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Archive for April 12th, 2010

Baba…. Nigeria military man may take over as new president in 2011

Posted by African Press International on April 12, 2010

Ex-military ruler to run for Nigeria presidency

ABUJA, Monday (Reuters)

Nigeria’s former military leader Ibrahim Babangida, who ruled Africa’s most populous country from 1985-1993, plans to run for president in next year’s election, his spokesman said on Monday.

“Yes, General Babangida has decided to contest for the presidency under the (People’s Democratic Party) in the 2011 presidential election,” spokesman Kassim Afeagbu told Reuters.

“He is only waiting for the party timetable before he will formally declare.”

source.nation.ke

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SIERRA LEONE: A ballooning drug problem

Posted by African Press International on April 12, 2010


Photo: Nancy Palus/IRIN

Those running this centre for substance abuse and mental illness in Freetown are working to expand their capacity to meet a growing need

—————

FREETOWN,  – Some 30 people trying to beat addiction to drugs like cocaine, marijuana, alcohol and heroin – locally known as “brown-brown” – are on a waiting list for ‘City of Rest’, Sierra Leone’s only residential drug rehabilitation centre, in the capital, Freetown.

“It’s terrible, and the need [for drug abuse intervention] has increased so much. Parents come with their children and we have to refuse them for lack of space,” said the centre’s director, Pastor Morie S. Ngobeh.

The facility – which also helps people with mental illness – has space for 40 patients. “Let nobody deceive you – Sierra Leone’s drug use problem is increasing … daily,” he told IRIN.

Local consumption of illicit drugs is a rising concern in West Africa, which is a trafficking hub, according to participants at a UN conference in Freetown on tackling organized crime and trafficking.

“For every ton of cocaine that passes through Sierra Leone a couple of kilograms will stop here,” Kellie Conteh, coordinator in the Office of National Security, told IRIN.

Relapses down
At the City of Rest centre for substance abuse and mental illness, a young man looks out a window, a dejected expression on his face. He has failed the centre’s post-treatment trial period, but Pastor Morie S. Ngobeh, the director, has faith that the youth will succeed next time.

Relapses among drug addicts treated at the centre have diminished significantly since trial periods were introduced in 2008.

In the first week after treatment people leave the centre during the day but return at night. In the second week they spend most of the time outside, with daytime visits to the centre, and are tested to determine whether they have remained drug-free.

“If they do these two weeks with no drugs they are ready to graduate, but only if we’ve set them up with something to do,” Ngobeh said. “But even after this we keep in touch with them for a year.” He showed IRIN the completion certificate.

“Some of them have never had a diploma or certificate before.”

“This feeds into local consumption; our youths, who are out there in their thousands, unemployed and poor, they get into this, and the more of them who get into this habit, the closer we will get to a catastrophe that will be very difficult to handle.”

Most users are poor and often turn to crime to support their habit, Ngobeh said. “Stealing, pilfering, violence in the streets – all these things are happening because of drugs. These youths want money for drugs and they will stop at nothing. Those who … come from rich families take cocaine.”

Prayer, training

During the interview in Ngobeh’s office one can hear the laughter of people watching a television show, the voices of others praying, and the rattling of chains used for addicts who are at risk of harming themselves or others. Only three of the 40 residents came voluntarily; the rest were brought in by parents or the police, according to Ngobeh.

City of Rest offers rehabilitation, prayer and counselling, help with finding work, and vocational training to help recovering addicts become self-reliant. “We don’t just send them back into society; we work with parents or sponsors to help find a job for them, or [help them] return to university or college,” he said.

This presents another challenge. About 60 percent of young people in Sierra Leone are unemployed, according to the government, and many youths told IRIN lack of work is the reason many use drugs.


Photo: Nancy Palus/2010

“Young people are frustrated with being idle,” said Joe*, who sells marijuana in Freetown.

Pointing to youths sitting around on benches, smoking joints and downing small sachets of gin – available from vendors everywhere – Joe told IRIN: “We are all skilled workers here … but there is no work. Youths use marijuana to ease their minds.”

Ngobeh said the government should tackle the problem urgently. “They need to look at the situation; otherwise the next generation will be useless. Yes, there’s no joke about it.” He suggested that they make use of recovered addicts in the fight against trafficking in West Africa.

