to £376,103 by the middle of this month. Experts said the fall was caused by fewer expensive homes coming up for sale in the east London borough. But sellers in many other parts of London reacted to the economic gloom differently to help push average asking prices higher during the same period. Kensington and Chelsea saw a sharp rise in the number of people wanting to sell top-end homes. The average asking price in the west London borough was up by more than £200,000 in February to nearly £2million - a rise of almost 12 per cent. In Richmond-upon-Thames it rose by nearly six per cent (£30,000) from £517,661 to £547,911. Average asking prices rose in 18 London boroughs, fell in 14 and stayed the same in Brent. Across London as a whole asking prices were almost unchanged over the month, in spite of sale prices falling sharply, the figures from property website Rightmove showed. But there were massive local variations, reflecting the differing fortunes of owners in different parts of the capital.
A spokesman for property search website Rightmove said: "The London picture has been distorted in recent months by a dramatic shift in the mix of property coming to market, indicating external influences are forcing some sellers to act differently. "In Canary Wharf, the number of properties marketed above the average price in the last month has decreased. With the area being recently developed and greatly dependent on the health of the financial services sector, it will be prone to more volatility." He continued: "In January we saw a large increase in average asking prices, with over double the number of £750,000 to £1million properties coming to the market compared with the end of 2008. These sellers were forced to market quickly after the turmoil affecting some City institutions in the autumn. "Now the number of properties above £750,000 has dropped substantially, to be replaced by lower value properties as the impact of the downturn forces sales further down the ladder." The opposite has happened in Kensington and Chelsea, though the troubles of the City are the common cause. There has been an unseasonal surge in properties in excess of £5million pounds coming onto the market in the last month. Inquiries to Rightmove have doubled since last year, showing growing interest by buyers keen to spot bargains Director Miles Shipside said: "This is a new record for us and indicates a pent-up demand. Buying opportunities on the way to the bottom of the market are traditionally more plentiful than those on the way up, and sellers are more open to low offers. "Agents are reporting greater activity, though prospective buyers are being cautious."
Two London teenagers were shot repeatedly in a mugging by a gang of boys as young as 13 who demanded their iPods and phones. The victims, brothers aged 18 and 19, were left writhing in agony outside a McDonald's in Neasden. One was hit in the stomach, leg, groin and arm and the other was wounded in the chest and stomach. The brothers, believed to be eastern European, had been challenged by the gang, some of whom were on bicycles, who asked them what they were doing there and then told them to hand over their valuables.
A Kenyan man has passed away in the UK. The late Peterson Ngunjiri Ritho, 60, passed away in Birmingham City Hospital, UK on Wednesday 11th February, 2009 after a short illness. Husband to Lucy Ngunjiri of London. Father to Harrison Theuri, UK and Timothy Munyua of Swindon, UK. He comes from Muruguru, Nyeri, Kenya. The deceased was living in Coventry before moving to Birmingham where he lived until his death. He was said to be suffering from Cancer. More information later.
"Business as usual is not business." - Dr. Albert Odulele, Glory Bible, London
London, Monday 16th February. 2009. All the 33 Russian-made tanks aboard the MV Faina have finally been offloaded. The tanks are now being mounted on rail wagons for onward transfer to the Kahawa Barracks in Nairobi. According to Colonel George Kabugi, the team leader in charge of the offloading of the military hardware at the Port of Mombasa, much of the cargo was offloaded on Sunday night. The exercise was interrupted several times due to tidal waves on the ocean and other logistical hiccups. Speaking to Kenya News Agency at Berth Number 5 Monday, Col. Kabugi said that only a few military ordinance were remaining, but added that he was optimistic that the exercise would be completed by this evening as the offloading will resume at high times after 6:00 pm.
Offloading of the equipment got underway on Saturday evening, two days after the Ukrainian freighter docked at the Kilindini Harbour, a scenario port and military officials attributed to vagaries of the weather. By this morning, dozens of military pellets were able to be offloaded while the rest of the equipment will have to wait until high tide since the angle of the exit ramp of the vessel remains awkward for any offloading. Col. Kabugi said that already, most of the tanks that had been offloaded had mounted on the rails. He however said that upon completion on Tuesday, logistics of movement of the same would depend on the capacity of the Rift Valley Railways (RVR) to ship them to the final destination. Security in and around the port area remains tight with several armed military officers patrolling the precincts alongside port security personnel. The controversy cargo surrounding the MV Faina, which was held in captivity by Somali pirates for about five month ended after the payment of about US$3.2 million about a week ago to the buccaneers. The Kenya Government Spokesman, Dr Alfred Mutua, said that the cargo is meant for its army while some quarters claim that the consignment was destined for Southern Sudan that is currently under a UN arms embargo.
The MV faina ship became the center of the world attention when it was captured by Somalia pirates in September last year.
Joseph Munio Mucheru of Edmonton, North London has lost his mother back in Kenya the late Mrs. Teresia Wairimu Mucheru on Monday 16th February, 2009 in Gathangari, Githunguri, Kiambu, Kenya. Wife of Paul Mucheru. Family and friends are meeting at Woodhouse Pub, Friern Barnet, Woodhouse Road, N12 9BD. For more information please contact Joseph on 07958911034.
UN Investigator Starts Probe of Kenya's extrajudicial killings
The UN Special Rapporteur on extra-judicial executions is in Kenya on a mission to establish the extent of reports of increased arbitrary killings bylaw enforcers. A statement from the UN Human Rights Council said Philip Alston arrived Sunday. He will undertake a 10-day visit to the country at the invitation of the Kenya government. "He is scheduled to hold meetings with government officials at both the federal and provincial levels and with members of the legislature," a statement from his office said. "His visit will also include meetings with human rights survivors of and witnesses to killings, NGOs, academics and other civil society. His responsibilities include reporting on alleged killings and the underlying causes that might have prevented effective legal action to prosecute and punish those responsible," said the statement. According to the statement, based on the information obtained during the visit, the special rapporteur will present a report containing his conclusions and recommendations at a forthcoming session of the Human Rights Council. Alston will visit Nairobi, the Rift Valley, Central, Western and Nyanza provinces and probe reports of similar executions by police and military personnel in the Mt Elgon region in early 2007when an operation to end attacks by a militia group the Sabaot Land Defense Force began and in an ongoing campaign against the Mungiki terror group launched in 2006. Alston was appointed special rapporteur in 2004 by the United Nations Commission on Human Rights. As a special rapporteur, he is independent from any government and serves in his individual capacity. The commission first decided to appoint a special rapporteur to examine questions relevant to summary or arbitrary executions in 1982. The mandate, since assumed under the UN Human Rights Council, covers all countries.
Fears for Lloyds bank as shares plunge. Shares in Lloyds slumped again today as fears increased that the Government could be forced to nationalise the bank to save it from collapse. Within minutes of the stock market opening, the share price, which fell 30 per cent on Friday, tumbled by a further 11 per cent to 54.5p. The shares are worth an eighth of their £4.50 price of 12 months ago. Last week Lloyds Banking Group announced £10 billion losses from its takeover of HBOS. The Government already owns 43 per of the group after pumping £17 billion into the merged bank. It now faces losses on paper of about £2.5billion because of the tumbling share price. Chancellor Alistair Darling continues to insist that the Government's decision to push through the merger was justified, despite increasing criticism from opposition politicians and shareholders. Some City analysts believe the scale of the losses inherited by Lloyds from HBOS mean that the bank will soon need a further injection of taxpayers' cash or full-scale nationalisation.
London, Monday 16th February, 2009. BMW has confirmed that 850 jobs are to go at the Cowley plant in Oxford, which makes the Mini, and that weekend working has been scrapped. All agency workers who did the weekend shift at the factory have lost their jobs, with immediate effect. The site is closing for a week after a fall in sales as a result of the economic downturn. The carmaker also said it had identified 150 surplus workers at its Mini plant in Swindon. The workers will be offered a transfer to work in Oxford, it added. Work at the Cowley plant will not restart until 23 February. The changing shift patterns, and the resulting job losses, will come into force on 2 March. "Mini plant Oxford will be bringing in a new shift pattern in response to continuing volatile market conditions," a BMW statement said. "As of Monday 2 March, the plant will go from a three-shift to a two-shift pattern, operating five days per week instead of the current seven." "The company regrets that this change will result in the release of around 850 agency workers from the business," it added. BMW had said that all staff at the factory, including remaining agency workers, would be paid their basic wages during the closure. However, many agency workers said they were unclear what the future held after being told the weekend shift had been axed. Javid Najibi said he had been told to leave after four years at the plant and that he was likely to get no payout. "It's bad news for everybody. There's no work any more for the weekend shift. No-one knows about the future plans," he said. Another agency worker told the BBC that he felt like a "second class" employee compared to the permanent staff. "It's a disgrace," he said.
