I WON'T GO FOR BUSIA GUBERNATORIAL RERUN SAYS OTUOMA

DR PAUL OTUOMA BUSIA ODM GUBERNATORIAL ASPIRANT. PHOTO COURTESY

 

 

Funyula MP Paul Otuoma has vowed he will not take part in the rerun of Busia ODM primaries in Teso North and Teso South constituencies for the governorship seat set for April 25, 2017 as directed by the party's national elections board.

Instead, Dr Otuoma insisted that the 'Busia Declaration' set for Tuesday is still on if the board, headed by Ms Judith Pareno, will not have handed him the ODM certificate to contest for the seat in the August 8 elections.

On Sunday, Dr Otuoma gave the party a 48-hour ultimatum to hand him the ticket for the Busia seat and disqualify Governor Sospeter Ojaamong whose win was nullified on Friday last week.

Mr Ojaamong garnered 92,358 votes against Dr Otuoma’s 63,752 votes but the win was immediately nullified due to massive irregularities.

The Funyula MP has now said he will make his final decision on Tuesday on the future leadership of the county, adding that the will of the people of Busia must be respected.

"I am going to protect the dignity of Busia people. Your will must be respected at all cost. This is the message I am sending across," he declared.

"We won the elections in broad daylight. Kurudia kura hakuna (There will be no repeat elections)." he added in his tour of Changara, Nambale, Butula and Bumala.

The MP reiterated that he will be at the forefront during the Tuesday demonstration since he cannot lead from behind.

"We shall take over the county. What God has given us no man can take away. The people have spoken. All we want is the certificate. We completely refuse to go for a re-run," he maintained.

ODM has since announced that a re-run will only take place in Teso North and South constituencies where Governor Ojaamong enjoys strong support.

In the just-concluded primaries, the two constituencies gave Mr Ojaamong 44,369 and 33,349 respectively while Mr Otuoma garnered 1,359 and 3,303 votes respectively.

WE HAVE LOST A FRIEND,COLLEGUE AND TRUE SERVANT OF THE LAND

The media fraternity is mourning the death of Nyeri-based journalist Job Weru, who was working with the Standard Group.

Mr Weru, 36, passed on while receiving treatment at Ladnan Hospital in Nairobi on Monday morning.

He was taken ill shortly after arriving from a work-related trip in Israel last week and had been admitted to Avenue Hospital in Nairobi’ Parklands.

His condition initially improved but it worsened three days ago, when he was moved to the high dependency unit (HDU).

Doctors at the hospital recommended that he be placed under intensive care.

Mr Weru later developed breathing complications and died while in the ICU.

The father of two joined the Standard Group in 2003, working as a correspondent in the Laikipia and Nyeri regions.

He was well known for his understanding of religion and is remembered for his coverage of the beatification of Blessed Irene Stefani Nyaatha and the Pope Francis's historic visit to Kenya.

Standard Group's Central Region Editor Francis Ngige eulogised Mr Weru as a dedicated journalist and a close friend.

"I don't remember the last time I felt this low and devastated. I have lost a dedicated colleague and a friend," Mr Ngige wrote on his Facebook page.

Job Weru, who was working with the Standard Group until his death, during a past assignment. 

Those who worked with him closely for many years also shared their messages of condolence.

“Job was the most jovial and respectful people I ever worked with. He was more of a brother than a colleague. These are hard times for the media family and we deeply condole with his family and friends,” said Eliud Waithaka, another journalist.

His colleagues remembered him for his jovial character and boldness in reporting on matters of injustices against marginalised communities in Laikipia County.

He has also been celebrated for his photography skills by his colleagues.

“You [have] never seen a fellow so jolly, so full of life, so pure of heart, so full of adventure, so helpful, so full of charm. May peace that surpasses human understanding be with your loved ones,” KTN reporter Carol Nderi wrote on her Facebook page.

Mr Weru hailed from Mureru in Laikipia County and is survived by his wife Anne Muringo and two daughters, Esther and Mary.

We at the Daily News  wish to convey our heartfelt condolences to the Standard Group family.

MUDAVADI NOW SAYS HE IS THE BEST BET

             WHY MUDAVADI SHOULD BE THE NASA FLAG BEARER

NASA PRINCIPAL MUSALIA MUDAVADI TAKING OATH OF OFFICE. PHOTO COURTESY

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

AMANI National Congress leader Musalia Mudavadi has strongly argued his case for the NASA presidential ticket.

Mudavadi faces a tough battle in the NASA presidential race against ODM’s Raila Odinga, Wiper’s Kalonzo Musyoka and Ford Kenya’s Moses Wetang’ula.

