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Move underway to repeal Constitution’s term limits – This will benefit Obama presidency

Posted by African Press International on January 19, 2009

CHANGING OF THE GUARD
Hail King Obama: President for life

Move underway to repeal Constitution’s term limits

Posted: January 16, 2009
11:40 pm Eastern
 

 

By Drew Zahn
WorldNetDaily

As Inauguration Day approaches and Barack Obama prepares to assume his first term as president, some in Congress are hoping to make it possible for the Democrat to not only seek a second term in office, but a third and fourth as well.

The U.S. House Committee on the Judiciary is considering a bill that would repeal the Constitution’s 22nd Amendment prohibiting a president from being elected to more than two terms in office.

Rep. Jose Serrano, D-N.Y., earlier this month introduced the bill, H. J. Res. 5, which, according to the bill’s language, proposes “an amendment to the Constitution of the United States to repeal the twenty-second article of amendment, thereby removing the limitation on the number of terms an individual may serve as President.”

In the past, some presidents have been critical of the 22nd Amendment, including Eisenhower, Clinton and Reagan.

In 1807 Thomas Jefferson, however, warned that presidents not bound by term limits could use their popularity and power to become kings.

“If some termination to the services of the chief magistrate be not fixed by the Constitution or supplied in practice,” Jefferson wrote to the Legislature of Vermont, “his office, nominally for years, will in fact become for life; and history shows how easily that degenerates into an inheritance.”

Presidential term limits, however, were not “fixed by the Constitution” until ratification of the 22nd Amendment. Congress passed the Amendment on March 21, 1947, shortly after the death of Franklin D. Roosevelt, the first and only president to be elected to more than two terms – in Roosevelt’s case, four. The Amendment was ratified by the required number of states on Feb. 26, 1951.

The 22nd Amendment states, “No person shall be elected to the office of the President more than twice, and no person who has held the office of President, or acted as President, for more than two years of a term to which some other person was elected President shall be elected to the office of the President more than once.”

The Amendment limits presidents to a maximum of eight years in office – or, under unusual circumstances, such as succession following the death of a president, a maximum of ten years in office. Should Rep. Serrano succeed in repealing the Amendment, Obama would be cleared to run for an unlimited number of terms, restricted only by the vote of the electorate.

In order to achieve repeal of the 22nd Amendment, Serrano’s proposal must be approved by a two-thirds vote of both houses of Congress and ratified by three-quarters of the states’ legislatures.

H. J. Res. 5 is not the first attempt by Serrano to repeal the 22nd Amendment. In 2003, Serrano introduced H. J. Res. 11 to the 108th Congress to accomplish the same purpose. A similar resolution, H.J. Res. 25, was also proposed the same year and received co-sponsorship from a bipartisan group of six other representatives. In 1987, during Reagan’s term of office, Earl Michener, R-Mich., also proposed a repeal of the 22nd Amendment.

At the current time, H.J. Res. 5 has not tallied any cosponsors and has been referred to the House Committee on the Judiciary.

Prior to Franklin Roosevelt, presidents honored the precedent established by George Washington, who – though widely popular – refused to run for a third term of office.

Thomas Jefferson, who became the second vice president of the U.S. after Washington declined to run for a third term and who then later became the third president, not only affirmed following the Washington’s example, but also foresaw the eventual passage of the 22nd Amendment.

“General Washington set the example of voluntary retirement after eight years,” Jefferson wrote in an 1805 letter to John Taylor. “I shall follow it, and a few more precedents will oppose the obstacle of habit to anyone after a while who shall endeavor to extend his term. Perhaps it may beget a disposition to establish it by an amendment of the Constitution.”

In the same letter to the Legislature of Vermont where he warned of a presidential monarchy, Jefferson further explained why he refused to run for a third term.

“Believing that a representative government, responsible at short periods of election, is that which produces the greatest sum of happiness to mankind,” Jefferson wrote, “I feel it a duty to do no act which shall essentially impair that principle; and I should unwillingly be the person who, disregarding the sound precedent set by an illustrious predecessor, should furnish the first example of prolongation beyond the second term of office.”

WND attempted to contact Rep. Serrano about his reasons and argument for repeal of the 22nd Amendment, but phone calls to his communications director were not returned.

source.worldnetdaily

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The eating of Cows and Goats: Obama inauguration in Kogelo – “So far, we have got four bulls and 20 goats but they are not enough,” Mr Ogombe said. He added they expected more than 3,000 people in Kogelo

Posted by African Press International on January 19, 2009

The feasting has began in Kenya to mark Obama’s taking over of the USA on Tuesday. That day marks the end of white rule in the US and the rulers become Black.

