Kenya Election 2007: Outcomes


That's why I say the masses are the asses, I mean why would the masses vote for the same political party for years and nothing is improving?
 
Kitila,
In our side the issue is a little bit tough,we must initiate our tactics by focusing or review our constitution
 
Ben said:
Kitila,
In our side the issue is a little bit tough,we must initiate our tactics by focusing or review our constitution
Click to expand...

....And that is where all the problems are!
Our constitution is very outdated and needs some keen amendments that shall benefit all parties. Sisiemu isn't ready for the sought change yet.
 
State dismisses UK remark

Story by DAVID MUGONYI in London and JEFF OTIENO in Nairobi
Publication Date: 1/21/2008
The Government Sunday dismissed a remark by a British deputy minister that the European country does not recognise President Kibaki's government.

Information Minister, Samwel Poghisio said he was still waiting for official communication from the country's House of Commons, where the statement was made.

Mr Poghisio said as a seasoned parliamentarian, he had never heard of a situation where a foreign parliament passed a resolution on whether or not to recognise a president of a sovereign state.

"I have to understand in what context the House of Commons came to that decision," the minister added.

While addressing Parliament last week, deputy minister of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs, Ms Meg Munn said Britain does not recognise the Kibaki Government.

No communication

Ms Munn, who was responding to a question from a Conservative MP in Parliament last Thursday, said: "Our Government has not recognised the (President Kibaki's) Government and is calling on both leaders to co-operate in a process of mediation."

Mr James Duddridge of the Conservative (Britain's main Opposition party) had asked: "The Minister mentioned President Kibaki.

Does the Foreign Office formally recognise him as the President of the country?"

Responding to the remark, Kenya's High Commissioner to Britain Joseph Muchemi, said there was no official communication to the effect that Britain did not recognise the Kibaki Government.

Mr Muchemi said: "The two governments are still engaging each other with a view of solving the problem and there has been no break of relations."

The MPs were discussing the situation in Kenya, which saw some of them propose that Britain put political and financial pressure on Kenya to resolve the political impasse resulting from the outcome of the controversial December 27 General Election.

Mr Muchemi said his conversation with the British minister for Africa, Asia and the UN had not shown that the relations were sour. He said the minister had informed him that Britain wanted to see peace and reconciliation in Kenya.

"They would not engage us if they don't recognise us," he said by telephone.

Ms Munn insisted that Kenya's leaders need to overcome their divisions and engage in a genuine process of reconciliation and agree on a way to govern that reflects the democratic will of the people.

She told Parliament that Britain hoped that the group of eminent persons, led by former UN Secretary General Kofi Annan, would help Kenyans find ways of fast-tracking crucial elements of constitutional reforms.

"Changes that spread executive power and patronage more widely could reduce the winner-takes-all nature of the presidential election. This will reduce temptations to cheat," she said.

Ms Munn said the British government hoped Kenyan leaders will establish the basis for restoring stability.

"Until that happens, it cannot be business as usual. The United States and the EU has made it clear in statements released over the weekend," she added.

The House of Commons also called for the lifting of the ban on live media broadcasts in Kenya and for respect for the right to peaceful assembly.

Quick-fix deal

Some of the MPs were categorical that the country does not need a quick-fix political deal between President Kibaki and ODM leader Raila Odinga or between the Head of State and Mr Kalonzo Musyoka of ODM-K.

"Mr Musyoka's party has already been rewarded with the Vice Presidency after delivering 16 Parliamentary votes. What Kenyans need is the rule of law and democracy," said Mr Hugh Bayley who represents the City of York.

Ms Munn said all allegations of fraud during the elections ought to be fully investigated, adding that those found to have acted illegally and contrary to the principles of democracy be held to account.

"That also applies if they are found to have instigated or orchestrated violence, as has been alleged," she added.

She added that the Judiciary needs to be strengthened and a decision reached on how members of the ECK are picked.
 
