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Kenyans says never again will they allow individuals take them back to violence that turned neighbour against neighbour making others assassins. All the leaders say they are ready to work together and bring back the stability that the Kenyans have always enjoyed. API

A time to heal

Story by BERNARD NAMUNANE
President Kibaki and Prime Minister Raila Odinga Thursday pledged to work together to heal and re-unite the country.�

Mr Raila Odinga, Prime Minister

The President called for the speedy resettlement of internal refugees while the Prime Minister pledged to lead the campaign against violence. He also extended an olive branch to the Mungiki sect members who have been blamed for chaos in which over 11 people were killed this week.

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The two leaders spoke when the� Grand Coalition Cabinet was sworn in at State House, Nairobi, Thursday.

Said President Kibaki: �Now that we have agreed to work together, let us not go back to what we have come from. The most important thing was coming together and we should not stray from the course.�

Mr Odinga had earlier said: �There will not be two Cabinets but one Cabinet. On this, I and President Kibaki are in full agreement.�

Thursday�s ceremony was witnessed by Ugandan President Yoweri Museveni and chief mediator Kofi Annan among other dignitaries and diplomats.

After taking his oath of office, Mr Odinga promised to spearhead efforts to end further violence in the country.

�We want our Mungiki brothers to come out and talk to us to end the killings. We will go an extra mile to ensure there is peace in this great country of ours. We do not want to see Kenyans killing each other,� he said,

For Mr Annan, the former UN secretary-general, the ceremony was the fruit of his mediation effort which saw President Kibaki and Mr Odinga sign a power-sharing deal on February 28, ending two months of violence over the disputed presidential elections which left more than 1,200 people dead and 350,000 displaced from their homes.

The President and the Prime Minister pledged that the grand coalition will work as a team.

President Kibaki said he had spoken to Mr Odinga and Vice President Kalonzo Musyoka on the need for a united administration that has to pull the country out of the political and economic crisis and place it firmly on the path to recovery and progress.

Taken oath

Mr Odinga, who had just taken the oath to become the country�s second PM since independence, said PNU and ODM had come together to form one government and assured Kenyans that there was only one centre of power.

�We have decided to create a grand coalition government; we are not creating two governments but one,� he said.

Those present at the ceremony said it signalled fresh hope and highlighted the need to promote peace and unity and end violence that shook the country�s stability in January and February. The cost of the violence to the economy was estimated at over Sh260 billion.

Mr Annan, the man who helped the parties to find a solution to the crisis that was tearing the country apart, said Kenya had been on the edge of destruction and the new administration must nurture the peace that has been established.

�Kenya was on the brink but now that you have started a new journey, you must stay the course. Some times we tend to treat peace like we treat good health. You never know its value until you lose it. Peace is precious; let us not lose it again,� he said.

President Museveni expressed his delight at the restoration of peace in Kenya warned that political leaders should not go into a lull and allow the thorns of violence and political unrest �to prick the country�s tender skin again�.

�It is good that you have found a cure to the disease that had infected you. The duty you have ahead is to keep the prescription safe� and apply it as the doctor has instructed. Such diseases are never cured completely,� he said.

The leaders spoke after the swearing in of Mr Odinga as the PM, his two Deputy Prime Ministers, Mr Uhuru Kenyatta and Mr Musalia Mudavadi.

Only 23 Cabinet ministers and 52 assistant ministers were sworn in during the ceremony that took two hours and ended at 12:53 pm. Of the ministers, only five women were sworn in since Justice and Constitutional Affairs minister Martha Karua and Special Programmes minister Naomi Shaaban were sworn in in January.

The others had been sworn-in in January but they attended Thursday�s ceremony. However, Medical Services minister Anyang Nyong�o will be sworn in at a later date since he was out of the country. Two of the ministers who had been named in January were demoted in the new line-up that President Kibaki named on Sunday. They were Mr Asman Kamama and Dr Wilfred Machage.

