That the Interim  Independent Electoral Commission of Kenya (IIEC) has embarked on new voter registration at this stage is commendable. After all, if all what is being promised on the constitution of  a referendum this year will happen, this is  a very critical exercise. But this exercise may flop if caution is not taken. Their target is 10 million voters although various accounts have put this at  a potential number of 19 million and above.  Considering that the current Kenyan population hovers around 40 million  then   19 million number makes a lot of sense, considering that a large number of youth are already within or above the age of 18.

This is one area caution need to be taken to avoid future fighting, disputes and acrimony which unfortunately the bungled 2007 presidential election gave the  requisite impetus. That dispute deepened tribal suspicion, created dis-harmony and so much un-necessary hatred and that’s one of the main reasons the constitution review has been beset by acrimonious debates and disagreements all the way to the final debate in parliament. Everybody wants everything and nobody trust the other anymore and gives the ethnicity a lot of importance  which is unfortunately the main political characteristic of Kenya. The tribe remains the main defining factor in power competition and political organization in Kenya. The curse of the third world countries is inherently so inhibiting , destructive and prohibitive to political and economic progress in Kenya. That poverty, tribe, clan and all the evil divisive factors are critical to Kenya’s political dispensation as is in many third world countries , has seen underdevelopment or growth in many critical matters of the nation.

Some theorist have argued that Politicians more so in third world love poverty stricken and ignorant population. The theory goes that with this kid of population the politicians or the so called ‘leaders’ have an easy and gullible population and country to exploit , manipulate and when the time for their exit politics  through mostly natural causes or  are forced  (hardly voluntarily)  to leave they can supplant themselves through their scions who inherit the political machine. With that kind of population they are assured of perpetuating their designs and legacy and protect their ill gotten wealth. Kenya is no exception to all this though luckily Kenya has an increasing well informed population whose stake to wealth and economic security has been sabotaged by leaders in the past and at present.

This is where the critical issue of the vote lies. It’s embarrassing and looks hypocritical for Kenyans to continues crying fool of their politicians yet they are the same people who put them where they are and they are the same people who have been ready to murder , maim or destroy in the name of protecting their leaders and their tribe. For change to occur the vote has to do its work properly and that’s why the kind of the constitution that Kenya is looking for and the new voter registration are very critical events in Kenya at the moment. The two have the propensity to change the direction to riches, economic security and  a peaceful posterity if Kenyans get them right this time round. But this is Kenya and this is a third world country. Don’t ever expect politicians or leaders to let things just happen. Sabotage, selfishness, cruel mutilation of events, scheming and all manner of evil designs are very likely to be used to sabotage Kenyans . It has happened before and can still happen. Chances are that politicians are in high gear to deny Kenyans their deserved future.

A critical segment which should stand up is the media, civil society and the youth. Your services to Kenyan nation are needed more than ever. For instance the new voter registration exercise won’t achieve its goal ( or what it should even do much better)with the current set up of events. Don’t forget that as things stand many people don’t have a chance to register as voters as they are busy at work, displaced or don’t have vital documents. I would expect that heavy campaigns and support  to ensure total registration should be in place right now. Online registration should also be encouraged as there are many people who would like to register far away from where they are currently living or are too busy to do so.

Kenyans, don’t forget that we are quite far away in realizing the dream for our country. Kenyans , the day you learn to distrust the leaders now and in future there will be fundamental changes that will take place. Kenyans, the day you will learn to be very vigilant each and every step of the way the country will attain the dream for all. Kenyans, remember this is a third world country and the curse of evil designs sabotaging progress are  ever looming and lurking in every positive aspect that we try to make. But certainly 2012 or whatever the time the next general election will be carried, require fundamental changes to happened today. These require to be engineered today.

By Harrison  Mwirigi  Ikunda, Nairobi – Kenya

Scientists at the International Institute of Tropical Agriculture, Ibadan and partners in the Netherlands and the United States of America are a step closer to developing approaches/tools, through genome mapping, that will facilitate progress in the conventional development of improved cowpea (Vigna unguiculata L) varieties with traits such as drought-tolerance.