"I've worked here for three-and-a-half years and now I'm being sacked for no reason. I've been used." A Mini spokesperson had confirmed at the weekend that the company was in discussions with Unite union representatives over changes to shift patterns at the plant. "Our first priority is to communicate with the workforce," the spokesperson had said. However, staff were angry about the way in which they were told about their job losses. Bernard Moss, from the union Unite said: "[The workers] obviously weren't very happy and the biggest issue was being told one hour from the end of the shift that they hadn't got a job." Worker Silvia Fernandes said: "I've been here for four years and I've never been sick, I've never missed work and they tell me one hour before that I've been sacked. That's not on. "That's why people are angry and so upset with BMW and the union." The company's 4,500 staff had returned to work on 5 January after an extended four-week Christmas holiday. In December, 300 agency staff were told there would be no more work for them at the plant after the Christmas holiday. BMW, like most carmakers across the world, has been struggling in the face of falling sales during the economic downturn. Overall, BMW sales fell by 4.3% in 2008, to 1.4 million vehicles, although Mini sales actually rose by 4.3% last year, to 232,425 cars. The carmaker is the latest in a long line of car manufacturers in the UK to announce plant closures and redundancies. For example, Honda has closed its plant in Swindon for four months between February and May.
CUTTING BACK
Aston Martin: Extended Christmas shutdown and 600 redundancies. Temporary three-day week began in January
Bentley: Worked a three-day week in October and longer Christmas break. Closing Crewe plant for seven weeks from the beginning of March
GM (Vauxhall): Extended Christmas closure and 40-day shutdown
Honda: Four-month shutdown between February and May
Jaguar Land Rover: Series of one-day shutdowns and production cuts late 2008 plus 450 redundancies planned
Nissan: Two-week shutdown late last year and 1,200 redundancies
Toyota: One of the night shifts suspended
Source: SMMT
A Mombasa-based firm has been contracted to clean and remove marine growth from MV Faina. Marine experts told Standard on Sunday that the vessel’s long stay in the sea following pirate hijack led to massive growth of marine algae. "The algae reduce the speed of the vessel and leads to high fuel consumption," said Mr Hamid Haq, managing director of Under Water Engineering. The firm has dispatched 12 divers to take pictures of the vessel’s bottom. Offloading of the military cargo aboard the vessel was delayed again yesterday afternoon due to low water tide. The vessel could not be positioned properly for the offload if the tide is low. It is carrying 33 T72 tanks, rocket launchers and anti-aircraft guns. Two senior military officers, a Colonel Kabugi (expert in tank artillery) and Brigadier Otieno from Defence headquarters, have been overseeing operations since the docking of the ship at the harbour. Journalists were on Friday evening allowed to take pictures of the tanks by peeping through the vessel’s lower deck. It has also emerged that the Somali pirates who hijacked the vessel vandalised accommodation cabins in the ship. Mombasa Port International Transport Federation (ITF) Inspector Juma Khamis said in an interview that he had information that pirates took away valuable goods. "They vandalised the cabins and defecated in the accommodation blocks. The vessel will have undergo a major facelift before it becomes habitable," he said. And 17 crewmembers that had been released together with the ship left Mombasa for Europe on Friday to reunite with their families. Another crew has already joined the ship ready for its next mission. The body of the ship’s captain, who died soon after the hijack, is lying at a Mombasa hospital morgue but arrangements are under way to airlift it to Russia. - The Sunday Standard.
Kenya’s rulers plundered their country to enrich themselves and preserve an ethnic clique’s hold on power while Western donors turned a blind eye and kept the aid flowing, according to a new book. In It’s Our Turn to Eat, journalist Michela Wrong delves into the corruption that has poisoned African societies, put a brake on development and discouraged investment. It is certain to stir controversy in Kenya, where a power-sharing government, formed less than a year ago after post-election bloodshed in East Africa’s biggest economy, has been embroiled in a new series of corruption scandals. "These are not merely Kenyan issues. Ethno-nationalism is emerging as Africa’s most toxic problem, challenging the continent’s very post-colonial structure," the author writes. The book centres on the struggle of Kenyan anti-corruption whistleblower John Githongo, who turns up on Wrong’s London doorstep with stacks of evidence of graft and afraid of potential retribution by those he stands to expose. Suspense-filled passages track Githongo’s efforts, which start in 2002 with his appointment by President Kibaki to help lead the fight against corruption -- which had been at the centre of Kibaki’s election campaign. - CLICK HERE FOR MORE
  
LEFT: The Mail on Sunday claims Britain's most powerful police body is netting around £18m by selling police checks for £70. CENTRE: An HBOS official who was sacked for warning that the bank's lending culture was reckless tells The Independent on Sunday that Gordon Brown will have to quit as Prime Minister. RIGHT: The Observer reports a row has erupted over how organ donations are allocated because heavy drinkers are receiving nearly one in four of the country's liver transplants.
Doughnut-loving police have solved a church burglary through analysing DNA found on a half-eaten doughnut. As Homer Simpson said: "Donuts - is there anything they can't do?" In the case Indiana police were called to a church burglary where a number of musical instruments were taken. They initially struggled for leads but hungry, and frankly stereotypical, officers found a box of doughnuts in the church's kitchen. Preparing for a well-earned snack, Police chief Wigham-style, they noticed a bite had been taken from one of the doughnuts. Furious that one of the tasty donuts had been spoiled, officers redoubled their efforts to track the perpetrator. Deputies sent the half-eaten doughnut to the Indiana State Police lab for testing. It found that DNA left on the treat matched the man, who is serving a prison sentence at the Branchville Correctional Facility for an unrelated home burglary. A 22-year-old man was charged with burglary and the police had a deserved snack.
Doughnut-loving police have solved a church burglary through analysing DNA found on a half-eaten doughnut
"Money is a unit of information and not a measure of wealth". Money and wealth are two different things. Many people are struggling to get money little do they know that money is not wealth - Dr. Albert Odulele, Glory Bible, London
Kenyans mark Valentine day
The streets of Nairobi were Saturday donned in red, a color associated with love, as couples came out in number to celebrate Saint Valentines Day. The festival has gained recognition and has become one of the most celebrated unofficial and non-religious holidays. With love in the air, flower traders were up early with bouquets packaged in appealing ways for enthusiastic couples. Kenyans had mixed views about the day. "For me this day is about sharing love with your loved ones although I did not send her flowers," one person said. "Well I think we should celebrate love everyday," some said. However, the traders registered decreased sales this year despite them overstocking in anticipation. At the City Market in Nairobi, traders leveled their anger at the Kenya Flower Council for unfairly competing with flower retailers despite being a leading wholesale supplier of flowers. The Saint Valentines Day as a tradition is marked with lovers expressing their love for each other by sending cards, presenting flowers and confectionery.The run up to St. Valentine's Day, the most important sales day in the cut flower calendar was fairly busy across the country as usual. Hamish Ker, the Production Manager of Oserian Farm said the global economic crisis had hit the flower industry, adding that the earnings outlook this year were hard to forecast. Ker said the demand in the United Kingdom had dropped drastically, adding that the European Union was the main destination for Kenyan blooms. Valentines Day was originally a pagan festival that was renamed Valentine by two early Christian martyrs. - VIDEO
These images show for the first time the true scale of the devastation wrought by the worst wildfires to hit Australia. One shows a dirt track running through bushland that was once dense but is now reduced to a blackened ruin. Another shows a neighbourhood in Marysville that was reduced to ash by the fires. Victoria Police yesterday released an e-fit of a man thought to be behind an arson attempt in the Melbourne suburb of Ivanhoe East. It shows a man with a dark complexion, in his early to mid-20s and about 1.8m (5ft 11in). Police yesterday separately released two male suspects without charge. Last weekend's fires began in six places but only four started naturally, experts believe. The death toll could exceed 200, say officials, up from 181 confirmed fatalities so far. But the disaster gave new impetus yesterday to stalled plans for a national fire warning system. A way to automatically call every telephone number in a danger area has been debated for five years, said attorney-general Robert McClelland. Telstra – Australia's largest telecommunications company – said it could install the system but had been blocked by privacy laws. Thousands of firefighters are still battling more than a dozen fires.
A regional official in Tanzania has been sacked for ordering police to whip primary school teachers as a punishment for arriving at school late. In a statement, the government said the official had broken public service rules and humiliated the teachers. Nineteen teachers were caned in front of their pupils after an inquiry into poor exam results at three schools. The inquiry blamed teachers for being late or not showing up for work and not teaching the official syllabus. The official who ordered the canings in the northern town of Bukoba, district commissioner Albert Mnali, told AFP news agency that it had been the right way to treat the teachers. "These teachers often report late for duty and some of them are fond of being absent for several days," he told the agency on Friday. "They deserved to get corporal punishment." But Deputy Education Minister Mwantumu Bakari Mahiza called the incident "unfortunate and utterly absurd". The government asked Mr Mnali to explain his actions and later issued a statement confirming the commissioner had been sacked. "The government has followed up the issue and heard the explanation from the commissioner," the statement said. "It has been concluded that Mnali's decision is unacceptable and humiliating to teachers, contrary to public-service regulations." One of the caned teachers, Ativus Leonard, 33, told the BBC he was now too ashamed to meet his pupils. Mr Leonard said he had been kicked by a police officer to make him lie down before being beaten. "He hit me everywhere - my legs, my chest, my arms, my hands. When it was over, I went to the hospital for treatment. I was given medicine but I still have a lot of pain in my chest," he said. The case comes at a time when parents and human-rights groups in Tanzania have been calling for a ban on flogging of schoolchildren throughout the country. Before Mr Mnali was sacked, the Tanzania Teachers' Union said it intended to sue him. "The caning of our teachers is shameful. It's intolerable and it's time the teachers take action against Mr Mnali through the judiciary," Kagera union chairman Dauda Bilikesi told the BBC. Union officials say the caning happened amid an ongoing row between the union and the government. Teachers complain that their salaries are often delayed and that they are a denied transfer allowance when they move to a new school.