“We need to take a giant to kill a giant. [The authorities] are putting people at the border to stop cocaine, to stop these drugs coming in; but these people have no idea,” Ngobeh commented. “If you train people who are rehabilitated and put them at the border, there is no way drugs will pass there; these people will detect them.”

City of Rest, officially opened in 1996, is financed by private church donations. People come from all over Sierra Leone and neighbouring countries, and even Sierra Leoneans from Europe have sought treatment there. A new facility to house 70 people is being built just outside Freetown; pending financial support, centres will be set up in other regions of Sierra Leone, including Bo and Makeni, Ngobeh said.

*not real name

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TANZANIA: Too much work, too little school

Posted by African Press International on April 12, 2010


Photo: AMREF/Chris White

Lucky for some…poverty keeps many children out of school in Zanzibar (file photo)

———–

STONETOWN,  – Malindi fish market in Zanzibar’s Stonetown is a bustle of economic activity, but the prospect of a quick buck attracts too many children who should be in school, say activists.

“The children want to go to school but they have to [work to] support their parents,” Mubarak Maman, Zanzibar Programme Manager for Save the Children, told IRIN.

In the market, they are mostly seen serving tea or selling snacks in the morning and early afternoon when the fishermen arrive with the day’s catch.

The situation is replicated across East Africa’s spice islands. Despite a global reputation as a major tourist destination, the semi-autonomous Zanzibar islands are poor – fuelling child labour and exploitation.

“When you go to Pemba [one of Zanzibar's constituent islands], there is a large number of children involved in fishing and rock-breaking for gravel,” Maman said. “The parents say they cannot afford to send the children to school.”

However, according to a 2001 assessment by the International Labour Organization (ILO), children in Zanzibar face a tougher time working in clove plantations and seaweed farms, as well as in the hotel and tourism sector. Many are also engaged in child prostitution.

More than 100,000 children between the ages of five and 17 are employed in Zanzibar, according to a 2006 government survey.

Hamza, 15, a juice seller for a year, said he works six hours daily, earning about 7,000 Tanzanian shillings (US$5), most of which goes to his older brother. The remainder is sent off to his parents on the mainland.

“My parents are poor, they could not afford to keep me in school,” he said, adding that he would like to return to school. “I am afraid that if I ask my brother to take me back to school he may send me back home to my parents.”

Education

Basic education in Zanzibar is compulsory for 10 years – six years of primary and four of secondary school – but there are no legal provisions for enforcement. There are also other costs, such as uniforms, which lock out the poor.


Photo: Ann Weru/IRIN
A large number of children are involved in fishing

The perception of low returns on education means parents and children value short-term gains from child labour at the expense of education, according to Zanzibar’s 2009-2015 National Action Plan (NAP) for the elimination of child labour.

“For the majority of children who do not go beyond Basic Education, the prospects for gainful employment are minimal,” it stated. This contributes to low demand for schooling and high drop-out rates.

Maman of Save the Children said it was not easy to draw a line between working children and domestic labour. “This is because some of the children work and then go to school; others are not working but are in exploitative situations,” he explained.

Some residents also consider it a form of training for the children to take on future roles, such as fishing.

Raising awareness

Fatma Rashid, a liaison officer with ILO in Zanzibar, told IRIN that while child labour was a big problem, community awareness about its effects was low.

“We use mass media for awareness, conduct seminars… we invite parents and shehas [community leaders] to go back and educate others,” said Rashid.

ILO is developing a school curriculum so that children in schools are aware of the issues, she said.

According to the NAP, weak implementation capacity and lack of coordination among agencies, together with poor awareness of child rights and weak enforcement of laws and regulations, need to be addressed.

The application of labour laws mainly in the formal sectors has left informal and traditional sectors – the main employers of children – unregulated.

The NAP expects to address these issues and undertake a review of the school curriculum to enhance relevance in addressing local community needs with a view to improving enrolment and retention.

A child labour steering committee, comprising officials from relevant agencies, will provide implementation guidance.

“The child protection issue is overlapping; it is the responsibility of many departments. There is a need for national coordination among the various actors as well as awareness-raising to encourage people to report cases of child abuse,” said Maman.

“There should be a legal framework to make it mandatory to report for whoever comes across such a case.”

