The bickering has to stop and the leaders work in harmony to enable the Kenyan people get a better living. There are people in the country with no food while leaders are fighting about how much they should earn – what a shame. They were elected to lead the people to prosperity and yet some of them are now thinking of how to be rich before they presumably get voted out in the next general elections. (API)

The Grand Coalition Government parties have traded accusations over Prime Minister Raila Odinga’s claim that ministers allied to the President’s Party of National Unity are frustrating him.

Raila, on Friday, said it was demeaning to his Orange Democratic Movement to have him receive the same salary as Kalonzo’s, who he said was in coalition Kibaki’s invitation. Kalonzo said part of his pay can be added to “whoever feels must earn more. an apparent reference to Raila.

At the same time, Vice-President Kalonzo Musyoka has asked those dragging his name into the debate on PM’s salary to stop it.

He claimed he was willing to take a pay cut if that will bring peace to the country and the coalition.

“I don’t want my name to be brandied around in public rallies where somebody says �I don’t want a salary like that of Kalonzo, ” added the VP.

But Water and Irrigation Minister Mrs Charity Ngilu, while hitting at PNU ministers, said those shouting the loudest had actually been voted out during the last elections.

“Some of them are actually total failures in their ministries, like Ali Mwakwere, whom I am telling to get serious and get down to work,” added Ngilu.

Ngilu noted political process in coalition is not an easy because most of those in Government were not reform-oriented.

“When we say we want reforms some of them don’t know where we are coming from and where we are going because they are Johnny come lately,” she added.

“I can assure you we shall remain focused on the reform agenda even if they keep shouting the loudest, she added.

The Nairobi Metropolitan Minister Mutula Kilonzo dismissed Raila’s claims as “wishful thinking.”

“PNU coalition is fighting for national unity while the PM is working for division”, said the Mbooni MP.

Ndaragwa MP Jeremiah Kioni termed Raila’s sentiments as �scapegoating over his failures as the supervisor and coordinatorof Government functions.

He claimed the PM had lost political clout even within his ODM party Naivasha MP John Mututho dismissed claims that a clique surrounding the President is frustrating Raila.

“He is frustrating himself and the Government has tried its best to facilitate his work,” the PNU MP said.

He said Kenyans are tired of endless bickering in the coalition and are only interested in the revival of the economy. Rongai MP Luka Kigen asked Raila to reveal more so as to let Kenyans know what is happening.

“He should inform the public what Kibaki has been doing so that Kenyans can demand that he respects the Constitution,” Kigen added.

The MP said it was clear the two were equal partners and Kibaki should not purport to be senior to Raila. He said the PM did the right thing to refuse to issue a joint communiqu� with President after Kilaguni. Cherangany MP Joshua Kutuny said the national accord could not be renegotiated and the two should just work together.

Kutuny said the PM; “with his little powers” should do his work to win the confidence of the Cabinet. The MP said it was ironical that for the past one year the PM has been moving around the country assuring Kenyans he has been in consultation with the President.

“We are surprised he is now accusing him of dishonesty. He should swallow his pride and work,” he added

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source.standard.ke

The international community should form task force mandated to deal with all negotiations with pirates if need be. The fact that ship owners from different countries deal with the pirates and some of them give into the demands and pay ransom secretly must stop. This way of doing things encourage the pirates to go on capturing the ships.

The body to be formed to handle any negotiations that may arise, should be equiped in such a manner that they can go offshore and deal with the pirates before they get the opportunity to capture any ships. The pirates’ families must be involved in solving the problem. It is a fact that the families of active pirates benefit from the ransom paid and the only way to stop this is by punishing the beneficiaries by going after them and getting back all assests bought using the ransom money. (API)

Obama administration officials are working to augment the international anti-piracy task force off the Somali coast, even as efforts continue to free the American captain still held by pirates on a lifeboat from the container ship.

At a State Department press event, Clinton called those holding ship captain Richard Phillips nothing more than criminals. She said numerous U.S. assets including the Navy and Federal Bureau of Investigation are being brought to bear to end the hostage situation and bring the pirates to justice.

