MISTERSEED CLASSIFIED Habari

He says Mr Brown's focus would be on bringing more power to local communities and "less fixation on the media".

Nairobi, Saturday 23rd June, 2007. Four people were beheaded and 17 others shot dead in separate incidents on Thursday night and yesterday morning in a wave of terror perpetrated by heavily armed gangs and suspected Mungiki followers in Nairobi and Kiambu.

Three of the beheadings happened at Banana Hill in Kiambu District, a village which has borne the brunt of killings by suspected sect members in the recent past.

Villagers in Banana Hill, Kiambu, look yesterday at the spot where the body of one of the three people beheaded by suspected Mungiki sect members on Thursday Night was found.

And in a sign that gangsters are changing tactics, eight men used grenades to attack Mahutini Bar and Restaurant in the city’s Eastlands area, killing five people.

Police said the same gang attacked motorists and pedestrians on Kangundo Road and at Umoja Estate, killing three more people.

In one of the bloodiest nights in the city in the recent past, police shot dead eight people they claimed were trying to steal from the Kenya Power and Lighting Company depot off Lunga Lunga Road in the Industrial Area.

In the city incident, the gangsters exploded a grenade at the Kariobangi South bar at 10pm on Thursday and sped off in a vehicle firing indiscriminately, killing five motorists, a bar attendant and two taxi drivers.

Two former matatu conductors and a student were beheaded and the bodies abandoned on a narrow footpath near a main road at Gathiri village, Banana.

And one-and-a-half hours before midnight on Thursday, eight gangsters were killed in a fierce gun battle with police in Lunga Lunga Road, and another at the Globe Cinema roundabout in the city centre around 10am yesterday.

Several other people were admitted to hospital with gunshot wounds suffered during a highway attack.

Two suspects were arrested at Dandora yesterday in connection with the bar raid and another in Kiambu over the beheadings.

During the attacks, the gangsters fled without stealing anything from their victims.

A gang of six men arrived at Mahutini minutes before 10pm on Thursday, witnesses said.

“One of them hurled two small black devices onto the floor. It was the size of a teacup and it exploded on touching the ground, producing a loud bang, a bright spark and a little smoke,” a patron said.

The explosion left a hole in the concrete floor and smashed chairs, tables, glasses and bottles within a two-metre radius.

The second device did not explode and police who collected it later said it was a grenade.

The raiders rushed out as soon as they threw the explosives and escaped in a white saloon car as they fired through the windows.

First to be felled were the two taxi drivers who were waiting for customers by their vehicles which were parked about five metres from the main entrance. They died on the spot.

An attendant at an adjacent bar had been walking to the main Kangundo Road to board a matatu after the day’s work, but she was shot as she attempted to run back.

As the getaway car swerved into Kangundo Road, the men opened fire on an oncoming vehicle, killing an occupant instantly, while the other died while being rushed to hospital.

The other three victims were shot dead on a 50-metre stretch of the road, about 3km from the bar.

“The vehicle carrying the gangsters was speeding and overtaking several vehicles at a go, while two gunmen shot at the motorists indiscriminately,” said a motorist who escaped death when several bullets hit his car.

Among the motorists who died were an employee of the National Social Security Fund and the driver of truck carrying cabbages.

Police arrived at the bar less than 30 minutes after the explosion, but retreated immediately after spotting the unexploded grenade still on the floor.

A patron at the bar said: “As the officers entered the bar, one shouted that the safety pin on the grenade had been plucked off, warning that it would explode on the slightest impact.”

Everybody was evacuated from the premises until another team of officers arrived and carried the grenade away without causing an explosion.

Among senior officers to arrive at the scene was the head of the bomb disposal unit, Mr Charles Juma, as well as Embakasi MP David Mwenje.

Kayole division police commander Leonard Omollo said two main suspects arrested at Dandora yesterday were being held in connection with the grenade attack.

Police said that although the motive of the attack was yet to be established, they were investigating if it was connected to the jailing of former Mungiki leader Maina Njenga by a Nairobi court earlier in the day.

