Ainamoi MP shot dead – Makokha Wanjala M
Ainamoi Member of Parliament David Kimutai Too has been shot dead.The Orange Democratic Movement MP was shot dead in Eldoret earlier today, in what local security officials said was a love triangle. A policeman, suspected of the murder has been arrested. The policeman is alleged to have also shot a woman who was rushed to hospital. The incident took place shortly after 10am in the outskirts of Eldoret town. Mr Too is the second ODM MP to be shot dead in as many days following the murder of the Embakasi MP Mugabe Were on Wednesday morning. ODM leaders addressed a news conference in Nairobi where they condemned the killing of the MP. Meanwhile, police say the killing of Ainamoi MP David Kimutai Too bordered in a love triangle. Police Commissioner Major General Hussein Ali said the suspect would be charged in court tomorrow with murder. The suspect has been arrested and is being held in Nakuru, Maj Ali said. “The constable will stand charges of murder tomorrow,” Maj Ali told a news conference at his Vigilance House office in Nairobi. The MP, he said, picked a woman constable from Eldoret police station at 9.30 am and drove in a Toyota Carina to West Indies residential estate. The suspected is also a constable, who graduated from the police training college at the same time with the woman. Police said both constables had been living together as husband and wife. Mr Ali described the relationship between the two constables as intimate and that the woman was in critical condition following the brutal attack. There was intimate relationship between the two constables,” Mr Ali said. He explained: “It is unfortunate that the man died; the woman is in critical condition. The officer was arrested at Turbo as he tried to escape and taken to Nakuru”. The police commissioner warned the public against using the incident to incite others . The warning came following the fluid political situation in the country. “It will be wrong for people, including politicians to use the incident to incite the public,” Mr Ali said. Initial reports had indicated that a police officer had shot at his two colleagues, killing them.
Un confirmed reports indicate that Messrs Mudavadi, Ruto and Dr. Sally Kosgei have left the crisis talks being chaired by ANNAN as they review their position in view of the murder of yet one of their MP
Thursday, January 31, 2008
AINAMOI MP DEAD
Ainamoi MP shot dead
By Makokha Wanjala M
Last updated: 1 minute ago
Ainamoi Member of Parliament David Kimutai Too has been shot dead.
The Orange Democratic Movement MP was shot dead in Eldoret earlier today, in what local security officials said was a love triangle.
A policeman, suspected of the murder has been arrested. The policeman is alleged to have also shot a woman who was rushed to hospital.
The incident took place shortly after 10am in the outskirts of Eldoret town.
Mr Too is the second ODM MP to be shot dead in as many days following the murder of the Embakasi MP Mugabe Were on Wednesday morning.
ODM leaders addressed a news conference in Nairobi where they condemned the killing of the MP.
Meanwhile, police say the killing of Ainamoi MP David Kimutai Too bordered in a love triangle.
Police Commissioner Major General Hussein Ali said the suspect would be charged in court tomorrow with murder.
The suspect has been arrested and is being held in Nakuru, Maj Ali said.
“The constable will stand charges of murder tomorrow,” Maj Ali told a news conference at his Vigilance House office in Nairobi.
The MP, he said, picked a woman constable from Eldoret police station at 9.30 am and drove in a Toyota Carina to West Indies residential estate.
The suspected is also a constable, who graduated from the police training college at the same time with the woman.
Police said both constables had been living together as husband and wife.
Mr Ali described the relationship between the two constables as intimate and that the woman was in critical condition following the brutal attack.
There was intimate relationship between the two constables,” Mr Ali said. He explained: “It is unfortunate that the man died; the woman is in critical condition. The officer was arrested at Turbo as he tried to escape and taken to Nakuru”.
The police commissioner warned the public against using the incident to incite others .
The warning came following the fluid political situation in the country. “It will be wrong for people, including politicians to use the incident to incite the public,” Mr Ali said. Initial reports had indicated that a police officer had shot at his two colleagues, killing them
By Makokha Wanjala M
Last updated: 1 minute ago
Ainamoi Member of Parliament David Kimutai Too has been shot dead.
The Orange Democratic Movement MP was shot dead in Eldoret earlier today, in what local security officials said was a love triangle.
A policeman, suspected of the murder has been arrested. The policeman is alleged to have also shot a woman who was rushed to hospital.
The incident took place shortly after 10am in the outskirts of Eldoret town.
Mr Too is the second ODM MP to be shot dead in as many days following the murder of the Embakasi MP Mugabe Were on Wednesday morning.
ODM leaders addressed a news conference in Nairobi where they condemned the killing of the MP.
Meanwhile, police say the killing of Ainamoi MP David Kimutai Too bordered in a love triangle.
Police Commissioner Major General Hussein Ali said the suspect would be charged in court tomorrow with murder.
The suspect has been arrested and is being held in Nakuru, Maj Ali said.
“The constable will stand charges of murder tomorrow,” Maj Ali told a news conference at his Vigilance House office in Nairobi.
The MP, he said, picked a woman constable from Eldoret police station at 9.30 am and drove in a Toyota Carina to West Indies residential estate.
The suspected is also a constable, who graduated from the police training college at the same time with the woman.
Police said both constables had been living together as husband and wife.
Mr Ali described the relationship between the two constables as intimate and that the woman was in critical condition following the brutal attack.
There was intimate relationship between the two constables,” Mr Ali said. He explained: “It is unfortunate that the man died; the woman is in critical condition. The officer was arrested at Turbo as he tried to escape and taken to Nakuru”.
The police commissioner warned the public against using the incident to incite others .
The warning came following the fluid political situation in the country. “It will be wrong for people, including politicians to use the incident to incite the public,” Mr Ali said. Initial reports had indicated that a police officer had shot at his two colleagues, killing them
Wednesday, January 30, 2008
KENYA SLIDES AND JOINS NEIGHBOURS
- KENYA SLIDES AND MATCHES THE REGION’S INSTABILITY
BY MAKOKHA WANJALA M.
For a long time Kenya had been billed as an island of peace and tranquility in a region surrounded by near failed states and others in various forms of recovery form failed states. In deed around Kenya examples abound of how governments have failed their people and the resultant chaos. But on 27th December 2007, Kenya gallantly marched on into the same predicament that has befallen its neighbours. Paradoxically Kenya has played host to many refugees and financed together with other donors many of the activities to reconstitute the failed states. South Sudan was for all purposes given a safe haven in Kenya, and Somalia’s transitional government was in a big measure brought into existence on the Kenyan soil. How ironical that Kenya’s were now flocking Uganda as refugees. It seemed un-imaginable but that now is a permanent feature of Kenya’s history.
There are many causes some with a long historical standing and the disputed elections appear a mere tip off. It is still early and it requires research to pinpoint the actual reasons but drawing from the pattern of the post election violence one can safely enumerate the reasons as
the land problem
the resource problem
the ethnic campaign platform
the mismanaging of elections
the apparent dominance of some ethnic groups
the constitution
the large pool of educated yet un employed youths
The land problem
Whichever way it is looked at land remains a contentious issue in Kenya. The African culture lays a lot of emphasis on possession of at least a piece of land and nearly all Kenya men aspire to own a piece never mind its location or use. For this reason there is a higher than normal demand for land. Historically through the resettlement schemes that were presided over by Kenyatta’s (Kikuyu) regime ended up settling mainly many of his tribes’ men. That would have been okay but the problem is he literally took the Kikuyus to areas they were never settled before. In many instances government forests had to be cleared to resettle them. In fact one of the hot beds of violence is called “Burnt Forest” which captures what happened. The forest was burn down to resettle mainly the Kikuyu ethnic group. That is a sore that has never healed as many Kenyans feel they has a prior right to lands that were originally theirs or close to their settlements before other groups. Again Kikuyu people have tended to be more enterprising arising from the fact that their populations have exploded and central Kenya could simply not accommodate them. On their own efforts through buying of land they have expanded into virtually the main areas in the country. Un like many Kenyan communities the Kikuyu are matrilineal and therefore their cultures are at variance with all the neighbours they migrate to settle with. For this reason Kikuyu have tended to intermarry mainly among themselves and have therefore not integrated with other communities. It is this way of life that has exposed them to attacks by other communities. So in a way the violence especially in the Great Rift Valley is about land period. The government has all along known the contentious nature of this problem and has in fact appointed a commission to look into the land question. The Ndungu Commission did present its findings but they were too radical and were conveniently shelved. It remains to be seen what the Kofi Annan Team will propose for this is one of the long term issues that must be settled to assure peace and tranquility. One last issuer on the land problem is again to be found in the conflict between individual ownership as opposed to collective communal ownership. Kikuyu have perfected asserting property rights as individuals whilst many of the Kenyan communities see land as a communal resource. They therefore expect land to flow freely from one generation to another of their community to eternity. To such thinking it matters less that you have bought your land. In fact they will view this activity of buying land settling in their midst as intrusion.
The resource problem
Allocation of government resources has been seen as being skewed towards the Mount Kenya regions. Of course a few examples are sighted to support such claims such as allocation of government funds for water provision and road construction in the 2007/2008 financial years. Again state jobs are seen to have been reserved for the Kikuyu elite. A few governmental institutions such as Kenya Revenue Authority, the Central Bank, and Ministry of education are among those cited. Such perceptions were a recurring message during the political campaigns leading to the elections. Therefore outside the Kikuyu echelons this election was about routing the Kikuyus out of power in all its forms. With such high stakes the option of accepting failure seems not to have existed. It should also be noted that in 2002 when Kibaki took over power his government appeared to have targeted members of the Kalenjin community for sacking from government. This is a pain that reverberates in the Rift Valley that is dominated by the Kalenjins. Added to this is the defeat of a constitutional review process that would have aided in proper and systematic devolution of power and resources in 2006.
The ethnic campaign platform.
It must be said and has already been alluded to above that the campaigns was a cheroeghaped theatre starring tribal kings who extolled and threatened whatever was appropriate in their quest for votes. The opposition almost to man insisted on how the Kibaki regime had reneged on its promises, privatized corruption to the benefit of one community, and how the elections would have ended all this domination. The Kibaki axis on the other hand asked its folks to protect power. In fact the First lady Lucy Kibaki is on record saying that electing Odinga will lead to tears. Some of Kibaki's men wanted all their people to vote including the sick in fact one Minister stated that only those in the morgue are the ones exempted from voting. Clearly this was a recipe with all ingredients for a disaster.