An anti-piracy resolution by the U.N. Security Council in December authorized countries around the world to deploy patrol vessels in anti-piracy operations off Somalia and warships from at least a dozen countries – including the United States, Russia, China, India and Japan — are currently deployed.

Clinton spoke after concluding a meeting that included the piracy issue with Defense Secretary Robert Gates and their Australian counterparts. She said the administration is seeking a 21st-Century response to a centuries old problem, which should involve more task force contributors and also address the issue of Somalia’s chronic instability.

“We are looking for ways to increase the effectiveness of what we are doing, including the recruitment of additional partners to be part of the surveillance work that is done. But we also understand that the instability in Somalia is a contributing factor to those who take to the seas in order to board ships, hijack them, intimidate and threaten their crews, and then seek ransom,” she said.

The incident involving the container ship Maersk Alabama began Wednesday when pirates boarded the vessel some 500 kilometers off the Somalia coast. The 20-man crew regained control of the Danish-owned, U.S.-flagged ship. But captain Phillips was taken hostage – an apparent voluntary act to spare other crew members – as the pirates fled aboard a lifeboat.

A tense confrontation has continued since, with a U.S. Navy destroyer on the scene and negotiators led by the FBI talking to the pirates. Defense Secretary Gates was sparing in his remarks about the situation, given the sensitivity of the case. “We are monitoring the situation very closely. The safe return of the captain is the top priority. We obviously have a naval presence in the area and other assets. And we are obviously looking at our options. But again foremost in our minds is the safety of the captain,” he said.

The United Nations says Somali pirates carried out at least 120 attacks on ships last year and netted combined ransom payoffs of about $150 million dollars.

The rate of hijackings slowed early this year as international patrolling increased in the relatively narrow Gulf of Aden, but there has been a surge of attacks in recent days in the Indian Ocean far off the Somali coast.

Over the past week, pirates have seized a German cargo ship, a French yacht, a Taiwanese fishing vessel and a Yemeni tugboat. The seized American ship had been bound for Mombassa, Kenya with a load of relief supplies for the U.N. World Food Program.

source.voanews.US

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If the above is true as the writer says, then Kenyans�are back to square one if they do not whole-heartedly give way for real reformists learders including the Prime Minister. What the writer is saying is that Karua has had many chances to show her disatisfaction to Kenyans and yet she chose to stay on until now.

Will her resignation help Kenya in anyway and her wanting to get the top seat is also another thing to watch. If Karua wants to stand in 2012 and if there is fear that she may spoil votes for Uhuru Kenyatta – is that not what democracy is all about? If Uhuru and Karua share votes, and none of them wins, surely then Kenya will get another leader who may even be a better reformist. In the past year, the PM has shown what he can do if he is given the opportunity. May be enabling him to lead for 5 years after Kibaki may take Kenya to new heights, who knows before it is done.

And many have noted how the PM has been side-lined in the past few weeks. One wonders why this is happening. It is easy to see that his detractors seemingly fear that if the PM continues serving the Kenyans the way he does, and managing well,��with limited resources and limited co-operation from his PNU colleagues, he may shine and get the upper hand during the 2012 elections. If it is so, are such leaders for the people or only thinking of their own political careers?

Even people who have not been supporters of the PM can see things clearly, -��when and where he gets sabotaged is very clear to all. API)

Raila tells the Kenyan people that the ongoing crisis is bigger than the people understand. Kenyans must take the PM seriously and show interest in what is going on so that the country is not taken back to the violent period experienced� a year ago where many lives were lost.

The President and the PM will be to blame if they do not move the country in the right direction. People lost their beloved and others lost their dear property. The two leaders should be able to look at things in a way that will favour the Kenyan people and not only those closer to them – those having thoughts of getting to the top in their political careers, giving no thoughts to the people who are in need of clear leadership. (API)

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This week, Mr Raila Odinga marks his first anniversary since he was sworn in as Kenya’s second Prime Minister. He spoke to OSCAR OBONYO on his successes and challenges.