"Money is not wealth - Adam, Noah and Abraham had no money but they were wealthy people." - Dr. Albert Odulele, Glory Bible, London
Russians capture Somali pirates
The Russian navy says one of its warships has captured three pirate vessels off the coast of Somalia. Ten pirates aboard the vessels were also detained, according to a statement given by the navy to news agencies. A spokesman for the Russian navy said all those captured by the nuclear-powered warship, Peter the Great, were Somali nationals. Pirates from Somalia target merchant ships sailing through the busy Gulf of Aden, which connects Europe and Asia. Russian navy spokesman Igor Dygalo said the pirate boats were spotted by the warship's helicopter south-east of the Yemeni island of Socotra in the Indian Ocean. "It was visually established how weapons were being dumped from the boats into the sea," Mr Dygalo said in a statement. He said the navy seized weapons including grenade launchers and automatic rifles as well as a quantity of a "narcotic substance". A multi-national task force including the United States, the UK, India and Russia currently patrol the sea off the unstable Horn of Africa to deter pirates. On Thursday, the US navy said it had detained nine pirates. The report of the Russian detentions came as the International Maritime Bureau issued a warning to shipping that the risk from piracy off the coast of Somalia was rising again. The bureau's reporting centre in Kuala Lumpur says six ships were attacked this week alone, but all managed to escape. The bureau blamed the heightened risk on more favourable weather and the temptation for pirates to target more ships for ransom, after recently releasing a number of hijacked vessels. News of the Somali pirates' detention came on the same day the crew of a Ukrainian ship captured by Somali pirates arrived home at Kiev airport after a 19-week hijacking ordeal. The MV Faina, released last week, docked on Thursday in Mombasa with its crew of 17 Ukrainians, two Russians and one Latvian, with a cargo of tanks and munitions.
The Tanzania Teachers' Union is taking legal action after 19 primary school teachers were given the cane. The teachers were caned by a police officer in front of their pupils after an investigation into poor exam results at three schools. The report blamed teachers for being late or not showing up for work and not teaching the official syllabus. One of the caned teachers, Ativus Leonard, 33, told the BBC he was now too ashamed to meet his pupils. The deputy education minister has said those responsible for the caning "should have their heads examined". The union is planning a large demonstration next week in protest at the incident. The case comes at a time when parents and human rights groups in Tanzania have been calling for a ban on flogging of schoolchildren throughout the country. The union says it will sue District Commissioner (DC) Albert Mnali, who ordered the caning in the northern region of Kagera. "The caning of our teachers is shameful. It's intolerable and it's time the teachers take action against Mr Mnali through the judiciary," Kagera teachers' union chairman Dauda Bilikesi told the BBC. "We have informed the police in Bukoba [capital of Kagera region] that we will be marching through the town to demand the government takes disciplinary measures against Mr Mnali. We want him to leave, he is not fit for his job", he said.
"The fact that you are driving a big car is not fact you are wealth. It matters which direction you are going. It could be that you are driving to more debt." - Dr. Albert Odulele, Glory Bible, London
Girl marries dog to ward off evil
 
A nine-year-old tribal girl in eastern India has married a stray dog as part of a ritual to ward off an “evil spell” on her. In India’s eastern Jharkhand, locals in the Munda Dhanda village have ‘married off’ one of its children to a stray dog because they believed her family was endangered by a malevolent spirit that could be assuaged in no other way.The ceremony was performed to the beating of many drums in the belief that it would help to overcome any curse that might fall upon the unfortunate family. Superstitions are widespread in India, especially in rural areas where literacy is scarce.
Nairobi, Saturday 14th February, 2009. Police in Molo moved swiftly Friday morning to cordon off the scene where another oil tanker overturned a mere kilometers from Sachang'wan, the scene of the deadly tanker fire that killed 133 people two weeks ago. Security officers arrived at the scene ten minutes after the tanker loaded with 28 tonnes of crude oil crashed and kept curious residents at bay. The driver of the tanker said he was trying to overtake other vehicles on a section of the road under construction when he lost control of the vehicle. Molo DC Julius Kavita and OCPD Achesa Litabalia said the driver of the tanker, who was slightly injured, was rushed to the Molo District Hospital for treatment. They said he would be arrested and charged with careless driving. The two urged residents along the accident prone area to restrain themselves from rushing to accident scenes that are regular along the road. The tanker's turn boy, Jacob Njenga, said they found the road blocked as they were overtaking but when the driver tried to use the road shoulder to overtake it collapsed, making the tanker to overturn. The oil, destined for Oilibya refinery in Kampala, Uganda oozed out of the tanker slowly but Nakuru Municipal firefighters who arrived at the scene spread anti-fire foam to prevent any outbreak. Two weeks ago a tanker that had overturned near the same site exploded, burning to death over 130 people, most of who were scooping oil. The source of the blaze is yet to be determined amid conflicting reports that it was deliberately lit by an enraged man who had been stopped by security officers from siphoning oil.
 
Westminster Chapel where the Global Day of Prayer London 2009 held their last day of 'Seven Nights of Prayer For London'
The Global Day Of Prayer London 2009 7th night of the 'Seven Nights of Prayers For London', which started on Wednesday 28th January 2009, was held at Westminster Chapel, Buckingham Gate in the very heart of London on Friday 13th february, 2009. The prayers were attended by many people from all walks of life. Representatives from different nations, France, Italy, China, Filipines, Israel, Iran, and Great Britai, were invited to pray in their native tongues. MORE
 
A hippopotamus and her young at rest in their enclosure at Berlin zoo. The young, born on 22 January and at the end of November, were the first to be born there for a number of years and on right a man stands over bundles of cargo at a railway station in Mumbai, India. The Indian Rail System is one of the largest in the world, with 11,000 trains a day serving 80m people.
A British Airways jet from Amsterdam has been involved in an incident at London City Airport on Friday 13th February, 2009. Eyewitnesses say the front wheels by the aircraft's nose collapsed when the plane made a hard landing. The aircraft skidded to a halt on the runway and its 67 passengers and five crew were evacuated using the plane's emergency chutes. Six ambulances were called to the scene but there have been no reports of any major injuries. Passenger Justin Fletcher told the BBC: "There was obviously quite a loud bang as the plane scratched in, the stewards and stewardesses were quick to evacuate everyone off, there was a few scrapes and cuts due to hitting the asphalt, all in all everyone seems to be doing quite well now." A British Airways statement said: "Unfortunately one passenger sustained a minor injury and is currently on the way to hospital. There was one other minor injury. "We don't know the nature of the injury or how it was caused yet. Our priority at the moment is to ensure all the passengers involved in the incident are well cared for by our ground staff." The airport has been closed and flights have been diverted to other airports. The airport is mainly used for UK and European flights.
The plane was carrying 67 passengers and five crew
Couples are less likely to get married than any time in history, figures show. Fewer than one in 50 women get married each year
They strove to own the world but ended up clinging on disgraced names, dodging policemen and finally killing time in police cells along with the city’s pickpockets, rapists, robbers and murderers. They cheated their way into big money, captured the imagination of the poor and dazzled the fellow rich who had earned their wealth the hard way, but ended up as State guests in prison. It is the story of the life and times of Ketan Somaia (now rotting away in police cells in India), Mr Kamlesh Pattni (the modern day Paul of Tarsus) who has lost all and ‘turned’ to God, Ibrahim Akasha (the drug baron who is six-feet under), and Yagnesh Devani, the Triton Oil Company super-con who is on the run over a Sh7.6 billion scandal. - MORE
 
Chief Kenya mediator Kofi Annan has suggested that he might send a list of suspected election violence ringleaders to the International Criminal Court. He said he would obey the "spirit, letter and intent" of a commission of inquiry into the violence. The commission delivered a sealed list of suspects to Mr Annan and said it should be sent to the ICC if a local tribunal was not set up by 1 March. Parliament on Thursday rejected a bill to establish the special court. Some 1,500 people were killed after political and ethnic rivalries caused clashes around the country following the disputed December 2007 elections. - Daily Nation
Boy, 13 in UK: 'I'll Be A Good Dad'
Alfie Patten has just become a father aged just 13 in UK - and he insists he will be a good dad. Alfie's girlfriend Chantelle Steadman, 15, gave birth to Maisie Roxanne in Eastbourne Hospital, East Sussex, four days ago, reports The Sun. The boy, who is just 4ft and looks young for his age, told the newspaper: "I thought it would be good to have a baby." But he admitted he did not think about how he would afford it. "I don't really get pocket money. My dad sometimes gives me £10," he said. Alfie, who lives with his mother Nicola, 43, in Eastbourne, was 12 when Maisie was conceived. The pair, who have the support of their parents, kept the pregnancy secret until Chantelle's mother Penny noticed her daughter's swollen stomach. Alfie said: "When my mum found out, I thought I was going to get in trouble. We wanted to have the baby but were worried how people would react. "I didn't know what it would be like to be a dad. I will be good, though, and care for it." Alfie's father Dennis said his son wanted to be a devoted and responsible father, but did not fully appreciate what he had taken on by having a child. He said Alfie had wanted to be the first to hold his child. "He could have shrugged his shoulders and sat at home on his Playstation. But he has been at the hospital every day," he said. Chantelle and Maisie have been released from hospital and are living with her family in a council house in Eastbourne. Reacting to the birth of Maisie Roxanne, former Tory leader Iain Duncan Smith, head of the Conservatives' Centre for Social Justice think tank, said he was outraged. The case was a "tragic example" of Britain's social decline, Mr Duncan Smith said later. "I don't know about these particular families but too many dysfunctional families in Britain today have children growing up where anything goes. "It exemplifies the point we have been making about broken Britain," he added. "It's not being accusatory, it's about pointing out the complete collapse in some parts of society of any sense of what's right and wrong. "There is no opprobrium any more about behaviour and quite often children witness behaviour that's aggressive, violent, rude and sexual. It's as if no one is saying this is wrong."