There is word that the laws may be changed so that Obama may seek re-election more than the maximum eight year rule, read: Move underway to repeal Constitution’s term limits – This will benefit Obama presidency . That may also be the reason he has been granted life security service personnel to guard him for the rest of his life, read; A different law for Obama: Secret Service will protect him for life – the black man who takes over the powerful nation in the world . /API

Kogelo hosts cultural fete to mark big day

By John Oywa and George Olwenya

Kogelo village in Siaya is a hive of activity as celebrations kicked off ahead of US President-elect Barack Obama’s inauguration.

Jubilant villagers, Government officials and journalists thronged Barack Obama Primary School for a week-long festivity.

Kogelo is the homeland of Mr Obama’s father, Barack Obama Senior. Drumbeats rent the air as local musicians sang their hearts out in yesterday’s celebrations. East African Portland Cement Marketing Manager Francis Celi was the chief guest.

The firm and the Standard Group donated cement, food and cash to the event’s organising committee.

Standard Group Sales and Distribution Manager Moses Ochola gave the committee soft drinks, bread and cash to feed guests and participating teams.

Mr Ochola said the Standard Group had chosen to identify with the Kogelo community in appreciation of Obama’s achievement.

President-elect Obama visited Standard Group I&M offices in Nairobi during his trip to Kenya in 2006.

“The Standard and KTN will install a big screen at the school compound to give villagers a chance to watch the inauguration live,” said Ochola.

Donation
 
The committee praised the Standard Group for the donation. Pots and sufurias were yesterday being transported to the school in readiness for feasting. Committee chairman Vitalis Ogombe said they had received four bulls and 20 goats.
“So far, we have got four bulls and 20 goats but they are not enough,” Mr Ogombe said. He added they expected more than 3,000 people in Kogelo.
Ogombe added that the climax of the celebration would be on Obama’s inauguration day, when Nyanza PC Paul Olando would be their chief guest. Traditional food was served alongside being taken through Obama’s history.
At Sarah Obama’s home, there was no activity as all family members had reportedly travelled to the US to witness the inauguration. The home remained deserted, with police officers dotting the compound.
“There are no people at home. Mama Sarah and her family travelled to America,” a police officer guarding the home told The Standard.
Siaya acting DC Ratunka ole Kikua also praised the Standard Group for what he termed good coverage of the run-up to the Obama inauguration.
Yesterday, The Standard on Sunday published a souvenir edition on Obama, which sold like hot cakes.
source.standard.ke

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The story below indicates that the guarding of former presidents was for life before, but was changed a few years ago to be 10 years only. For Obama the security service has decided that he will be given different treat and will get his for life.(API)

 

 

 

 

 

 

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Late-blooming professor who had a spell in a nut house – An african story > they thought he was mad

Posted by African Press International on January 19, 2009

professor-nangoliProf Nangoli (left) seated with the former Tanzanian President Mwalimu Julius Nyerere. On landing page: Prof Nangoli with South African freedom fighter and icon Nelson Mandela. Photos/COURTESY 

By KIPCHUMBA SOME

 

In Budadiri village in Mbale district, Eastern Uganda, he failed all his primary and secondary school examinations, so much so that his teachers took him to a mental institution to have his head examined, just in case he was insane or retarded.

He then organised a demonstration against the brutal regime of former dictator Idi Amin which led him to being declared a persona non-grata in his homeland at the age of 17.

To escape arrest and his father’s wrath, he fled to Kenya where he knew no one. In order to survive, he worked as a houseboy in one of the estates in Nairobi and later as a labourer at a construction site in Mombasa.

Left for Europe

After one year, he departed to Europe without a passport where he worked as a dishwasher in UK and French restaurants as he pursued his studies.

This is the improbable early life of Prof Musamaali Nangoli, a 54-year-old father of four who went on to become an internationally acclaimed intellectual with 34 books to his name.

His life journey has enabled him to meet great world leaders, the most notable of them being former South African president and anti-apartheid icon Nelson Mandela.