An IITA Lukas Brader Postgraduate Fellow, Eugene Agbicodo, who carried out the genetic analysis of drought-tolerance in cowpea and subsequently constructed a linkage map of the crop, identified portions on the cowpea genome where genes that have effects on drought-tolerance and resistance to bacterial blight could be located.

His findings have been hailed by breeders as part of landmarks for marker assisted selection in cowpea breeding.

A similar work was reported by researchers at the University of California, Riverside and researchers at the two institutions are comparing notes on the outcomes of their research to see areas of agreement, according to Christian Fatokun, Cowpea Breeder, who supervised the work at IITA.

“If both parties are able to find areas of agreement or concurrence, such areas of the genome would be of immense benefit when marker assisted selection is to be applied in cowpea breeding. So what will take about 10 years to accomplish could be done in three years or even less,” he said.

With about 70 per cent of world cowpea grown in the savannah region of Africa, the protein-rich legume provides not only incomes but also improves the health of its consumers. However, cowpea faces several production constraints among which are diseases, insect pests, parasitic weeds such as Striga, and drought which is becoming increasingly important in the cowpea producing zones of sub-Saharan Africa.

Agbicodo phenotyped and genotyped a set of cowpea recombinant inbred lines generated at IITA, Ibadan. Phenotyping was carried out in Ibadan and Kano while the genotyping was carried out at the University of Wageningen, The Netherlands.

Consequently, he constructed a cowpea genetic linkage map using the data obtained from genotyping and phenotyping. The linkage map showed molecular markers that defined quantitative trait loci (QTLs) with effects on drought-tolerance and resistance to bacterial blight among others.

The Lukas Brader Fellow will between 27 September and 1 October 2010 present his work at the 5th World Cowpea Research Conference holding in Dakar, Senegal.

Fatokun described the work as a milestone as scientists seek ways to fast track cowpea improvement.

According to him, he feels happy that technologies to quicken plant breeding are being developed.

Send in by Godwin Atser

END

Story by Dickens Wasonga in Kisumu.

Syprose Juma 77 could not hold back her joy. For several years now Juma and her neighbours in the remote village of Ongoro in Rachuonyo district had to trek many kilometers in search of water.

Yesterday the drought sticken village broke into song and dance as the Kenya Electricity generating company(KEN GEN) Managing Director and Chief Executive Officer Engineer Eddy Njoroge flanked by the company chairman Mr. Titus Mbathi handed over two water projects worth ksh.143 million to communities around Sondu as part of its corporate social responsibility.

The water projects targeting to benefit 14,000 residents of Nyakach,Kasipul Kabondo and Karachuonyo constituencies are part of KEN GEN S corporate social responsibility activities associated with the multi million Sondu Hydropower project.

The first project in Nyakach area,on the right bank of river Sondu comprises of a water regulating pond and a treatment plant with a capacity to supply 30,000 liters of water per hour.

It has a 1.5 meter high prefabricated steel tank with a storage capacity of 60,000 liters of water and a distribution network of 13 water kiosks each with a capacity of 5000 liters.

The second project on the left bank of the River will serve residents of Kabondo and Karachuonyo and comprise of six boreholes feeding three ten meter high prefabricated steel tanks complete with two storage tanks with a total of 90,000 liters capacities.

The second water project has 18 water kiosks for distribution with a capacity of 5000 liters each.

According to the MD the Ksh.143 million included the cost of drilling boreholes,civil works and power connections out of which Kengen contributed ksh.128.3 million while the community contributed ksh.14.8 million in kind including donating land,way leaves and masonry works for the kiosks.

The succesful implementation of the project that is bound to change the lives of many of the villagers was undertaken by the Wells construction limited which is reputed for competing many succesful government funded water projects mainly at the coast province where the contractor,Daniel Muli is based.

Members of parliament in whose constituencies the projects are situated praised the contractor for whom they commended for implementing the project within the contract period and asked the government institutions to consider local contractors like Muli who have demonstrated that they have the capacity to deliver the projects timely.

speaking at the ceremony Kasipul kabondo Mp Oyugi Magwanga said in the past Asian contractors have been favoured by the govenment institutions to do the projects and many times with a disapointing results.

today we have witnessed a satisfying job of one of our own contructor.what now needs to be done  by the government is to continue to award tenders to these contractors who have showed exemplary perfomance as a way of empowering them economically since they also help us creat jobs to our people. said Magwanga.