In an exclusive interview with the Daily News, Mudavadi said, “The point is being missed: The issue is not who is best or most popular to be the flagbearer of the National Super Alliance, but who is better placed to lead the team to defeat Jubilee. I’m the best to lead that team,”

NASA Founder Mudavadi, whose classic mild-mannered response suggests a deeply reflective strategic mind.

Mudavadi spoke a day after the release of the Infotrak survey indicating that ODM leader Raila Odinga was the best bet to defeat President Uhuru Kenyatta.

The polls showed that Raila enjoyed a 68.3 per cent rating to emerge as the most preferred NASA flagbearer for the August 8 polls.

Musyoka came second at 13.1 per cent while Mudavadi got a 12.3 per cent rating.

Bungoma Senator Moses Wetang’ula garnered 2.2 per cent support in the survey released on Saturday.

According to the poll, 27.3 per cent of Jubilee supporters said Mudavadi stood the best chance of defeating President Kenyatta, while 26.5 per cent said Raila would clinch victory if he ran for President.

Kalonzo had a 24.6 per cent rating against President Kenyatta while Wetang’ula got 3.9 per cent.

“See, an opinion poll is just that – an opinion. Depends on who paid and the purpose. This one is intended to create suspicions and splits in NASA,” Mudavadi comments calmly on the Infotrak poll, adding, “I am the real deal for thrashing Jubilee. Despite its obvious nuisance value, Infotrak accidentally reports even Jubilee supporters will vote for me as a NASA candidate. That means I will fill the NASA basket with extra votes outside our current support bases”.

Yesterday, Mudavadi, the soft-spoken former rugby player, said he was in the running for President because be believed he could restore trust among Kenyans.

“Jubilee has perpetuated mistrust. I offer trust and inclusivity in a Kenya where every Kenyan feels they matter. Kenyans must begin trusting their government and each other again.

“I aspire to make politics decent. We must erase the creeping belief that you must lie to get anything and that politics is about lying and stealing.

“Decent politics means the integrity of leaders. Mine is a covenant with Kenyans to defeat corruption.”

He said what needs to be done after many years managing some of the toughest assignments as a Cabinet minister, especially when he was the Finance minister in the 1990s, was very clear.

His tenure at the Finance ministry was tainted by the Goldenberg scandal, which had begun during the time of his predecessor George Saitoti, now deceased.

However, Mudavadi was condemned for approving further payments to the architect of the multi-billion-shilling scam, which remains the largest economic fraud in Kenya's history.

Millions of dollars were pilfered from the Treasury to offer compensation to a scheme where individuals were paid for exporting gold, even though Kenya has no commercial gold deposits.

“What people don’t read in my CV is what I managed to achieve. Cowards don’t make the hard decisions I had to in the Finance docket surrounded as I was by a very hostile political party elite steeped in corruption,” he said, referring to when he was made Finance minister, only months after Goldenberg had been executed

“Imagine closing a bank of a high ranking party official! But I was able to get Kenya out of the international pariah status in the early 1990s, helped the country out of the Goldberg trauma, cleaned the money markets, and stabilized the shilling and restored fiscal responsibility. The Kenya Revenue Authority is my innovation that stopped cartels from bleeding the public coffers,” said Mudavadi, speaking at his Riverside home.

Mudavadi is the ultimate insider, and has a Kenyan political pedigree.

He is the son of a once-powerful politician, the late Moses Budamba Mudavadi, who served as a minister under President Daniel arap Moi.

Mudavadi Senior worked his way up through the ranks of the civil service during the colonial era, starting his career as a teacher and ending up in charge of Education in Western Kenya.

He was largely seen as responsible for delivering his Luhya community’s support to the Moi regime and he married one of the President’s relatives; hence the close ties between the Moi and Mudavadi families.

“At 56 this September, I can revive this economy, create employment for the thousands of the jobless youths, reduce the tax burden and make the cost of living affordable. I know what to do at the top. I’m a doer, not a talker,” he stated.

He said NASA, which he founded, was a product of wide consultations and hard work and it was important that the Alliance gets a chance to implement its plan by winning the election.

“NASA didn’t happen as an accidental whim. I took time to think it through. The marketing bit was a lot of teamwork. Down-up was the strategy. By the time I asked for NASA’s Kiswahili equivalent in a remote village of Kilifi county, ‘Muungano Maalum’ was a fait accomplice among ordinary Kenyans”, he said.