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PM: It is a great moment for me and fellow Kenyans. Mzee Jomo Kenyatta was the first holder of the office in 1962, and just like myself, he shared power with the then Queen of England, who was Head of State of British colonial governments.

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No. It was independence era and Kenyans were all proudly united behind Kenyatta. Unknown to many today, the first real presidential election in the country was held in 1992 as previous holders never experienced political challenge. They were endorsed “unopposed”. This means that for the forty-six years that we have been independent as a State, Kenyans have elected their President only four times.

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Although Kenyatta was the country’s accepted political leader, he served as PM and not President, because Kenya had not fully attained the status of a Republic. However, the current office of Prime Minister was created out of the 2007 poll fiasco — to break the political stalemate between Kibaki and I.

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Ours is modelled along the Tanzanian arrangement, where the President is Head of State and the PM executes the functions of Government. However, the arrangement technically elevates the status of the Kenyan Prime Minister over the Tanzanian or Ugandan one, because in our case, the PM is a coalition partner in Government.

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That was just to demonstrate to Kenyans the bigger picture of the chaos in matters of protocol in Government.

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Running of Government as a team is quite a difficult task. There have all along been micro-issues in the coalition, which I have ignored preferring to forge ahead and deliver to the people of Kenya in the hope that we shall address management hiccups at a later stage.

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Correct. And we listed “Management of Coalition Affairs” on the agenda. But our PNU counterparts wanted it struck off arguing that it amounted to renegotiating the National Accord. The point is � you cannot stop a partner from bringing up an agenda for discussion. The much you can do is wait, discuss and shoot it down.

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Kenya has been a one-party State for such a long time and under authoritarian, imperial presidency that has over the time emasculated other institutions. The other problem has got to do with the people’s mindset with regard to the office of the presidency, which Kenyans have all along considered to be above everything else. The President’s men and women, in particular, cannot simply stomach the idea power is being shared with other people.

Is this part of the sticking issue between your office and that of (Francis) Muthaura?

Sure. Despite the creation of the Office of Prime Minister, we still operate as before. We have the office of Head of Civil Service, which is practically moribund, yet its occupant continues to summon and instruct Permanent Secretaries across the ministries. This is now the responsibility of my office but some perceive my role as one that erodes presidential powers.

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I have created an effective institution with the capacity to discharge its duties as enshrined in the Constitution. We began from scratch, with the recruitment of staff. Over the time we have managed to get the Efficient Monitoring Unit, previously under the Office of the President, and Inspectorate of State Corporations, among others, under my docket.

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There are many ongoing projects, including conservation of the Mau Forest, a new railway line, ports at the Coast, the rehabilitation of Eastleigh as a model urban estate and of course the Kazi kwa Vijana project. There is also the PM’s roundtable that brings together members of the business community to raise and discuss development concerns with Government. Now, there is even a private sector desk in the office of the PM and I presume relations with Government have greatly improved.

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No. I am firmly on the Mau question. There will be no forceful evictions. After the tabling of the Mau Report in the Cabinet, I will begin consultations with leaders and residents to make them understand that Mau holds the future for this country, particularly for Rift Valley and western Kenya. We have to do something, just like other regions have already secured their water towers in Mt Kenya and Elgon. In the meantime, I plan to lead tree-planting sessions in the forest.

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I cannot disclose everything to you at this stage. However, the situation is worse than most people imagine and soon everything will come out to the open.

source.standard.ke

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Kenyan people require no baby-sitter. And yet now we see that the leaders accept Annan’s baby-sitting services, paying him well for the job. Has it really become impossible for Kenyan leaders to run the country? It is a shame to have a foreigner baby-sitting the Kenyans all the time the leaders disagree, due to pressure from their constituents, as we now see PNU and ODM constituents grumbling fighting for power and how to divide it between themselves, so that the Kenyan people may get the opportunity to enjoy benefits of a coalition government as in other countries. (API)