“The story of my life reads like an epic from a fictional novel. Some people find it so intriguing to be true,” said Prof Nangoli, whose other title, “Chief,” is derived from his ancestral lineage.
Despite being the son of a mathematics teacher, Chief Nangoli was one of the tail-enders in class. As a pupil at Makuyu Primary School in the 1960s, he barely made it to Standard Seven after failing most of his examinations.

“I always came last or at best, second last,” said the fourth born in a family of 13 children.

In his ‘O’ levels at Kachonga Secondary School, he would score only between five and 10 per cent in his examinations. The one time he got 15 per cent in a physics test, the headmaster, Mr Nicholas Kolyanga, announced the feat to the whole school during assembly.

“He said I was very brilliant, only that people had not seen it. He said I would travel the world and that I would meet kings and presidents.” He recently met Mr Kolyanga, now 80, “and he was extremely proud that his prophecy had come true,” says Nangoli

But other teachers firmly believed he was an irredeemable academic failure. They even coined a special grade for him. “They said I was worse than a failure so they gave me grade G since F was for failures,” he said.

His teachers conspired to have him expelled by taking him to a mental asylum in the hope that the doctors would find him insane.

“To their disappointment, the doctors said there was nothing wrong with me — I was simply ‘ahead of my time’,” he says.

But Prof Nangoli insists he was not dense. “The questions were wrong, my answers were right,” he says. He says teachers used to ask irrelevant questions such as ‘‘Describe the source of River Mississippi in the USA.’’

“I would cross out such a question and replace it with “Describe the source of Lake Victoria in Uganda.’ That is why my teachers probably thought I was mad,” he said.

During this trying moment, he met one of his role models — Prof Ali Mazrui, who encouraged him not to give up on education. Prof Mazrui was then a lecturer of History at Makerere University.

Prof Mazrui

“I had heard that Prof Mazrui failed his Cambridge examinations, too, so we struck a natural relationship. He offered to coach me on weekends,” Nangoli said.

But he was forced to cut short his studies in 1969 after the Ugandan dictator, Idi Amin, ordered his arrest for organising a school demonstration against his regime. This infuriated his father so much that he threatened to disown him.

“My grandfather was a chief and so was my father. They were part of the system and my father could not stand it when I spoke out openly against Amin’s injustices,” he said.

As a fugitive, Nangoli fled to Nairobi with only Sh100 in East African currency and the clothes he was wearing.

Looked for a job

In dire need of a place to stay, he looked for a job from door to door in various estates, eventually landing a job as a house-help in Mbotela estate.

“I told my employer that I would work for free so long as he gave me food and a place to stay,” he says.

Meanwhile, he started making arrangements to continue his studies either in the UK or US. “I knew that only politicians could help me achieve this desire,” he said.

The first person he visited was former president Daniel Moi who was then Vice- President and minister for Internal Affairs. It was a comical adventure, he says. “I just walked up to the secretary and told her ‘I have an appointment with Daniel.’”

He says the secretary thought he was a personal friend of the Moi family since he had referred to him by his first name.

But while waiting at the lounge for Moi to finish with a visitor, he developed cold feet. “I felt I had over-stepped the boundary. So I excused myself to go to the toilet and disappeared, never to return,” he said.

But he did not give up. He visited the office of the late former Nyandarua North MP J.M. Kariuki. “But there I found an impossibly long queue and gave up,” he said.

Undeterred, he sought Jaramogi Oginga Odinga, who he had been told was in a better position to facilitate his journey to the West. “Mr Odinga told me he had been branded a communist by the US and UK and could only help me go to Russia,” he says.

But Nangoli had developed a singular mind that if he would not go to the US or UK, then he would not pursue his studies. He decided to go to Mombasa where he intended to be a stowaway in a ship headed for either of the two countries.

“I worked as a construction worker as I tried to make friends who would get me on a ship,” he said. He also began his signature best-selling novel, No More Lies about Africa.

But his big break came through a different path when a group of scholars from Makerere University visited Mombasa in 1972.

After listening to his story, the scholars decided to pay for him a one-way ticket to Britain. But his first taste of Britain was a sour one. He immediately got in trouble with immigration officials at Gatwick Airport because he had no passport. Then, documentation was not strictly adhered to as is the case today, he says.

Coming home

“I told the officials that I was coming home and no one needs a passport to do that. After all the British had taught us in school that Britain is the motherland,” he said.

His audacity startled the officials who were threatening to deport him. But he pleaded with the authorities not to do so because Amin’s agents would kill him. They then asked him which other country he wanted to go to and he chose France due to its proximity to Britain.