PASTOR PIUS MUIRU's MOTHER COULD BE KILLED OVER LOVE AFFAIR

   DEADLY LOVE AFFAIR MAY HAVE MADE PASTOR MUIRU'S MOTHER KILLED

RIGHT GRACE WANGARI MOTHER TO PIUS MUIRU PHOTO COURTESY

Just like in the movies, the body of Pastor Pius Muiru’s mother was discovered in a shallow grave in her homestead in Kigumo, Murang’a County. That was on the night of March 20.

 As the family grapples with the mysterious murder, detectives in Murang’a are working round the clock to unravel the puzzling death of Grace Wangari who died at the age of 75.

 According to investigations, the murder of Wangari could have been provoked by an illicit affair between Wangari’s watchman Ezekiel Saitambua, 33, and her daughter-in-law, Monica Muthoni, 36. The suspects have both given shocking confessions.

 A detective investigating the murder confirmed that the watchman not only confessed about the infidelity, but also revealed that he was seeing another woman who lives in the nearby Mariira town. Some items belonging to the late Wangari, including bedding and gas cylinders were discovered in this woman’s house.

 Kigumo OCPD Ali Zimbu told The Nairobian that, “At the moment, we will not focus on this other woman as it might divert our investigations. That is their problem that they have to deal with. Our focus is on collecting tangible evidence about the murder.”

 Inside the tightly-secured homestead, Saitambua and Muthoni reportedly developed feelings for each other, a development that the deceased did not approve of and almost cost Saitambua his job. To the outside world, this affair did not exist until Saitambua confessed at Kigumo Police Station. He also confessed to killing and burying Wangari after Muthoni promised to pay him Sh6,000.

 Pastor Muiru suspects that Muthoni and Saitambua may have murdered his mother because she knew too much about their affair.

“That is what we think, but what were they thinking would happen next?” he wonders.

 An elder from the area hinted that only immediate family and some clan members knew about the illicit affair and how it had strained the relationship between Wangari and the suspects.

 “She complained a lot about her daughter-in-law and the watchman, but her son wasn’t bothered so much. Muthoni and Saitambua were rude to her and she even beefed security at home fearing for her safety. She would lock herself inside her house before 9pm,” said the elder.

 Wangari lived in her Kigumo home with two watchmen, his two sons; Mathew Waweru and Philip Kabue and Muthoni, who is the wife of Waweru, the deceased’s last born. Kabue who is an older son is not married.

Her well-off pastor son Muiru visited regularly. Waweru runs a transport business, while Kabue has a shop at the nearby shopping centre. Wangari owned property in a number of towns along the Kangari-Kaharati road.

 When contacted, Waweru claimed his wife who hails from the neighbouring ward is innocent and did not have any affair with Saitambua. The couple has three children.

 While the family has opted to keep off Waweru’s bedroom matters, Saitambua and neighbours claim that for a while, things had not been rosy at the homestead.

 “There was an altercation barely 24-hours before the old woman was killed,” He told daily news

 On March 19, Pastor Muiru’s wife Lucy Muiru, had visited the homestead to discuss a number of issues, but mostly to warn Saitambua to respect Wangari and keep off family matters. A family member suspects that the meeting may have prompted Wangari’s murder.

According to another neighbour, “Wangari had no regular visitors. Her two watchmen took care of her daily needs and ran errands for her.”

Meanwhile, about a week before her death, her cow was poisoned and buried at the same shallow grave Wangari’s body was discovered.

 “The killing of the cow was a ploy to justify excavation and cover up of possible stench of my mother’s body, whose murder had clearly been planned earlier,” Muiru said.

 On the fateful day, Waweru found her mum missing and her house was also in a disarray.  Saitambua and Muthoni claimed they didn’t know her whereabouts and her phone was off. This prompted Muiru to reach out to Safaricom for help. The prime suspect had also made an M-Pesa transaction at the nearby Karega shopping centre.

“They traced her sim card and located it in the homestead. An ambush was made on the night of March 22. Saitambua was found in possession of the phone and after interrogation, he confessed to the murder and took investigators to the shallow grave where they had buried her,” an elderly neighbour said, adding that, “Muthoni  was also picked by police officers after she was implicated in the murder.” 

 The family of Wangari learnt of her death at midnight and her body was exhumed the following day. The two suspects were members of Muiru’s Maximum Miracle Centre church in the area.

 The death of Wangari has divided relatives. While some are willing to accept and move on, others want justice.

Pastor Muiru, a 2007 presidential aspirant told The Daily News  that they want to know the motive behind the killing.