In the books of records it is recorded that a Kenyan air passenger flying home from China in 2007 was found to be wearing more than 100 items of men's and women's clothing. He told officials that he had been worried about being charged for carrying excess luggage. Source: Believe it or Not, 2009 Edition
Dad, 13, reflects 'broken Britain'
Architects of the violence in which more than 1,300 were killed last year will pay for their crimes in a process kicked off by Mr Kofi Annan on Friday. The chief mediator signalled clearly that he would be faithful to the “spirit, letter and intent” of the Waki Commission report which states that perpetrators of the post-election violence must be punished. In a tough statement a day after 93 MPs voted to defeat the Constitution of Kenya (Amendment) Bill, 2009, Mr Annan described it as major setback and a blow to the efforts to end the culture of impunity. The Waki Commission had given the government up to March 1 to set up the special tribunal and ensure that it was operational. But the failure to push through the Bill to entrench the tribunal in the Constitution, wrote off efforts to proceed with another to establish the tribunal whose time line lapsed two weeks ago — January 30.
Sexual dysfunction in women
Men are not the only ones who experience challenges in the bedroom women too. They could suffer from Female Sexual Dysfunction (FSD), which includes loss of libido, a diminishing sex drive or even pain during intercourse, thus disrupting her sex life.
FSD is a very common medical condition that occurs mainly among women between the ages of 25 to 50. But due to cultural, religious and social factors that view sex a taboo topic and where many women are socialised to believe that sex is not something they should enjoy, many still find it difficult to discuss. Many sexual problems, therefore, go untreated for even a lifetime.
There are different types of FSD, which could occur, alone or together:
Disorders of desire: Lack of sexual desire is the most commonly experienced challenge in women. It is caused by several factors which include boredom due to a repeated sex routine, a bad relationship or experience like rape or stress due to a demanding job and family. Nothing kills the libido faster than fatigue.
Arousal disorders: It could result from inadequate stimulation and is more prevalent in older women who require more stimulation to reach a similar level of arousal that they easily attained at a younger age. Anxiety too may inhibit arousal. Estrogen and Testosterone, the male sex hormone produced in small quantities in women by the ovary also drops significantly after menopause causing a decline in genital sensation and libido.
Orgasmic disorders: The inability to achieve orgasm can stem from negative feelings about sex due to childhood sexual abuse or rape, anger, depression, and use of drugs or alcohol. Focusing too much on technique and having an orgasm and not mutual pleasure diminishes sexual excitement because it creates anxiety and distractions.
Sexual pain disorders: They include vaginismus or dyspareunia. Vaginismus is the involuntary spasm of the vaginal muscles that makes penetration painful and can be caused by a womans fear of losing control, fear of pregnancy, past rape or sexual abuse, painful scars in the vaginal opening from injury during childbirth, surgery or circumcision; irritation from douches, spermicides or latex condoms and pelvic infections. Dyspareunia or pain during intercourse may be caused by poor vaginal lubrication, infections, vaginal irritation due to the use of spermicides, douches or latex condoms and pelvic infections.
Contrary to popular belief that FSD is psychological in nature something in her head it results from psychological, physical and relationship problems, which are intertwined and are influenced by ones health, environment and the behaviour of our partner and others.
The common causes of FSD are:
Physical causes: Fatigue due to stress, physical work or even sleep deficit or hot flashes; muscle or joint pain, pain with intercourse and urinary incontinence may interfere with sexual relations.
Pregnancy: Sexual activity does not have to change during pregnancy because intercourse does not harm the baby unless other conditions are present. But a decrease in sexual desire often prolonged by breastfeeding may occur immediately after birth. A combination of fatigue, fluctuating hormone levels and an episiotomy that is still healing may prevent couples from having sex after birth.
Drugs: Antidepressant medicines could decrease sexual desire above and beyond the effect that the depression itself has. Pain relievers like opiate block testosterone synthesis and decrease sexual response.
Menopause: Declining levels of testosterone, estrogen and progesterone cause a gradual loss of desire; difficulty getting aroused and painful intercourse because the vagina is dry due to a lack of lubrication and the tissues are thin and friable making sexual activity uncomfortable. Hot flushes can make women feel unattractive and many experience mood swings that leave them depressed and tearful.
Cancer: Loss of the uterus or breast due to disease removes physical symbols of femininity that may result in feelings of decreased sexuality for the woman. The treatment on the other hand can be painful, sap the womans energy as well as cause premature menopause. She may struggle with fears of death, disfigurement, or the partners rejection.
Chronic illness: Terminal diseases like diabetes can have a major impact on a womans self-image and her sexuality. Diabetes can cause a reduction in lubrication and blood flow to the genitals. Some medication can also affect her libido. Male factor: If a male partner is having sexual difficulties like erectile dysfunction or is being unfaithful. Psychosocial factors: Issues like self-esteem, body image, and her relationship with her partner all have an impact on sexual arousal. Anger with ones sexual partner, anxiety, guilt like a widow with a new partner, sexual, verbal or physical abuse, sexual inexperience, financial, family or job problems, family illness or death, depression and drugs used to treat it can also cause FSD and just plain boredom with the same sexual script. Remember that humans are the only primates whose sexual desire is not solely meant for reproduction but for pleasure as well. So women should not miss out on what nature has gifted us with. - The Standard.
London, Friday 13th February, 2009. Shares in Lloyds Banking Group, the company formed after its merger with HBOS, have tumbled after it said HBOS losses would be worse than expected. Lloyds announced that it expected HBOS to report a pre-tax loss for the whole of 2008 of £10bn, which is £1.6bn more than it predicted in November. Shares in Lloyds - 43% owned by the government - closed down 32.5% after the surprise announcement. The Lloyds side of the business is expected to make a profit of £1.3bn. Lloyds Banking Group shares ended the day at 61.4 pence, having earlier fallen as low as 54.9 pence, down as much as 40%. Most of the HBOS losses are blamed on a £7bn write-down at its corporate division, which is heavily exposed to the housing and commercial property sectors. In 2007, HBOS made a profit of £5.7bn. "HBOS's 2008 results have been adversely affected by the impact of market dislocation, which accelerated significantly in the last quarter of 2008, and the additional impairments required on the HBOS corporate lending portfolios," Eric Daniels, its chief executive, added. HBOS, which lent heavily to property investors and homeowners, was particularly vulnerable to the slowdown. But he stressed that the longer term prospects were brighter. "Whilst we recognise that the short term outlook is more challenging, Lloyds Banking Group has the largest UK financial services franchise, with excellent long-term earnings potential," he said. Analysts voiced their shock at the update. "The market doesn't like the fact that in a period of of a month, the corporate losses (at HBOS) are twice what they had announced," said Mamoun Tazi, analyst at MF Global.
On the 200th anniversary of Charles Darwin's birth, BBC News asks one of Africa's pioneering scientists, Dr Ave Kludze, of the US space agency Nasa what inspired his stellar career and what he thinks of the standard of science teaching in Africa today.
 
Dr Kludze has "flown" Calipso from a Nasa control centre and on right Awe Kludze never imagined he would command a Nasa spacecraft
"As a young boy I was always very curious. My parents didn't like to leave me at home alone, because they knew I would dismantle the radio. Even at my friends' houses, I would try to take the television apart, to find out how it worked. But my life changed the first time I went to the airport in Accra. I saw an aeroplane landing and taking off. I knew then that I wanted to be pilot. From that day, everything I read was scientific. At school, I read science subjects. My father wanted me to be a lawyer. But he supported my ambitions. So I was lucky. But then, when I was 17, I found out that I could not fulfil my dream. I could not become a pilot. The reason was that my brother, my father and my mother all wore glasses. This implied that, one day, I would wear glasses too. And indeed I do. I was very disappointed. I decided to channel my energy elsewhere - into engineering. I studied electrical engineering in the US, at Rutgers University, New Jersey. My intention was to return to Ghana, so I started to focus my mind on using solar energy to power appliances: Solar fridges, solar fans, solar freezers - solar everything. The sun is for free, so I believe we have to use it in Africa. We have to work with the resources we have. But instead of working on solar panels in Ghana, I got a job with Nasa, developing and flying spacecraft.
I never imagined I would have the opportunity to work for Nasa. Not with my background. I remember watching the Challenger incident - when the shuttle disintegrated. I visited the "American Centre", in Ghana, where I watched the tragedy on the news. Afterwards I wrote to Nasa and they replied to me. They sent me pictures and documents on some of their spacecraft and I put them on my wall. I still have these pictures today. Now many years later, I have worked at Nasa headquarters, in Washington, as a requirements manager. I help Nasa to take strategic decisions. President [George] Bush outlined his vision that Nasa would go back to the Moon by 2020, so the agency is working towards that. I am working on the communication systems the astronauts will use on the Moon, and on Mars. They will send back pictures live. I have to make sure we don't leave out any requirements. Things have moved on a long way from Apollo. I have flown several spacecraft - including the Calipso satellite. But I was not in orbit - I flew them from the ground, using robotic controls at the Nasa control centre.