He also asked the committees that will now run the water projects to manage them well for sustainability.

As present at the handing over ceremony was Karachunyo MP engineer James Rege who is also the chairman of the parliamentary committee on energy and his Nyakach counterpart Mr.Pollyns Ochien g a,the Nyanza deputy Pc Mrs Susan Waweru among other dignitaries.

ENDS

Story by Dickens Wasonga in Kisumu.

Kasipul Kabondo MP Joseph Oyugi Magwanga yesteday asked his constituents to seek suspected criminals in their midist and lynch them.

The MP whose area has been hit with a wave of crime which left about 10 people killed in just three months by armed thugs appeared to have taken his audience who included a local Dc and members of the media by his lynch suspects appeal.

When asked to clarify his statement by journalists, Magwanga categorically sateated that the police in the district had abandoned their cardinal duty of protecting life and property  while exposing the residents to armed criminals who have literally taken over the region.

The ODM legislator said he felt the officers were working in cohooteswith the thieves because he on several occassions he has relayed information to help the cops nub the criminals in vain.

I have usually given leads passed over to me by my people to the police chiefs in this district but all they do is to use the tip offs to seek bribes from these thugs,these officers are sleeping on the job said Magwanga.

Atleast 3 people have been killed by thugs in Oyugis alone while six secondary school heads have been attacked and left nursing serous injuries in Rachuonyo north and south districts in the past one month.

In the recent incident an influential businessman in Oyugis town was killed in cold blood by thugs who waylaid him on his way home.

The thugs also took the slain man s car which they used to commit robberies in Homa bay and Rongo towns.

A bodaboda cyclist who witnessed the killing the trader was also murderd and their bodies abondoned on the scene.

Nyanza Pc francis Mutie visited the area on wednesday accampanied by the area PPO Njue Njagi where they declared that the security will be beefed up.

The PC also directed that additional security personnel be sent into the district.

Yesterday the police had arrested atleast 14 key suspects and recoverd home made guns within Oyugis town,

A team of flying squad officers from Kisumu were also dispatched into the district that now is hitting headlines over a spate of thurgery incidents.

The entire team of the district security team including the area OCPp and the DCIO had been transfered in a move aimed at cleaning up the bad elements within the force even though leaders called for their sacking and subsequent prosecution.

ENDS.

Photo: David Swanson/IRIN

Three women smile to the camera in Madang, Papua New Guinea. Indigenous people want a greater voice over resources in their areas

———–

MANILA, – Parliamentarians from 12 countries in the Asia-Pacific region have gathered in Manila for the first regional seminar highlighting the role of indigenous people in the context of climate change and mineral rights.

The three-day event, which began on 25 March, will examine innovative approaches and solutions to the impact of climate change on indigenous people.

“It’s important to have an indigenous voice to make a difference,” Carol Ann Martin, the first indigenous woman elected to the Australian parliament, told IRIN.

“The indigenous people know what is happening to the world. This conference is just so important for all of us.”

About a third of the world’s 900 million rural poor are indigenous, of whom 70 percent are in the Asia-Pacific region, according to the Asian Forum of Parliamentarians on Population and Development (AFPPD).

“We need policy reforms. Parliamentarians have a role to play,” Agatha Sangma, a member of the Indian parliament and a state minister in the Ministry of Rural Development, said.

Victoria Corpuz, head of the UN Permanent Forum on Indigenous Issues (UNPFII), said appropriate legislation – on issues such as energy resources and mining – was crucial in helping countries face the problems caused by climate change.

Indigenous people should be allowed bigger involvement in defining country policies, she said. “Indigenous people are often overlooked. They only look upon us like victims, but not as solutions to the problem. We are the ones suffering the most from climate change. We want to be more visible. We want to provide solutions to these problems,” Corpuz added.

Photo: Carmela Fonbuena/IRIN

Victoria Corpuz, chairwoman of the United Nations Permanent Forum on Indigenous Issues, says indigenous people should have a greater say in policy

A member of the Kankana-ey ethnic group in the Philippines’ Cordillera region, Corpuz cited how local governments routinely disregarded the opposition or concerns of the indigenous regarding mining activities in their communities.