Mr Odinga was the first to take the oath of office at 10:49 am. The oath was administered by Head of Civil Service and Secretary to the Cabinet, Mr Francis Muthaura. The oath involved swearing allegiance to the Republic of Kenya and its Constitution and bound the office holder to discharge his duties under the President and pledging never to reveal Cabinet secrets.

Next in line was Mr Kenyatta and Mr Mudavadi who took similar oaths before the other ministers were sworn in.

Mr Kamama and Dr Machage were sworn in as assistant ministers for Higher Education and Roads respectively.

President Kibaki urged his new Cabinet to move with speed to resettle the more than 600,000 Kenyans who were displaced from their homes during the two months of post-election violence.

�It is unacceptable that a Kenyan should be prevented from accessing his or her property by another,� the President said.

The new ministers were also given the responsibility of reconciling Kenyans and bring to an end the cycle of violence that had rocked the country in January and February. They were also urged to work towards a new Constitution and reverse the declining economic growth rate which had triggered an increase in food prices and transport costs.

The President also stated that the Cabinet must be united and should craft policies that will liberate half of Kenya�s population from poverty in five years.

�If we achieve this goal, the grand coalition will have served its true purpose, which is to unite all of Kenya�s leaders in a joint and effective war against poverty, ignorance and disease while also creating a just and democratic society.

US envoy Michael Ranneberger and his German counterpart, Mr Walter Lindner, praised the new Cabinet and urged the members to coalesce into a united team to address the needs of Kenyans.

�This was very positive for Kenyans and the agenda that has been laid out is very challenging. The signs are good and the United States will be present to give its assistance,� said Mr Ranneberger.

Performance

Mr Lindner, who described coalitions as exceptional said the Cabinet should be judged by its performance and not its size.

�Members of the Cabinet should start work immediately. We will look at the product and not the size of the Cabinet and Germany will offer assistance whenever it is required,� Mr Lindner said.

Present during the occasion were Tanzania Prime Minister Peter Pinda Mizengo, his Rwandese counterpart, Mr Bernard Makuza, Burundi�s First Vice President Yves Sahinguvu, former Malawi president Bakili Muluzi, former President Daniel arap Moi, National Assembly Speaker Kenneth Marende, former Vice President Moody Awori and a host of diplomats.

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The newly appointed prime minister in a speech during his swearing in gave himself to the people who he says he will serve deligently. Stressing a point and driving it home, he said there will be one centre of power . That power is the people’s power. API

Raila: Our priority in reforms is institutions

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My heart also goes out to the many Kenyans who have been displaced and in desperate need for resettlement. Their plight is foremost in our mind and a top priority for the Grand Coalition Government.

Dr Kofi Annan, H.E President Kufuor, H.E President Kikwete, H.E former President Benjamin Mkapa and Lady Graca Machel played unique roles in bringing the crisis to an amicable end. Kenyans will forever be indebted to these eminent Africans.

We cannot forget the efforts of British Prime Minister, Mr Gordon Brown, US Secretary of State, Ms Condoleezza Rice, EU Development Commissioner, Mr Louis Michel, UN Secretary-General, Mr Ban ki Moon, and former Commonwealth Secretary-General, Mr Don MacKinnon, who were among many others instrumental in finding a solution.

As you are all aware, I travelled many miles and visited many places on the campaign trail last year. I was privileged and humbled to meet different people, holding different beliefs, practising different customs, wearing different attire and speaking different dialects.

They all had similar hopes, similar dreams and similar ambitions. They wanted real change. And most importantly, they were all Kenyans.

The beautiful vision of our society was at a stroke shattered following the announcement of election results that lacked credibility and international acceptance.

It was unfortunate that the spark of a disputed election result ignited the time-bomb of ethnic hatred. We shockingly witnessed and experienced the reality of modern day Kenya.

Lifelong friends and neighbours turned into enemies and in a few cases assassins. We have been to hell and back. Never again in our history must we return to those times.

We must preserve the sanctity of our nation state and remain united. But our unity cannot be based on words and goodwill alone.

The tragic events we have lived through recently may have made us wiser and tolerant as a nation. But we humans pass away; others will take our place. We cannot bequeath them our personal experience. But we can leave them institutions. The life of institutions is longer than that of men.