After consulting with their British counterparts, the French immigration officials agreed to host him. France was already part of the European Union which had an agreement to give asylum to political refugees.

After spending many cold nights in underground train stations in Paris, he was introduced to an English Methodist church which helped him to process his asylum papers.

Armed with refugee status papers, he was able to get jobs in restaurants and to register for his ‘O’ levels afresh at an English school in Paris. For the next two years, he spent most his free time in the underground trains completing his book.

In 1973, UK became part of the European Union and Nangoli took advantage of his refugee status to go back to the country that had rejected him. He enrolled in an evening programme for his ‘A’ levels while working in restaurants.

After completing his secondary school studies, he won a scholarship from the World University Service, a charity organisation, to pursue a law degree at University of Sheffield, where he also met his wife Nombozo Nosa.

“I had a lot of offers from different universities, including Cambridge. But I chose Sheffield because I always wanted to be a lawyer in life,” he said.

He later proceeded to the University of North London where he studied political science, philosophy and psychology. It was around this time that he wrote his second book, Mandela and Apartheid.

The book portrays Mandela as a beacon of hope for the continent and describes his struggle to liberate South Africa from the yoke of colonialism. Unknown to prison authorities, the book was smuggled to Mandela in prison on Robben Island.

The book is said to have touched Mandela so much that when he visited Uganda after his release in prison in 1990, he paid a personal visit to Chief Nangoli at his home.

“I still cannot believe it. People pay homage to Mandela; I must have meant something special to him to visit me at my home,” he says.

Mandela told him that reading his book had given him courage to continue the anti-apartheid struggle at a time when his strength was tested by the brutality of the apartheid regime.

That experience made Nangoli realise that he could use the power of the pen to champion the African cause. Since then, he has penned 34 books, mainly on the welfare of the African continent.

Generated interest

His book, I speak to Mother Africa, which he wrote in the mid-70s, generated a lot of interest in African leaders and beyond, among them former presidents Julius Nyerere of Tanzania, Sam Nujoma of Namibia and Ayatollah Khomeini of Iran.

In 2000, former Tanzanian president Ali Hassan Mwinyi introduced him to President Moi, also an avid reader of his books, during a private visit to the country.

“Surprisingly Moi remembered an incident in 1970 when his ‘friend from Uganda’ visited his office only to disappear without seeing him. He was much surprised to learn it was me and we had a good laugh about it.”

His other book, Until Elections Do Us Apart, is about the post-election violence that rocked the country early last year. Mr Nangoli, who lives in Eldoret with his family, had come back from England in November 2007 in time to witness the mayhem.

“This country is more of my home than Uganda. It hurt me to see it descend into needless chaos. The book is an account of what I have gathered about the genesis of the violence and possible solutions,” he said.

Nangoli and his wife Nombozo have four children. The eldest, Mandela, 27, is an artist while the second born, Tambo, 20, is an engineer.

Their third born, Sisulu, 18, completed secondary school last year while their last born, Nomzamo, 13, is in a boarding school in Uganda.

In 1987, Prof Nangoli went to the US to pursue a masters degree at Mount Claire University in New Jersey where he also did his doctorate in philosophy. He is now a freelance lecturer in Kenya and the US.

His hobby is reading biographies. And when he is not reading, he is writing. He spends most of his time giving motivational talks at forums across the world.

In 1999, the BBC nominated him, together with other big names, for the ‘‘African of the Millennium Award’’ which eventually went to Mandela.

His latest book, Preparing Well for and Passing any Exam, which draws heavily from his experiences in school, was recently approved for the Kenyan curriculum by the Kenya Institute of Education.

“Nobody is stupid and nobody is a failure. Some of us are late developers and sometimes the syllabuses lead students toward reading only to pass examinations,” he said.

source.nation.ke

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A different law for Obama: Secret Service will protect him for life – the black man who takes over the powerful nation in the world

Posted by African Press International on January 19, 2009

There is word that the law in the US may be changed from the maximum 8 years presidential two-term service to unlimited. This would open the way for Obama to contest many terms as President (API)

obamaoutof-his-vehicle

A Secret Service agent (right) picks up U.S. President-elect Barack Obama’s Blackberry device as he steps out of his car to board his plane in Washington on Friday. Photo/REUTERS 

By GITAU WARIGIPosted Saturday, January 17 2009 at 20:39

 

When the US Secret Service first extended protection to Barack Obama on May 3, 2007, an unusual exception was made.