People ask me: What has Nasa done for Africans? But many of them have cell phones - which were developed with Nasa technology. The cars they drive and the glasses they wear - all of these have benefited from Nasa technology. It trickles down to the ordinary man. Nasa is not only concerned with space. We develop technologies for aeroplanes. And our way of developing systems applies to all kinds of engineering projects. If you had a water project, for agriculture, Nasa technology could make your project more efficient. I think the younger generation in Ghana today have more opportunities than I did to become scientists. I first saw a computer in the USA. Today, the younger generation have access to the internet - they can get any information they want. The education I received in Ghana was very sound - it served me remarkably well at Rutgers. But where African schools have a problem, is that they focus heavily on theory, whereas [universities] focus on the practical - solving real world problems. If we can bring that practical element into African schools, then we have a lot of brilliant young minds who will benefit. When I was growing up it was difficult for science drop-outs and those students who were unable to further their education. There were few avenues for them to become useful members of society using their acquired scientific knowledge. They ended up doing other jobs.
But times have changed. In Ghana, I understand they are encouraging pupils to pursue science. But the question is: After you graduate, do you have the necessary resources to go further? When I grew up in Ghana, we ploughed the fields using cattle and hoes. The last time I went home, we were still using them. So where are our engineers? We need the governments to invest in technology. Then the educational institutes can follow. When I grew up, my scientific role models were not Africans. I admired people like Albert Einstein. I was amazed that he could be on our planet and yet he could tell us about different planets. But today I know many successful African scientists. People like my friend Dr Ohene Frempong, of the Children's Hospital of Pennsylvania (CHOP). He works on sickle cell anaemia. There are others who have done very well. What are my remaining ambitions? Well, I don't plan to go into space. I will leave that to the younger generation. I will continue contributing to President Bush's vision - to go to the Moon, to Mars, and beyond. "
Kenya: A faulty legislative process to combat impunity
NAIROBI/ NEW YORK , Feb. 13, 2009 – Kenya ’s Ministry of Justice should hold public hearings as it drafts new legislation to create a Special Tribunal, in order to avoid the deeply flawed process the government used that lead to parliamentary defeat of the Constitutional Amendment Bill on Feb. 12, the International Center for Transitional Justice said today.
“The government took the wrong approach, and the results are a major setback for justice and accountability in Kenya ,” said Juan E. Méndez, president of ICTJ. “Parliament left no time for consultations or genuine debate on a Constitutional Amendment Bill.”
The bill would have protected the proposed Special Tribunal law from constitutional challenges. However, the bill was poorly drafted and itself susceptible to constitutional challenge. Early versions of the bill were classified secret and not distributed for comment. Both the Constitutional Amendment and Special Tribunal Bills were only published on the morning of Thursday, Jan. 29. The Constitutional Amendment Bill was then tabled the same afternoon for debate.
Government and parliament ignored the call by Kenyan civil society to slow down the process so that public consultations and redrafting or amendment of the legislation could take place. The process chosen excluded public participation, flouted parliamentary procedure and ultimately undermines the rule of law.
The parliamentary defeat means that the government is required to wait six months, as stipulated by Kenya ’s parliamentary Standing Orders, before reintroducing the bill to amend the constitution.
ICTJ urges the Kenyan Government to use the next few months to work closely with civil society and the Annan Mediation Team to address the critical weaknesses in the Constitutional Amendment and Special Tribunal Bills to ensure that justice is done on Kenyan soil.
A tribunal involving both domestic and international investigators, prosecutors and judges would be the best placed to end impunity and restore faith in the Kenyan judicial system. Parliament should be afforded the necessary time for debate and further public consultations. If, however, parliament does not rise to the occasion, Kenyan society will be entitled to look to the International Criminal Court to see that justice is done.
The ICTJ calls upon the Kenyan government to take seriously the concerns of civil society in relation to the two bills. It is important to avoid a repeat of the legislative process for the Truth, Justice and Reconciliation Commission, during which the government ignored civil society submissions. As a result, the law on the commission is ill-suited to Kenya ’s needs, promotes impunity and even facilitates amnesty for corruption.
About ICTJ
The International Center for Transitional Justice (ICTJ) assists countries pursuing accountability for past mass atrocity or human rights abuse. The Center works in societies emerging from repressive rule or armed conflict, as well as in established democracies where historical injustices or systemic abuse remain unresolved. For more information, visit www.ictj.org
Contact
Stephen Boykewich
Communications Associate
International Center for Transitional Justice
5 Hanover Square, 24th floor
New York, NY 10004
+1.917.637.3847 (office)
www.ictj.org
Mr. Seed have you got any information on an alleged new budget airline to be introduced back home Kenya shortly known as onejetone?
The UK government have increased the fees for ALL applications made in the UK or outside the UK. Fees For visa application made outside the UK. Visitor visa short term from £65 to £ 67. Visitor visa long term (up to 2 yr) is now £215. Visitor visa long term (2 to 5 yr) is now £400. Visitor visa long term (5 to 10 yr) from £205 to £500. Settlement visa from £515 to £585. Visa fees for applications made inside the UK. Indefinite Leave to Remain - Postal from £750 to £820. Indefinite Leave to Remain - application made at a Public Enquiry Office (PEO) (taking for yourself) up from £950 to £1020. Leave to Remain Non Student – Postal £395 to £465. Leave to Remain Non Student - PEO from £595 to £665. CLICK BELOW FOR FULL LIST.
Written Ministerial Statement - Charging for immigration and nationality services 2009/10
25 ORPHANS CHILDREN FROM NEW HOPE ORPHAN'S HOME JOINS HIGH SCHOOL IN 2009
 
These are some of our kids who joined High School in 2009 from New Hope Orphans Home of Mrs. Chege in Kenya. They have 25 in total, including the non-resident ones whom they assist with food. You assist these children through Mrs. Ann Chege on 00254-720240585 or newhopechildren@mail.com
Her comes good drivers. They deserve a medal - CLICK HER
Mr Seed,
REF: MR. ANDERSON KAMANGA IN LUTON AND DUNSTABLE HOSPITAL
I am writing with regards to Mr. Anderson Kamanga who was admitted late last year in Newcastle hospital. he has now been transferred and has been admitted now in the Luton and Dunstable Hospital. He was diagnosed with cancer and is now receiving treatment there. I would request our fellow Kenyans to please visit him, call him or pray for him. He does not know people here and it would be good to encourage him and stand with him even at this time. His number is 07903515878.
Proposed fee levels for visas and sponsor licences in 2009/10
Home Office, UK - 12 February 2009
The Government has today announced its proposed fee levels for all visa, immigration and nationality applications and services in 2009/10. The revenue from these fees will enable the UK Border Agency to continue providing a world-class immigration service while reducing the burden on United Kingdom taxpayers. The Government is currently delivering the biggest shake-up of the immigration system for 45 years, including:
- fingerprint checks before people come to the United Kingdom;
- a strong new force at the border;
- counting people in and out of the United Kingdom; and
- introducing identity cards for foreign nationals.
These important improvements cost money to deliver, and the Government's policy is that United Kingdom taxpayers should not bear the full cost of them. In 2009/10 the UK Border Agency plans to spend over £2.2 billion on securing our border and managing the immigration system. Approximately 30% of this spending will be recovered through fees from applications and the services we offer. This will allow the UK to continue reaping the benefits of migration while also preventing abuse of the system. Fees for visa, immigration and nationality services are reviewed regularly, with changes made when necessary. In setting the fees for 2009/10, the Government has continued to take into account the United Kingdom's international competitiveness at a challenging time for the global economy.
UK visas will now be required for visitors from Bolivia, Lesotho, South Africa, Swaziland and Venezuela
New Snow Storm Alert For Britain
Snow is falling on London again after the winter weather brought chaos to the north of Britain. The Met Office has issued a flash warning of heavy snow in the East Midlands, east of England and London and South East England. Sky News weather presenter Francis Wilson said London and East Anglia could expect about an inch of snow. Further north, motorists have been warned about widespread icy roads across Scotland, North East England and Yorkshire and the Humber. Roads have been closed and flights disrupted at Newcastle International Airport as police warned motorists in the North East to stay out of their cars. The A68 at Carter Bar, Northumberland, was shut because of the weather. Scotland is also badly hit with dozens of schools closed because of blizzards.
Nationality applications - delay in processing
Home Office, UK - 11 February 2009
The nationality team is currently experiencing an increase in applications. There may be a delay in processing your application.
We are working to reduce backlogs and minimise delays. To help us provide the best possible service and reduce backlogs as quickly as possible, please do not contact us to check the progress of your application within the average processing times.
We will continue to update you of the current position. The waiting times page within the citizenship section of this site will be reviewed on a regular basis to provide you with the latest information.