Police in Kiambu arrested a man who was spotted in the company of the victims of Banana Hill shooting at a bar earlier in the night.

The orgy of violence threw security teams into a spin as the police control room received reports of two other shooting incidents almost simultaneously.

As the officers converged on the bar in Kangundo Road, other shootings were being reported at Umoja and Njiru on the city outskirts and in Lunga Lunga Road where eight gangsters were killed.

Scene-of-crime detectives had cleared all the scenes by the night, but at dawn yesterday, gory executions by gangs linked to the outlawed Mungiki were reported in downtown Nairobi and at Banana Hill.

Traders on Kirinyaga Road, Nairobi, woke up to a rude shock to find the head of a man who was not immediately identified stuffed in a plastic bag. It was taken to City Mortuary by the police.

And the village in Kiambu was thrown into mourning when the three bodies were discovered at dawn.

The victims were identified as Mr Michael Kinyanjui, Mr Solomon Kamau Mwaura and Mr Nicholas Mbugua whose homes are less than a kilometre apart.

Mr Mbugua was an art student at an institution in the city and residents believe they were killed at around 10pm. - Daily Nation.

Speech by The Chancellor of The Exchequer, the

Rt Hon Gordon Brown MP, at the Mansion House, 20 June 2007


My Lord Mayor, Mr Governor, my Lords, Aldermen, Mr Recorder, Sheriffs,
ladies and gentlemen.

Over the ten years that I have had the privilege of addressing you as
Chancellor, I have been able year by year to record how the City of London has
risen by your efforts, ingenuity and creativity to become a new world leader.

Now today over 40 per cent of the world's foreign equities are traded here,
more than New York:
* over 30 per cent of the world's currencies exchanges take place here,
more than New York and Tokyo combined,
*  while New York and Tokyo are reliant mainly on their large American and
Asian domestic markets, 80 per cent of our business is international, and
*  in a study last week of the top 50 financial cities, the City of London
came first.

So I congratulate you Lord Mayor and the City of London on these remarkable
achievements, an era that history will record as the beginning of a new
golden age for the City of London.

And I believe the lesson we learn from the success of the City has
ramifications far beyond the City itself - that we are leading because we
are first in putting to work exactly that set of qualities that is needed
for global success:
* openness to the world and global reach,
* pioneers of free trade and its leading defenders,
* with a deep and abiding belief in open markets,
* champions of diversity in ownership and talent, and of flexibility and
adaptability to change, and
* a basic faith that from wherever it comes and from whatever background,
what matters is that the talent, ingenuity and potential of people is
harnessed to drive performance.

And I believe it will be said of this age, the first decades of the 21st
century, that out of the greatest restructuring of the global economy, perhaps
even greater than the industrial revolution, a new world order was created.

When my predecessors spoke to this event a century or more ago, the world
order of the nineteenth century they described was defined by the balance of
military power, and saw European empires dividing the world between them from
1945 to 1990 when my predecessors of the post war years spoke to you. The world
order was defined by the high-stake stand-off of the cold war years, these
were orders ultimately reflected by political weight and military strength.

Today with Asia already out-producing Europe, India and China are becoming
part of this new order, principally because of their economic strength
and potential.

And while military and political power retain their status, future strength
will depend much more on economic strength.

Indeed success will flow to, and the next stage of globalisation will be
driven by those countries:
* which are open and not closed, stable, pro competition and flexible,
able to adjust quickly to change,  and
* can as a result find - through their social and political cultures -
the best means of developing and creating wealth through the scientific,
creative, and entrepreneurial talent of their people, not least through
being world class in education and skills.

So why am I more optimistic than ever about the future of our islands,
just one per cent of the world's population, in this new era of globalisation?

By your efforts Britain is already second to none:
* for our openness, pro Europe, pro free trade,
* a world leader in stability, and we will entrench that stability, by
ensuring Britain's macroeconomic framework remains a world benchmark, and
* we are flexible, and in being vigilant against complacency, we must be,
as I believe we are ready to become even more flexible.