“When the typhoons came, it was such devastation,” she said, referring to last year’s Typhoon Parma, which resulted in massive flooding in northern Luzon island. Heavy rains caused already soft soil in the mining areas to collapse, resulting in massive landslides.

Control over natural resources is a central focus of the conference. In the Philippines, for example, indigenous people would like to control their own renewable energy resources.

“It should be decentralized. We see what’s happening to our dams. They have been drying up because of climate change,” Corpuz said.

Resource rights

The indigenous face the same problems even in developed countries such as Australia.

One of the more pressing needs, Martin said, was having their land titled, noting that they wanted the right to develop their own resources.

For India, Sengma said policies should be “re-tooled” to focus progress on “quality not quantity”.

“We have to have harmony with nature. We are a fast-growing economy. Rural India should grow alongside urban India. Quantity is different from quantity. These are two different things,” Sengma stressed.

Among the 12 countries represented at the conference were India, Australia, the Philippines, Thailand, Nepal, Indonesia, Malaysia and New Zealand.

cf/ds/mw source.irinnews

Photo: Jason Gutierrez/IRIN

Men haul scrap to burn as fuel and to rebuild their homes in a Manila slum that was destroyed by typhoons in 2009

————-

MANILA,  – Filipino authorities say the country has learned tough lessons in disaster risk management after the deadly storms last year, but warn that a “culture of disaster” still prevails.

Officials say the government has been working diligently to relocate thousands of families before this year’s typhoon season but raising awareness about disaster prevention and appropriating sufficient funds to head off potential problems remain major challenges.

According to the government’s Strategic National Action Plan, prepared with UN experts and released this month, the “commitment of a budget to DRR [disaster risk reduction] is not yet a practice” in this archipelago of more than 7,100 islands that is hit by an average 20 typhoons annually.

“Threats remain if the level of awareness about dealing with hazards is low and when little focus on risks is considered whenever one [has to] a make a decision,” the document, which spells out areas of vulnerability to strengthen institutional responses to disasters within the next 10 years, states.

“In the worst case, this behaviour may manifest a culture of disasters rather than a culture of prevention,” the study said, as it called on the government to step up funding for DRR. “The message is that risk awareness must penetrate all levels of government, and in households, firms and offices.”

It noted, however, that the current level of expenditure by government for disaster response was “nearly equal to the damage losses incurred during last year” at 0.31 percent of gross domestic product.

Poverty and vulnerability

Ida Mae Fernandez, regional programme officer of the International Organization for Migration (IOM), which helped to relocate those affected by typhoons last year, said all too often vulnerabilities arose because of poverty.

Photo: Jason Gutierrez/IRIN Children play precariously near a river in Manila where a sprawling slum has been rebuilt after a string of deadly typhoons

While there has been a sustained increase in government’s dealing with the donor community to create a culture of resilience, years of poor urban planning have led to certain problems.

“From IOM’s interventions for and interactions with the affected communities post-Ketsana, what is more stark is the current lack of options of dry places to live in,” Fernandez told IRIN.

“A number of families have been offered relocation alternatives; still a significant number have nowhere to go, as of yet.”

Tropical storm Ketsana dumped record rains when it struck in late September, covering 80 percent of Manila. A week later Typhoon Parma battered the northern part of Luzon island, triggering landslides and damaging agricultural land. A third typhoon, Mirinae, came in October.

The government said more than 10 million people were affected.

While many have returned to rebuild their homes, about 25,000 remain displaced and would likely be staying in shelters until the next typhoon season arrives towards the end of May or early June.

Ricardo Saludo, head of the Philippine reconstruction commission created after the disaster, said those living in slums along riverbanks and waterways in Manila and surrounding areas were still vulnerable.

As of March, he said more than 8,700 families or about 61,000 people had been relocated at a cost of more than US$22 million.

All in all, he said the reconstruction programme for the housing sector alone involved the relocation of an estimated 125,265 families, with a bill projected at $650 million in the next two years.

“The scale of the housing reconstruction programme and the concern for viability and sustainability of resettlement areas require inputs from various sectors,” Saludo told IRIN.