Jomo Kenyatta Kenya Funeral Book Pictorial. Jomo Kenyatta spent most of his life campaigning for Kenya's independence. His efforts cost him seven years in prison when he was convicted - in a trial now generally regarded as rigged - of being a member of the rebel Mau Mau group by the British colonists in Kenya. But the African Union leader kept up his fight on his release in 1960 and finally led his country to independence in 1963. He was made president and remained in office until his death on 22 August 1978. Kenyatta - the name he adopted in the 1920s - is Swahili for "the light of Kenya" and he is widely seen as the founding father of the nation - CLICK HERE FOR MORE PHOTOS
"Being willing makes you able."
New countries face tough visa rules
Home Office, UK - 09 February 2009
Visa checks are to be introduced for five countries after they failed to pass the United Kingdom's strict new Visa Waiver Test. Following the Government's first global review of who needs a visa to come to the United Kingdom, visas will now be required for visitors from Bolivia, Lesotho, South Africa, Swaziland and Venezuela. Already, three-quarters of the world's population need to apply for a visa if they want to visit the United Kingdom. Widening the visa net is part of the Government's action to tighten border security. There is now a triple ring of security protecting the United Kingdom: fingerprint visas that lock people to one identity, a high-tech electronic borders system which checks people against watchlists, and identity cards for foreign nationals. The Visa Waiver Test reviewed all non-European countries and regions to determine the risk their citizens potentially posed to the United Kingdom - in terms of illegal immigration, crime and security - by not having to apply for a visa before they travelled. In July 2008 the UK Border Agency found that 11 countries fell short of the required standard. Over the past six months, the Agency and the Foreign and Commonwealth Office have worked closely with those countries to improve their passport and border control systems. It has now been decided that visa checks are required for five of them in order to stop fraudulent attempts to enter the United Kingdom. Nationals of Bolivia, Lesotho, South Africa, Swaziland and Venezuela already need a visa to work or settle in the United Kingdom, as do all nationals of countries outside the European Economic Area. Now they will need to apply for a visa even if they are visiting the United Kingdom for less than six months. In the case of Venezuela, visitors who have new secure fingerprint passports issued since 2007 will be allowed to enter the United Kingdom without applying for a visa.
Border and Immigration Minister Phil Woolas said:
"The Government said it would get tough and we meant it. Already our shake-up of border security is delivering results, with three million fingerprints taken from visa applicants and 3,000 people caught trying to hide their identity.
"Today's announcement sees these tough checks extended to a further five countries.
"The message is clear - we will not shy away from widening the visa net further wherever we think there's a risk to the UK."
Additionally, anyone wishing to travel from Bolivia, Lesotho, South Africa, Swaziland or Venezuela to another country via the United Kingdom will now need a transit visa. The same transit visa requirements have been extended to Jamaican nationals wanting to pass through the United Kingdom. Everyone applying for a visa to enter the United Kingdom is now fingerprinted, locking them to one identity, and checked against Government watchlists. They are then screened and counted in and out of the United Kingdom using the UK Border Agency's e-Borders system. First-time visitors to the United Kingdom from South Africa will need to apply for visas from 3 March 2009, with the full visa regime there and in the other countries coming into effect by mid-2009. The visa regime for Taiwanese passport holders wil be lifted as a result of the Visa Waiver Test. This will take effect from 3 March 2009.
Kenyans in Kisumu celebrate after the inauguration ceremony of US President Barack Obama. Thousands of Kenyans and tourists paused in rapturous devotion today in the African village where Barack Obama's father was born as he took his oath.
Body Drag Horror On Streets of New York
A motorist drove for nearly 20 miles around New York city before he realised he had been dragging a man's body in his van's wheels for almost an hour. The dead man was knocked under delivery driver Manuel Lituma Sanchez's van after being hit by an SUV. Police said the incident was accidental and have no plans to charge the drivers of either vehicle. Mr Sanchez had no idea the victim had become caught underneath his Chevrolet van until the end of his trip that took him on some of the city's busiest streets. It was only when a pedestrian flagged him down and told him something was dragging underneath his van that he got out and made the grim discovery. Investigators are still working to identify the man's horribly battered body. Detectives believe he was first hit as he crossed the road in the Corona section of Queens by the driver of a black Ford Expedition. The Ford's driver, Gustavo Acosta, immediately called 911 but when police arrived the victim was gone and no damage was found on the SUV. Mr Sanchez, about two vehicles behind, said he had noticed cars swerving but assumed the drivers were simply avoiding a pothole. He drove over the victim who became hooked by a steel skid plate under the van. He said: "I didn't feel anything and I didn't hear anything. I don't know what happened." Mr Sanchez drove on the Grand Central Parkway, the Van Wyck Expressway and the Belt Parkway, winding from Queens to Brooklyn, ending up in Brighton Beach. He told officers he had stopped twice on his route believing something was wrong with the engine but did not look underneath the vehicle. He said: "You can't imagine the shock I felt. I'm just so nervous and very sad."
Body Drag Horror On Streets of New York
Lets stand up and be counted says John Howard
Prime Minister John Howard - Australia
Muslims who want to live under Islamic Sharia law were told on Wednesday to get out of Australia , as the government targeted radicals in a bid to head off potential terror attacks.
Separately, Howard angered some Australian Muslims on Wednesday by saying he supported spy agencies monitoring the nation's mosques.
Quote: 'IMMIGRANTS, NOT AUSTRALIANS, MUST ADAPT. Take It Or Leave It. I am tired of this nation worrying about whether we are offending some individual or their culture. Since the terrorist attacks on Bali , we have experienced a surge in patriotism by the majority of Australians'.
'This culture has been developed over two centuries of struggles, trials and victories by millions of men and women who have sought freedom'. 'We speak mainly ENGLISH, not Spanish, Lebanese, Arabic, Chinese, Japanese, Russian, or any other language. Therefore, if you wish to become part of our society . Learn the language!'
'Most Australians believe in God. This is not some Christian, right wing, political push, but a fact, because Christian men and women, on Christian principles, founded this nation, and this is clearly documented. It is certainly appropriate to display it on the walls of our schools. If God offends you, then I suggest you consider another part of the world as your new home, because God is part of our culture.'
'We will accept your beliefs, and will not question why. All we ask is that you accept ours, and live in harmony and peaceful enjoyment with us.'
'This is OUR COUNTRY, OUR LAND, and OUR LIFESTYLE, and we will allow you every opportunity to enjoy all this. But once you are done complaining, whining, and griping about Our Flag, Our Pledge, Our Christian beliefs, or Our Way of Life, I highly encourage you take advantage of one other great Australian freedom,
'THE RIGHT TO LEAVE'.'
'If you aren't happy here then LEAVE. We didn't force you to come here. You asked to be here. So accept the country YOU accepted.'
Maybe if we circulate this amongst ourselves, American citizens will find the backbone to start speaking and voicing the same truths.
 
An armed security officer stands guard as the Ukrainian ship MV Faina is anchored at the port of Mombasa, 500 km (310 miles) from Nairobi on Thursday. The Ukrainian ship laden with tanks and freed by Somali pirates after a five-month seizure, approached port in Kenya with debate still ranging over ownership of the sensitive military cargo. Photo/REUTERS
A nice Kenyan episode - CLICK HERE
Identity cards for foreign nationals to extend
to further immigration categories
Home Office, UK - 09 February 2009
Regulations laid before Parliament today mean that even more successful applicants for leave to remain from outside the European Economic Area (EEA) are expected to receive identity cards for foreign nationals. The cards replace the stickers or vignettes in passports. Subject to Parliamentary approval of the regulations, those applying for further leave to remain in the United Kingdom in the following categories will be required to provide their biometrics (fingerprints and photograph) as part of their application from 31 March 2009:
Immigration category Additional information
| Academic visitors granted leave for a period exceeding six months |
The total stay in the United Kingdom is more than six months, up to a maximum period of 12 months. |
Visitors for private medical treatment
|
Where the applicant is required to extend their stay in the United Kingdom so that they are able to complete private medical treatment. |
| Domestic workers in a private household |
Applies to overseas domestic workers who have accompanied a person entitled to live in the United Kingdom and are applying to extend their permission to stay in the country based upon their employment as domestic workers. |
| United Kingdom ancestry |
Covers people who are Commonwealth citizens, have a British grandparent and can demonstrate a link with the United Kingdom. |
| Retired persons of independent means, and their partners and children |
This category is no longer open to new applicants, but where a person is already in the United Kingdom under this category they may extend their leave on the same basis. It applies to persons aged over 60 with substantial means to support themselves. |
| Sole representatives |
These are overseas employees recruited by an overseas company to act as their sole representative in the United Kingdom. |
In addition, those applying while in the United Kingdom for a transfer of existing conditions from a passport or other such document will also receive an identity card instead of a stamp or vignette, if their application is successful.These categories are expected to join students and spouses or civil or unmarried partners, and their dependents who were granted further leave to remain and were the first to receive the card from 25 November 2008. Foreign nationals seeking indefinite leave to remain and the settled population remain unaffected by the changes.
Recording biometrics before deciding whether to grant leave has already proved successful, with three prosecutions for leave to remain by deception since the UK Border Agency went live with cards in November. These add to the six prosecutions resulting from the pilot that took place last year to test the processes and technology behind biometric enrolment. There are several other cases currently under investigation where we expect similar results, as well as refusals of leave where matches have revealed a failure to disclose information. These successes demonstrate the effectiveness of biometric checks in tackling immigration abuses and reducing illegal working, misuse of public funds and identity fraud. For people who are here legally, the card safeguards their identity and provides a convenient and extremely secure way to prove their right to live and work here, making it easier for employers and public service providers to understand their entitlements.
