Tag: JAP
CORD Statement: A Great Betrayal has been committed against Kenyans (06.01.2017)

Our Parliament has witnessed some bizarre scenes and moments between 2013 and now. It has witnessed several attempts by the Jubilee regime to raid the constitution and overturn the will of the people for individual gain. It has witnessed blatant efforts to reintroduce dictatorship in the country in the name of giving the President power to fight insecurity. The list is long.
But the spectacle that began in the National Assembly during a special sitting late last month and ended in the Senate last night, count among the most bizarre. It stands out as a blatant willingness by the Jubilee regime to sell out the entire country for no reason other than the survival of the increasingly unpopular corruption-ridden government.
One by one, Jubilee senators, disregarding irregularities and illegalities in the process, cast their ballot for the Bill whose sole aim is to make it easy for the regime to allow underage and dead voters to cast their votes in addition to stuffing the ballot boxes in the elections slated for August 2017.
Jubilee committed a great betrayal on the people of Kenya last night in the same way it did last month in the National Assembly. Jubilee has disowned what was initially a bipartisan agreement that pulled us from the brink and turned it into a full-blown national and government crisis.
In its desperate bid to create opportunities to rig the election, Jubilee senators went as far as fraudulently casting votes using their nominated senators who had no authority from the elected senators to represent their respective delegations. During all the discussions in both the National Assembly and the Senate, Parliament was put under siege by the overwhelming presence of the Police and other security agencies whose purpose was to intimidate legislators into passing the laws under duress.
This is now a crisis because the people of Kenya are determined today more than ever to hold free, fair, transparent and credible elections the results of which will have to be verifiable.
We will respond to this betrayal of the people comprehensively, decisively and firmly. We therefore wish to announce that we have invited all our elected leaders; members of county assemblies, members of the National Assembly, senators, governors and women representatives both elected and aspirants on opposition tickets to a meeting next Wednesday, 11th January 2017 at the Bomas of Kenya to deliberate on the developments. At this meeting a critical decision will be taken and communicated to all Kenyans on our plans to deal with this betrayal of the people by Jubilee and ensure free, fair, transparent and credible elections in August 2017.
Signed
HON RAILA ODINGA.
HON KALONZO MUSYOKA.
SEN. MOSES WETANGULA.
HON CYRUS JIRONGO.
JANUARY 6, 2017
Kenya – IEBC “Subject: Talks on Election Law need Fast-Tracking” (30.12.2016)

Kenya: “Re: Consent to Institute Criminal Contempt Proceedings against Honourable Aden Duale Leader of Majority in the National Assembly and Member of Parliament for Garrisa Town Constituency” (28.12.2016)


Kenya: “Re: The Contempt of Court committed by Adan Duale, the majority leader in the National Assembly and the Threat to the Independence and Integrity of the Judiciary (23.12.2016)



Opinion: Jubilee proved today their true colours with the closed sessions on amending the Electoral laws!

“I won’t stop nor be discouraged by the noise and insults peddled by a few individuals because we know that every market has its own mad man” – Uhuru Kenyatta (21.12.2016 on Twitter).
President Uhuru Kenyatta and Deputy President William Ruto are the ones in charge together with Speaker Justin Muturi who today held a blocked Plenary Session from the Media and Internet at the National Assembly at 22nd December 2016. This proves the alleged acts of misfortune as this set the precedence for the General Election 2017. None can say anything else, that all broadcast, all journalist are kept outside as the Members of Parliament and the Cabinet Secretaries are enacting a law.
Because of that matter, because of the tear-gas outside and the blocked Parliament, a disgrace to any nation and to the will of dialogue between the ruling regime and opposition is now broken, the trust between the National Assembly with the Jubilee Party under President Kenyatta does not trust their own. They do not trust the people understanding the ramifications of the law or the basic understanding of transparent acts of Parliament as they represent the people of Kenya. The Kenyans are supposed to be representing there and get people who will make the greater good for their constituency, but with this act they are hiding from the Kenyan citizens and the Republic!
“Mbita MP Millie Odhiambo has been kicked out as chairperson of Kenya Women Parliamentary Association after she insulted President” (Kenya Parliament, 22.12.2016)