Asha Aboud Mzee of the NGO, Catalyst Organization for Women Progress in Zanzibar, said women should be involved. “If something happens, they [the women] do not know where to report,” she said.

aw/mw source.irinnews

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SIERRA LEONE: Pastor Morie S. Ngobeh, “The joy of seeing them free is what I love”

Posted by African Press International on April 12, 2010


Photo: Nancy Palus/IRIN

Pastor Morie S. Ngobeh says local use of narcotics threatens a generation

———

FREETOWN,  – Pastor Morie S. Ngobeh, who puts his age at “over 70”, has been spat on and stabbed by addicts at a centre for drug abuse and mental illness in Sierra Leone’s capital, Freetown. He told IRIN how he got into counselling drug abusers.

“God just put this burden on my heart. I went to Bible college to pursue pastoral work. One day I saw small boys in the street; I was curious what they were up to so I approached them. They insulted me saying: ‘We don’t want any policemen around here.’ I told them I was not a policeman. They said I was lying and told me to leave. I insisted I was not police. Then they said: ‘Buy some bread for us’. I did.

“I realized they were smoking cannabis. I also saw that some of them lived in the streets, not with their parents. I was touched. I started visiting them in the ghettos. I invited them to my home. [In some cases] I worked on reconciling them with their parents. Children started coming around [to] my home; many were not ready to be free [from drugs], but came for food.

“Some of those going through treatment [for addiction at the centre] get violent. One woman took a knife and put it in my leg here.” He showed a scar from the 2003 incident. “Blood started oozing out. But that lady has now been set free. Now when she sees me she greets me; even if she’s in her car she brakes and gets out and hugs me and says ‘This is my Daddy’.

“The joy of seeing them free is what I love…They spit in my face, stone me, insult me, insult my mother, insult my father. ‘You are a bastard’, ‘You are this or that’, ‘You are a fake pastor’. So many things. But one needs to have courage. One needs to have patience and empathy. What if I were in their position?

“My doctor once told me, ‘Pastor if you stay together with these people you will go mad.’ I said, ‘By the grace of God I will not go mad. Because God has called me to do this, I will not go mad.’ I am their magistrate, I am their lawyer, I counsel them; even if they need me at midnight I am there.

“When they quarrel, I make peace and ask them to embrace themselves with these words: ‘I love you’.”

np/sr/cb source.irinnews

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AFRICA: Donors spend more for health, governments less

Posted by African Press International on April 12, 2010


Photo: Gnerk/Flickr
Whose money is behind health care spending?

DAKAR,  – In Africa government spending on health care, as a percentage of national expenses, rose just 0.3 percent from 2001 to 2007, while donor funding of the sector during the same period increased from 15.3 to 20.1 percent, according to a review of 52 African countries’ health spending by The Global Fund to Fight AIDS, Tuberculosis and Malaria.

In the 1990s donors spent US$7.5 billion on health care worldwide, $21.8 billion in 2007.

Below are some highlights from the report:

  • Donors covered 43 percent of health care expenses in Ethiopia in 2006, up four times from 2002. Over the same period donor backing for health care in Benin dropped 10 percent to 13.4 percent
  • Donors spent $43.74 per person in development assistance to health (DAH) in Namibia in 2007 versus 65 US cents in Mauritius
  • DAH increased the most in East Africa from 2002 to 2006 (19.6 to 28.4 percent), versus 22 percent in West and Central Africa, 20.3 percent in Southern Africa and 11.5 percent in North Africa
  • In 2007 half of African countries set aside at least 5 percent of their national income for health care
  • In 2007 seven African countries spent less than 5 percent of total budgets on health care, compared to eight in 2001
  • Patients in Africa’s lowest income countries paid out-of-pocket for more than half their health care, with governments pitching in 46 percent
  • By 2007 four countries had met or all but met the Abuja Declaration goal of spending 15 percent of annual budgets on health: Burkina Faso (14.8 percent), Botswana (17.3 percent), Djibouti (15.1 percent) and Rwanda (18.8 percent). Liberia and Malawi had exceeded the target in 2006 at 16.4 and 18 percent, respectively, but then dropped to 6.4 and 12.1 percent in 2007
  • Botswana and Rwanda had the biggest jumps in health care spending as a percentage of overall expenses from 1999 to 2007 – 8.9 and 9.7 percent, respectively, while Ghana and Benin had the largest drops – 6.1 and 3.6 percent
  • Nigeria spent 3.5 percent of its 2007 budget on health care, a nearly 2-percent drop since 1999. The oil sector has accounted for more than 80 percent of government revenue, according to Extractive Industries Transparency Initiative