A fierce fire on Thursday consumed hundreds of acres of grazing land belonging to President Kibaki’s family, at Gingalili Farm in Rift Valley province. Police officers, however, drove hundreds of dairy cattle and goats to safety as the fire raged. The officers mobilised villagers from the neighbourhood to help them drive the animals to safer grounds. Firefighters from Nakuru responded promptly but their efforts to put out the blaze were hampered by strong wind which fanned the fire. The fire engine could also not drive close enough to the fire due to several disused quarries which made movement of the machinery difficult. Among those at the scene was the Nakuru North District Commissioner, Mr Francis Mutie and the officer in charge of the Administration Police in the district, Mr E. Amukoye. Also present were intelligence officers who kept on communicating through the mobile phones, briefing their seniors about the situation. Workers at the expansive farm on the Nakuru/Nyahururu road said the fire started from one of the valleys on the slopes of Menengai Crater at about 11am. - Daily Nation.
Nairobi, Thursday 12th February, 2009. The Kenyan parliament has voted against a bill to establish a special tribunal to try those implicated in the 2008 post-election violence. This could pave the way for a list of suspects to be handed over to the International Criminal Court (ICC). A judge asked to investigate the violence gave a 1 March deadline for the tribunal to be set up. Some 1,500 people were killed after political and ethnic rivalries caused clashes around the country. President Mwai Kibaki and Prime Minister Raila Odinga attended the session of parliament to lead the vote in favour of the bill. A growing number of MPs had opposed the bill, saying they did not have faith in Kenya's justice system and that those involved in the violence should be tried at The Hague. The tribunal was a recommendation of a commission of inquiry into the violence, chaired by Justice Philip Waki, which was established during mediation talks chaired by former UN chief Kofi Annan. Justice Waki handed a sealed list of suspects to Mr Annan, which would be forwarded to the ICC if the Kenyan government did not implement the probe team's recommendations.
 
Mr Annan had previously expressed satisfaction with the government's efforts but correspondents say his position may change if the government fails to meet the March deadline. The BBC's Anne Mawathe in Nairobi says the government could possibly ask for more time to establish the local tribunal. The bill required the support of 145 MPs to be passed, but only 101 MPs voted for the bill. The bill cannot be re-introduced to parliament until six months have elapsed. The vote was initially set to be held on Tuesday, but the government delayed it to marshal support. One MP who was opposed to the bill accused the government of using threats, blackmail and bribes to coerce MPs into voting for the bill. Gitobu Imanyara, the Chama Cha Umma (CCU) party leader, said that the creation of a special local tribunal would entrench the culture of impunity. He added that the government could not be trusted to try the ringleaders. "This is the first time we stand a real chance, a real opportunity of arresting the culture of impunity. Let it be one person or two who go to The Hague," he said. Widespread clashes broke out after Mr Odinga said the results of the December 2007 election had been rigged in favour of the president. After weeks of talks led by Mr Annan, in February 2008 the rivals agreed to share power to bring an end to the violence. In December 2008, the Electoral Commission of Kenya, which presided over the controversial poll, was disbanded by parliament following recommendations by another inquiry into the voting process.
  
LEFT: These astonishing 'light sculptures' were made by Michael Bosanto. They are shot using a long exposure and a torch to create the outline. CENTRE: Is this the real culprit behind the crop circles? RIGHT: Electric man was knackered.
Standard Chartered Bank customers will now check their bank balances, transfer funds between personal accounts and nominated accounts and pay utility bills on their cellular phones. The bank announced said it had launched into the local market a new mobile-phone banking (mBanking) facility based on the new Unstructured Supplementary Service Data (USSD) platform. Chief Executive Richard Etemesi, said the new facility would provide the customers with access to banking at all times - anywhere in the world, at any time - through mobile phones. "The new development is part of the bank’s efforts to provide alternative delivery channels for their customers," he said during the launch of the product in Nairobi. The launch of the mBanking solution, he added, consolidates the bank’s position as market leader in the provision of IT-based financial services. "This new development compliments our bank’s philosophy of striving to meet customer needs and lifestyles by offering not only products and services but also delivery channels that are in line with current and anticipated future needs," said Etemesi. Regional Head of Consumer Banking, Africa Raheel Ahmed, described mobile banking service as a very exciting initiative. - The Standard.
SNOW, SNOW EVERYWHERE ONE WEEK LATER
It is like a white sheets everywhere in the midlands, UK. A week after the snow fell in the midlands it has refused to melt because of the freezing temperatures in the area. A visit to Luton by the Seeds on Wednesday 11th February, 2009 took them by surprise to find snow everyone. Mrs. Seed posed near Luton airport and said: "Mr. Seed I want a photo with you - it is white, white everywhere. No smile, I will reserve the smile for Valentine's Day on Saturday - where are you taking me?" she asked avoiding a smile.
Nairobi, Thursday 12th February, 2009. A ship packed with military cargo, freed after being held by Somali pirates since September, has arrived at the Kenyan port of Mombasa. The MV Faina, released for a ransom of $3.2m (£2.2m), was met by Kenyan and Ukrainian government officials. Controversy still surrounds the freight on the Ukrainian-registered vessel. Kenya maintains the combat tanks and ammunition on the ship are new supplies for the Kenyan army. But experts say the cargo was for South Sudan. A parliamentary committee is investigating the issue. BBC East Africa correspondent Karen Allen says if the allegations about Sudan are true, it would be a huge embarrassment for the Kenyan government, which helped broker a peace deal between the north and south of Sudan four years ago. The MV Faina was brought into port by two tugs, along with a military escort. Its arrival has become a huge public spectacle, with the media invited to witness the event. This is in sharp contrast to the secrecy that has surrounded the ship and its cargo since it was hijacked off the coast of Somalia back in September. The Kenyan authorities insist that the cargo of 33 T-72 combat tanks and thousands of rounds of ammunition are destined for the Kenyan military. But international security experts say all the signs are that the cargo was bound for southern Sudan. Kenya's military spokesman Bogita Ongeri told AFP news agency on Wednesday: "Those who had doubts about the contents and its destination should be there to witness. "We will all be there to receive the Faina and our military cargo which will be offloaded and taken in for safety in our respective military camps." Embassy officials have turned up to meet the crew of 17 Ukrainians, two Russians and one Latvian. The captain of the ship died two days after it was seized by the pirates but the cause of his death is not yet clear and his body still needs to be repatriated. Ukrainian television channel ICTV reported on Wednesday that special services sources have suggested the captain may have been poisoned to conceal the cargo's destination.
Nairobi, Thursday 12th February, 2009. Kenya Election violence - Violence suspects may now head to The Hague after MPs reject Bill on Special Tribunal. 101 MPs voted for and 93 against the proposed law. Source: Daily Nation.
London, Thursday 12th February, 2009. A Dutch MP who called the Koran a "fascist book" has arrived at Heathrow Airport despite being banned from the UK on public security grounds. Freedom Party MP Geert Wilders was invited to show his controversial film - which links the Islamic holy book to terrorism - in the UK's House of Lords. But Mr Wilders, who faces trial in his own country for inciting hatred, has been denied entry by the Home Office. It is possible the MP could be sent straight back to the Netherlands. The Dutch Ambassador is also at Heathrow to make clear Dutch government's opposition to the ban on Mr Wilders entering the UK. Before boarding his plane, Mr Wilders told reporters at Schiphol Airport in Amsterdam he wanted to see a "stronger response" from the Dutch government to the UK's move. The MP was invited to the House of Lords by the UK Independence Party's Lord Pearson. The peer said he disagreed with Mr Wilders' call to ban the Koran, but accused the Home Office of "appeasing violent Islam". "We're coming to this from the angle of freedom of speech," he said. "This man must be allowed to say what he wants, he must answer questions and then everyone can make up their minds. "I think this man is raising one of the most important issues of our time. I think it should be discussed more, particularly by the vast majority of the mild Muslim community. They should talk about what the Koran really means. "These people are using verses in one of the great religious tracts in history to blow up innocent people. That's what we want to talk about... whether these acts of violence can be rooted in the Koran."
Mr Wilders has threatened to defy the ban on him
KPC MD on corruption charges
Embattled Kenya Pipeline Managing director George Okungu and Company Secretary Marie Kiptui have been charged with seven corruption counts. However Kiptui did not plead to the charges as she is ailing and is admitted at the Nairobi Hospital. Okungu is accused of disposing of houses valued at over 68 million shillings belonging to the Kenya Pipeline Company to himself, Absolom Peter Monono Mecha and Focus Mwawasi Mwagoka. He together with Mary Kiptui are alleged to have committed the offenses between October 6 2006 and February 5 2007 at Nairobi. The magistrate ordered Kiptui to appear in court on February 17 to take the plea. Kiptui faces two separate counts of abuse of office by conferring a benefit to his boss Okungu by selling him property valued at 16 million shillings belonging to Kenya Pipeline without obtaining current valuation. Okungu was released on a cash bail of one million shillings. The case will be mentioned on February 17. Okungu has been at the centre of a major oil scandal at the Kenya Pipeline and was early this year sent on compulsory leave to pave way for investigations into the matter. The government is said to have lost billions of shillings after KPC entered into a fraudulent deal with Triton Kenya Limited. Triton, now under receivership is alleged to have collaborated with officials from KPC to release oil to its company while allegedly keeping records that showed the released stock was still available. Reports by the KPC top management on the audit of stock showed that most of the oil in the trust had been released to Triton between November 2007 and 2008. The dealings caused a major fuel shortage in the country and also affected neighbouring countries which rely on the pipeline for oil transportation.