The mismanaging of elections
There was a gentleman’s agreement normally referred to as IPPG agreement (inter parliamentary parties agreement) that allowed all parties to an election to nominate members to the Electoral Commission of Kenya. This was not effected in law and therefore Kibaki did his duty albeit selfishly and against tenets of democracy by replaced all retiring commissioners in the ECK. Of all the 23 commissioners 21 are his direct appointees. The elections were therefore organized by a body suspected of foul play from the very beginning. The elections were largely peaceful on the actual voting day with record turn outs in most polling stations. All but a quarter of Kibaki’s sitting cabinet were rejected by voters. The tallying for presidential results is done at a central place mainly in Nairobi. This year the central tallying was at KICC right in the centre of the city. Results from constituency tallying centers are normally relayed to the centre by phone for provisional results and later confirmed by a form called 16 A. it is during this tallying process that new votes were manufactured and added to Kibaki’s tally. Agents were denied access to the tallying centre and there are records to show that the votes were topped up in 47 of the 210 constituencies. This was done in not a so clever manner that at one point there was a returning officer on the floor disputing the results being announced by ECK. All these apparent flaws contributed to the eventual declaration that Mwai Kibaki had won by w slight margin of 231,000 votes.
The apparent dominance of some ethnic groups
Need I say more that is a feeling that is shared by many Kenyans who explain their poverty, hunger, and other vagaries in terms of how the Mount Kenya had been favoured by the state?
The constitution
Kenya was a single party state and current architecture of the constitution vests all the powers in the President. Examples of such un checked authority include appointing the chief justice, appointing the cabinet (and determining its size) all which lead to winner take it all situation. There is absolutely nothing left if you don’t get the presidency. In fact the president has a minority in parliament but he can rule by creating coalitions of convenience with other minor parties. Therefore the opposition cannot agree to any deal because anything can be overrun by the president and this will be lawful.
The large pool of educated yet un employed youths
The hot bed of all these were the youths mainly from slum areas. This are educated young people who see no hope in a country known mainly for having some of the most un equal societies in the whole world. Kibera, Mathare are some of the informal settlements that provided the many youths who erupted into violence. The problem of un employment further predisposes young people by making them too eager to join any efforts that they think will result in their empowerment. In the case of Kenya never mind that some of this has been with catastrophic consequences to themselves.
So much for the reasons so what really happened
The electoral commission went ahead and announced the disputed results putting Kibaki ahead. In less than 20 minutes close to 6.30 pm in the evening Mwai Kibaki was sworn in to start his second final five year term. Sporadically violence erupted in Kisumu, Nairobi, Eldoret and other areas. Casualties have been increasing with each day. 30 days later the government has put the death toll at 700. This are bodies that were counted i.e. they were in the morgues. You can safely put the actual death toll at 2100. At first it was violence that was targeted at anything resulting in burning of business premises and cars but no sooner it turned into a tribal feud. Let me emphasize the foreign media erred in typifying this as duel between the Luo and Kikuyu, it is actually most of the communities against the Kikuyu. Violence in some has been reported all over the country except in central Kenya. After some targeting the Kikuyus were evacuated from the Rift Valley. But they too regrouped around Naivasha and begun retaliation that saw more blood being spilt. The violence target both persons and property. It has also taken the form of economic blockade with some firms associated with the President Kibaki’s friends being targeted. Roads, bridges and the railway have been cut off to disrupt free flow of goods and people. All these have been happening under the blockade on live broadcasts and a ban on public rallies imposed by the government.
What are the options?
Several options are being proposed and hopefully being considered by the Annan led mediation team
create a position of executive prime Minster and hand it to Raila as part of power sharing ( so far Raila has rejected this)
create a negotiated transitional government to oversee another presidential elections( the best alternative for ODM)
form a coalition government between PNU and ODM( the government prefers this model, in fact the president has only named half the cabinet meaning the other half could go to ODM, but remember he can as well sack them the next day)
let the situation play itself out ( the costly but maybe a route that will make Kenyans realize they need each other)
What is the future for Kenya?
With tourism collapsed, the Nairobi Stock Market has already shed of 40 billions and still heading south. In fact the market traded only for 15 minutes on 29th January to avoid a spiral. With the country practically split into two, with less or no loyalty to the central government. With regional countries such as Uganda, Burundi, Rwanda, Congo, Southern Sudan reeling from the effects of an economic blockade. With many countries with exception of Uganda, Lesotho having not congratulated Kibaki on his win. One gets the impression that things are already bad if not worse. The question is will they get better? Yes they should but no they may not. It all depends on two gentlemen one is called the Hon. Raila Amolo Odinga and the other is Hon. Mwai Kibaki, the third President of the republic of Kenya.
Monday, January 28, 2008
Mugabe Were Murdered in cold blood
The national death toll since the elections is now about 800
A Kenyan opposition MP has been shot dead in Nairobi, police say, adding they could not rule out a connection to disputed presidential elections.
Mugabe Were, a member of the Orange Democratic Movement (ODM) of the defeated candidate, Raila Odinga, was attacked outside his home, police said.
An ODM spokesman called for calm and restraint following the MP's death.
Meanwhile the parties will begin formal talks on Tuesday to resolve the crisis, mediated by former UN chief Kofi Annan.
A UN spokesman said the dialogue process would start at 1600 local time (1300 GMT) at a neutral location.
'Shun violence'
Mr Were is the first leading politician to have died amid violence that has gripped Kenya since December's poll.
Two gunmen shot Mr Were as he drove up to the gate of his house in the capital just after midnight, Kenya police spokesman Eric Kiraithe was quoted by the Associated Press news agency as saying.
This is a new kind of violence but let's call again on people to be peaceful and to only respond to this kind of violence by shunning violence
Salim LomeODM spokesman
"We are treating it as a murder but we are not ruling out anything, including political motives. We are urging everyone to remain calm," he said.
Mr Were, who represented Nairobi's Embakasai district, won a seat in the 27 December legislative election, which was held at the same time as the presidential vote.
ODM spokesman Tony Gachoka said: "The current situation makes one suspicious. All fingers will point at the government, and the government will have to show it is not involved."
Another ODM spokesman, Salim Lome, called on people "to be peaceful and to only respond to this kind of violence by shunning violence".
The appeal came amid reports of opposition supporters pouring onto the streets in several cities.
In the Kibera slum in Nairobi, eyewitnesses spoke of clashes between rival ethnic groups.
Members of President Mwai Kibaki's Kikuyu tribe have been fighting with Luos and Kalenjins who backed his rival, Mr Odinga, in last month's election.
International concern
Police fired tear gas and live bullets to disperse a crowd of about 100 opposition supporters who had gathered in the western city of Kisumu in a show of anger at Mr Were's killing, AFP news agency reported.
"First they started killing the ordinary people like us, now they are killing our leaders, we won't accept it," demonstrator Justus Othieno told AFP news agency.
'People are killing each other'
Kenya's deep rifts
Key flashpoints
The protest followed bloodshed in Kisumu and also in Eldoret.
Riots have also been ongoing in the towns of Naivasha and Nakuru in the Rift Valley, where dozens of people have been killed in five days of ethnic violence.
Plumes of smoke were seen rising from the lakeside at Naivasha, as crowds apparently looted the homes of people fleeing the violence.
Mr Odinga accuses Mr Kibaki of stealing the vote and has refused to recognise the result.
Analysts warn a cycle of violence is emerging amid the political impasse, where the pattern of attacks is followed by reprisals.
The former UN secretary general Kofi Annan has been trying to mediate a solution between the two sides.
He set Tuesday as a target for Kenya's government and opposition to name negotiators, in the hope that engaging in formal talks might make it possible to quell the violence.
A Kenyan opposition MP has been shot dead in Nairobi, police say, adding they could not rule out a connection to disputed presidential elections.
Mugabe Were, a member of the Orange Democratic Movement (ODM) of the defeated candidate, Raila Odinga, was attacked outside his home, police said.
An ODM spokesman called for calm and restraint following the MP's death.
Meanwhile the parties will begin formal talks on Tuesday to resolve the crisis, mediated by former UN chief Kofi Annan.
A UN spokesman said the dialogue process would start at 1600 local time (1300 GMT) at a neutral location.
'Shun violence'
Mr Were is the first leading politician to have died amid violence that has gripped Kenya since December's poll.
Two gunmen shot Mr Were as he drove up to the gate of his house in the capital just after midnight, Kenya police spokesman Eric Kiraithe was quoted by the Associated Press news agency as saying.
This is a new kind of violence but let's call again on people to be peaceful and to only respond to this kind of violence by shunning violence
Salim LomeODM spokesman
"We are treating it as a murder but we are not ruling out anything, including political motives. We are urging everyone to remain calm," he said.
Mr Were, who represented Nairobi's Embakasai district, won a seat in the 27 December legislative election, which was held at the same time as the presidential vote.
ODM spokesman Tony Gachoka said: "The current situation makes one suspicious. All fingers will point at the government, and the government will have to show it is not involved."
Another ODM spokesman, Salim Lome, called on people "to be peaceful and to only respond to this kind of violence by shunning violence".
The appeal came amid reports of opposition supporters pouring onto the streets in several cities.
In the Kibera slum in Nairobi, eyewitnesses spoke of clashes between rival ethnic groups.
Members of President Mwai Kibaki's Kikuyu tribe have been fighting with Luos and Kalenjins who backed his rival, Mr Odinga, in last month's election.
International concern
Police fired tear gas and live bullets to disperse a crowd of about 100 opposition supporters who had gathered in the western city of Kisumu in a show of anger at Mr Were's killing, AFP news agency reported.
"First they started killing the ordinary people like us, now they are killing our leaders, we won't accept it," demonstrator Justus Othieno told AFP news agency.
'People are killing each other'
Kenya's deep rifts
Key flashpoints
The protest followed bloodshed in Kisumu and also in Eldoret.
Riots have also been ongoing in the towns of Naivasha and Nakuru in the Rift Valley, where dozens of people have been killed in five days of ethnic violence.
Plumes of smoke were seen rising from the lakeside at Naivasha, as crowds apparently looted the homes of people fleeing the violence.
Mr Odinga accuses Mr Kibaki of stealing the vote and has refused to recognise the result.
Analysts warn a cycle of violence is emerging amid the political impasse, where the pattern of attacks is followed by reprisals.
The former UN secretary general Kofi Annan has been trying to mediate a solution between the two sides.
He set Tuesday as a target for Kenya's government and opposition to name negotiators, in the hope that engaging in formal talks might make it possible to quell the violence.
Thursday, January 24, 2008
SONU Secretary General's Acceptance Speech
THE DAWN OF A NEW ERA by Makokha Wanjala M
FRIDAY, 14 MARCH 2003
My fellow students, Administrators, distinguished Guests, Ladies and Gentlemen great is my honour and great is my appreciation for having turned up to witness the inauguration of S.O.N.U. leaders. Thank you so much for choosing to be with us at the threshold of a new era in the University of Nairobi.