Museveni enters Kenya mediation fray as dark horse – on govt side?

By CHARLES ONYANGO-OBBO
The EastAfrican

Two uneasy questions have occupied minds in East Africa over the past two weeks: One, why was Ugandan President Yoweri Museveni - who is expected to visit Nairobi this Tuesday - the first, and so far only East African leader to congratulate President Mwai Kibaki, even though his victory in the December 27 poll is being disputed by the opposition and has been judged irregular by election observers?

Two, is it really true that Uganda has sent 3,000 soldiers to Western Kenya? It is not impossible, although it is improbable that Museveni has sent soldiers - particularly in such large numbers - to Western Kenya.

Security sources have hinted that Uganda got the nod from Nairobi to send security forces to escort Kampala-bound tankers from places like Kisumu because the Kenyan Police was having to devote most of its resources to dealing with post-election violence, but even Museveni's critics would be inclined to take accusations of a massive military incursion into Kenya with a pinch of salt.

The question of the Uganda soldiers runs into an immediate practical problem. To bring 3,000 soldiers over Lake Victoria, the Uganda army would require a marine transport capacity that it doesn't have, has never had, and will not have in the near future.

Agreed, Museveni often makes some terrible political mistakes and has become the typical African Big Man. But he is no fool, nor a man who takes outlandish gambles.

The Uganda government's main interest in Kenya is a strategic one. It is the country's main export and import route, its largest trading partner, and its principal source for household industrial goods. Museveni, who has been able to finesse elections and hang on to power longer than any ruler in Uganda's history, has done so partly because he has managed to maintain decent to sterling economic growth rates.

He won't do anything to prejudice that by sending troops into Nyanza and Western regions, where Kibaki performed poorly in the election.

The routes into Uganda would be severely disrupted, and the economy would bleed to near-death.

Museveni, a fairly adept strategist, would therefore not get militarily involved in Kenya unless the Uganda army, the UPDF, were able to secure the corridor running from the border to Mombasa, and also control the port.

The other possible goal would be to protect President Kibaki. That is something that he wouldn't be able to do from Nyanza and Western. The UPDF would have to secure parts of Nairobi for that, and the Kenyan military, with its proud tradition and professionalisation, would not allow that. It would complicate things for Kibaki, not help him.

Mostly, however, the speculation that the Ugandan president has sent troops to Kenya is based on an image of Museveni that is no longer matched by the reality.

Because of his military support for the rebellion by the Rwanda Patriotic Army; his active engagement on the side of the Sudan People's Liberation Army during the South's war against Khartoum; his backing for the DR Congo rebels who toppled the dictator Mobutu Sese Seko; and his later occupation of the east of the country, Museveni has been stuck with the image of an African imperialist and expansionist.

Indeed, at the end of 1998, when the UPDF invaded the eastern DRC, the reach of the Uganda army stretched from just outside Juba in Southern Sudan - where it was both supporting the SPLA and fighting the northern Ugandan Lord's Resistance Army rebels - through the eastern swathe of the DRC up to the border with the Central African Republic.

It was probably the most ambitious deployment ever for an African army, and spread the UPDF over an area more than 1,500 per cent larger than Uganda.

Unsurprisingly, Museveni had bitten off more than he could chew. DR Congo became an international and domestic fiasco, and in two deadly clashes with its former ally for the spoils of occupation in the east of the country, the UPDF suffered its most humiliating military defeats ever at the hands of the Rwanda army.

Overstretched to the point of snapping, and with a snowballing internal political opposition, Museveni had to withdraw his imperial tentacles. Add to that the absence of any glorious prizes to show from many years of foreign military expeditions, Museveni gradually became more inward looking.

The UPDF too changed, becoming something akin to a Praetorian guard to secure his domestic power; and, with the creeping realisation that he couldn't militarily annihilate the LRA rebels, he agreed to enter into talks with the brutal insurgents.