So let me say as I begin my new job, I want to continue to work with you
in helping you do yours, listening to what you say, always recognising
your international success is critical to that of Britain's overall and
considering together the things that we must do - and, just as important,
things we should not do - to maintain our competitiveness:
* enhancing a risk based regulatory approach, as we did in resisting pressure
for a British Sarbannes-Oxley after Enron and Worldcom,
* maintaining our competitive tax regime, and having cut our main rate of
corporation tax to again the lowest in the G8, today we are publishing the
next stage of implementing Sir David Varney's recommendations for a more risk
based approach to the administration of the system, with greater certainty
on tax matters when it's needed most;
* and ensuring a modern planning system, that balances our economic and
environmental needs with a more predictable and accountable decision making
process, including that for major infrastructure projects.

And because I recognise the benefits Crossrail would bring to the City, we are
using every effort to find a solution to its affordability.  I will ensure this
work is stepped up but as you know the only financing solution that will work
will require all parties - public and private - contributing significantly.

But most importantly of all in the new world order, as the City bears witness,
Britain's great natural resource are our people - resourceful, enterprising,
innovative - the foundation on which we will compete successfully.

The financial services sector in Britain and the City of London at the
centre of it, is a great example of a highly skilled, high value added,
talent driven industry that shows how we can excel in a world of global
competition. Britain needs more of the vigour, ingenuity and aspiration that
you already demonstrate that is the hallmark of your success.

We are unquestionably an enormously talented and creative
country. Historically, we've been one of the most inventive nations in the
world. And as the City shows with its high skills, if we are to be what I want
Britain to be - the great global success story of this century - our first
priority, and this is the theme of my final speech to you as Chancellor,
must be to use the talents of every individual in our country far better
than we do today by ensuring we become world class in education.

But if we fail to equip people successfully for the future and then as
a result of them being left behind by our competitors, they start to see
themselves as the victims not beneficiaries of globalisation, I have no
doubt that open markets, free trade and flexibility will be challenged by
protectionist pressures.

Indeed this is what we are already seeing in the USA, parts of Europe and Asia.

So the choice is for me clear: invest in education, to prevent protectionism.

It is investment in education that when combined with free trade, open markets
and flexibility makes for the virtuous circle of an inclusive globalisation:
* the key to prosperity for all as well as to opportunity for all,
* the key to making globalisation work, and
* to become world class in education is our mission.

And so I believe it is time for all of us, and particularly businesses who
recruit skilled people, to usher in a national debate on how we, Britain,
can move to becoming world class in education.

But for me the necessity for this national debate is fundamental. Because
unless we widely engage people in the debate about being world class in
education - and show how people themselves must now be involved in an
endeavour that is essential to secure our common future prosperity - then
that future prosperity is at risk.

Let me give one example.

Today there are in Britain 5 million unskilled people. By 2020 we will need
only just over half a million. So we must create up to five million new
skilled jobs and to fill them we must persuade five million unskilled men
and women to gain skills, the biggest transformation in the skills of our
economy for more than a century.

And we will need 50 per cent more people of graduate skills. Yet, while China
and India are turning out 4 million graduates a year, we produce just 400,000.

Quite simply in Britain today there is too much potential untapped, too much
talent wasted, too much ability unrealised.

And so despite all the progress we have made, there is no place in the
new Britain we seek for complacency and no room for inadequate skills, low
aspirations, a soft approach to discipline or for a culture of the second best.

Other countries aren't standing still, rather they are pushing forward the
frontiers - showing what a 21st century education system can offer. There
are many good examples:
* in Finland every teacher now has a masters degree and many have PhDs,
* in Ireland 55 per cent now go on to higher education and their target is
for 90% to stay in education until 18,
* in France every pupil now learns a second language in primary school, and
* in Singapore the consistently high quality of classroom teaching has led
them to be world leaders in maths and science.

The global competition to create highly skilled, value added economies is
fierce and can only get fiercer.