Ladies and gentlemen allow me to proceed directly to my maiden speech. Campaigns are over; the time for sloganeering is well behind us, what is needed today more than ever is the constructive application of our minds and our hands to establish a reputable students union. We are at a critical time not just in our University but in the whole country as gales of change sweep away the incompetence of the past regime. Obsolescence awaits us if we fail to change with the times.
University of Nairobi that was once an institution of hope, an oasis in a desert of intellectual poverty, has over the years steadily but systematically been brought to its knees by improper management, corruption, outright looting, ineptitude, misprioritisation and an arena for selfish experiments.
Accommodation facilities are dilapidated, our libraries are lacking in terms of stocks no wonder today students write term papers and indicate newspapers such as ‘Daily Nation’ as their references instead of ‘journals’. Facilities vital for research such as microscopes, computers, cameras etc are either in bad shape or are missing. Most disturbing my dear comrades is the lack of a clear strategic plan to gear this great institution from the dark. Let me not attempt to list all our problems because they are obvious knowledge and neither is this the place nor do we have the time to elucidate on all vagaries that affect our stay in this University. It is in the face of the above gloomy scenario that leaders of our unshakable party S.O.N.U. have boldly resolved to launch a strategic plan in order to recapture the glory of University of Nairobi, regain its identity, self-confidence of its students and put the University back on the path of becoming the best learning destination in Africa. We in the near future are summoning all needed skills such as prediction, identification, innovation, evaluation and decision making so that we engage our seven step approach to developing a strategic plan. The first step will be a strategic profile to establish the position of University of Nairobi now and contrast with where it ought to be.
Other steps will include environmental dimension, strategic forecast, Resource evaluation, strategic alternatives, test of consistency and finally strategic choice. We challenge the entire university community be they workers, administrators, students and even our friends to assist to the best of their abilities so that our efforts can coalesce into a clear strategy. S.O.N.U. ought to be a fusion of talent and ability.
We are aware comrades that a strategic plan is useless if no mechanisms are adopted for implementation and continued review or assessment of how well objectives are being made. We seek to break away from the tradition of the past where S.O.N.U was viewed as a festering wound which becomes inflamed during the electioneering period and is followed by empty and insincere declarations of intent by the administrators that are followed just for a while with short lived policing and soon the frenzy winds down and life assumes its dangerous routine. I pledge my self-commitment that in a span of four weeks, S.O.N.U plan of action is launched so that our unshakable union begins to dissipate heat evenly and equitably to those who have failed this great institution.
We demand politely, state firmly that in the dawn of a new era, S.O.N.U is moving away from a reactionary style of management to take up its real position in policy formulation. Once complete the S.O.N.U strategic plan will constitute a bold and imaginative attempt to launch war on endemic problems that have trapped and immobilized University of Nairobi. S.O.N.U strategic plan I envisage will offer at once a full-blown development strategy and a detailed program of action so as to consolidate and deepen the recent gains on student voice in the University.
To avoid the post implementation reaction S.O.N.U is to establish a strategic surveillance mechanism to be known as Efficiency Monitoring Unit. Beginning next week, S.O.N.U student complaint file will be opened in the following offices:- Medical Centers, Students Finance Office, All Principals Offices and all SWA Administrative Units. Time is gone comrades when people worked without appraisal. The Efficiency Monitoring Unit (referred to as Select Probe Committee in S.O.N.U Constitution) will collate and collect views of the complaints and table the report to the students’ parliament.
Deliberations shall be made and decisions arrived at. Allow me to state that Never, Never, and Never again will S.O.N.U engage or be seen to be engaged in witch-hunting. All we are saying is that because of our gift of intelligence, the opportunity and privilege of being at the University at this time then it behoves all of us to question, doubt, suspect, inquire, as and demand for appropriate answers and responses. Due to financial constraints and general scarcity of resources those found to be less efficient shall leave us. Remember comrades that towards the end of our year in office we shall reward those who have worked diligently given the conditions.
Towards this end I call for the sending of the Director Sports on compulsory leave pending investigation. Without a coordinated Sports Calendar and proper attempts to stimulate students to realize their talents in other disciplines, I refuse to be persuaded that the Director of Sports has been working. In the same vein the positions of wardens in the halls of residence must be quickly abolished as we have evidence that those charged with responsibility have not been working and some have never even made an attempt to work.
To survive and thrive S.O.N.U must be responsive to those it serves. We made pledges during campaign because we believed we could manage our affairs better than our predecessors. Time is now that we made real of this belief. S.O.N.U is a vanguard of change, a voice of the voiceless and hence it must be registered with the Registrar of Societies. Our Legal Affairs Secretary has been mandated to seek registration and the best I can say is to advice or warn the government whichever is appropriate that no one should slacken this process because it is our constitutional right to associate.
We are also aware that Student Centers as well as some tuck shops have been taken over by some administrators; we thank them for their creativity but remind them that time is up. Once constituted the Investment Committee will provide guidance of when to leave with maximum speed and minimum delay.
Most of the Council members are here with us today. Let me remind then that the era of oppression is over. Make no mistake a Student Task Force is to be formed to review those rules that have in the past gave the Senate and the Council unchecked superiority and unquestioned authority.
We are determined and committed to go full throttle even if it requires amendments through parliament. I wish to give notice of amendment of University of Nairobi Act 1985 so that our unshakable Union is embodied in the Act. We intend to deny anybody the luxury of banning and suspending our unbwogable Union to mask their own failures.
Allow me to send our message directly to the government of the day. It is the dawn of a New Era and we, as students feel neglected if our concerns are not addressed. Soon we intend to convene a National Student Conference here in Nairobi. We shall just as it happened in Parliament appoint a Student’s Commission to review our allowances from the Higher Education Loans Board. Following the precedent of our members of parliament, we are confident that the Commission will recommend a quick increase. We shall table this report to relevant ministries and we also wish to give notice that sufficient space be reserved for us in parliament during the Budget Day because we shall be in the Public Gallery to celebrate the increase of allowances. As concerns this best I can say comrades is that waiting is exciting if you know what the outcome will be.
My second agenda to the government is that they move fast and depoliticize universities. We are tired of musical chairs. The society today is a very critical one and is expecting people to justify their being in office on merit, and University of Nairobi is no exception. As comrades we refuse replacements of Moi sycophants with NARC sycophants. We refuse the excessive pressure on our excellent administrators to mutate into NARC appendages. We know and regrettably so that most if not all our administrators are slaves of a nobler class whose wishes they execute without fail. (Read Ecclesiastes 5:8).
Thirdly and lastly the government must through the ministry of National Reconstruction allocate funds to enable the completion of many white elephant projects in this University. The white elephants are a mark of failure of the MOI regime but sooner they will become a mark of insensitivity of the present regime.
Ladies and Gentlemen, None is so miserable as a man who wills everything and can do nothing. Allow me to refocus our thinking to the libraries. Since education is the premise on which the existence of a University can be justified, we have resolved to take a pragmatic approach.
The Vice Chairman Academic Affairs has pledged to ensure that S.O.N.U Book Requisition Forms are availed in each of the libraries by the start of next week. At the end of each month, the Faculty Congress Committee shall collect those forms and through a statistical methodology arrive at books that ought to be bought. S.O.N.U promises to undertake any conceivable means to ensure that such books are bought even if it means a hunger strike. We have no time to negotiate about provision of knowledge. S.O.N.U proposes that the Library Committee meets as soon as practicable to ensure a quick transition from the tedious and dusty manual catalogue to an ultra-modern computer facilitated online public access catalogue (OPAC). Students of this University who are indeed the major shareholders also demand that the library subscribes to established academic search tools. EBSCO host databases offer tools such as Academic Search elite and Business source premier that will allow us access to journals and libraries of sister universities. I also expect immediate provision of CD Rom databases, Video viewing, and audiocassette listening to be provided in our library just as they are in USIU. Most of us are mesmerized when we visit libraries of other universities in this country because you feel like you have traveled from the past into the future.
Let it be known that we are not willing to compromise on our academic demands comrades. Ladies and Gentlemen until we discover the role of education in transmitting culture and knowledge across generations and adopt a student centered, consensus driven and a participatory strategy in keeping the University focused on academics then our legacy, our academic diplomas, degrees and astronomical levels of wealth in the hands of a few as evidenced by sleek imported Mercedes Benz cars, and what have you, will forever remain ornaments telling us more of our pseudo-stupidity than progress.
S.O.N.U cannot afford the luxury of being excluded from the information revolution. Towards this end I am calling on volunteers and donors to help us realize the dream of having S.O.N.U Website in two weeks time. We also seek help so that at the end of next month S.O.N.U be able to resume publication of the monthly student magazine “Comrade”. We intend to make that magazine a vital, useful, and important tool of communication.
Comrades, Ladies and Gentlemen, Allow me to thank all those who catapulted me into leadership. It was tough and difficult and our burning conviction of what is right could not have carried us through were it not for your continued support and encouragement. Comrades, I have no way of thanking each of you individually but I believe the best gift to all of you is the service I shall offer while in office.
Needless to say comrades a good consul without a good fortune is a windmill without wind. To my fellow elected leaders’ congratulations, to those who gave us stiff competition thank you for making it an election and not coronation. To the election supervisor and his team thank you for taking on the most difficult job. Even with the obvious flaws I believe that the election results were a manifestation of students wish. In my leadership, I promise to carry on like minded opinion shapers as long as our relationship is based on mutual commitment and a shared responsibility geared towards service to our customers.
Comrades, Ladies and Gentlemen unlike in the past leadership where S.O.N.U has formed inconceivable partnerships with the government, administration and opposition parties.
The dawn of a new era demands a product of indigenous efforts of students determined to convince skeptics and pessimists in Kenya and beyond that we can and have become architects of our own destiny, offering our own student methodology towards solutions of the myriad problems we face. It is the dawn of a new era and I wish you all the best as you seek to realize your hope and prayer to leave campus in the whole harmony and trinity of intellectual maturity, moral uprightness and emotional balance.
Finally comrades I believe my speech will not be complete if I do not offer advice. To the lecturers; lecture, to Administrators; administer and to whole of us; let us remind each other daily that the warped reasoning to resort to violence to prove intellectual superiority just proves otherwise. Though the philosophy of violence is fortified by the assumption that all too often it has brought power and wealth to brutal and ruthless men it will never diminish the fact that violence is essentially the mark of a weak mind.
Asanteni Sana.
There is light at the end of the tunnel and if there is not, we are in the wrong tunnel. Let us find our tunnel.
FRIDAY, 14 MARCH 2003
My fellow students, Administrators, distinguished Guests, Ladies and Gentlemen great is my honour and great is my appreciation for having turned up to witness the inauguration of S.O.N.U. leaders. Thank you so much for choosing to be with us at the threshold of a new era in the University of Nairobi.