Under a law enacted by the US Congress in 1997, Secret Service protection for former presidents would henceforth e be limited to 10 years; previously the protection had been for life.
Mr Obama will be the exception.

He will have protection for life according to a decision by the Secret Service last year following a recommendation by Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid.

Chances are that Mr Obama will forever be dogged by racially motivated threats from homegrown terrorists or bigots. Racist threats were never far away during last year’s electoral campaign.

Owing to Mr Obama’s special circumstances, his security within the United States will almost certainly be at another level.

The occasional African tours by US presidents afford an opportunity to witness the sheer extent of this protection firsthand. Hotels where the American presidential entourage has been booked are cleared of their other guests long before the presidential party lands.

When Bill Clinton briefly stayed at Kampala’s Sheraton l in March 1998 during an African tour, helicopters packed with heavily armed American personnel hovered over the hotel overnight.

The Americans even brought their own Evian water for President Clinton at his bilateral talks with President Yoweri Museveni at State Lodge.

Not even countries like Britain are spared the attendant indignities that host countries must suffer when a US president visits. When George W. Bush made a state visit to the UK in November 2003, the Americans brought a small army of heavily armed security personnel to London to guard their commander-in-chief.

British regulations

This was despite Britain’s own security being fairly up to the job, and more pointedly, notwithstanding British regulations that frown on foreign security personnel being armed on British soil.

The Americans went further. At Buckingham Palace where Bush was to stay, they insisted on completely reinforcing all the windows within the palace wing where their president’s suite was located.

Amongst the Bush entourage were two cooks, an indicator that Queen Elizabeth’s own palace cooks were not to cook for the US president. Even in the United States, filming of Marine One – the presidential helicopter – as it takes off or lands is prohibited. The presidential jet – Air Force One – is outfitted with high-tech gadgetry to fend off hostile warplanes.

On foreign trips, an official armoured limousine is part of the tonnes of equipment flown wherever the president goes.

The Obama inauguration, like all those before it, will be conducted outside the Capitol building that which houses the two-tier US legislature. Pennsylvania Avenue connects the Capitol to the White House at the other end.

Organisers are expecting three to five million people to congregate for the event. It would be the biggest crowd ever to assemble for any function in US history.

Umbrellas, bicycles and even baby strollers are banned within the perimeter. Instructions have been issued to people coming to the venue to limit cell phone use to SMS texts only. Residents will have to walk to the events because the Washington DC metro lines underneath the city centre will be closed.

Mr Obama is going to great lengths to model his inauguration on that of his political hero, Abraham Lincoln, who, like him, cut his political teeth in the state of Illinois. When he takes the oath of office at noon on Tuesday, Mr Obama will use the same Bible the 16th US president used at his inauguration in 1861.

After he is sworn in, Mr Obama will prepare for a formal luncheon that will include foods enjoyed by Mr Lincoln and eaten off replicate china chosen by Mary Todd Lincoln for her husband’s first inauguration.

The 200 guests seated in the statuary hall of the Capitol building, including Supreme Court justices, members of the cabinet and congressional leaders, will finish with an apple cinnamon sponge, a reminder of Lincoln’s fondness for apples.

On Saturday, Mr Obama was to reprise part of the train journey taken by Lincoln before his swearing-in, travelling from Philadelphia, the first US capital after independence, to Washington and stopping to meet ordinary people along the way.

An unwelcome parallel with the Lincoln era will be the intense security on show on January 20. Lincoln had won a thin majority and seven states had seceded from the union as civil war approached. Soldiers were placed on rooftops as he rode through Washington in an open carriage in the inaugural parade from the Capitol to the White House.

In modern times, President Jimmy Carter initiated the practice of walking down Pennsylvania Avenue to the White House after the swearing-in, waving to crowds along the way.

Subsequent presidents have done the same walk, at least for part of the way; the exception was President Ronald Reagan in his second inauguration in 1984 when the walk was cancelled because of severe winter weather.

Rick Warren, the evangelical pastor whose selection has upset liberal followers of the president-elect, will make the invocation. Aretha Franklin, the iconic soul music diva, will sing.

After Mr Obama has taken the oath of office, he will deliver a speech that typically lasts 15 minutes and which aims to set the tone for his four years in office.