Also, it is important to remember that small countries like Uganda and Rwanda get their big fix from punching above their weight, and there is nothing that satisfies the spirit of machismo more than being a military superpower beyond your own tiny base.

That is why, in Uganda, the craving for grand gestures is such that many people believe the UPDF is in Nyanza and Western to bring order to Kenya, and that the Presidential Protection Brigade has taken over security at State House and Kibaki's home in Othaya.

The facts, however, tell us that Museveni has instead been reinventing himself in the opposite direction. In 2005, he pushed through the amendment of the Constitution to remove term limits, and effectively placed himself on the path to becoming president for life.

That damaged his reputation, which then took another beating when he brazenly hijacked the 2006 election.

Turning his image around, and beginning work on fashioning his legacy, therefore became important for the president. Museveni therefore began metamorphosing from a warrior prince into a peacemaker.

While resounding military glory always eluded him, his army has done far better when it is not shooting. Thus it acquitted itself rather well as part of the peacekeeping force in Liberia.

Having seen another "warrior president," Rwanda's Paul Kagame, do his international standing immeasurable good by being among the first to send a peacekeeping contingent to Darfur, Museveni offered the UPDF as the lead contingent to the Somalia peacekeeping mission, earning himself international accolades.

This remake was projected on another stage when last November he virtually shut down expenditure on all other government activities to host the Commonwealth Heads of Government Meeting and the Queen of England in Kampala.

Museveni has rarely looked happier and more satisfied in public than he did during the week of CHOGM.

As Commonwealth chairman, he is unlikely to jeopardise his status with any ill-conceived military involvement in Kenya's post-election crisis.

Which begs the question, why was he so quick to congratulate Kibaki on being declared winner?

It was vintage Museveni. Museveni would typically calculate that being the only president standing by Kibaki would bring him a larger dividend than if he were just one among 20 leaders doing so.

That doesn't mean that he comes to Nairobi with the aim of making Kibaki more comfortable in State House. Not at all. There are two issues here.

One is of political character. Because he has been criticised by those who believe that he has been too hasty to take Kibaki's side, it is imperative for Museveni to show his face in Nairobi. This is because he is a man who doesn't like to look like he is hiding or running when under attack.

But most important, because he is the only president to congratulate Kibaki, it gives him greater credibility with Nairobi because he is the one leader who is coming into the crisis as a "friend."

Over the years, Museveni's actions in the region, and the continent, have become important pointers to US thinking on Africa.

It was he, for example, who played a key role in breaking the standoff between the West and his friend, Libya's erratic Muammar Gaddafi.

Museveni may thus be the most maligned of all the mediators who have taken a shot at resolving the Kenyan crisis. But it is probably he who will have the best chance of cutting any ice with the Kibaki State House.
 
More killed as rivals differ over peace talks

Story by NATION team
Publication Date: 1/21/2008
Ten more people were killed in different parts of the country as the Government and ODM continued to differ over the way forward in the search for a peaceful settlement to the current political crisis.


A police officer argues with a group of youths during a confrontation between two communities at Nairobi's Huruma area yesterday where three people were said to have been killed. Photo/ PETERSON GITHAIGA
On Sunday, the Government insisted that the committee led by Vice President Kalonzo Musyoka would lead peace negotiations as mandated.

And ODM leader Raila Odinga repeated that his group would not work with the Kalonzo committee.

The team was named by President Kibaki to negotiate peace and reconciliation after two weeks of violence sparked by the outcome of the December General Election.

The 10 people were hacked to death in ethnic violence mainly in Kericho, Nakuru, Nairobi and Mombasa and tens of houses torched.

In the newly-created Kipkelion District, five more people were killed when Kasheen farm was raided by armed youths on Saturday night.

Attacked a monastery

All the five were shot with arrows and died on the spot, bringing the number of those killed in Kipkelion in the past two days to 11.

Kipkelion DC Abdi Halake said that six people were killed and 50 houses burnt in the area on Saturday night.