You should also worry when the MPs from Jubilee we’re carrying guns inside the chambers and there we’re 200 plain-clothed police officers presiding the events that followed in Parliament. So when they needed that much security and close of the session they had to have something powerful inside the law here is some exceptions:
Outtakes from today’s session, the Election Laws (Amendment) Act, 2016:
BVR regulations:
Section 5: 6A “The Commission shall, not later than ninety days before the date of a general election, open the Register of Voters for verification of biometric data by members of the public at their respective polling stations for a period of thirty days” (The Election Laws (Amendment) Bill, 2016).
New rules for Polling Stations:
Section 24: 38A “For the efficient and effective conduct of elections, the Commission shall determine the number of voters per polling station but such number shall not exceed five hundred voters” (The Election Laws (Amendment) Bill, 2016).
Section 39: “(1C) For purposes of a presidential election the Commission shall-
(a) electronically transmit, in the prescribed form, the tabulated results of an election for the President from a polling
station to the constituency tallying centre and to the national tallying centre;
(b) tally and verify the results received at the national tallying centre; and
(c) publish the polling result forms on an online public portal maintained by the Commission” (The Election Laws (Amendment) Bill, 2016).
48 Hours deadline to Declare Presidential Election Results:
Section 12: 39.2 “The Independent Electoral and Boundaries Commission shall, within a period of forty-eight hours from the date of the service of a presidential election petition, submit to the Supreme Court certified copies of the documents used to declare the results of the presidential election, including the forms used to announce the results of the election at the polling station and the constituency tallying centre and to declare the result at the national tallying centre” (The Election Laws (Amendment) Bill, 2016).
DPP take control over investigate after the Election:
“Clause 30 of the Bill seeks to amend section 4 of the Independent Electoral Commission and Boundaries Act, 2011 to remove the investigative and prosecutorial powers previously granted to the Commission which are proposed to be exercised by the Office of the Director of Public Prosecutions” (The Election Laws (Amendment) Bill, 2016).
When you just see this pieces and not the whole law you see the possible reaches of the IEBC and the DPP to control the BVR technology that will come shortly before the General Election, as much as they have to revise the Polling Stations as the numbers of voters are getting bound and they need more manpower to secure the amounts of polling stations during the General Election. For a new Committee it must be a headache to secure enough locations to have only 500 eligible voters in an area. Just imagine districts and parts of Nairobi County that has to revise electoral borders for each Polling Station alone and this is close to coming election. This together with the electronic biometric voting data and the generated levels of ID material that can be backlogged by the IEBC; so that can be a measure for future elections, but in the first one; it’s more of validating the results as they has such a short time to deliver the declared results to the Supreme Court to be Announced.
Still, 48 hours can buy lot of time since the die is cast and the ability to start rigging the result. We should also question the change from the independent committee to the DPP to have the power to investigate and powers of prosecution of the ones breaking the Electoral Law. That means that the Jubilee has centralized it to somebody they have also nominated and has the loyalty towards the Central Government. The DPP Keriako Tobiko will now be in charge of the investigations of election petitions and look into possible frauds and rigging. Instead of the IEBC who had the ability to do so.
If these measures we’re fine and splendid, if they we’re made to make the Government to account and make sure the Jubilee, the IEBC and the citizens who should put the trust in the Government; A government making sure for free and fair election, so the right representatives are elected by the people and for the people, to represent them and make sure the needs are met for citizens who vote for these representatives. Still, now we can see that these representatives try to fix the Electoral laws so they can fix the results with sophisticated means. It is so much more insulting, how close they try to amend the electoral laws to the General Elections of 2017. It’s like President Kenyatta following the crash-courses in governance from President Museveni, as he has done the same right before, again and again. So Jubilee government we’re scrupulous for doing it now! Peace.
Kenya: IEBC – “Concerns over Development in the Electoral Enviroment” (22.12.2016)


Kenya: CJPJ Saddned by Changes to the Elections Law (Amendment) Act, 2016 (22.12.2016)

With continued drought, Horn of Africa braces for another hunger season (20.12.2016)