Military aide

After lunch he will leave with the presidential military aide who had arrived with Mr Bush carrying the codes for America’s nuclear defences.

Lincoln is revered by Americans for guaranteeing the country’s unity following a catastrophic civil war fought partially over the issue of slavery. A century later, Mr Obama has become a symbol of America’s quest for racial and ethnic harmony.

With the nation perilously divided, Lincoln kept celebration to a minimum. Mr Obama however is continuing the modern practice of a free concert the Sunday before inauguration (today) at the imposing Lincoln Memorial.

The star-studded line-up will include U2’s Bono, Beyoncé, Bruce Springsteen, Stevie Wonder and Sheryl Crow. Denzel Washington and Queen Latifah will be among those giving historical readings.

The invocation at the concert will be given by Episcopal Bishop Gene Robinson, whose declaration that he was gay has divided the Anglican Communion.

Usually the most poignant moment of inaugurations is when the new president escorts the outgoing one as the latter leaves the White House for the last time and climbs aboard a helicopter for the first leg of the journey back home. In this instance there is certain to be great relief as the world watches George W. Bush head back to Texas.

source.nation.ke

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UK wants Somaia to face trial – His days to jail may be near if the British gets him

Posted by African Press International on January 19, 2009

somaiawanted-by-ukKenyan businessman Ketan Somaia. Photo/FILE 

By DAVE OPIYO

 

Kenyan businessman Ketan Somaia, who is reported to be in the custody of Indian police, may be extradited to the UK, the Nation has learnt.

The beleaguered billionaire, who is said to be in hospital in India almost a month after he was reportedly arrested in Mumbai, is wanted by British detectives to face charges of defrauding a business partner.

Made requests

The detectives began investigations after it was claimed that the billionaire businessman failed to return an investment of 500,000 pounds to Delphis Bank of Mauritius, of which he was head.

Other countries that have reportedly requested Mr Somaia’s extradition are Tanzania, Uganda and Mauritius.

Had run-ins

A senior officer at Police Headquarters in Nairobi said they had information that the businessman had had some “run-ins” with law enforcement officers in India, but could not confirm if he was in custody in that country.

source.nation.ke

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Hamas ceasefire comes after the Israelis declare theirs

Posted by African Press International on January 19, 2009

Hamas announces ceasefire in Gaza

Written By:BBC

The Palestinian militant group Hamas has announced an immediate ceasefire with Israel in Gaza.

A statement read by a Hamas spokesman said the group would hold fire for a week to give Israel time to withdraw its forces from the Gaza Strip.

The move came hours after a unilateral Israeli ceasefire came into effect.

The cessation of hostilities was earlier cast into doubt by fresh rocket fire into Israel and an Israeli air strike on militants in Gaza.

Hamas’ deputy chief in Syria, Moussa Abou Marzouk, said the ceasefire was in the name of all “Palestinian resistance factions”.

“We… announce a ceasefire of our factions in the Gaza Strip and we stress that our demand is the withdrawal of the enemy forces from the Gaza Strip within a week, along with the opening of all the crossings for the entry of humanitarian aid, food and other necessities for our people in the Gaza Strip.”

The group said the ceasefire would be temporary unless Israel met these long-standing demands.

Hamas’ leader in exile, Khaled Meshaal, will make an “important” announcement in Syria on Sunday afternoon regarding Israel’s ceasefire, the Associated Press news agency reported.

Israel, whose ceasefire came into effect at 0200 (2400 GMT) has said its troops will stay in Gaza for as long as necessary.

Hours later, at least 18 rockets were fired into Israel, Israeli sources said, triggering an Israeli air strike in response.

One rocket hit a house in Ashdod, injuring lightly two people, police said.

The stopping of rocket-fire had been a chief aim of the military campaign.

Israeli troops killed a Palestinian near the southern Gazan town of Khan Younis on Sunday morning, reports from Gaza said. If confirmed, the death would be the first fatality since the ceasefire began.

At least 1,300 Palestinians, according to Palestinian sources, and 13 Israelis have been killed since Israel launched its offensive on 27 December.

Palestinian medics say at least 50 bodies have been pulled from the rubble since Israel halted its offensive.

Meanwhile, heads of state from across Europe are in Egypt for a summit with Egyptian President Hosni Mubarak, Palestinian Authority leader Mahmoud Abbas and UN chief Ban Ki-moon to try to shore up the ceasefire.