In Nairobi, at least three people were killed in an orgy of violence at Huruma slums.

Thirteen people were admitted to Kenyatta National Hospital with machete cuts.

In Nakuru, a businessman was killed by a gang which raided his home in Solai.

The man was shot with arrows before being hacked to death. Several houses were torched in the area as well as in Njoro and Narok.

In Msambweni at the Coast, mobs raided a home and killed a man and injured members of his family. They ordered the family to vacate the region.

The mobs chopped off the man's arm and left it dangling on a tree, with a chilling message to members of two communities stuck on it.

In Nairobi Information minister Samuel Poghisio told Mr Odinga that the 10 member-team appointed by President Kibaki last week was there to stay.

Addressing journalists in his office, the minister said Mr Musyoka would lead the team to meet with the international mediators, as directed by the President.

Mr Poghisio warned ODM leaders that they would be held responsible for any damage of property by their supporters on orders of the leaders.

He singled out the call by ODM leaders to boycott businesses owned by people perceived to support President Kibaki describing it as economic sabotage. He said the boycott call was a betrayal to the Kenyan worker.

The recent destruction of the railway line by ODM supporters in Kibera had complicated the lives of people in ODM dominated regions, said the minister.

'‘The ODM must realise that the Government is well aware about the script they are reading from in their scheme of activities both in the past and what they intend to do in the future,'' he said.

Mr Odinga, speaking in Nairobi Sunday, vowed that ODM would not recognise the Kalonzo team.

Addressing worshippers at Holy Trinity Anglican Church in the volatile Kibera slums in his Lang'ata constituency, Mr Odinga pledged to give dialogue a chance "even if it means meeting sinners."

The ODM leader said his party was committed to mediation and announced they would meet former UN secretary-general Kofi Annan on Tuesday for the talks.

Mr Odinga also announced fresh round of protests starting Monday in Kakamega and Kisumu.

Mr Poghisio said Mr Annan was expected in the country from Tuesday.

"Mr Annan is expected on Tuesday, and he will get the reception that befits him. The Government has a reconciliation team led by the VP and we are ready for the mediation talks."

Mr Poghisio said the Government had taken the first step in the mediation talks by appointing the VP and nine other Cabinet ministers, and it was up to ODM to form its own team.

The minister was accompanied by the permanent secretary, Dr Bitange Ndemo, Government spokesman Alfred Mutua, and the director of information, Mr Ezekiel Mutua.

Asked to comment on Mr Odinga's remarks that he was not ready to meet the Government team because he did not trust Mr Musyoka, who stood against him in the December 27 General Election and came third, the minister reminded him that ODM had no right to decide for the Government who would sit in the presidential team.

He said Kalonzo cannot be a Judas as he had never been a disciple of ODM leader Raila Odinga.

"Mr Musyoka has never been a disciple of Raila but his rival. He is the VP ."

Mr Poghisio, who is the Kacheliba MP, accused Mr Odinga of trying to play God by quoting the Bible and accusing the VP of being Judas Iscariot who betrayed Jesus.

The minister was reacting to a statement by the ODM leader saying he was not ready to meet the 10-person team led by the VP because he did not trust him.

Earlier, the ODM leader had said the election results were hijacked in Nairobi and resulted in the theft. He said they will insist that Mr Annan broker a programme for a re-run of Presidential elections.

He urged the masses to remain firm in their resolve to fight President Kibaki out of State House and deal a blow to any economic interests of his "rich supporters and not kiosks or business of the energetic and hard-working poor majority''.

Mr Odinga displayed live bullets used by a senior GSU officer, who he named, to kill '‘innocent citizens''.

The Lang'ata MP claimed he won the elections by over a million votes and would insist on a re-run of Presidential elections.

He challenged the church leaders to lead protests against the injustices instead of keeping "their mouths full and foul".

Mr Odinga told them that Kenyans are waiting for them to finish eating what is in their mouths.