Ladies and gentlemen allow me to proceed directly to my maiden speech. Campaigns are over; the time for sloganeering is well behind us, what is needed today more than ever is the constructive application of our minds and our hands to establish a reputable students union. We are at a critical time not just in our University but in the whole country as gales of change sweep away the incompetence of the past regime. Obsolescence awaits us if we fail to change with the times.
University of Nairobi that was once an institution of hope, an oasis in a desert of intellectual poverty, has over the years steadily but systematically been brought to its knees by improper management, corruption, outright looting, ineptitude, misprioritisation and an arena for selfish experiments.
Accommodation facilities are dilapidated, our libraries are lacking in terms of stocks no wonder today students write term papers and indicate newspapers such as ‘Daily Nation’ as their references instead of ‘journals’. Facilities vital for research such as microscopes, computers, cameras etc are either in bad shape or are missing. Most disturbing my dear comrades is the lack of a clear strategic plan to gear this great institution from the dark. Let me not attempt to list all our problems because they are obvious knowledge and neither is this the place nor do we have the time to elucidate on all vagaries that affect our stay in this University. It is in the face of the above gloomy scenario that leaders of our unshakable party S.O.N.U. have boldly resolved to launch a strategic plan in order to recapture the glory of University of Nairobi, regain its identity, self-confidence of its students and put the University back on the path of becoming the best learning destination in Africa. We in the near future are summoning all needed skills such as prediction, identification, innovation, evaluation and decision making so that we engage our seven step approach to developing a strategic plan. The first step will be a strategic profile to establish the position of University of Nairobi now and contrast with where it ought to be.
Other steps will include environmental dimension, strategic forecast, Resource evaluation, strategic alternatives, test of consistency and finally strategic choice. We challenge the entire university community be they workers, administrators, students and even our friends to assist to the best of their abilities so that our efforts can coalesce into a clear strategy. S.O.N.U. ought to be a fusion of talent and ability.
We are aware comrades that a strategic plan is useless if no mechanisms are adopted for implementation and continued review or assessment of how well objectives are being made. We seek to break away from the tradition of the past where S.O.N.U was viewed as a festering wound which becomes inflamed during the electioneering period and is followed by empty and insincere declarations of intent by the administrators that are followed just for a while with short lived policing and soon the frenzy winds down and life assumes its dangerous routine. I pledge my self-commitment that in a span of four weeks, S.O.N.U plan of action is launched so that our unshakable union begins to dissipate heat evenly and equitably to those who have failed this great institution.
We demand politely, state firmly that in the dawn of a new era, S.O.N.U is moving away from a reactionary style of management to take up its real position in policy formulation. Once complete the S.O.N.U strategic plan will constitute a bold and imaginative attempt to launch war on endemic problems that have trapped and immobilized University of Nairobi. S.O.N.U strategic plan I envisage will offer at once a full-blown development strategy and a detailed program of action so as to consolidate and deepen the recent gains on student voice in the University.
To avoid the post implementation reaction S.O.N.U is to establish a strategic surveillance mechanism to be known as Efficiency Monitoring Unit. Beginning next week, S.O.N.U student complaint file will be opened in the following offices:- Medical Centers, Students Finance Office, All Principals Offices and all SWA Administrative Units. Time is gone comrades when people worked without appraisal. The Efficiency Monitoring Unit (referred to as Select Probe Committee in S.O.N.U Constitution) will collate and collect views of the complaints and table the report to the students’ parliament.
Deliberations shall be made and decisions arrived at. Allow me to state that Never, Never, and Never again will S.O.N.U engage or be seen to be engaged in witch-hunting. All we are saying is that because of our gift of intelligence, the opportunity and privilege of being at the University at this time then it behoves all of us to question, doubt, suspect, inquire, as and demand for appropriate answers and responses. Due to financial constraints and general scarcity of resources those found to be less efficient shall leave us. Remember comrades that towards the end of our year in office we shall reward those who have worked diligently given the conditions.
Towards this end I call for the sending of the Director Sports on compulsory leave pending investigation. Without a coordinated Sports Calendar and proper attempts to stimulate students to realize their talents in other disciplines, I refuse to be persuaded that the Director of Sports has been working. In the same vein the positions of wardens in the halls of residence must be quickly abolished as we have evidence that those charged with responsibility have not been working and some have never even made an attempt to work.
To survive and thrive S.O.N.U must be responsive to those it serves. We made pledges during campaign because we believed we could manage our affairs better than our predecessors. Time is now that we made real of this belief. S.O.N.U is a vanguard of change, a voice of the voiceless and hence it must be registered with the Registrar of Societies. Our Legal Affairs Secretary has been mandated to seek registration and the best I can say is to advice or warn the government whichever is appropriate that no one should slacken this process because it is our constitutional right to associate.
We are also aware that Student Centers as well as some tuck shops have been taken over by some administrators; we thank them for their creativity but remind them that time is up. Once constituted the Investment Committee will provide guidance of when to leave with maximum speed and minimum delay.
Most of the Council members are here with us today. Let me remind then that the era of oppression is over. Make no mistake a Student Task Force is to be formed to review those rules that have in the past gave the Senate and the Council unchecked superiority and unquestioned authority.
We are determined and committed to go full throttle even if it requires amendments through parliament. I wish to give notice of amendment of University of Nairobi Act 1985 so that our unshakable Union is embodied in the Act. We intend to deny anybody the luxury of banning and suspending our unbwogable Union to mask their own failures.
Allow me to send our message directly to the government of the day. It is the dawn of a New Era and we, as students feel neglected if our concerns are not addressed. Soon we intend to convene a National Student Conference here in Nairobi. We shall just as it happened in Parliament appoint a Student’s Commission to review our allowances from the Higher Education Loans Board. Following the precedent of our members of parliament, we are confident that the Commission will recommend a quick increase. We shall table this report to relevant ministries and we also wish to give notice that sufficient space be reserved for us in parliament during the Budget Day because we shall be in the Public Gallery to celebrate the increase of allowances. As concerns this best I can say comrades is that waiting is exciting if you know what the outcome will be.
My second agenda to the government is that they move fast and depoliticize universities. We are tired of musical chairs. The society today is a very critical one and is expecting people to justify their being in office on merit, and University of Nairobi is no exception. As comrades we refuse replacements of Moi sycophants with NARC sycophants. We refuse the excessive pressure on our excellent administrators to mutate into NARC appendages. We know and regrettably so that most if not all our administrators are slaves of a nobler class whose wishes they execute without fail. (Read Ecclesiastes 5:8).
Thirdly and lastly the government must through the ministry of National Reconstruction allocate funds to enable the completion of many white elephant projects in this University. The white elephants are a mark of failure of the MOI regime but sooner they will become a mark of insensitivity of the present regime.
Ladies and Gentlemen, None is so miserable as a man who wills everything and can do nothing. Allow me to refocus our thinking to the libraries. Since education is the premise on which the existence of a University can be justified, we have resolved to take a pragmatic approach.
The Vice Chairman Academic Affairs has pledged to ensure that S.O.N.U Book Requisition Forms are availed in each of the libraries by the start of next week. At the end of each month, the Faculty Congress Committee shall collect those forms and through a statistical methodology arrive at books that ought to be bought. S.O.N.U promises to undertake any conceivable means to ensure that such books are bought even if it means a hunger strike. We have no time to negotiate about provision of knowledge. S.O.N.U proposes that the Library Committee meets as soon as practicable to ensure a quick transition from the tedious and dusty manual catalogue to an ultra-modern computer facilitated online public access catalogue (OPAC). Students of this University who are indeed the major shareholders also demand that the library subscribes to established academic search tools. EBSCO host databases offer tools such as Academic Search elite and Business source premier that will allow us access to journals and libraries of sister universities. I also expect immediate provision of CD Rom databases, Video viewing, and audiocassette listening to be provided in our library just as they are in USIU. Most of us are mesmerized when we visit libraries of other universities in this country because you feel like you have traveled from the past into the future.
Let it be known that we are not willing to compromise on our academic demands comrades. Ladies and Gentlemen until we discover the role of education in transmitting culture and knowledge across generations and adopt a student centered, consensus driven and a participatory strategy in keeping the University focused on academics then our legacy, our academic diplomas, degrees and astronomical levels of wealth in the hands of a few as evidenced by sleek imported Mercedes Benz cars, and what have you, will forever remain ornaments telling us more of our pseudo-stupidity than progress.
S.O.N.U cannot afford the luxury of being excluded from the information revolution. Towards this end I am calling on volunteers and donors to help us realize the dream of having S.O.N.U Website in two weeks time. We also seek help so that at the end of next month S.O.N.U be able to resume publication of the monthly student magazine “Comrade”. We intend to make that magazine a vital, useful, and important tool of communication.
Comrades, Ladies and Gentlemen, Allow me to thank all those who catapulted me into leadership. It was tough and difficult and our burning conviction of what is right could not have carried us through were it not for your continued support and encouragement. Comrades, I have no way of thanking each of you individually but I believe the best gift to all of you is the service I shall offer while in office.
Needless to say comrades a good consul without a good fortune is a windmill without wind. To my fellow elected leaders’ congratulations, to those who gave us stiff competition thank you for making it an election and not coronation. To the election supervisor and his team thank you for taking on the most difficult job. Even with the obvious flaws I believe that the election results were a manifestation of students wish. In my leadership, I promise to carry on like minded opinion shapers as long as our relationship is based on mutual commitment and a shared responsibility geared towards service to our customers.
Comrades, Ladies and Gentlemen unlike in the past leadership where S.O.N.U has formed inconceivable partnerships with the government, administration and opposition parties.
The dawn of a new era demands a product of indigenous efforts of students determined to convince skeptics and pessimists in Kenya and beyond that we can and have become architects of our own destiny, offering our own student methodology towards solutions of the myriad problems we face. It is the dawn of a new era and I wish you all the best as you seek to realize your hope and prayer to leave campus in the whole harmony and trinity of intellectual maturity, moral uprightness and emotional balance.
Finally comrades I believe my speech will not be complete if I do not offer advice. To the lecturers; lecture, to Administrators; administer and to whole of us; let us remind each other daily that the warped reasoning to resort to violence to prove intellectual superiority just proves otherwise. Though the philosophy of violence is fortified by the assumption that all too often it has brought power and wealth to brutal and ruthless men it will never diminish the fact that violence is essentially the mark of a weak mind.
Asanteni Sana.
There is light at the end of the tunnel and if there is not, we are in the wrong tunnel. Let us find our tunnel.
SONU Secretary General's Acceptance Speech
THE DAWN OF A NEW ERA
FRIDAY, 14 MARCH 2003
My fellow students, Administrators, distinguished Guests, Ladies and Gentlemen great is my honour and great is my appreciation for having turned up to witness the inauguration of S.O.N.U. leaders. Thank you so much for choosing to be with us at the threshold of a new era in the University of Nairobi.