They will discuss how to make the ceasefire durable and respected by Hamas, how to get aid to Gaza and beginning the process of rebuilding there.

source.kbc.ke

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Boundary dispute between Kenya and Uganda to be resolved through dialogue

Posted by African Press International on January 19, 2009

Kenya-Ugandan hold talks over boundary row

Written By:PMPS 

The government has opened talks with the Ugandan authorities to amicably resolve a boundary row pitting the two countries over the placement of some Islands in Lake Victoria, Prime Minister Raila Odinga has said.

He said Ugandan officials had consented to proposal for the formation of a joint committee to determine and freshly demarcate the contentious border line in the Lake where local fishermen have complained of harassment.

“I have held talks with President Yoweri Museveni over the ownership of the disputed islands in Lake Victoria and we expect the Ugandan authorities to send a team to join the Kenyan delegation and resolve the boundary row” he said.

The Premier however maintained that preliminary findings into the disputed borderline indicated that the islands were in Kenyan soil but urged local fishermen to be patient until the joint committee finalized their task.

Odinga said a former Ugandan president Idi Amin was responsible for the boundary row after he sent forces to take Lolwe, Oyasi, Ingiti, Remba and lately the Migingo Islands I total disregard of the international territorial sovereignty of independent state.

He assured a thanksgiving party of Nyatike MP Omondi Anyanga at the weekend that the cabinet had mandated the subcommittee on Defence to lead the negotiations and that a taem was already formulated to meet their Ugandan counterparts.

” The 1962 map is clear but for the purpose of good relations with our neighbours we have sent cabinet ministers Moses Wetangula , Goerge Saitoti , James Orengo and Yusuf Haji to meet the team from Uganda to iron out the row” the Premier reiterated.

Odinga however reaffirmed the government’s commitment to protect the lives and property of Kenyans after speakers including cabinet minister and Mps raised concerns over the security of local fishermen in the hands of Uganda’s marine patrol officers in the lake.

The premier at the same function held at Luanda Konyango unveiled government plans to improve communication network along the fish harvesting beaches in Lake Victoria to improve the income base of local fishermen.

On the looming famine the Prime Minister said the government was working on modalities to harness river water in the upper lake region for production of hydro electricity in irrigation to mitigate food insecurity in the areas.

He censored past regimes for offering lip services to the perennial drought in the country but said the grand coalition government was determined to put long term and sustainable solutions to the crisis.

“  We have plans to put up Dams along the river Kuja and Migori for production of hydropower and also put irrigation canals from the water mass so that communities living in the adjacent dry land area can reclaim their   land for farming” Odinga said.

The premier announced that the government may soon avail fertilizers and certified seeds at subsidized prices and urged farmers to adopt modern farming techniques to improve their production base towards attainment of food security in the country.

He urged locals to take the education of their children seriously and revealed the government may next month start the constitutional review process based on the recommendation of the Bomas draft whi ch proposes devolution of power.

The premier said other institutional reforms in the pipeline were the the formulation of a new electoral body and told residents to brace for fresh registration as voters since the old list was found to be faulty and had loopholes for manipulation.

Ministers present during the colourful ceremony included  Paul Otuoma ( fisheries) James Orengo (Lands) Dalmas Otieno (Public Service) Otieno Kajwang (Immigration) and MPs  John Pesa, Cyprian Omolo, John Magwaga, Otieno Ogindo and Milly Odhiambo.  

source.kbc.ke 

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Obama’s UN pick vows to confront Mugabe – The deliberate and murderous foreign-policy

Posted by African Press International on January 19, 2009

By Lloyd Hart

Bob Herbert the African-American New York Times columnist has just
published a column in the New York Times called “Zimbabwe” in which he
claims that Zimbabwe it is in a total mess and that it’s all the
president of Zimbabwe’s fault.  The president of Zimbabwe is of course
Robert Mugabe and he has been president from the very beginning of the
creation of the state of Zimbabwe out of what was a very brief but
successful political uprising of the overwhelming majority black
population of Rhodesia against the colonial British white settlers who
stole the country, controlled the economy and owned practically all the
farmland.

But just like South Africa and many other African nations who have
achieved so-called independence from the former colonial powers,
so-called independence has only been a political shroud that covers up
the economics that keeps Africa in abject poverty and practical
slavery. A condition deliberately maintained by the so-called former
colonial powers.  But what truly allows economic colonialism to
continue in Africa is one source of power and one source of power only
and that is of course the deliberate and murderous foreign-policy
imposed on Africa by the United States of America.