I am passionate about education because I want a Britain where there is no
cap on ambition, no ceiling on talent, no limit to where your potential
will take you and how far you can rise. A Britain of talent unleashed,
driving our economy and future prosperity.

And because schools are the foundation, we need to ensure all schools are
committed to high standards and are at the same time centres of creativity,
innovation and enjoyment. Ready to challenge and inspire - fostering
scholarship, inquisitiveness and independence of thought, teaching facts and
imparting knowledge - of course.  But doing far more than that - nourishing
all forms of talent - because that is the future of our nation.

The foundation of our new approach is that for the first time young people in
Britain will be offered education to 18 and for the first time also a clear
pathway  from school to a career: either through college or university and then
a profession, or through an apprenticeship and skilled work. Diplomas such as
engineering or for others a young apprenticeship with an employer. For those
who need more support we will provide pre-apprenticeship courses as a stepping
stone to a full apprenticeship of which there will, over time, be 500,000.

And I believe that taking private and public investments together, advanced
industrial countries will have in future aspire to invest not 5-6-7-8 per
cent of their national income, on education science and innovation but 10
per cent, one pound in every ten.

And to mobilise all the energies of our country - the Secretary of State
for Education and I propose a National Council for Educational Excellence -
bringing together leaders in business, higher education, and the voluntary
sector, alongside school heads, teachers and parents, all who can play
their part.

It is good for our country that we have businesses involved in some schools,
and I can congratulate companies who are.  In future every single secondary
school and primary school should have a business partner and I invite you all
to participate, every secondary school should have a university or college
partner, every school should work directly with the arts and cultural and
sporting communities in their area, every school should work with other
local schools to raise standards for all.

I am pleased that Sir Terry Leahy, Sir John Rose, Richard Lambert, Bob Wigley
and Damon Buffini have agreed to join the Council.
The Council will be advised by Sir Michael Barber, Julia Cleverdon, Head
of Business in the Community, has agreed to report on how more businesses,
small medium and large, can play a bigger part in support of our schools.
We have asked Steve Smith, Vice-Chancellor of Exeter University to report
on what more universities and colleges can do to help our schools.
We have asked Edward Gould, former chair of the Independent Schools Council
and Steve Munday, Principal of Comberton Village College to work jointly to
identify how in areas such as sports science and languages private and state
funded schools can work together to raise standards to the benefit of all.

We would like this new Council to promote national debate, that I invite you
to be part of, about our ambitions for our education system in the years to
2020: today we invest £5,500 in the education of a pupil in the public sector
and £8,000 or more in the private sector, 50 per cent per pupil less, and my
aim is, over time, to raise our public investment towards that £8,000 figure.

First, our future education policy must and will champion aspiration and
excellence with a renewed focus on standards and rigour in teaching methods,
particularly in literacy and by reviewing fundamentally the teaching of
numeracy.

So my proposal is for a far-reaching new nationwide programme that will
empower head teachers to provide individual guidance and support for every
child in Britain:
* for each pupil, a personal learning guide or coach to help them make the
right curriculum choices and to act as an easy point of contact for parents,
* to back this up, for pupils at risk of falling behind, early intervention
and special support to help them catch up. This is already underway with the
'Every Child a Reader' programme for literacy, which is now being matched
with the 'Every Chid Counts' initiative for numeracy, alongside one-to one
tuition for up to another 600,000 children,
* for all secondary school pupils, starting with a pilot this year, access
to after-school small group tuition in subjects areas they have special
interest in,
* for pupils who show a special aptitude or talent, extra support through
growing our gifted and talented programme,
* for young people at risk of disillusion or dropping out, a mentor - often
from a local business - to help them raise their sights, and
*  to ensure that those on low incomes receive the support they need, I would
also like to pilot a new learning credit which they, their parents and the
school can agree will be spent on extra provision in order to make the most
of their potential.

And because this personalised approach to learning is at the heart of the next
stage of education reform, we need a renewed focus on setting by ability in the
key subjects essential to our competitiveness like maths, English, science and
languages as the norm in all our schools; we need pupils increasingly assessed
on these subjects by stage, when they are ready to move to the next level; and
we need schools held to account for ensuring that every child makes progress.