Ladies and gentlemen allow me to proceed directly to my maiden speech. Campaigns are over; the time for sloganeering is well behind us, what is needed today more than ever is the constructive application of our minds and our hands to establish a reputable students union. We are at a critical time not just in our University but in the whole country as gales of change sweep away the incompetence of the past regime. Obsolescence awaits us if we fail to change with the times.
University of Nairobi that was once an institution of hope, an oasis in a desert of intellectual poverty, has over the years steadily but systematically been brought to its knees by improper management, corruption, outright looting, ineptitude, misprioritisation and an arena for selfish experiments.
Accommodation facilities are dilapidated, our libraries are lacking in terms of stocks no wonder today students write term papers and indicate newspapers such as ‘Daily Nation’ as their references instead of ‘journals’. Facilities vital for research such as microscopes, computers, cameras etc are either in bad shape or are missing. Most disturbing my dear comrades is the lack of a clear strategic plan to gear this great institution from the dark. Let me not attempt to list all our problems because they are obvious knowledge and neither is this the place nor do we have the time to elucidate on all vagaries that affect our stay in this University. It is in the face of the above gloomy scenario that leaders of our unshakable party S.O.N.U. have boldly resolved to launch a strategic plan in order to recapture the glory of University of Nairobi, regain its identity, self-confidence of its students and put the University back on the path of becoming the best learning destination in Africa. We in the near future are summoning all needed skills such as prediction, identification, innovation, evaluation and decision making so that we engage our seven step approach to developing a strategic plan. The first step will be a strategic profile to establish the position of University of Nairobi now and contrast with where it ought to be.
Other steps will include environmental dimension, strategic forecast, Resource evaluation, strategic alternatives, test of consistency and finally strategic choice. We challenge the entire university community be they workers, administrators, students and even our friends to assist to the best of their abilities so that our efforts can coalesce into a clear strategy. S.O.N.U. ought to be a fusion of talent and ability.
We are aware comrades that a strategic plan is useless if no mechanisms are adopted for implementation and continued review or assessment of how well objectives are being made. We seek to break away from the tradition of the past where S.O.N.U was viewed as a festering wound which becomes inflamed during the electioneering period and is followed by empty and insincere declarations of intent by the administrators that are followed just for a while with short lived policing and soon the frenzy winds down and life assumes its dangerous routine. I pledge my self-commitment that in a span of four weeks, S.O.N.U plan of action is launched so that our unshakable union begins to dissipate heat evenly and equitably to those who have failed this great institution.
We demand politely, state firmly that in the dawn of a new era, S.O.N.U is moving away from a reactionary style of management to take up its real position in policy formulation. Once complete the S.O.N.U strategic plan will constitute a bold and imaginative attempt to launch war on endemic problems that have trapped and immobilized University of Nairobi. S.O.N.U strategic plan I envisage will offer at once a full-blown development strategy and a detailed program of action so as to consolidate and deepen the recent gains on student voice in the University.
To avoid the post implementation reaction S.O.N.U is to establish a strategic surveillance mechanism to be known as Efficiency Monitoring Unit. Beginning next week, S.O.N.U student complaint file will be opened in the following offices:- Medical Centers, Students Finance Office, All Principals Offices and all SWA Administrative Units. Time is gone comrades when people worked without appraisal. The Efficiency Monitoring Unit (referred to as Select Probe Committee in S.O.N.U Constitution) will collate and collect views of the complaints and table the report to the students’ parliament.
Deliberations shall be made and decisions arrived at. Allow me to state that Never, Never, and Never again will S.O.N.U engage or be seen to be engaged in witch-hunting. All we are saying is that because of our gift of intelligence, the opportunity and privilege of being at the University at this time then it behoves all of us to question, doubt, suspect, inquire, as and demand for appropriate answers and responses. Due to financial constraints and general scarcity of resources those found to be less efficient shall leave us. Remember comrades that towards the end of our year in office we shall reward those who have worked diligently given the conditions.
Towards this end I call for the sending of the Director Sports on compulsory leave pending investigation. Without a coordinated Sports Calendar and proper attempts to stimulate students to realize their talents in other disciplines, I refuse to be persuaded that the Director of Sports has been working. In the same vein the positions of wardens in the halls of residence must be quickly abolished as we have evidence that those charged with responsibility have not been working and some have never even made an attempt to work.
To survive and thrive S.O.N.U must be responsive to those it serves. We made pledges during campaign because we believed we could manage our affairs better than our predecessors. Time is now that we made real of this belief. S.O.N.U is a vanguard of change, a voice of the voiceless and hence it must be registered with the Registrar of Societies. Our Legal Affairs Secretary has been mandated to seek registration and the best I can say is to advice or warn the government whichever is appropriate that no one should slacken this process because it is our constitutional right to associate.
We are also aware that Student Centers as well as some tuck shops have been taken over by some administrators; we thank them for their creativity but remind them that time is up. Once constituted the Investment Committee will provide guidance of when to leave with maximum speed and minimum delay.
Most of the Council members are here with us today. Let me remind then that the era of oppression is over. Make no mistake a Student Task Force is to be formed to review those rules that have in the past gave the Senate and the Council unchecked superiority and unquestioned authority.
We are determined and committed to go full throttle even if it requires amendments through parliament. I wish to give notice of amendment of University of Nairobi Act 1985 so that our unshakable Union is embodied in the Act. We intend to deny anybody the luxury of banning and suspending our unbwogable Union to mask their own failures.
Allow me to send our message directly to the government of the day. It is the dawn of a New Era and we, as students feel neglected if our concerns are not addressed. Soon we intend to convene a National Student Conference here in Nairobi. We shall just as it happened in Parliament appoint a Student’s Commission to review our allowances from the Higher Education Loans Board. Following the precedent of our members of parliament, we are confident that the Commission will recommend a quick increase. We shall table this report to relevant ministries and we also wish to give notice that sufficient space be reserved for us in parliament during the Budget Day because we shall be in the Public Gallery to celebrate the increase of allowances. As concerns this best I can say comrades is that waiting is exciting if you know what the outcome will be.
My second agenda to the government is that they move fast and depoliticize universities. We are tired of musical chairs. The society today is a very critical one and is expecting people to justify their being in office on merit, and University of Nairobi is no exception. As comrades we refuse replacements of Moi sycophants with NARC sycophants. We refuse the excessive pressure on our excellent administrators to mutate into NARC appendages. We know and regrettably so that most if not all our administrators are slaves of a nobler class whose wishes they execute without fail. (Read Ecclesiastes 5:8).
Thirdly and lastly the government must through the ministry of National Reconstruction allocate funds to enable the completion of many white elephant projects in this University. The white elephants are a mark of failure of the MOI regime but sooner they will become a mark of insensitivity of the present regime.
Ladies and Gentlemen, None is so miserable as a man who wills everything and can do nothing. Allow me to refocus our thinking to the libraries. Since education is the premise on which the existence of a University can be justified, we have resolved to take a pragmatic approach.
The Vice Chairman Academic Affairs has pledged to ensure that S.O.N.U Book Requisition Forms are availed in each of the libraries by the start of next week. At the end of each month, the Faculty Congress Committee shall collect those forms and through a statistical methodology arrive at books that ought to be bought. S.O.N.U promises to undertake any conceivable means to ensure that such books are bought even if it means a hunger strike. We have no time to negotiate about provision of knowledge. S.O.N.U proposes that the Library Committee meets as soon as practicable to ensure a quick transition from the tedious and dusty manual catalogue to an ultra-modern computer facilitated online public access catalogue (OPAC). Students of this University who are indeed the major shareholders also demand that the library subscribes to established academic search tools. EBSCO host databases offer tools such as Academic Search elite and Business source premier that will allow us access to journals and libraries of sister universities. I also expect immediate provision of CD Rom databases, Video viewing, and audiocassette listening to be provided in our library just as they are in USIU. Most of us are mesmerized when we visit libraries of other universities in this country because you feel like you have traveled from the past into the future.
Let it be known that we are not willing to compromise on our academic demands comrades. Ladies and Gentlemen until we discover the role of education in transmitting culture and knowledge across generations and adopt a student centered, consensus driven and a participatory strategy in keeping the University focused on academics then our legacy, our academic diplomas, degrees and astronomical levels of wealth in the hands of a few as evidenced by sleek imported Mercedes Benz cars, and what have you, will forever remain ornaments telling us more of our pseudo-stupidity than progress.
S.O.N.U cannot afford the luxury of being excluded from the information revolution. Towards this end I am calling on volunteers and donors to help us realize the dream of having S.O.N.U Website in two weeks time. We also seek help so that at the end of next month S.O.N.U be able to resume publication of the monthly student magazine “Comrade”. We intend to make that magazine a vital, useful, and important tool of communication.
Comrades, Ladies and Gentlemen, Allow me to thank all those who catapulted me into leadership. It was tough and difficult and our burning conviction of what is right could not have carried us through were it not for your continued support and encouragement. Comrades, I have no way of thanking each of you individually but I believe the best gift to all of you is the service I shall offer while in office.
Needless to say comrades a good consul without a good fortune is a windmill without wind. To my fellow elected leaders’ congratulations, to those who gave us stiff competition thank you for making it an election and not coronation. To the election supervisor and his team thank you for taking on the most difficult job. Even with the obvious flaws I believe that the election results were a manifestation of students wish. In my leadership, I promise to carry on like minded opinion shapers as long as our relationship is based on mutual commitment and a shared responsibility geared towards service to our customers.
Comrades, Ladies and Gentlemen unlike in the past leadership where S.O.N.U has formed inconceivable partnerships with the government, administration and opposition parties.
The dawn of a new era demands a product of indigenous efforts of students determined to convince skeptics and pessimists in Kenya and beyond that we can and have become architects of our own destiny, offering our own student methodology towards solutions of the myriad problems we face. It is the dawn of a new era and I wish you all the best as you seek to realize your hope and prayer to leave campus in the whole harmony and trinity of intellectual maturity, moral uprightness and emotional balance.
Finally comrades I believe my speech will not be complete if I do not offer advice. To the lecturers; lecture, to Administrators; administer and to whole of us; let us remind each other daily that the warped reasoning to resort to violence to prove intellectual superiority just proves otherwise. Though the philosophy of violence is fortified by the assumption that all too often it has brought power and wealth to brutal and ruthless men it will never diminish the fact that violence is essentially the mark of a weak mind.
Asanteni Sana.
There is light at the end of the tunnel and if there is not, we are in the wrong tunnel. Let us find our tunnel.