Bob Herbert’s tirade against President Robert Mugabe is clearly a
terrible act of Stockholm syndrome in which Bob’s enslaved mind has
adopted the tactics of white racism and western superiority to describe
some conditions in Zimbabwe without giving any of the background or
history as to how Zimbabwe got into the condition it presently is in.

You see, Zimbabwe really, is in a civil war over who will control the
land and resources, the Western powers or the people of Zimbabwe.  Many
years ago President Robert Mugabe began a process of taking back the
farm land from the White thieves who stole land from the tribes that
lived and prospered on Zimbabwe’s most fertile soil.  This of course
was considered a threat to the Western powers and their continued
economic enslavement of the people of Zimbabwe and of course sent out a
message to the rest of Africa that the future well-being of Africa is
hinged on one thing and one thing only and that thing which is most
hated by the Western powers, is land reform.

So what have the Western powers done and more in particularly the
United States and Great Britain? They have criminally isolated
Zimbabwe’s currency preventing its trade on the international currency
markets at the overall value of Zimbabwe’s resources which are vast and
worth billions annually.  With Zimbabwe’s currency radically devalued, 
hyperinflation,  George Bush’s and Tony Blair’s criminal but intended
result isolated Zimbabwe economically preventing it from using its
currency to purchase needed imported goods to maintain the civil
society President Robert Mugabe and his political party maintained
since the beginning of the nation of Zimbabwe in 1980.  It also made it
impossible for Zimbabwe to get a fair price for its exported resources
abroad.  So the real criminals behind Zimbabwe’s economic descent into
hell as Bob Herbert calls it, is not President Robert Mugabe and his
political party but rather it is United States of America and Great
Britain whom are attempting to make an example of Zimbabwe for other
African nations to see and what will happen to them if land reform
continues to spread across the African continent.

Now, you might ask yourself why would the United States and Great
Britain want to maintain a terrible economic system that enslaves the
people of Zimbabwe and Africa and keeps most of resources in the hands
of the Western powers and the transnational corporations that manage
those resources on the ground in Africa.  It’s very simple.  The United
States of America and Great Britain have squandered their own domestic
resources and allowed their populations to grow too large and have
created an unsustainable economic structure that props up a middle and
elite class in both countries that could not survive without the
continued economic enslavement of Africa.

Clearly Bob Herbert did not quite understand the total meaning of Rev.
Martin Luther King’s stated line in his famous speech ” Free at last,
free at last!”  Mr. Herbert , what the Rev. Martin Luther King clearly
meant was political and economic freedom.  But of course without
America’s stealing Africa from the Africans, the American middle class
will fail and the York Times will have to cut its staff and like almost
all American corporations, they lay off the blacks first.  Oh, I get
now! You are simply just trying to save your own job.  So, maybe your
not an Oreo Cookie after all but rather a selfish little prick instead.
  That’s cool.  That’s American, right?

Bob Herbert, however,   is not why I am writing this article.  After
all, there is a enough western superiority propaganda and lies
disguised in the veil of righteous indignation raining down on
brainwashed American and British minds to crush the entire world let’s
all alone Zimbabwe.  No, it’s the ridiculous idiocy emanating from
president elect Barrack Obama’s pick for the United Nations that
somehow getting tough with Mugabe will begin the process of turning
things around. Like eight years of the Bush and Blair team turned
things around.

Obama’s UN pick vows to confront Mugabe, beef up peacekeepers!
Dear Mr. President elect Obama.  Let me ask you a question.

Is there any difference between militarily invading a nation (Iraq) and
killing a million and half of its citizens in order to steal and
maintain control that nation”s and the entire region’s energy resources
and that of the deliberate economic isolation of another nation (
Zimbabwe) in order to continue stealing that nation’s resources and
enslaving it’s people?

If you can’t answer that question honestly Mr. President elect Obama
you will be labeled the “Oreo Cookie in Chief.”  Just another corrupt
Black politician owned and operated by the same transnational
corporations that presently enslave children in the coffee plantations
in your father’s African nation home, Kenya.

Dear Mr. President elect Obama.  Do you understand what the Rev. Martin
Luther King meant when he said  “Free at last! Free at last! Thank God
Almighty, we are free at last!”?????????

Lloyd Hart
dadapop@dadapop.com

Posted in AA > News and News analysis | Leave a Comment »

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