Accompanied by his wife Ida, elder brother and Bondo MP Oburu Odinga, ODM politicians Geoffrey Asanyo, Mike Brawan, Reuben Ndolo, Joshua Nyamori, Chris Otieno and Dagoretti parliamentary loser John Kiarie, Mr Odinga told his supporters not to burn churches, hospitals and schools during their protests.

Elsewhere John Cardinal John Njue appealed to Mr Kibaki and Mr Odinga to meet soon in an effort to resolve the political crisis.

On Saturday, Mr Musyoka held talks with the members of Africa Forum for Peace Mission and briefed them on the efforts the Government was making to restore peace.

He disclosed plans to establish a truth and justice commission.

The Vice-President told the former Heads of State that the proposed commission would address the causes of the post election violence and spearhead the healing process.

He also announced that ODM leaders would be invited to nominate representatives to the said commission.

The former African presidents are expected to spearhead negotiations between the Government and the Opposition following post-election violence that has gulfed the country.

Led by former Mozambican president Joaquim Chissano the peace mission includes former Tanzanian president Benjamin Mkapa and his Botswana counterpart Sir Ketumile Masire.

Mr Chissano expressed his mission's commitment to assist the country regain peace and stability.

Reported by Odhiambo Orlale, Kenneth Ogosia and Douglas Mutua.
 
Chama cha upinzani nchini Kenya ODM kimetangaza mipango ya kuanza tena maandamano ya nchi nzima Alhamisi ijayo kupinga matokeo ya uchaguzi wa Rais wa mwezi uliopita.
Ghasia na makabiliano baian ya waandamanaji na polisi wiki hii yamekatili maisha ya watu 23.Kwa mujibu wa msemaji wa ODM maandamano ya wiki ijayo yatakuwa ya amani na yatatanguliwa na siku kadhaa za maombi.
 
Takriban watu 30 wameuwawa mwishoni mwa wiki katika mfululizo wa vurugu za uchaguzi mkuu uliomalizika na kulalamikiwa na wengi.
Katika tukio baya zaidi, watu 22 waliuwawa katika mkoa wa Bonde la Ufa kwenye kambi ya watu waliopoteza makazi yao baada ya kushambuliwa na kundi la watu wenye mapanga na mishale.

Watu wengine watatu waliuwawa kwa mapanga mjini Nairobi na wengine watano waliuwawa katika vurugu kwingineko nchini humo.

Katibu Mkuu wa zamani wa Umoja wa Mataifa, Kofi Annan anatarajiwa kukutana na viongozi wakuu wa kisiasa wa Kenya mnamo siku ya Jumanne kama sehemu ya juhudi za upatanishi.

Kamishna wa maendeleo wa Jumuiya ya Ulaya, Louis Michel ambae yupo nchini Kenya tayari amekuwa akijaribu kupatanisha pande mbili husika. Kiini cha mgogoro huo ni matokeo ya urais yanayotiliwa shaka.

Bwana Michel amekutana na Rais Mwai Kibaki na Raila Odinga wa ODM na kutoa wito kwa wote kuacha kuchochea vurugu
 

Kenyan Police Divided Over Crackdown

Washington Post - 1 hour ago
By KATHARINE HOURELD – 1 hour ago

NAIROBI, Kenya (AP) - The police commander poured gasoline down the walls of three slum shacks and set them alight. At each home, his officers waited until his back was turned, then doused the flames.

The small rebellion is symptomatic of rifts within Kenya's police force over harsh tactics ordered to suppress opposition protests, some officers say - a new fracture in ethnic and political conflicts tearing at the country since a disputed presidential election

Several police officers sought out The Associated Press to express concern over the tough measures they have been ordered to use against opposition supporters protesting what they say was President Mwai Kibaki's theft of the Dec. 27 ballot.

"People are separating into tribes," said one Muslim policeman in Nairobi, who spoke on condition of anonymity for fear of losing his job. "What is outside is being reflected in the force."