FRIDAY, 14 MARCH 2003
My fellow students, Administrators, distinguished Guests, Ladies and Gentlemen great is my honour and great is my appreciation for having turned up to witness the inauguration of S.O.N.U. leaders. Thank you so much for choosing to be with us at the threshold of a new era in the University of Nairobi.
Ladies and gentlemen allow me to proceed directly to my maiden speech. Campaigns are over; the time for sloganeering is well behind us, what is needed today more than ever is the constructive application of our minds and our hands to establish a reputable students union. We are at a critical time not just in our University but in the whole country as gales of change sweep away the incompetence of the past regime. Obsolescence awaits us if we fail to change with the times.
University of Nairobi that was once an institution of hope, an oasis in a desert of intellectual poverty, has over the years steadily but systematically been brought to its knees by improper management, corruption, outright looting, ineptitude, misprioritisation and an arena for selfish experiments.
Accommodation facilities are dilapidated, our libraries are lacking in terms of stocks no wonder today students write term papers and indicate newspapers such as ‘Daily Nation’ as their references instead of ‘journals’. Facilities vital for research such as microscopes, computers, cameras etc are either in bad shape or are missing. Most disturbing my dear comrades is the lack of a clear strategic plan to gear this great institution from the dark. Let me not attempt to list all our problems because they are obvious knowledge and neither is this the place nor do we have the time to elucidate on all vagaries that affect our stay in this University. It is in the face of the above gloomy scenario that leaders of our unshakable party S.O.N.U. have boldly resolved to launch a strategic plan in order to recapture the glory of University of Nairobi, regain its identity, self-confidence of its students and put the University back on the path of becoming the best learning destination in Africa. We in the near future are summoning all needed skills such as prediction, identification, innovation, evaluation and decision making so that we engage our seven step approach to developing a strategic plan. The first step will be a strategic profile to establish the position of University of Nairobi now and contrast with where it ought to be.
Other steps will include environmental dimension, strategic forecast, Resource evaluation, strategic alternatives, test of consistency and finally strategic choice. We challenge the entire university community be they workers, administrators, students and even our friends to assist to the best of their abilities so that our efforts can coalesce into a clear strategy. S.O.N.U. ought to be a fusion of talent and ability.
We are aware comrades that a strategic plan is useless if no mechanisms are adopted for implementation and continued review or assessment of how well objectives are being made. We seek to break away from the tradition of the past where S.O.N.U was viewed as a festering wound which becomes inflamed during the electioneering period and is followed by empty and insincere declarations of intent by the administrators that are followed just for a while with short lived policing and soon the frenzy winds down and life assumes its dangerous routine. I pledge my self-commitment that in a span of four weeks, S.O.N.U plan of action is launched so that our unshakable union begins to dissipate heat evenly and equitably to those who have failed this great institution.
We demand politely, state firmly that in the dawn of a new era, S.O.N.U is moving away from a reactionary style of management to take up its real position in policy formulation. Once complete the S.O.N.U strategic plan will constitute a bold and imaginative attempt to launch war on endemic problems that have trapped and immobilized University of Nairobi. S.O.N.U strategic plan I envisage will offer at once a full-blown development strategy and a detailed program of action so as to consolidate and deepen the recent gains on student voice in the University.
To avoid the post implementation reaction S.O.N.U is to establish a strategic surveillance mechanism to be known as Efficiency Monitoring Unit. Beginning next week, S.O.N.U student complaint file will be opened in the following offices:- Medical Centers, Students Finance Office, All Principals Offices and all SWA Administrative Units. Time is gone comrades when people worked without appraisal. The Efficiency Monitoring Unit (referred to as Select Probe Committee in S.O.N.U Constitution) will collate and collect views of the complaints and table the report to the students’ parliament.
Deliberations shall be made and decisions arrived at. Allow me to state that Never, Never, and Never again will S.O.N.U engage or be seen to be engaged in witch-hunting. All we are saying is that because of our gift of intelligence, the opportunity and privilege of being at the University at this time then it behoves all of us to question, doubt, suspect, inquire, as and demand for appropriate answers and responses. Due to financial constraints and general scarcity of resources those found to be less efficient shall leave us. Remember comrades that towards the end of our year in office we shall reward those who have worked diligently given the conditions.
Towards this end I call for the sending of the Director Sports on compulsory leave pending investigation. Without a coordinated Sports Calendar and proper attempts to stimulate students to realize their talents in other disciplines, I refuse to be persuaded that the Director of Sports has been working. In the same vein the positions of wardens in the halls of residence must be quickly abolished as we have evidence that those charged with responsibility have not been working and some have never even made an attempt to work.
To survive and thrive S.O.N.U must be responsive to those it serves. We made pledges during campaign because we believed we could manage our affairs better than our predecessors. Time is now that we made real of this belief. S.O.N.U is a vanguard of change, a voice of the voiceless and hence it must be registered with the Registrar of Societies. Our Legal Affairs Secretary has been mandated to seek registration and the best I can say is to advice or warn the government whichever is appropriate that no one should slacken this process because it is our constitutional right to associate.
We are also aware that Student Centers as well as some tuck shops have been taken over by some administrators; we thank them for their creativity but remind them that time is up. Once constituted the Investment Committee will provide guidance of when to leave with maximum speed and minimum delay.
Most of the Council members are here with us today. Let me remind then that the era of oppression is over. Make no mistake a Student Task Force is to be formed to review those rules that have in the past gave the Senate and the Council unchecked superiority and unquestioned authority.
We are determined and committed to go full throttle even if it requires amendments through parliament. I wish to give notice of amendment of University of Nairobi Act 1985 so that our unshakable Union is embodied in the Act. We intend to deny anybody the luxury of banning and suspending our unbwogable Union to mask their own failures.
Allow me to send our message directly to the government of the day. It is the dawn of a New Era and we, as students feel neglected if our concerns are not addressed. Soon we intend to convene a National Student Conference here in Nairobi. We shall just as it happened in Parliament appoint a Student’s Commission to review our allowances from the Higher Education Loans Board. Following the precedent of our members of parliament, we are confident that the Commission will recommend a quick increase. We shall table this report to relevant ministries and we also wish to give notice that sufficient space be reserved for us in parliament during the Budget Day because we shall be in the Public Gallery to celebrate the increase of allowances. As concerns this best I can say comrades is that waiting is exciting if you know what the outcome will be.
My second agenda to the government is that they move fast and depoliticize universities. We are tired of musical chairs. The society today is a very critical one and is expecting people to justify their being in office on merit, and University of Nairobi is no exception. As comrades we refuse replacements of Moi sycophants with NARC sycophants. We refuse the excessive pressure on our excellent administrators to mutate into NARC appendages. We know and regrettably so that most if not all our administrators are slaves of a nobler class whose wishes they execute without fail. (Read Ecclesiastes 5:8).
Thirdly and lastly the government must through the ministry of National Reconstruction allocate funds to enable the completion of many white elephant projects in this University. The white elephants are a mark of failure of the MOI regime but sooner they will become a mark of insensitivity of the present regime.
Ladies and Gentlemen, None is so miserable as a man who wills everything and can do nothing. Allow me to refocus our thinking to the libraries. Since education is the premise on which the existence of a University can be justified, we have resolved to take a pragmatic approach.
The Vice Chairman Academic Affairs has pledged to ensure that S.O.N.U Book Requisition Forms are availed in each of the libraries by the start of next week. At the end of each month, the Faculty Congress Committee shall collect those forms and through a statistical methodology arrive at books that ought to be bought. S.O.N.U promises to undertake any conceivable means to ensure that such books are bought even if it means a hunger strike. We have no time to negotiate about provision of knowledge. S.O.N.U proposes that the Library Committee meets as soon as practicable to ensure a quick transition from the tedious and dusty manual catalogue to an ultra-modern computer facilitated online public access catalogue (OPAC). Students of this University who are indeed the major shareholders also demand that the library subscribes to established academic search tools. EBSCO host databases offer tools such as Academic Search elite and Business source premier that will allow us access to journals and libraries of sister universities. I also expect immediate provision of CD Rom databases, Video viewing, and audiocassette listening to be provided in our library just as they are in USIU. Most of us are mesmerized when we visit libraries of other universities in this country because you feel like you have traveled from the past into the future.
Let it be known that we are not willing to compromise on our academic demands comrades. Ladies and Gentlemen until we discover the role of education in transmitting culture and knowledge across generations and adopt a student centered, consensus driven and a participatory strategy in keeping the University focused on academics then our legacy, our academic diplomas, degrees and astronomical levels of wealth in the hands of a few as evidenced by sleek imported Mercedes Benz cars, and what have you, will forever remain ornaments telling us more of our pseudo-stupidity than progress.
S.O.N.U cannot afford the luxury of being excluded from the information revolution. Towards this end I am calling on volunteers and donors to help us realize the dream of having S.O.N.U Website in two weeks time. We also seek help so that at the end of next month S.O.N.U be able to resume publication of the monthly student magazine “Comrade”. We intend to make that magazine a vital, useful, and important tool of communication.
Comrades, Ladies and Gentlemen, Allow me to thank all those who catapulted me into leadership. It was tough and difficult and our burning conviction of what is right could not have carried us through were it not for your continued support and encouragement. Comrades, I have no way of thanking each of you individually but I believe the best gift to all of you is the service I shall offer while in office.
Needless to say comrades a good consul without a good fortune is a windmill without wind. To my fellow elected leaders’ congratulations, to those who gave us stiff competition thank you for making it an election and not coronation. To the election supervisor and his team thank you for taking on the most difficult job. Even with the obvious flaws I believe that the election results were a manifestation of students wish. In my leadership, I promise to carry on like minded opinion shapers as long as our relationship is based on mutual commitment and a shared responsibility geared towards service to our customers.
Comrades, Ladies and Gentlemen unlike in the past leadership where S.O.N.U has formed inconceivable partnerships with the government, administration and opposition parties.
The dawn of a new era demands a product of indigenous efforts of students determined to convince skeptics and pessimists in Kenya and beyond that we can and have become architects of our own destiny, offering our own student methodology towards solutions of the myriad problems we face. It is the dawn of a new era and I wish you all the best as you seek to realize your hope and prayer to leave campus in the whole harmony and trinity of intellectual maturity, moral uprightness and emotional balance.
Finally comrades I believe my speech will not be complete if I do not offer advice. To the lecturers; lecture, to Administrators; administer and to whole of us; let us remind each other daily that the warped reasoning to resort to violence to prove intellectual superiority just proves otherwise. Though the philosophy of violence is fortified by the assumption that all too often it has brought power and wealth to brutal and ruthless men it will never diminish the fact that violence is essentially the mark of a weak mind.
Asanteni Sana.