“We will forgive the killers, but this should not be mistaken for setting them free. There is the rule of law that should prevail. I still don’t understand why they killed my mother and went about their business unperturbed knowing very well they had buried her just a few metres away,”

 

NYENZE SAYS ITS KALONZO NOT ANY OTHER NA SIO TAFADHALI

            FRANCIS NYENZE REMAINS STERN ON KALONZO NASA FLAGSHIP

MINORITY LEADER FRANCIS NYENZE IN A PAST PRESS CONFERENCE. PHOTO COURTESY

Wiper leader have stuck to their guns in their push for Kalonzo Musyoka to be named the flag-bearer of the National Super Alliance (Nasa).

On Wednesday, Mr Musyoka’s henchman and National Assembly Minority Leader Francis Nyenze said it would doom the alliance if the Wiper leader is denied the ticket.

2013 MoU

“This is the last straw that will break the camel's back. If Kalonzo is not going to be the presidential candidate, Nasa will not exist anymore,” he told reporters at Parliament in Nairobi.

The party wants Orange Democratic Movement leader and Nasa co-principal Raila Odinga to honour the memorandum of understanding that Mr Musyoka signed with Mr Odinga.

The disputed agreement, Wiper leaders say, stipulated that Mr Odinga would be the presidential candidate in the 2013 General Election and Mr Musyoka in 2017.

Mr Nyenze said he had given Nasa a seven-day ultimatum to convene a meeting of the National Coordinating Committee to affirm the 2013 MoU otherwise Mr Musyoka would go it alone.

"The Kambas have reached an edge and if it is not Kalonzo, Wiper will go it alone. We'll not play second fiddle to anybody," he said.

Hours later, Wiper Secretary-General Hassan Omar addressed a press conference that was to be attended by Mr Musyoka.

However, Mr Musyoka left minutes before the address, saying he had to attend an urgent meeting.

Mr Omar affirmed Mr Nyenze’s statement but added that Wiper would “play inside Nasa even if Kalonzo Musyoka is not chosen to fly the Nasa flag”.     

"What is wrong with Nyenze putting our position out there?” he said.

“He is our negotiator and he has the right to speak strongly about it. We have strong faith in him. When you say there is corruption in Kenya, are you saying you are about to bolt out? No!"

He echoed Mr Nyenze’s claim that Nasa’s National Coordinating Committee has been hit by a stalemate, leading to delays in the naming of the candidate.

“We wanted a flag-bearer named by December 25. It took long. Now we are creating anxiety by dragging these things,” he said.

“There are a lot of things incidental about naming a flag-bearer. We have an urgency and Wiper is simply satisfying the urgency.”  

He criticised the media, saying they were “portraying Wiper in bad light” by singling it out in the battle for Nasa’s top ticket.    

                 

"Everyone makes unequivocal (statements) about their (leader) being a Nasa candidate. Why don't you say those people are about to bolt out?” he said.

“When Wiper says the exact same thing that everyone in Nasa is saying, why do we single them out? We will not play second fiddle, but we are in the coalition to stay," said Mr Omar.   

The secretary-general seemed to support the push for a consensus approach to choosing the flag-bearer.

“We failed to name a flag-bearer by the end of March. We want these principals to finish this issue. Sit at the table and come up with one name,” he said.

JOHO ESCAPES A BULLET IN MIGORI COUNTY

     GOVERNOR JOHO ESCAPES DEATH BY A WISKER

GOVERNOR JOHO AND RAILA ODINGA IN A PAST ODM RALLY. PHOTO COURTESY

Mombasa Governor Ali Hassan Joho’s bodyguard was shot when violence erupted at an Orange Democratic Movement rally in Migori Town on Monday.

Mr Salim Manzwana suffered a serious leg injury as he attempted to protect his boss at Migori Posta Grounds.

He was rushed to Kisumu for specialised treatment. It is not yet clear who shot Mr Manzwana.

Tens of people, including journalists, were injured before the meeting which Mr  Joho, Senators  Anyang’ Nyong’o (Kisumu), James Orengo (Siaya), Uriri MP John Kobado and his Suna East counterpart Junet Mohammed were to address.

The leaders’ bodyguards formed a shield around them as gunshots rent the air. The ODM leaders were in the area to open a party office at the invitation of Mr Mohammed.

Migori Governor Okoth Obado was said to be uncomfortable with the meeting.

Mr Obado and Mr Mohammed have a frosty relationship.  The office that was to be opened on Monday was almost burnt on Sunday night.

Also at the meeting was former minister Ochillo Ayacko who is eyeing Mr Obado’s seat. Men, women and children scampered for safety.

Window panes of buildings near the meeting venue were smashed. A bullet hit one of the windows.

In a statement later, Mr Joho condemned the violence, saying it was an attempt to assassinate ODM leaders.