Human rights groups say more than 650 people have died in an election dispute that has sparked three overlapping conflicts - between ruling party loyalists and the opposition, between ethnic groups with long-held land grievances or connections to rival politicians, and between police and the residents of Nairobi's restive shantytowns.

Clashes have been particularly severe between Kibaki's Kikuyu people, the largest ethnic group, and the Luo of opposition presidential candidate Raila Odinga.

But rights groups say many deaths have been caused by police, who have fired tear gas and live rounds at protesters.

Several police officers said they had been given "shoot-to-kill" orders, and one described "a general rebellion which has been compounded by that kind of orders."

Two officers involved in a raid on a Nairobi slum said they had refused to shoot to kill and fired their guns into the air instead.

Officers said some policemen had threatened colleagues with fisticuffs and even death in disputes over tactics. All the officers spoke on condition of anonymity for fear of reprisals.

The divisions further weaken a force already undermined by low pay - a recruit's monthly salary is $154 and a mid-ranking officer makes $240 - and a reputation for corruption.

One officer said tensions are so high there could be a police strike.

Police spokesman Eric Kiraithe denied there are any splits within the force and charged that officers may have been bribed by the opposition to fabricate testimony.

"There are no divisions in the police force as of now," he said.

Kiraithe also said no commander had issued shoot-to-kill orders, insisting that officers are being told to use restraint.

Kenya's police initially denied killing any protesters, but last week acknowledged officers had been responsible for some deaths and put the number at 82. Rights activists said the number was much higher.

At a rally Monday attended by thousands in his hometown of Kisumu, the opposition leader Odinga raged against police violence, pointing to seven bodies that had been brought into the stadium.

"You can see how our bodies are lying there dead because they were killed by ruthless police," Odinga said.

At least 53 people have been killed in Kisumu. Hospital records indicate 44 of them died from bullets. Guns have been used primarily, if not exclusively, by police in the upheaval since the election, while rioters have often used machetes and bows and arrows.

Kiraithe also denied police officers would deliberately destroy property.

"There are no circumstances whatsoever when a police officer can set fire to a building. It is false," he said.

Two officers, however, said that is exactly what happened.

They said that last week, after a train was looted as it rolled through Nairobi's Kibera slum on the last of three days of opposition protests, they were given orders to enter homes there, beat any men they found and destroy property in the homes.

"Spare a woman and a child, but everything else was to be vandalized. Any man found in his house was to be dealt with - beaten up," one of the officers said.

He and a second officer involved in the raid said their colleagues reluctantly searched houses but refused to beat people or destroy property, because many of the officers were Luo, the same ethnic group as the householders. They said the commander was from the Meru tribe, considered an ally of the Kikuyu.

On Friday, another police patrol in Kibera fired from a train, and six people died, including a 15-year-old girl.

Later Friday, the two officers said, they were told they would be returning to Kibera that night and a senior officer told them they were taking gasoline along. Houses would be burned to teach the slum dwellers a lesson, the two said.

In response, junior officers hid 15 cans of water in the three trucks that transported them, the two officers said. Some also tipped off relatives in the area about the raid, and the area was deserted when they arrived, the officers said.

The men said their senior officer set fire to shanties in three different locations and left a group to guard each. When he left, the officers doused the fires, the two said.

Two residents, Beatrice Michael and George Okumu, corroborated parts of the officers' story. Michael said she passed three truckloads of police while taking her daughter to a hospital after she was hit by a stray bullet. Okumu said residents were tipped off their homes would be burned and left the area Friday night.

The two officers said objections to such harsh tactics had been intensified by the ethnic splits plaguing Kenya. Some Luo officers have been transferred from their usual patrol areas, they said.

An officer at the Criminal Investigation Department, where the two senior officers are both Kikuyu, said he knew of at least 10 non-Kikuyu officers who had been asked to give up their sidearms. No reason was given, he said.