There is light at the end of the tunnel and if there is not, we are in the wrong tunnel. Let us find our tunnel.
Thursday, January 17, 2008
OPEN LETTER TO HON. KALONZO MUSYOKA
Open letter to Hon. Kalonzo Musyoka 10th Vice President Republic Of Kenya
Dear Kalonzo,
Congratulations! Soaked and consumed in the ongoing discussion about the illegitimacy of the election of your boss many of us have not had the time to see the big steps that you have made. As a person without the royal legacy or political patronage it must be said that you have come far albeit on a very personal and selfish path. And do not get me wrong, there is nothing wrong in putting yourself first, for after all indications are that everybody is doing so right from ODM, PNU, KANU and UDM and other such fringe parties. Spare us the notion that you took up the position in the interest of nation, those are pleasantries you can tell the birds. It was not offered to you in the interest of the nation so you cannot accept it in the nation’s interest. The thrust of this letter is to weave a conspiracy plot that you must be aware of. First, by this time, you must have pondered why Kibaki appointed you. Forget your buddies including Mutula who belief you were the natural and best-placed choice for the VP slot. In fact I postulate that Mutula is soon becoming a liability to you. He has arrogated himself the duty of government chief whip, spokesman or attorney general and here he fits in the bill of PNU. Your party and to the amusement your masters is fitting in the bill that informed your hiring in the first place, to have a second voice defending government positions. This is exactly what Kibaki needs as a distraction from his own legitimacy battles.
Kalonzo, you will soon realize that you are the face of this government and if it is considered illegitimate then you are a manifestation of that illegitimacy. Kibaki and his cabal will recoil into silence and leave you to battle ODM for them. This would appear so natural to you in the execution of your tasks but it is not. That is why you were picked in the first place. As leader of government business in the house, failure of government bills will be both a Kibaki failure as it would be your personal loss. It is too much work I suppose. Forget about succession politics and even if you considered that for a moment then you know that VP position are normally at least in the Kenyan history positions of decoy. You are a decoy to hide the real preferred successor to the throne. Realize that except for your entry the Kibaki machinery is likely to remain as intact as it was before the elections, in other words if they had pre-election pacts they will certainly execute them despite your bickering for after all you do not have the numbers to pose any credible challenge. Kalonzo, you must at all times fight the now emerging Small Parties Parliamentary Group. In fact you should organize to head this group so as to leverage your power and numbers, but son of Musyoka no one will allow you to consolidate power, and that route of assembling the small parties is a sure way of inviting a sack possibly through the lunchtime news. Kibaki is quite capable of this for he has left no doubt that we did not know him at all. Again some will argue that there is no harm in letting you accumulate the small parties around yourself for that will even be better for your parliamentary duties but that will be fought by PNU for that will make you more powerful than your boss who is heading another minor party called PNU through proxies.
Kalonzo, as all VPs world over you know that your freedom is now limited for example even if you know that ODM has a constitutional right to assemble, you cannot in all fairness contradict Hussein Ali when he chooses to limit the rights of Kenyans. Another thing, Musyoka, there is this ambiguous term called government. You will soon realize that real power and thus “the government” is not an easy thing to define. You too, will soon start hearing that the government has decided and you will start wondering who the government is and whether or not you are part of it. You must have heard loud and clear Mr. Michuki saying that the government is not interested in mediation. Add Martha Karua to this and you get the governments position. Son of Musyoka, the Kibaki government is keen in ensuring that you not only do their work but that they leave you with zero options in terms of quitting. It may be deliberate or by design that your party will not function or grow. Government work takes precedence. Mr. Musyoka so what options do you have? Besides muzzling your party, corruption has been an easier and more effective strategy. For heavens sake resist, decipher and run from all schemes that can entangle you in any form of corruption. If you get your hand soiled in corruption then you are stuck with Kibaki for any suggestions of quitting means that your future will be massacred before the state courts with the help of Ringera. And in the event you engage in corruption then you will be a lame duck and you will sit by and watch the succession battle taking shape to your very exclusion. You must ponder on why the state was keen on both Uhuru Muigai Kenyatta but more pointedly the good old Professor George Kinuthia Saitoti. Saitoti being eased into the powerful ministry of internal security is not by coincidence. And don’t forget, Mr. Kibaki is a complex man; no commentator yet is able to isolate his traits. He encourages loyalty but does not in any way reward it. For instance ask yourself why Mungatana is not sited in the cabinet. By all measures Mungatana has been more of an asset than say Makwere in the last campaigns but he has been reserved again possibly for another assistant ministerial portfolio. That is who Kibaki is for you.
But the future need not be as gloomy, Musyoka, with tact you can easily weave yourself into an indispensable politician by inviting a sack. I don’t know why human nature prefers people who are being persecuted for real or even perceived ills. You may chose for example to put the executive to task that you will not serve in a cabinet with doubts of corruption. Through parliament or other means the debate about corruption can be revived and it gives a well deserved albeit honorable exit. But for you exit to where? You seem to have burnt bridges with Odinga and that can be your only exit path for alone you stand no chance in Kenyan national politics. Review your options but above all always remember the Ngilu showing from your backyard. She managed three members of parliament meaning that she is still a force to deal with, in fact if ODM succeeds to paint the Kibaki government as illegitimate, arrogant and dictatorial that will go with your political career. ODM has the brains, the tact and the foot soldiers to fight and beat Kibaki on the front of perception and so this could as well be your last years in politics. The euphoria that ODM will create in whatever elections whether snap or after five years will sweep you off your parliamentary seat and all those your lieutenants in Ukambani. But the Mps from Ukambani are not tied to Kibaki and it will be easier for them to strategically jump ship and pitch tent in ODM faster and earlier that you. In a nutshell you are an isolated man Kalonzo. You do not have the numbers, you are not assured of the loyalty of your troops and the government in pushing through its legislative agenda cannot rely you upon. You flopped to deliver the speakers seat and it is by that measure that you will be judged throughout you tenure as VP
But again this could just be conspiracy, the world could be rosy for you and Kibaki could even anoint you a successor and who knows ECK can nominate you at KICC as the 4th president of Kenya for after all is that not what Kibaki has done. Whichever way it goes, success Musyoka, good times and Gods blessings
Comments to cbsrkenya@gmail.com
Dear Kalonzo,
Congratulations! Soaked and consumed in the ongoing discussion about the illegitimacy of the election of your boss many of us have not had the time to see the big steps that you have made. As a person without the royal legacy or political patronage it must be said that you have come far albeit on a very personal and selfish path. And do not get me wrong, there is nothing wrong in putting yourself first, for after all indications are that everybody is doing so right from ODM, PNU, KANU and UDM and other such fringe parties. Spare us the notion that you took up the position in the interest of nation, those are pleasantries you can tell the birds. It was not offered to you in the interest of the nation so you cannot accept it in the nation’s interest. The thrust of this letter is to weave a conspiracy plot that you must be aware of. First, by this time, you must have pondered why Kibaki appointed you. Forget your buddies including Mutula who belief you were the natural and best-placed choice for the VP slot. In fact I postulate that Mutula is soon becoming a liability to you. He has arrogated himself the duty of government chief whip, spokesman or attorney general and here he fits in the bill of PNU. Your party and to the amusement your masters is fitting in the bill that informed your hiring in the first place, to have a second voice defending government positions. This is exactly what Kibaki needs as a distraction from his own legitimacy battles.
Kalonzo, you will soon realize that you are the face of this government and if it is considered illegitimate then you are a manifestation of that illegitimacy. Kibaki and his cabal will recoil into silence and leave you to battle ODM for them. This would appear so natural to you in the execution of your tasks but it is not. That is why you were picked in the first place. As leader of government business in the house, failure of government bills will be both a Kibaki failure as it would be your personal loss. It is too much work I suppose. Forget about succession politics and even if you considered that for a moment then you know that VP position are normally at least in the Kenyan history positions of decoy. You are a decoy to hide the real preferred successor to the throne. Realize that except for your entry the Kibaki machinery is likely to remain as intact as it was before the elections, in other words if they had pre-election pacts they will certainly execute them despite your bickering for after all you do not have the numbers to pose any credible challenge. Kalonzo, you must at all times fight the now emerging Small Parties Parliamentary Group. In fact you should organize to head this group so as to leverage your power and numbers, but son of Musyoka no one will allow you to consolidate power, and that route of assembling the small parties is a sure way of inviting a sack possibly through the lunchtime news. Kibaki is quite capable of this for he has left no doubt that we did not know him at all. Again some will argue that there is no harm in letting you accumulate the small parties around yourself for that will even be better for your parliamentary duties but that will be fought by PNU for that will make you more powerful than your boss who is heading another minor party called PNU through proxies.
Kalonzo, as all VPs world over you know that your freedom is now limited for example even if you know that ODM has a constitutional right to assemble, you cannot in all fairness contradict Hussein Ali when he chooses to limit the rights of Kenyans. Another thing, Musyoka, there is this ambiguous term called government. You will soon realize that real power and thus “the government” is not an easy thing to define. You too, will soon start hearing that the government has decided and you will start wondering who the government is and whether or not you are part of it. You must have heard loud and clear Mr. Michuki saying that the government is not interested in mediation. Add Martha Karua to this and you get the governments position. Son of Musyoka, the Kibaki government is keen in ensuring that you not only do their work but that they leave you with zero options in terms of quitting. It may be deliberate or by design that your party will not function or grow. Government work takes precedence. Mr. Musyoka so what options do you have? Besides muzzling your party, corruption has been an easier and more effective strategy. For heavens sake resist, decipher and run from all schemes that can entangle you in any form of corruption. If you get your hand soiled in corruption then you are stuck with Kibaki for any suggestions of quitting means that your future will be massacred before the state courts with the help of Ringera. And in the event you engage in corruption then you will be a lame duck and you will sit by and watch the succession battle taking shape to your very exclusion. You must ponder on why the state was keen on both Uhuru Muigai Kenyatta but more pointedly the good old Professor George Kinuthia Saitoti. Saitoti being eased into the powerful ministry of internal security is not by coincidence. And don’t forget, Mr. Kibaki is a complex man; no commentator yet is able to isolate his traits. He encourages loyalty but does not in any way reward it. For instance ask yourself why Mungatana is not sited in the cabinet. By all measures Mungatana has been more of an asset than say Makwere in the last campaigns but he has been reserved again possibly for another assistant ministerial portfolio. That is who Kibaki is for you.