I am, therefore, determined to provide decisive leadership and build democratic institutions that will hand on the wisdom to succeeding generations of Kenyans and � most importantly � enshrine truth and justice.

We will break with the past and create a new inclusive Kenya. We will embark on institutional transformation in our society and give Kenyans what is long overdue � a new constitution.

We will foster high and sustainable growth that is more equitably distributed. We will lay the foundation of future growth through infrastructural development and create opportunities for long-term employment. We will bring Government, power and financial resources closer to the people through devolution. We will ensure that power, wealth and opportunity are in the hands of many, not a few. The Chinese proverb says: “It is not the size of the wave, but the motion of the ocean that moves the ship.” Do not please judge us by the size of the Cabinet. Judge us by what the Cabinet will deliver.

I congratulate my colleagues on their Cabinet appointments and commiserate with those equally competent and qualified members of ODM who missed out. United we have the strength to deliver prosperity with equity and accountability.

Today is a historic occasion. My swearing in as Prime Minister will go further than just an entry in our history books. We can now consign Kenya�s past failures of grand corruption and rampant tribalism to the history books.

Kenya will no longer have a ruling class. The rulers are the people. There will be not one or two centres of power � just one. Power will forever reside with the people of Kenya.

It has been said “we make a living by what we get, but we make a life by what we give”. Fellow Kenyans, I give you myself in your service. The great responsibility and trust you have placed in me will be my life and I will not let you down.

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African Press International – api

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Raila called on Mungiki to stop violence and they did. Why has he got influence over them? Mungiki says they want jobs and that Raila will give them. The jailed leader says he will leave prison soon for a meeting with Raila. If that is true then the nation should know what kind of influence Raila has on them.

If it is true his influence can bring peace then let it be. Kenyans want peace and not to be terrorised day and night.

Mungiki youths should be listened to if they have a genuine case and be accommodated fully both in government and private sector employment.

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Mungiki calls for ceasefire

Published on April 18, 2008, 12:00 am

By Cyrus Ombati and Brian Adero

The Mungiki leadership has called off the four-day violence, moments after Prime Minister, Mr Raila Odinga, pleaded with the sect to stop the killings and destruction.

Jailed Mungiki leader, Mr Maina Njenga, who talked to The Standard from Naivasha Maximum Prison through an aide, said he had been touched by Raila�s remarks that Mungiki members could be productively engaged in nation building

“Let all the youths involved in the countrywide strike stop and help Raila build this nation. We believe the Prime Minister will create jobs for us,” Njenga said.

The Mungiki leader said he had spoken to all the coordinators of the protests and requested them to call off the violence.

And Njenga�s ceasefire directive carried a chilling message to any Mungiki follower who would go against the orders.

“You will be punished accordingly. You must honour the ceasefire and stop rioting,” Njenga said.

The effect of Njenga�s directive was immediate: Businesses reopened in all parts of Central Province, including Murang�a, Kenol, Maragua, Saba Saba, Mukurwe-ini, Othaya and Karatina which had been closed for the past four says.

Transport crisis in many parts of the city and in Central Province eased as matatus returned to the roads. For the first time in four days, commuters sighed with relief as matatu operations returned to normal.

The ceasefire came only hours after a special anti-Mungiki police squad, Nyoka, was set up at Vigilance House in Nairobi. The unit is similar to the Kwekwe Squad that tamed Mungiki mayhem in Nairobi and the environs a couple of months ago.

Meanwhile, Mungiki coordinator, Mr Njuguna Gitau Njuguna, who had earlier in the day insisted that the violence would go on, however, agreed with his chairman for a ceasefire.

“We are impressed by the Prime Minister�s remarks and we know he will bring reforms. The strike has been called off for now to allow development,” said Njuguna on the telephone

Njuguna, who was preparing to address the Press and later issue Raila with a list of grievances, said they would from today ensure that businesses were re-opened in all affected areas.

He also urged matatus to resume operations.