Second, in order to achieve excellence in the classroom, future educational
policy must and will champion greater diversity, the best way of both
encouraging  innovation and meeting the different and individual needs
of every child.  Already we are close to every school being either a
specialist, trust or academy school - like the City of London's own academy
in Bermondsey I recently visited with Lord Adonis, and applaud and like so
many is flourishing. And we will now consider reduced cash contributions
for universities and colleges to make it easier for them to play a fuller
part in the expansion of academies.

And we should also be willing to consider new proposals for: combined
all-through primary and secondary schools, employer-led skills academies
to transform the quality of vocational provision, and studio schools that
motivate dis-engaged pupils by allowing them to learn the curriculum alongside
a chance to work in and run a real business based in the school.

Third, future education policy must and will champion excellence in
teaching. Excellent standards require excellent teachers and hence greater
status and respect for the difficult job they do. So we need to give heads
the freedom they need to lead schools and respect the professionalism of our
teachers - helping them to train and retrain, and become expert tutors and
subject specialists. We also need to attract more of the most inspirational
graduates from the best universities into our schools. So we will expand our
'Teach First' programme for the best graduates and complement it with a new
'Teach Next' programme, encouraging men and women of talent to move mid or
late career into teaching.

And fourth, future education policy will champion discipline. I know parents
and employers expect us to do more to help schools recognise this vital
role in developing children and young people and they are right to do so. I
want teachers to be in control in every classroom, so we will work with the
profession not just to ensure that teachers can make maximum use of tough
new powers, but to emphasise the priority of setting boundaries on what
is acceptable and unacceptable, I will ask Ofsted to consider raising the
bar on what is satisfactory and unsatisfactory behaviour. And we will take
further steps not just to stamp out bullying in and outside the school but
give parents rights of appeal.

And alongside discipline there are broader educational goals that have
had too little attention: good behaviour, decent manners, the ability to
communicate well and work in a team - these soft skills that help a young
person's character develop, that are critical for their employability, and are
the essential complement to the hard skills they gain from higher standards.

And we'll do this by encouraging parents to work with schools and organisations
in the community that have a reputation for fostering children's character,
like the cadets and skill-force; and by building a new offer of national
youth community service for young people.

I have spoken about education this evening.

Only with investment in education can open markets, free trade and flexibility
succeed.

And the prize is enormous. If we can show people that by equipping
themselves for the future they can be the winners not losers in globalisation,
beneficiaries of this era of fast moving change, then people will welcome open,
flexible, free trade and pro-competition economies as an emancipating force.

If we can become the education nation, great days are ahead of us.

While never the biggest in size, nor the mightiest in military hardware,
I believe we are - as the city's success shows - capable of being one of
the greatest success stories in the new global economy.

Already strong in this young century, but greater days are ahead of us.
Britain the education nation,
Britain a world leader for its talents and skills,
So tonight in celebrating the success of the talents, innovations and
achievements of the city let us look forward to working together for even
greater success in the future.

On the map it is in Central Province in Kenya but when you arrive there you will find that it is worse than Mathare or Kibera slums in Nairobi. The worse of it all nobody likes to go there as it is 5 kilometres from Thika-Nairobi road and very isolated. There's no communication and hardly any cars go there. This is a remote area of Juja No.4, an area that time forgot. The community in this area has lived in dire poverty since 1968 when their great great great grandparents settled on a piece of land that was neither conducive for growing coffee nor food crops as the soil is mainly maram. Initially, only 45 families settled there but this number has since grown to 520 families with a population of two thousand plus. Most are illiterate, ignored, sickly, and hungry.

This is where the community meet for a meeting and at night some orphans sleep here - They eat outside as there is no room inside

Sometime life is not fair. How can you play the role of a mother and father when you are only 8 years old. Feeding and looking after your two younger siblings. This is exactly what Alice Ngonyo (see photo) is doing to her sister and brother. Their mother died when giving birth to Thomas (carried on back) and their grandmother died of HIV/Aids later. Now they are living with their great grandmother in this shanty house. Going for firewood, water and food whenever they can. Alice has never been to school. His younger brother on her back has never been to hospital as he was born in the slum. At two years old, he only weighs 5kg, cannot crawl, has not even grown the first two teeth nor has he been able to utter a word- all this due to malnutrition.