*** Life is like a coin. You can spend it anyway you wish, but you can only spend it once.... spend it wisely!! ***
Parliament kept up the pressure on Agriculture Minister William Ruto over the maize scam with an MP demanding a statement on the crippling food crisis. Mathira MP Ephraim Maina said while the Government had promised affordable maize flour, the commodity had disappeared from the shelves with a packet now retailing for over Sh100. "We are playing with a serious matter. If the country cannot feed its people we have a big problem," Maina said. The pressure piled on the embattled minister on a day two more MPs defended themselves from accusations they influenced allocation of maize at the troubled National Cereals and Produce Board (NCPB). Local Government Assistant Minister Robinson Githae and Chepalungu MP Isaac Ruto admitted writing letters to the management of NCPB to assist constituents, but denied any wrongdoing. Githae conceded he assisted a former local MP, whom he described as the "biggest maize miller in Kirinyaga District", to obtain 3,000 bags of maize to benefit his constituents. The Ndia MP, however, claimed the miller was never issued a single bag. "This is a smear campaign to divert attention from real maize thieves," Githae said. In his defence, Ruto said he intervened amid spiralling prices of maize in his region, urging NCPB to distribute maize to deserving people. He railed at Kenya Anti Corruption Commission (KACC) Director Aaron Ringera for grilling MPs over the correspondences to NCPB.
"He (Ringera) cannot purport to summon MPs as they do their work," Ruto said. KACC has summoned nearly 15 MPs alleged to have written letters to influence allocation of maize in the wake of a multi-million shillings scam that has rocked NCPB. In the scandal, brokers obtained about one million bags of maize from the country’s strategic grain reserve, at the expense of licensed millers. This created an artificial shortage at a time a crippling food crisis began to bite. The brokers subsequently sold the maize to millers at a profit, pushing up its price. Yesterday, Maina said Kenyan’s relief at the introduction of subsidised maize flour seemed short-lived. "Where is the Sh52 and Sh72 flour that the Government promised? The price of the commodity has risen to Sh100 and in some cases over Sh150," he said. The MP wants a Government commitment that the food insecurity is being addressed. Agriculture Assistant Minister Kareke Mbiuki promised to issue a statement next Wednesday. And pressure mounted for Mr Ruto to resign following a formal notification to censure him over his handling of the maize crisis. Ikolomani MP Bonny Khalwale yesterday formally notified the House Business Committee of a censure Motion against Ruto, citing his alleged mishandling of the distribution of maize from the NCPB. A notification to the Leader of Government Business, Vice-President Kalonzo Musyoka, states that the minister would face censure for alleged disregard of the provisions of the Public Officer Ethics Act. The Notice of Motion refers to deep concerns about the conduct of the minister in the purchase, storage, sale and distribution of maize. - The Standard.
Prime Minister Raila Odinga moved swiftly to redeem ODM’s image by forming a five-member committee to investigate the maize scam. The members are (clockwise): Paul Otuoma Minister for Fisheries; Hellen Sambili Minister for Sports; Bonaya Dhadho Godana Assistant Minister Communication; James Gesami Assistant Minister Public Health; James Orengo Minister for Lands and Settlement. - The Standard.
A new scheme that distributes simple tasks via text messages is being used to target a potential untapped work force in developing countries. Txteagle is making it possible for many people in countries like Kenya to earn small amounts of money by completing simple tasks like translations or transcriptions. Amazon's 'Mechanical Turk' similarly divides up tasks but Txteagle differs in that it distributes them via text messages over mobile phones, which have a higher penetration rate - particularly in the developing world. The service was founded by Nathan Eagle, a researcher at the Santa Fe Institute in New Mexico. "What we typically focus on is words and phrases, and at the moment most of our clients are interested in software localisation," Dr Eagle told BBC World Service's Digital Planet programme. "They approach us and say look, we have this whole slew of text-based tasks, things like translations and transcriptions." According to Txteagle, the total amount of idle time that literate, English-speaking mobile phone subscribers have within the developing world is estimated to be more than 250 million hours every day. He feels that texting tasks like simple translations to participants in developing countries is economical not only in a business sense but also provides participants with an additional source of income. "In Kenya there are 60 different unique languages, and companies - whether they are Microsoft, Google or Nokia - would love to put their software in each of these languages. "But they really have no idea what these particular words would translate to," said Dr Eagle. "For example, the word 'address book' is very common on almost all Nokia handsets and where I was living in this small village called Kilifi in Kenya, the mother tongue is a language called Giriama.
"An individual in Kilifi receives the text message saying, please translate the word 'address book'. "They type in that particular word and it gets sent back to our server, which is collecting a lot of responses from that same task until we are confident we have the right answer. "Once we get the right answer we push it back to - in this case - Nokia. "This system enables companies like Nokia to build-up a corpus of these translations, so that they can do software localisation," he said. Although the concept seems like an ideal way of helping the developing world, Txteagle could also be seen as a means of profiteering. Dr Eagle disagrees and feels that given the high rates of unemployment and marginal income sources, much of this population would greatly benefit from even an extra dollar per day. "One of the things that we would like to see happen is to have lots and lots of tasks and have individuals potentially doing this full-time," he said. "For the moment this is something that would be a system that enables people to augment their existing income stream and not for them to quit their job and do this full time. "If you just look at the business of outsourcing industry, we're talking about hundreds of billions of dollars a year. "If we could get a small fraction of a percent of these types of tasks going into rural villages in Africa, not only can we affect the lives of a lot of people, we can impact the GDP of the nation," he added. All payments for completed tasks are received by mobile phones, using M-PESA, a popular mobile banking service. "I would love to be able to come up with a way that we can do much larger scale translations, but remember we are constrained by this 160 character text message limit," said Dr Eagle. He is hoping to expand the service to enable a single phone to have multiple user accounts, so that family members could each use a shared phone to create their own individual savings accounts. Txteagle is set to be rolled out in the Dominican Republic and South America later this year.
 
Txteagle is changing the dynamics of outsourcing labour and the scheme could possibly lift many from poverty
Evangelist Theresa Wairimu of Faith Evangelistic Ministry concluded her two weeks of gospel crusade in UK with a big crusade in London on Sunday 8th February, 2009. The four-day conference started on Thursday with partners meeting, Friday, Saturday and concluding it on Sunday. Previous weekend the evangelist had been a guest speaker at Emmanuel Celebrant Centre, in Slough, Berks jointly with Bishop JB Masinde. Bishop JB Masinde also attended Evangelist Wairimu's crusade in London. A number of preachers attended the conference among them Dr. Albert Odulele of Glory House, London. The preacher of the day was Pastor Alan Kiuna and his wife Cathy Kiuna from Nairobi. Pastor Kiuna was introduced by the Evangelist. Pastor Kiuna started by expressing his gratitude to Evangelist Wairimu whom recognised his talents 23 years ago from the slums of Nairobi and explained that he always call her "mum". The preacher who took the crowd to storm right from the word go - he took his reading from Philemon 1:6 " That the communication of thy faith may become effectual by the acknowledging of every good thing which is in you in Christ Jesus."
 
The preacher at the FEM conference on Sunday Pastor Alan Kiuna (left) and Evangelist Theresa Wairimu (right) welcoming Dr. Albert Odulele of Glory House at the conference - CLICK HERE FOR MORE PHOTOS
He explained that God's blessing is already released on everyone that believes in him and it is only awaiting you to downloads the blessings. "I have come to London to activate you to move to another level. You don't walk in the Streets of London with what the UK newspapers says - you walk by the Word of God. It is not what is happening on the outside but what is happening inside hat matters. We have bigger problems that credit crunch in Africa but we do not allow the situations to dictate our lives. I know something. "Ninjui". My parents did not make it in married, but for me I know it. I know the secret and I will make it through my marriage. You might not be favoured by the the environment, but you know the secret. There is hunger, scandals and corruption in Kenya but I know the secret." Pastor Kiuna concluded among appraisals from the congregation. Pastor Kiuna and his wife will be preaching in Oxford next weekend at Revival House Oxford, Victory Revival Christian Centre, Legal Community Centre on Saturday and Sunday 14th and 15th February, 2009. Bishop JB Masinde will also be the guest preacher at Interdenominational World Revival Church in East London, 524 High Street North, Manor Park on Saturday 14th and Sunday 15th February, 2009. Saturday will be couples meeting (Valentine) as from 4.00 p.m. winding it up early to allow couples to take their partners to
"karumaindo".
IKO NINI BWANA SEED? FEBRUARY 2009 - ONE
IKO NINI BWANA SEED? FEBRUARY 2009 - TWO
IKO NINI BWANA SEED? - JANUARY 2009 - ONE
IKO NINI BWANA SEED? - JANUARY 2009 - TWO
IKO NINI BWANA SEED? - DECEMBER, 2008 ONE
IKO NINI BWANA SEED? - DECEMBER TWO, 2008
IKO NINI BWANA SEED? - NOVEMBER ONE, 2008
IKO NINI BWANA SEED? - OCTOBER, 2008
IKO NINI BWANA SEED? - SEPTEMBER 2008
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