Police officers beat up a suspected Mungiki member in Dandora after gangs struck the area early this week.��

At State House, Raila made a passionate plea to members of the banned sect to stop fighting and to talk to the Government about their grievances.

Njenga said he hoped to be released from jail soon to meet Raila and discuss jobs for the unemployed Mungiki youth.

“I am coming out so that we can team up with Raila and other like-minded people in creating jobs to end the oppression Kenyans are witnessing. Let the youths stop fighting now,” he said.

Njuguna introduced a political dimension to the Mungiki debate when he said leaders of the sect had on many occasions engaged in talks with many politicians in Central Province over varied issues.

But as the two leaders called off the strike, some of their followers were wreaking havoc in some parts of Nairobi and Central Province.

They threatened oil tanker drivers in Nairobi as they loaded oil products from depots in Industrial Area. Mungiki members confronted the drivers in the morning and told them to join in the strike or face the consequences.

The threats temporarily affected the deliveries until police were called in to disperse the gangs.

Another group hijacked four matatus plying the Kikuyu-Nairobi route and attempted to burn them. The gangs had bought petrol before police were called in.

One Mungiki adherent was shot dead as others dashed into the thickets. Ten suspects were arrested and four vehicles impounded for allegedly aiding the gangs.

Another suspect lies prostrate after he was beaten up at Waithaka in Nairobi on Thursday.��

Another gang had earlier in the night attempted to petrol bomb a chief�s office in Kayole estate, Nairobi. Witnesses and police said five men drove to the officers and threw three petrol bombs, which did not, however, explode. Police also arrested another suspect found with 20 litres of petrol in the city centre. Central OCPD, Mr Tito Kilonzi, said the man said he had been requested by a friend to help him buy the fuel.

There was a stampede in the city centre when suspected thugs engaged police in a shootout. Many residents thought Mungiki members had struck.

Nairobi Area Head of Operations, Mr Wilfred Mbithi, said police patrols had been intensified in the city. More mayhem was reported in several parts of Central Province before the raids were called off.

They struck Karatina town on Wednesday night, where they burnt two vehicles, while a second gang threatened traders in Mukurwe-ini to close their businesses.

Thousands of commuters walked to work following threats to matatu operators in Nyeri, Othaya, Kiria-ini, Kangema, Karatina, Murang�a, Saba Saba and Kenol towns.

It was reported that a child sick with pneumonia died at home in Kenol in Maragua as his parents cowered in the house for fear of attack if they took him to hospital.

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Helping you to help the youth in your country!

API helps in getting places for the youth interested in serious football. API�assists in getting a resident permit and place to live for the duration of stay. Assistance to acquire a work permit that enables the player to work 20 hours a week in order to make his own pocket money will also be part�of the deal.

After the stay in Norway, when the residency permit expires, the footballer either has to travel back to his home country or try his luck in professional clubs in Europe.

API is doing this because we have faith in African football and African youth. African youth have a great potential in football. The problem in the continent is where one is to acquire facilities that support in proper training.

Many African players have made it to professional football in top clubs in European countries. API thinks it is time to assist and guide those who are needy and with ability to be good footballers professionally.

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Mugabe�brought independence to Zimbabwe, not Tsvangirai. Tsvangirai says he wants to bring some kind of western democracy to the country. Mugabe thinks by allowing Tsvangirai to do so, it is bringing back the former colonialists, the British. So this quarrell continues and the beating and disciplining of Tsvangirai continues as the world watches helplessly. May be the West should give Tsvangirai temporary asylum until Mugabe dies because he has stated publicly that he will not let Tsvangirai rule Zimbabwe as long as he is breathing this earthly air.. API

By Joseph Winter

Morgan Tsvangirai has risen from working in a mine to becoming the symbol of resistance to repression in Zimbabwe.

Morgan Tsvangirai “deserved” to be beaten, Robert Mugabe said

A charismatic speaker, he is a brave man – constantly running the risk of arrest or assassination since emerging several years ago as President Robert Mugabe’s first credible challenger since the 1980s.