Alice Ngonyo (8) carrying firewood to cook for her brother Thomas (2) and sister Katerina (4) as they prepare to enter their house behind them

Prostitution in this slum is on high level. Sex is cheap and with KShs. 5 you get what you want. That is why so many children are orphans because the parents are dead of HIV/Aids. Asked by Susan why they go for cheap sex, one resident replied: "We are not scared of HIV/Aids because either way - you sit down and both you and your child die. You go for it and if you catch HIV/Aids, you will live for the next two years and by then the child will be old enough to take care of him/her self."

Susan explains that the slum is like Australia where many have heard about but few have been there. Visit there while you are in Kenya to see for yourself.

She left her home in Meru with one thing in mind. To teach and get money for herself and her daughter. She was posted in Juja along Thika Nairobi road and little did she now that God had a plan for her. Sometimes it becomes so difficult and she comes to a point where she, like Moses in the Bible says "I am not the one who gave birth to these children". This is none other than Susan Mwaniki. A school teacher in Juja, Kenya who currently is in London to raise funds for her orphans children. With limited funds, she feeds and educates this forgotten generation in Juja. She rented a house for the children and now she plans to move a step further. She needs KShs. 500,000 (£4,000) to buy half-an-acre plot in that farm to build a house for these children. She also needs about KShs. 2 million (£15,000) to help construct the house for these orphans. You can be a partner with her to feed and educate these children and give a one-off contribution towards this good cause. Her contact in the UK is 07928665433 or 01273329927. In Kenya, 0722523808 or email clipe@Kenyaweb.com. You can channel your donation to Child Labour Intervention Prevention and Education (CLIPE), Kenya Commercial Bank (Kencom), Account no. 013-240-545-195 or in the UK Barclays Bank, Hove Branch, Church Road, Account no. 00314471, Sort Code 201280, Account name Susan Wanjiku Mwaniki. She is in the process of opening CLIPE account in the UK. She is only in the UK for a short time.

Majority of people in the rural areas do not realize they are poor until they have others to compare their livelihoods to. More so when a community lives in an area as remote as an area at Juja No.4. This community has lived in dire poverty since 1968 when their great great great grandparents settled on a piece of land that was neither conducive for growing coffee nor growing food crops as the soil is mainly maram. Initially, only 45 families settled there but this number has since grown to 520 families with a population of two thousand plus. Most are illiterate, ignored, sickly, and hungry. This community was discovered by a group of people back in 1995 and out of that research; a Non Governmental Organization was registered in March of 1996.

At first, the community was very skeptical and suspicious about entertaining outsiders since they had lived in seclusion all their lives. Our initial attempt of expressing an interest in them was plainly unwelcome, as they also rejected the food we offered them or sweets given to the children. With time, we have been able to warm up to them and start a feeding program for the children in the area and a pre- primary school. Currently, we have 65 children who turn up daily to learn and eat. Originally we were able to offer them a meal a day at lunchtime and which to most would be the only meal in the day but recently, with our financial constraints we have had to discontinue the feeding program meaning they stay away.

We rent a room where the learning takes place but can only accommodate a fraction of the potential children within the community. After their pre-primary education, they are absorbed in the neighboring primary schools- all the praise to the government for the free education. There is urgency to educate the community on family planning and responsible sexuality as that has not been possible in the past due to inaccessibility as there are no hospitals nearby, the nearest being at Thika or Gatundu sub-district and for this reason, we wish to have a health center nearby with informed staff to treat them, nurse them, advise them as well as educate them on nutritional values.