"If they see two or three people (police) who are not Kikuyu discussing politics, they become suspicious," the officer said.

Kiraithe, the police spokesman, said he was unaware of any such incidents.

The Muslim officer in Nairobi said he had been ready to fight some colleagues when they suggested tear-gassing Nairobi's main mosque during a small demonstration Friday.

There was outrage when police in the coastal city of Mombasa fired tear gas outside the main mosque at unarmed protesters who were preparing to march after Friday prayers.

The officer said he threw away his tear gas without using it. He added that although most of those disobeying orders were non-Kikuyus, there were also some Kikuyu officers unhappy with the situation.

Many of his Muslim colleagues, he said, were concerned they could be transferred or fired because of the perception that Muslim communities support the opposition.

"There are people who say they are ready to join Raila's force," the Muslim officer said. "Senior officers are also divided ... Some guys are saying, 'Let me see anyone shooting a civilian, I will kill you.'"

________________________
http://ap.google.com/article/ALeqM5jIUWp_9BKM_TTYdghR6waR-RSIuAD8UAFC6O0

Hosted by Copyright © 2008 The Associated Press. All rights reserved.
 
K-T

Nasikia Police wengi wanaotumika kuzuia ghasia Nairobi especially wanaotumia Live bullets wanatoka Uganda maana Police wa Kenya hawakua tayari kutekeleza ipasavyo order ya "shoot to Kill"

Je kuna ukweli wowote?
 
BBC NEWS
Kenya's 'mafia' feel the heat

By Noel Mwakugu
BBC News, Nairobi

The plan by Kenya's opposition to boycott companies run by allies of President Mwai Kibaki in protest at the outcome of last month's presidential election is an astute political move.

For ever since President Kibaki joined the ranks of opposition politics in 1992, he has surrounded himself with a group of close confidants and friends from his days in college.

And it is they who are being blamed for influencing his hardline stance during the ongoing crisis that followed Mr Kibaki's controversial win.

They ["Mount Kenya Mafia"] have realised good profits during his rule and letting go to an individual they do not trust sends a chill down their spine
Haroun Ndubi
Kenyan political analyst

The wealthy old men, most in their late 70s, consider themselves to be the council of elders but ordinary Kenyans know them at the "Mount Kenya Mafia".

The circle of influential Kibaki friends include Defence Minister Njenga Karume, Nairobi university chancellor Joe Wanjui, and big time investors Nat Kangethe, Joseph Kanyago and Nick Wanjohi.

The multi-millionaires have vast business interests in commercial agriculture, real estate, tourism industry and transport industry.

Behind the scenes

And when Mr Kibaki ascended to power in 2002 after two failed attempts, the time had come to use their influence.



Apart from a few appointed to prominent positions in his administration, most operate behind the scenes.

Analysts argue that they have taken full advantage of President Kibaki's hands-off style of administration to play a key role in deciding cabinet and top civil service appointments and well paid government contracts.

The president's inner circle has also been instrumental in ensuring who gets elected to parliament in most of central Kenya.

However, during the last elections a good number of their candidates, who ran for Mr Kibaki's Party of National Unity (PNU), were defeated at the polls by candidates from smaller political parties.

This was described by political analyst Mutahi Ngunyi as a rebellion against the old order of doing things in the region.

Recent saga

During President Kibaki's five-year term, it is argued that their business interests have grown considerably.

A key area being pointed out as their core business is the active Nairobi stock exchange.

Well-informed sources allege that the "Mount Kenya Mafia" are associated with companies that have in the past couple of years acquired large numbers of shares.

Just before last year's elections, Orange Democratic Movement leader Raila Odinga claimed that underhand tactics were allegedly used at the stock exchange to the benefit of just a few individuals.

Financial experts said this led to the recent saga where the ODM leadership went to court in an attempt to stop Finance Minister Amos Kimunya from selling the government share of the highly profitable mobile phone company Safaricom.