“The reconstruction and rehabilitation is focused on building back better structures, with disaster risk reduction incorporated in the design and construction of facilities,” he said.

Local government units have also been told to enhance planning programmes, and ensure that henceforth they “should take into consideration the vulnerabilities of the communities to disasters”.

This means locating houses away from waterways and finding the funds to relocate existing slums.

jg/ds/mw source.irinnews

Photo: Peter Martell/IRIN

MAYOM, ) – Thick dust clouds obscure the horizon as the convoy of UN military observers sets off to patrol the oil-rich, yet desperately underdeveloped Unity State in Southern Sudan.

In these borderlands, monitoring a 2005 deal that halted decades of war between north and south is a major undertaking.

“We set up a forward operating base, from where we travel to collect first-hand information on the situation,” said Andrew Wilson, one of four military observers on a patrol of the UN Mission in Sudan (UNMIS).

This four-day “long-range patrol” is designed to gather information as well as boost confidence by showing a greater UN presence in more remote areas.

“There are reports of cattle raiding and clashes between the Dinka and Nuer groups, as well as between the Southern army and the Misseriya [cattle raiders], who come down from the north,” added Wilson, a lieutenant in the New Zealand navy.

Teams of unarmed international military observers regularly set out on patrol to assess repeated reports of cattle raiding and ethnic clashes in this highly militarized region, the south’s main oil-producing state.

Tensions are high: more than 400 people have been killed this year in clashes across the south, and over 40,000 people displaced, according to the UN Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA) in Southern Sudan.

A key part of the UNMIS mandate is to “monitor and verify” the 2005 Comprehensive Peace Agreement (CPA), to investigate violations, as well as to observe and log the “movement of armed groups” and redeployment of forces.

But monitoring movements in this remote region is tough.

“This is an enormous area, and mobility is a key issue – it includes one of the largest freshwater swamps in the world,” said Sandeep Jain, an Indian army colonel and force commander for UNMIS Sector 3, stretching over three states and some 200,000 sqkm.

“The ownership of weapons by civilians is high – this is a population that has borne the brunt of conflict for many years,” Jain added.

On the ground

Observers drive out to areas of concern, interviewing civilian and security officials, as well as people in the markets, about the problems they face and their concerns.

“Understanding what the people are worried about, and what the issues are in the market place, is an important part of assessing the situation too,” said Wilson.

Photo: Peter Martell/IRIN

International UNMIS military observers gather information on the security situation from local herdsman in Unity State

Before dark, the team returns to the temporary base – a basic camp with mosquito nets strung from trees, offering shade but little respite from the exhausting 48C degree heat.

The first campsite recommended by local officials was abandoned after a nearby building was found to contain rusting but unexploded mortar rounds left over from the war.

Armed soldiers from the Indian army provide protection, setting up sentries and circling the camp with razor wire – to ward off wild animals and curious children as well as to stop an attack.

But the risks are real. Just one hour after a routine visit to the town of Abiemnom – some 20km from the border – the radio crackles with reports of a fresh attack outside town.

Two Southern Sudan Peoples’ Liberation Army (SPLA) soldiers were killed in an attack by the Misseriya, and two others lie with bullet wounds in the basic clinic.

It is the latest in a string of clashes blamed on the armed northern pastoralist people, who traditionally move south in search of water and grazing for their cattle.

Local officials accuse the Misseriya of breaking agreements to carry only limited weapons, and of deliberately starting an attack.

“The Misseriya are coming without their cattle but with heavy weaponry – these are not the traditional cattle people of the past,” said Peter Arop, head of security in Abiemnom.

Many have bitter memories of the Misseriya, accused by the south of being a proxy militia force for the north during the war.

Others say the attacks are exaggerated. “These are just raids over water and grazing, nothing more,” said Lieutenant-Colonel Bakhit Gabir from the Northern Sudan Armed Forces (SAF), who joins the patrol alongside an SPLA counterpart.

Critics warn that both sides are keen to boost troop numbers in the region.

While elections in April are raising tensions, a key concern here is the 2,100km border –of which a third is disputed, cutting through oil fields claimed by both sides.