As the leader of Zimbabwe’s opposition, he has been brutally assaulted, charged with treason and routinely labelled a “traitor”.

A year ago, the world was shocked to see pictures of his injuries after police beat him after arresting him for taking part in a prayer meeting which they said was illegal.

President Mugabe said the veteran trade unionist “deserved” his treatment for disobeying police orders.

But even some of his supporters – mostly young, urban residents – say he has been outmanoeuvred by Mr Mugabe and his allies.

‘Dictator’

His chances of unseating Zimbabwe’s long-time leader were dealt a blow in 2005, when Mr Tsvangirai’s Movement for Democratic Change split into two factions.

Some of Mr Tsvangirai’s closest allies accused him of behaving like a dictator.

MORGAN TSVANGIRAI 1952: Born in Gutu, central Zimbabwe Left school early to seek work 1974: Started working in a mine 1988: Secretary General on the ZCTU 1997: Organised anti-government strikes, attacked 1999: Helped form MDC 2000: MDC won 57 parliamentary seats 2000: Charged with treason, later dismissed 2002: Lost elections to Mugabe, charged with treason 2003: Charged with treason 2005: MDC splits

He overruled a decision by the party’s leadership to take part in elections for the Senate and ordered a boycott.

The two factions are fielding parliamentary candidates against each other in the 29 March elections after failing to reach a deal and the rival faction is backing former Finance Minister Simba Makoni in the presidential poll.

The eldest of nine children, Mr Tsvangirai left school while a teenager to help support his family.

Mr Mugabe snootily calls Mr Tsvangirai an “ignoramus” because of his humble background and lack of education.

He once told me that his strategy to unseat the president was to wait while Mr Mugabe mismanaged the economy to such an extent that he was forced out of office.

This long-term, passive view has, so far, steered the country away from civil war but has not seriously perturbed the authorities.

The economy is among the worst in the world but Mr Mugabe’s grip on power shows no sign of loosening.

Truncheons

Just before the 2002 presidential elections, a mysterious video tape emerged, which allegedly showed Mr Tsvangirai discussing how to assassinate Mr Mugabe with a Canadian consultancy, Dickens and Madson.

Morgan Tsvangirai says he can get Zimbabwe working again

The head of the consultancy, Ari Ben-Menashe, used to work as a lobbyist for the Zimbabwe Government and he calls Mr Tsvangirai “stupid” for even speaking to him, let alone allegedly discussing killing the president.

Mr Tsvangirai was acquitted, but for 20 months he had the possibility of a death penalty hanging over his head.

He was charged with treason a second time in 2003, after calling for mass protests to oust Mr Mugabe.

These fizzled out under the force of police truncheons.

In September 2000, he told a rally of his Movement for Democratic Change: “If Mugabe does not go peacefully, he will be removed by force.”

The 56-year-old eldest son of a bricklayer says this was not a threat of armed rebellion but a warning of popular discontent.

These treason charges were deemed unconstitutional but he does have a tendency to open his mouth before considering the consequences.

Revenge

The catalyst for Mr Tsvangirai’s transformation was his career in the trade unions.

He used to be an official in Mr Mugabe’s Zanu-PF party.

Morgan Tsvangirai wants to give Robert Mugabe the red card

After being plant foreman of the Bindura Nickel Mine for 10 years, he climbed the unionist ladder until in 1988, he was elected secretary-general of the Zimbabwe Congress of Trade Unions.

As Zimbabwe’s economy declined and workers’ living standards plummeted, the ZCTU took an increasingly political role.

When Mr Mugabe tried to raise income tax to pay pensions for veterans of the 1970s war of independence, a ZCTU-organised nationwide strike forced him to back down.

In apparent revenge for his part in defeating Mr Mugabe and the war veterans, a group of men burst into Mr Tsvangirai’s office, hit him on the head with a metal bar and attempted to throw him out of his 10th floor window.

This was a foretaste of the war veterans’ campaign of violence ahead of elections in 2000 and 2002, which led to the deaths of more than 100 MDC supporters.