Simmering temperatures

Political analyst Haroun Ndubi argues that their hardline political positions are intended to protect their economic gains.

"They have realised good profits during his rule and letting go to an individual they do not trust sends a chill down their spine," argues Mr Ndubi - who is also a human rights lawyer.

When ODM spokesman Salem Lone announced last week that they would be targeting business concerns linked to the government hardliners, this moved quickly.

The ODM has listed businesses in the banking, dairy, tourism and transport sector to name but a few that will be targeted for countrywide boycotts, beginning this week.

In response, President Kibaki unexpectedly appointed a negotiating team lead by Vice-President Kalonzo Musyoka, who came third in the race for the presidency, to try to quell the simmering temperatures.

"I think the new tactic announced by ODM has caused some shivers among the hardliners as it would hit where it hurts most," Mr Ndubi says.
Story from BBC NEWS:
http://news.bbc.co.uk/go/pr/fr/-/2/hi/africa/7199757.stm

Published: 2008/01/21 11:32:23 GMT

© BBC MMVIII
 
Bowbow said:
K-T

Nasikia Police wengi wanaotumika kuzuia ghasia Nairobi especially wanaotumia Live bullets wanatoka Uganda maana Police wa Kenya hawakua tayari kutekeleza ipasavyo order ya "shoot to Kill"

Je kuna ukweli wowote?
Click to expand...

Bow,

Ukweli mtupu. Ushaidi? > Wakenya wote wanaongea kiswahili ingawaji lafudhi yetu ni tofauti na yenu TZ. Hawa askari wanaouwa watu wetu hawaongei Kiswahili?! Kiingereza chao pia kibovu halafu kina influence ya lugha ya mama ambayo haifahamiki huku Kenya. Lakini usijali tunda linazidi kuiva na mara tu likuapo tiyali watakiona chemtemakuni.

KT on the ground
 
kibaki will definately go, and it will be a shame on him. right now am waiting for the statement from the UK Ambassador to know his government stand on whether they recognise kibaki or not. kama ni vile Ms Meg Munn alivyosema katika house of commons then kibaki funga virago and go to hell.
 

This is shocking newz undeed!
Kwamba Kibaki kawakodi askari Waganda kuua Wakenya?
Kwa lipi? Madaraka? Kuwalinda wanyang'anyi wenzake ama?
 
Kibaki achia ngazi mapema upate haidhuru heshima iliyobaki..hatutaki Charles Taylor wa East Africa.
 
Dua la Kuku halimpati mwewe!

1. Raila ameshakubali official opposition ktk Bunge na tayari ODM wana speaker! Inatosha..sioni uwezekano Kibaki kuachia ngazi- hadi 2012!

Raila na wenzake wakule tu siasa tena na Bunge na kuweka mikakati ya 2012- I said this tangu 30th Dec Kibaki alipoapishwa!

2. KT- poleni sasa kazi tu and healing may be Raila akitaka atapewa Nafasi kiasi za Mawaziri.. kama hataki hizi nafsi zote za mawaziri PNU watazijaza!

Siini Orange Revolution na rallies kumwondoa Kibaki-- mimi nahofia watu wengi tu kuuawa unecesarily!

However, Kenya will not be the same!
 
Mzalendohalisi said:
Siini Orange Revolution na rallies kumwondoa Kibaki-- mimi nahofia watu wengi tu kuuawa unecesarily!
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Kama wakenya wameamua kumtoa huyo mwizi wao urais kwa njia yeyote, sidhani kama ni sahihi kusema kwamba hiyo move ni unecessary! Acha watu wapambane, nani alisema demokrasia Afrika ni lelema! Ukisema wasubiti 2012, nani amesema kwamba wakati huo watakuwa wastaraabu kukubali uamuzi wa wananchi? Mimi nawashauri kabisa hawa wandugu wasibandue mguu chini mpaka kieleweke!
 
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