But the future need not be as gloomy, Musyoka, with tact you can easily weave yourself into an indispensable politician by inviting a sack. I don’t know why human nature prefers people who are being persecuted for real or even perceived ills. You may chose for example to put the executive to task that you will not serve in a cabinet with doubts of corruption. Through parliament or other means the debate about corruption can be revived and it gives a well deserved albeit honorable exit. But for you exit to where? You seem to have burnt bridges with Odinga and that can be your only exit path for alone you stand no chance in Kenyan national politics. Review your options but above all always remember the Ngilu showing from your backyard. She managed three members of parliament meaning that she is still a force to deal with, in fact if ODM succeeds to paint the Kibaki government as illegitimate, arrogant and dictatorial that will go with your political career. ODM has the brains, the tact and the foot soldiers to fight and beat Kibaki on the front of perception and so this could as well be your last years in politics. The euphoria that ODM will create in whatever elections whether snap or after five years will sweep you off your parliamentary seat and all those your lieutenants in Ukambani. But the Mps from Ukambani are not tied to Kibaki and it will be easier for them to strategically jump ship and pitch tent in ODM faster and earlier that you. In a nutshell you are an isolated man Kalonzo. You do not have the numbers, you are not assured of the loyalty of your troops and the government in pushing through its legislative agenda cannot rely you upon. You flopped to deliver the speakers seat and it is by that measure that you will be judged throughout you tenure as VP
But again this could just be conspiracy, the world could be rosy for you and Kibaki could even anoint you a successor and who knows ECK can nominate you at KICC as the 4th president of Kenya for after all is that not what Kibaki has done. Whichever way it goes, success Musyoka, good times and Gods blessings
Comments to cbsrkenya@gmail.com
Sunday, January 13, 2008
SONU
Students Organization of Nairobi University.
It is an organization whose membership comprises all people who enroll as students to study different disciplines with an aim of becoming professionals within those specific fields. SONU has influenced most of the political transitions in the country, Kenya.The students’ union has undergone a lot of significant developments within its history including being banned several times by both the Jomo Kenyatta and Daniel Moi governments.SONU leaders over the years have actively participated in matters of national concern and they have over the times expressed students’ position about issues of national and international concern. Examples include their reaction to the assassination of JM Kariuki where students lead by then leaders like Wanyiri Kihoro and James Orengo demanded truth to be established and justice to be done by organizing mass protests.In 1982,there was an attempted coup against the Moi government.amny student leaders including the then chairman Mr.Ttito Adungosi were arrested in connection to the coup.Adungosi was later convicted and sentenced for a prison term of ten years but died in prison due to high level of tortures to political prisoners during the reign of the then president Moi.After the aborted 1982 coup the Moi government continued to act tough on student leaders and lecturers because they were suspected to be inciters against his oppressive regime. A group of students led by the then Chairman Mwandawiro Mghanga were expelled from University, arrested and harassed most of the times. In 1987 the then chairman of SONU Mr.Wafula Buke was detained on suspicion that he was spying for the Libyan government which by then was at loggerheads with the Moi regime.buke was later imprisoned only to be released after introduction of multiparty politics in Kenya1n February 1990 SONU leaders took to the streets following the mysterious murder of the then Kenya’s foreign minister Dr.Robert John Ouko whose charred remains were found at Got Alila near his Koru home after four days of disappearance. This led to closure of the University.During the struggle for multiparty democracy in Kenya, the union was steadfast in supporting the leaders of opposition who comprised the doyen of Kenyan opposition politics the late Jaramogi Oginga Odinga, Masinde Muliro,Martin Shikuku,George Nthenge,Philip Gachoka And Ahmed Salim Bahmariz.SONU played a significant role in transforming Kenya into a multiparty state. This led it to be disbanded in 1992.Many student leaders were suspended or expelled. In 1998, some student leaders sought truce with the then president Moi and asked the government to lift the ban and register of the union.Moi believing that they were going to assist him solve his numerous political problems gave in to their request and SONU was registered under a new name, SONU 98.elections were held and officials were sworn in. during SONU elections which were conducted by the electoral commission of Kenya, violence was rampant between different warring groups. One most prominent group, which was lead by Christopher Owiro who was well known as Karl Marx, was the most powerful although this caused Karl Marx’s opponents to gain sympathy votes. 1n the year 1999 the university established the parallel degree programme.the student leaders were against it for they regarded it as exploitative and an opening for corruption. It was an idea coined by the then Vice Chancellor Prof Francis Gichaga, the late Prof.James Kimani, Prof Mukunya and Prof Kibera. The union mobilized students to protest against this and the university was closed as a result. the student union leaders who included Karl Marx, George Omondi, Makokha Wanjala, Irungu Kang’ata,David ole Sankok, Cd Otieno,Mwengi Mutuse,Lawrence Nyaguti among others were expelled from the university as a result. The union was also suspended. The university was later re-opened after these events without any union leadership. The expelled leaders took the university to court over wrongful and illegal suspension but because the state machinery was against them, the case was later thrown out as the student leaders remained suspended and others expelled. a number of then first year students including Fwamba nc Fwamba,Ken Obura,Geff Adero,and Agunda tried to continue the struggle but Ken Obura was suspended in the process thus making his colleagues to retreat. The student union remained disbanded until Moi was out of power. Since many university students had taken part in campaigning for NARC (National Rainbow Coalition) and ensured that Moi and his party KANU(Kenya African National Union) were out of power, many rose up against the then Moi orphans and demanded reinstatement of the union and unconditional amnesty to all suspended and expelled students. They established an underground committee called the seventeen-man committee, which comprised both students in the university and those suspended. Among others the committee comprised the following; Ken Obura, Murage Njagagua, Fwamba NC Fwamba, Makokha Wanjala, Cd Otieno, Mwengi Mutuse and Tedd Munovi.They orchestrated the move by having regular night meetings in Fwamba NC Fwamba’s room. Then when the plan was ready, the seventeen man committee mobilized students to go to the University of Nairobi’s great court to demand reinstatement of the union from the Vice Chancellor Prof.Crispus Makau Kiamba and return of all suspended and expelled students unconditionally. This was led by the eloquent, fearless and perharps visionary Makokha Wanjala.
Due to student pressure Prof. Kiamba gave in to their demands .the union was reinstated and the elections were carried out. Students voted in large numbers and voted in most of the seventeen man committee members including Fwamba, Makokha, Munovi, Mutuse and Murage.
To be continued………. cbsrkenya@gmail.com
It is an organization whose membership comprises all people who enroll as students to study different disciplines with an aim of becoming professionals within those specific fields. SONU has influenced most of the political transitions in the country, Kenya.The students’ union has undergone a lot of significant developments within its history including being banned several times by both the Jomo Kenyatta and Daniel Moi governments.SONU leaders over the years have actively participated in matters of national concern and they have over the times expressed students’ position about issues of national and international concern. Examples include their reaction to the assassination of JM Kariuki where students lead by then leaders like Wanyiri Kihoro and James Orengo demanded truth to be established and justice to be done by organizing mass protests.In 1982,there was an attempted coup against the Moi government.amny student leaders including the then chairman Mr.Ttito Adungosi were arrested in connection to the coup.Adungosi was later convicted and sentenced for a prison term of ten years but died in prison due to high level of tortures to political prisoners during the reign of the then president Moi.After the aborted 1982 coup the Moi government continued to act tough on student leaders and lecturers because they were suspected to be inciters against his oppressive regime. A group of students led by the then Chairman Mwandawiro Mghanga were expelled from University, arrested and harassed most of the times. In 1987 the then chairman of SONU Mr.Wafula Buke was detained on suspicion that he was spying for the Libyan government which by then was at loggerheads with the Moi regime.buke was later imprisoned only to be released after introduction of multiparty politics in Kenya1n February 1990 SONU leaders took to the streets following the mysterious murder of the then Kenya’s foreign minister Dr.Robert John Ouko whose charred remains were found at Got Alila near his Koru home after four days of disappearance. This led to closure of the University.During the struggle for multiparty democracy in Kenya, the union was steadfast in supporting the leaders of opposition who comprised the doyen of Kenyan opposition politics the late Jaramogi Oginga Odinga, Masinde Muliro,Martin Shikuku,George Nthenge,Philip Gachoka And Ahmed Salim Bahmariz.SONU played a significant role in transforming Kenya into a multiparty state. This led it to be disbanded in 1992.Many student leaders were suspended or expelled. In 1998, some student leaders sought truce with the then president Moi and asked the government to lift the ban and register of the union.Moi believing that they were going to assist him solve his numerous political problems gave in to their request and SONU was registered under a new name, SONU 98.elections were held and officials were sworn in. during SONU elections which were conducted by the electoral commission of Kenya, violence was rampant between different warring groups. One most prominent group, which was lead by Christopher Owiro who was well known as Karl Marx, was the most powerful although this caused Karl Marx’s opponents to gain sympathy votes. 1n the year 1999 the university established the parallel degree programme.the student leaders were against it for they regarded it as exploitative and an opening for corruption. It was an idea coined by the then Vice Chancellor Prof Francis Gichaga, the late Prof.James Kimani, Prof Mukunya and Prof Kibera. The union mobilized students to protest against this and the university was closed as a result. the student union leaders who included Karl Marx, George Omondi, Makokha Wanjala, Irungu Kang’ata,David ole Sankok, Cd Otieno,Mwengi Mutuse,Lawrence Nyaguti among others were expelled from the university as a result. The union was also suspended. The university was later re-opened after these events without any union leadership. The expelled leaders took the university to court over wrongful and illegal suspension but because the state machinery was against them, the case was later thrown out as the student leaders remained suspended and others expelled. a number of then first year students including Fwamba nc Fwamba,Ken Obura,Geff Adero,and Agunda tried to continue the struggle but Ken Obura was suspended in the process thus making his colleagues to retreat. The student union remained disbanded until Moi was out of power. Since many university students had taken part in campaigning for NARC (National Rainbow Coalition) and ensured that Moi and his party KANU(Kenya African National Union) were out of power, many rose up against the then Moi orphans and demanded reinstatement of the union and unconditional amnesty to all suspended and expelled students. They established an underground committee called the seventeen-man committee, which comprised both students in the university and those suspended. Among others the committee comprised the following; Ken Obura, Murage Njagagua, Fwamba NC Fwamba, Makokha Wanjala, Cd Otieno, Mwengi Mutuse and Tedd Munovi.They orchestrated the move by having regular night meetings in Fwamba NC Fwamba’s room. Then when the plan was ready, the seventeen man committee mobilized students to go to the University of Nairobi’s great court to demand reinstatement of the union from the Vice Chancellor Prof.Crispus Makau Kiamba and return of all suspended and expelled students unconditionally. This was led by the eloquent, fearless and perharps visionary Makokha Wanjala.
Due to student pressure Prof. Kiamba gave in to their demands .the union was reinstated and the elections were carried out. Students voted in large numbers and voted in most of the seventeen man committee members including Fwamba, Makokha, Munovi, Mutuse and Murage.
To be continued………. cbsrkenya@gmail.com
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