A typical case is that of two year old Thomas, an orphan whose mother died due to childbirth , who only weighs 5kg, cannot crawl, has not even the first two teeth or utter a word- all this due to malnutrition. Children have become the heads of their families as most of their parents have succumbed to HIV/AIDS and other illnesses. The responsibilities are just beyond these children and we would like to find ways to relieve them of such responsibilities and let children be children.

There is another case of a young mother who is 34 years with 8 children. Its not her intention to have such a large family but due to to the need to feed her children she has irresponsible sexual behavior and she risks getting STD's And Aids. There is also another family of seven, The Father Died two years ago due to aids complication. The mother is mentally challenged, Their First born son who is the bread winner had polio When he was young and his right hand is withered he is also epileptic his name is Luka. Recently in an epileptic fit he fell into a fire and has been in hospital for the last 3 months the siblings are now left with nobody to fend for them they are relying on us for provision. The are many other cases we could highlight they are to many to write!. in advance and my God bless.

SPEECH DELIVERED BY MR. ABEL N. KENYORU ACTING HIGH COMMISSIONER, LONDON, DURING THE MADARAKA DAY CELEBRATION ON 2^ND JUNE 2007 BY KENYAN NURSES IN LONDON U.K.

It is with great pleasure that I stand here before you to celebrate and share a few words in this great occasion of Madaraka Day. Before I go further, let me inform you that His Excellency the High Commissioner who is in Kenya on Government business asked me to pass his Greetings and best wishes to you in this important occasion and apologised for not being able to attend and celebrate with you.

It is now 44 years since we achieved our internal self Government (Madaraka Day) from the British rule which colonized Kenya in 1888 under the British East Africa Company, later the East African protectorate in 1895 and finally Kenya colony in 1929. When the white’s settlers arrived in Kenya, they quickly colonized and violently robbed the Africans of large tracts of fertile arable land. Most of the prime land stolen was in the Rift Valley and Central Province. As if land grabbing alone was not enough to hurt the Africans, the colonialists also introduced `hut and poll taxes and used the Africans as a source of free labour in their farms. As they consolidated their rule in Kenya, other abusive practices were put in use to portray Africans as inferior. One such practice was for African to carry identity cards (Kipande) whenever they travelled. The main purpose of such a system went beyond the need for identification but was actually aimed at restricting the movement of Africans in their own country.

In the years that followed the Africans more particularly the enlightened ones could not torolate the inhuman treatment meted out by the whites to their brothers and sisters. The few decades running up to the declaration of emergency in the country, were therefore characterized by heightened political activities launched by awakening nationalist forces in the country. This is the time political organisations such as Kikuyu Central Association, young Kavirondo Association, the Taifa Welfare Society and Kenya African Union (KAU) were formed. This struggle for independence was so strong that in 1952 the white government declared state of emergency and moved against the Kenya nationalist leadership in order to crush it for ever.

In response, this marked the turning point for the freedom struggle, prompting men and women in large numbers to go to the forests to launch a bitter and armed struggle against the British rule. The Mau Mau organisation was termed as a terrorist organisation and leaders such as Jomo Kenyatta were regarded as their leader who was arrested in October 1952 charged in Court for planning the Mau Mau uprising and he was sentenced in March 1953 to seven year’s imprisonment.

Kenya’s first general elections were held in February 1961. The campaign issue in these elections was the release of Jomo Kenyatta from prison. KANU which was one of the two newly formed parties emerged victorious over KADU. In March 1961, six nominees from the two parties were authorized as a delegation to visit Kenyatta in Lodwar prison. Kenyatta urged them to unite and work as a team for full independence. A constitutional conference was held at Lancaster House here in London from February to April 1962 with KADU as a governing party and KANU in opposition. Although KANU won the 1961 general elections, it refused to form a transitional government because of Kenyatta’s continued restriction.

Later, KANU agreed to join KADU led transition government and they both returned home anxious to put into practice a national coalition administration and to work towards a general election in May 1963.When the elections were held, KANU scored a far greater victory over KADU and these elections resulted in the important achievement of internal self government for the country on June 1^st 1963 (Madaraka Day).