Agricultural support critical now to protect livestock, equip families to plant in rainy season.
ROME, Italy, December 20, 2016 – Countries in the Horn of Africa are likely to see a rise in hunger and further decline of local livelihoods in the coming months, as farming families struggle with the knock-on effects of multiple droughts that hit the region this year, FAO warned today. Growing numbers of refugees in East Africa, meanwhile, are expected to place even more burden on already strained food and nutrition security.
Currently, close to 12 million people across Ethiopia, Kenya and Somalia are in need of food assistance, as families in the region face limited access to food and income, together with rising debt, low cereal and seed stocks, and low milk and meat production. Terms of trade are particularly bad for livestock farmers, as food prices are increasing at the same time that market prices for livestock are low.
Farmers in the region need urgent support to recover from consecutive lost harvests and to keep their breeding livestock healthy and productive at a time that pastures are the driest in years. Production outputs in the three countries are grim.
Rapid intervention
“We’re dealing with a cyclical phenomenon in the Horn of Africa,” said Dominique Burgeon, Director of FAO’s Emergency and Rehabilitation Division. “But we also know from experience that timely support to farming families can significantly boost their ability to withstand the impacts of these droughts and soften the blow to their livelihoods,” he stressed.
For this reason, FAO has already begun disbursing emergency funds for rapid interventions in Kenya and Somalia.
The funds will support emergency feed and vaccinations for breeding and weak animals, repairs of water points, and seeds and tools to plant in the spring season. FAO is also working with local officials to bolster countries’ emergency preparedness across the region.
“Especially in those areas where we know natural hazards are recurring, working with the Government to further build-up their ability to mitigate future shocks is a smart intervention that can significantly reduce the need for humanitarian and food aid further down the line,” Burgeon said.
Kenya is highly likely to see another drought in early 2017, and with it a rise in food insecurity. Current estimates show some 1.3 million people are food insecure.
Based on the latest predictions, the impacts of the current drought in the southern part of the country will lessen by mid-2017, but counties in the North – in particular Turkana, Marsabit, Wajir and Mandera – will steadily get worse.
Families in these areas are heavily dependent on livestock. Now, with their livelihoods already stressed – the last reliable rain they received was in December 2015- they will get little relief from the October-December short rains, which typically mark a recovery period but once again fell short this season.
In the affected counties, the terms of trade have become increasingly unfavourable for livestock keepers, as prices of staple foods are rising, while a flood of weakened sheep, goats and cows onto local markets has brought down livestock prices.
To ensure livestock markets remain functional throughout the dry season in 2017, FAO, is training local officials in better managing livestock markets — in addition to providing feed, water and veterinary support.
After two poor rainy seasons this year, Somalia is in a countrywide state of drought emergency, ranging from moderate to extreme. As a result, the Gu cereal harvest – from April to June – was 50 percent below average, and prospects for the October-December Deyr season are very grim.
To make matters worse, the country’s driest season – the Jilaal that begins in January- is expected to be even harsher than usual, which means Somali famers are unlikely to get a break anytime soon.
All indications are that crop farmers are already facing a second consecutive season with poor harvest. Pastoralists, meanwhile, are struggling to provide food for both their families and livestock, as pasture and water for grazing their animals are becoming poorer and scarcer by the day – in the south, pasture availability is the lowest it has been in the past five years.
Some five million Somalis are food insecure through December 2016. This includes 1.1 million people in Crisis and Emergency conditions of food insecurity (Phases 3 and 4 on the five-tier IPC scale used by humanitarian agencies). This is a 20 percent increase in just six months.
The latest analysis forecasts that the number of people in Crisis and Emergency conditions of food insecurity may further rise by more than a quarter of a million people between February and May 2017. Similar conditions in 2011 have resulted in famine and loss of lives, and therefore early action is urgently needed to avoid a repeat.
FAO calls on resource partners to urgently scale up assistance in rural areas, in the form of cash relief, emergency livestock support and agricultural inputs to plant in the April Gu season.
If farmers cannot plant during Gu – which traditionally produces 60 percent of the country’s annual cereal output — they will be left without another major harvest until 2018.
Farming families in Ethiopia, meanwhile, are extremely vulnerable as they have not been able to recover from the 2015 El Nino-induced drought. Some 5.6 million people remain food insecure, while millions more depend on livestock herds that need to be protected and treated to improve milk and meat production. Here, too, better access to feed and water is critical.
The crop situation is relatively stable after the country completed the most widespread emergency seed distribution in Ethiopia’s history. FAO and more than 25 NGOs and agencies reached 1.5 million households with drought-resistant seeds.
As a result of enabling farming families to grow their own food, the government and humanitarian community saved close to $1 billion in emergency aid, underlining that investing in farmers is not only the right thing to do but also the most cost-efficient.
FAO’s Early Warning early action work
Somalia and Kenya are among the first countries benefiting from FAO’s new Early Warning Early Action Fund (EWEA). The fund ensures quick activation of emergency plans when there is a high likelihood of a disaster that would affect agriculture and people’s food and nutrition security.
The fund will be part of a larger Early Warning Early Action System that tracks climate data and earth imaging to determine what areas are at risk of an imminent shock and will benefit from early intervention.
Maxiumum Retail Pump Prices in Kenya for the Period 15th December 2016 – 14th January 2017 (14.12.2016)