Another day, another challenge

The convoy turns north towards Kaikeng, heading through thick scrubland and across flat plains, where whirlwinds spin columns of dirt high into the sky.

The team approaches an SPLA camp, which according to the map, is one of the last marked settlements before the major Heglig oil field and the contested border region.

Photo: Peter Martell/IRIN

Young southern Sudanese boys in Abiemnom town, Unity State

Unlike much of the severely underdeveloped south, the dirt roads in this section are well maintained for oil industry access, with pipeline relay pumping stations heavily guarded at regular intervals.

But the observers are blocked: without permission from regional headquarters, the convoy is told to turn back.

“We cannot enter without obtaining the necessary permission,” said the SPLA officer with the patrol, Lieutenant Colonel John Madit.

The UNMIS observers retreat down the road, but in this key area all information is important.

Earlier this month, UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon welcomed an agreement to begin demarcation of agreed border areas as a “positive step” but warned more had to be done to solve contested areas.

“Resolving the border disputes in the contested areas around Abyei will be a core task for the parties in the year to come,” warned Ban in a 9 March statement. Others offer starker warnings.

“If key border areas remain undemarcated, they will be obvious wellsprings for renewed violence,” said Maggie Fick in a 16 March report for Enough, a Washington-based advocacy group.

“There will be a busy time ahead,” said Wilson wearily, on the slow drive back to base.

pm/am/mw source.irinews

This is drama. Ruto was Raila’s point-man in the last general elections 2007 and helped him to get the Kalenjin votes. This time around, Ruto wants to be elected to the high office. If Raila does not get the Rift Valley votes in the coming elections, then he must as well forget a ride to State House. This time around, the Luo community were about to reach the highest office in the land but with the fall-out now, the road to State House will be bumpy if Raila wants to go for the presidency.

A deal mis in the offing. Ruto, Uhuru and Kalonzo will make it very difficult for Raila and the Nyanza people to capture the presidency. In the Kamba side, Ngilu may support Raila as she seems to be so fond of him, while in the Rift Valley, Sirma – the nominated, not elected by the people is still hanging onto Raila and singing the Nyanza song of “Omena”. (API)

Rift Valley won’t support Raila, says Ruto

By Edwin Cheserek

Rift Valley will not support Prime Minister Raila Odinga in the 2012 General Elections, Agriculture Minister William Ruto has said.

Ruto also warned Rift Valley MPs who are still supporting Raila saying they had gone astray.

“The politics of Rift Valley is going in one direction and those who are not in this direction have gone astray and we will deal with them,” he said.

The Eldoret North MP called on the local residents to ignore the said MPs and support one of their own come the 2012 polls.

Ruto accused Raila of turning his back on the people who supported him in the 2007 General Elections.

He cited the Mau evictions, which the PM spearheaded, alleged unfair distribution of Cabinet and neglect of ODM youths in the region who were arrested over the post election violence.

“Yet he (Raila) will still traverses the region asking for your votes. This time round (in 2012) we shall say no. We need people who we can trust to champion our interests,” said Ruto.

The minister was speaking in Marakwet East on Saturday where he led four MPs in presiding over a fundraising meeting in aid of Kerio Valley Boys High School.

The MPs were Linah Kilimo (Marakwet East), Moses Lekuton (Laisamis), Charles Keter (Belgut) and Sammy Mwaita (Baringo Central).

They said Ruto will be Rift Valley’s presidential flag bearer in 2012 and that they had made up their minds about it.

Kilimo, who rode to Parliament on a Kenda party ticket, told legislators to ditch ODM.

“The suspension of Ruto from Cabinet was a clear indicator that you (MPs and Raila) are no longer friends. What are you still doing there? We are all going to rally our support behind Ruto. Woe unto those who are outside the fold,” she added.

Keter said Rift Valley MPs were no longer looking up to Raila for political direction and were firmly behind Ruto.

“Even though we are all in ODM, it is clear that our ideals and aspirations are now different,” he said.

On the Proposed Constitution, the MPs threatened to oppose it if the devolved system of government is abolished.

“I am sure we will reach consensus because majority of clauses in the proposed constitution is not our proposals as MPs, it belongs to Kenyans. Ours is just to fine-tune the document,” he said.

source.standard.ke