Contradictions

Buoyed by its initial victory, the ZCTU held further strikes against the government’s “economic mismanagement”.

But Mr Mugabe stood firm and after intense debate, the ZCTU helped establish the MDC in September 1999.

The IMF are devils Morgan Tsvangirai

Its nationwide structures were crucial in helping the young party campaign for the June 2000 parliamentary elections, in which it won 57 seats – the best opposition showing in the country’s history.

Despite its foundations in the black working class, Mr Mugabe says the MDC is a puppet of white farmers and the UK government.

And, before they lost their land, many white farmers did support, campaign for and help finance the MDC.

The state-controlled media never tires of reminding voters that Mr Tsvangirai did not participate in the guerrilla war against white minority rule.

As a former miner and unionist, his heart is social democratic.

He used to blame many of Zimbabwe’s economic woes on the IMF’s structural adjustment programme.

“The IMF are devils,” he once told me.

Now, he is working closely with industrialists who argue that market forces should be left to solve Zimbabwe’s economic problems on their own, without minimal government interference.

Morgan Tsvangirai is now waiting to find out if he will have to confront these issues as president

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Publisher: Korir, api africanpress@getmail.no source

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Mugabe on Friday told 15,000 cheering supporters in a speech to mark Independence Day at a township stadium: “Down with the British. Down with thieves who want to steal our country.”

Mugabe is under heavy international criticism for failing to authorise the release of results from the March 29 presidential vote, which the opposition says it won.

Marking 28 years of independence, Mugabe said: “Today we hear the British saying there’s no democracy here, people are being oppressed, there’s dictatorship, there’s no observance of human rights, rule of law.

�“We, not the British, established democracy based on one person one vote, democracy which rejected racial or gender discrimination and observed human rights.

�“We are the ones who brought democracy to this country we are the ones who removed the oppression which was here.”

‘Traitor Tsvangirai’��

Morgan Tsvangirai “deserved” to be beaten, Robert Mugabe said

“There was no mention of election results. The stadium was very small, mostly full of invited guests. There were very few local people here. Those I spoke to outside of the stadium were simply�trying to get on with their lives, queuing for bread.”

Tallies suggest Tsvangirai’s MDC won the poll,
but not by enough to prevent a run-off [EPA]

Mugabe, in power since independence from Britain in 1980, is preparing to contest a second ballot run-off against Tsvangirai on Saturday, even though the results of the first round of voting have not been issued.

Despite the holiday on Friday, Zimbabwean judges are hearing arguments from opposition lawyers trying to block a recount.

Independent tallies suggest that Tsvangirai won the election, but not by enough to prevent a run-off.

Electoral officials have said they have found problems with tallies in 23 constituencies, mostly won by opposition candidates.

Anti-Mbeki stance

After staying largely silent since the March 29 presidential election, South Africa on Thursday called for the results to be quickly released and said for the first time that it was concerned by the delay.

Themba Maseko, a government spokesman, said “the situation is dire”.

Mbeki, left, has been criticised for being quiet
on Zimbabwe’s election problems [AFP]

“When elections are held and results are not released two weeks after, it is obviously of great concern,” he said.

But Tsvangirai, disappointed by the mediation efforts of Thabo Mbeki, South Africa’s president, called for him to step down as a mediator to Zimbabwe’s elections crisis.

“President Mbeki needs to be relieved from his duty,” Tsvangirai told a news conference in Johannesburg.
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Mbeki had previously played down the gravity of the post-election deadlock, saying the electoral process must take its course and there was no crisis.

The apparent U-turn on Thursday coincided with the US criticising Africa for a lack of action on the Zimbabwe polls.

Despite the U-turn, South Africa has announced that it will not stop a shipment of Chinese-made weapons from reaching Zimbabwe despite fears that the weapons may be used to clamp down on the opposition.

South African officials said they will not intervene because there is no arms embargo against Zimbabwe.

Tsvangirai said on Thursday that he had asked Levy Mwanawasa, the Zambian president and chairman of the Southern African Development Community (SADC), to launch a new mediation effort.

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African Press International – api

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