In order to finalize the arrangements for the country’s full independence, there was another round of important deliberations held at Lancaster House again here in London, between September and October 1963. Among other things the conference agreed on amendments and additions to the constitution that were necessary to effect Kenya’s change of status from self government to independence. This conference confirmed that December 12^th 1963 would be the date for the country’s full independence (Jamuhuri Day). On the night of December 11^th, 1963, over half a million Kenyans thronged the independence arena in Nairobi to witness the folding of a historic ceremony. When our flag of independent Kenya was hoisted at midnight and the Union Jack lowered, it was greeted with the thunderous applause of the crowd below and Kenya was fully independent with Mzee Jomo Kenyatta as a Prime Minister. Exactly a year later, on December 12^th 1964, Kenya became a republic and the last British governor in Kenya departed, leaving Kenyatta to steer the country as its first president.

Ladies and Gentlemen, Madaraka Day is an important occasion to remember and celebrate. It is the occasion we look back on the struggle of our freedom and unity of purpose without which we could not have been free from colonial rule as that time. Since our independence, Kenya has made strides in all sectors both socially and economically. Despite poor performance between the years 1980-2002, the country is now picking up with speed in terms of social economic development. The economy is booming with 6.1% growth rate in 2006, with declining poverty levels from 56% to 46%. The stock market is at its highest level in a decade with high turnovers in buying and selling of shares which all of you should take advantage. The investment climate has tremendously changed and opportunities in sectors such as Agriculture, Trade, ITC, Real estate and manufacturing have arisen. Our tax collection has gone up after expanding the tax base and sealing loopholes for wasting government resources. In this regard ladies and gentlemen, it is important to mention that the Government no longer budgets for donor funds as we realize 95% of our budget from local taxes and remittances from Kenyans in Diaspora like you.

Ladies and Gentlemen, let me now turn to the importance of Kenyans in the Diaspora and the important role they are playing in building our country. The Kenyans in Diaspora from U.K. remit close to U.S $1 billion annually to Kenya which is a colossal amount of money to be ignored. In response, the Government has established a department in the Ministry of Foreign Affairs to Coordinate the Diaspora matters. The department is in its formative stages, and we welcome any views on how it should be strengthened for your benefit. As you all know, the current Government is open to new ideas and your professional organisation is capable of generating new ideas not only on health matters but also on social economic wellbeing of Kenyans. So far the mission is working with one Kenyan professional club in the U.K and their ideas are shaping investment policy in Kenya. The mission in conjunction with Kenya club is currently organising a one day conference on the investment opportunities available in the real estate in Kenya to be held on 21^st July 2007 and you are all welcome. You could as well organise yourselves and let us work together on an issue which you think will add value to Kenya’s development efforts.

Before I conclude, ladies and gentlemen, let me appraise you on what the Kenyan Mission in London is doing in an effort to contribute to governments efforts of raising the wellbeing of Kenyans.

In line with the paradigm shift of the government focus to economic diplomacy, the mission has embarked on an aggressive programme of expanding market for Kenyan products in the U.K. The mission successfully suppressed negative publicity on Kenyan flowers and horticultural products because of food miles by soliciting support from the British Government on the importation of these products to U.K. market. Through the efforts of the mission the secretary for International Development of the U.K Government issued a statement on Valentine day urging the British people to buy flowers from Kenya to reduce poverty.

Tourism sector is doing very well in Kenya by earning the country much needed foreign exchange. The number of tourist from U.K. has tremendously increased and it earns the mission over ksh.250 million per year.

I may not competently address this issue but let me point out that passport renewal is a problem to many of you as I know it takes over six weeks before you get your new passport. Let me report here that the issue is being addressed both by mission and our Government.

As much as possible the mission tries within its means to assist Kenyans in distress. In order to strengthen its capacity the mission has proposed for a contingent fund which could be used to assist Kenyan in need, although it has not been possible to have the proposal accepted.

Ladies and gentleman, may I stop here by wishing you well in your endeavours and remember you are Kenyan diplomats and your conduct mirrors Kenya’s image everywhere.