Report authors note that a failure to report by some donors and governments (latest data available for Somalia from 2001) precludes accurate and complete analysis.

pt/np source.irinnews

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DRC: Half a million children at risk of malnutrition

Posted by African Press International on April 12, 2010


Photo: Aubrey Graham/IRIN

Malnutrition increases the risk of disease and early death (file photo)

——-

KINSHASA, – About 530,000 children younger than five and more than a million women need urgent nutritional support in the Democratic Republic of Congo, says the Ministry of Health. Officials are calling for more resources for prevention and treatment and for agricultural production to be improved.

“At least 700 children under-five die each day in the five provinces where only 20 percent of children have a varied diet,” Victor Makwenge, the Minister of Health, said.

An estimated one million women aged 15-49 are malnourished in Equateur, Orientale, Occidental, Katanga and Maniema provinces, Makwenge added.

A 2009 study by the national nutrition programme in the provinces, which represent about half the national population, found global acute malnutrition rates above the 15 percent emergency threshold in children under five in some regions.

The rate was highest at 16 percent in Orientale and Occidental provinces, 15 in Equateur and 14 and 11 in Katanga and Maniema, respectively. The study was funded by the UN Children’s Fund (UNICEF) and the World Food Programme (WFP).

In the Popokabaka territory of Bandundu Province at least 1,310 malnourished children have been registered at CARITAS Germany feeding centres. Of these, 982 are still malnourished and 12 have died, according to CARITAS.

Malnutrition remains a serious threat to the survival and development of children and women in the DRC, noted UNICEF’s representative in the country, Pierrette Vu Thi.

“Studies have shown that the risk of death is four times higher for moderately malnourished children… the risk is eight times higher for those with severe acute malnutrition than in healthy children,” said Vu Thi.

Years of conflict and instability in the east and northeast, as well as a financial crisis affecting the mining sector in central and southeast DRC, had adversely affected an already precarious household nutrition situation.

Vu Thi noted that limited access to healthcare and potable water, poor hygiene and feeding habits and the lack of agricultural inputs as well as the practice of monoculture, were also to blame.

Early marriages and the low socio-economic status of women were contributory factors, she added.

According to recent assessments, WFP said, 75 percent of the country is food insecure. Only the Kivu provinces have lower levels of malnutrition due to a large aid agency presence.

Integrated response

“We need an integrated multi-sectoral response. We should increase the health budget and review our nutrition policy,” said Makwenge.

The government and other nutrition stakeholders are set to establish nutritional surveillance and rapid alert systems in the next year. In the medium and long term, they envisage the allocation of adequate resources to various health sectors, agriculture, water and sanitation, family planning and the ranking of nutrition as a priority in the national budget.

Inadequate funding has remained a significant barrier. In 2010, at least US$6 million was allocated to the health sector; $49 million is required in the short term and $127 million in the long term, according to the health ministry.

According to Vu Thi, UNICEF spends at least $11 million annually in malnutrition prevention and treatment in the DRC. WFP is also providing nutritional support to at least one million vulnerable people, including 27,000 pregnant and nursing mothers, 400,000 school-children and more than 177,000 malnourished children.

At least 896,600 children could die if malnutrition is not eradicated by 2015, warned Makwenge.

edm/aw/mw source.irinnews

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The President has died – Poland is mourning deep scars left behind

Posted by African Press International on April 12, 2010

We in API give our heartfelt condolences to the people of Poland during this difficult moment as they mourn the sudden death of their leaders. We assure them we are with them and the world is also  with them in prayer. (API)

Poles mourn leader after plane crash

Russia's Prime Minister Putin and Poland’s Ambassador to Russia Bahr stand near the coffin of Polish President Kaczynski as they attend a farewell ceremony at Smolensk airport. Reuters

Russia’s Prime Minister Putin and Poland’s Ambassador to Russia Bahr stand near the coffin of Polish President Kaczynski as they attend a farewell ceremony at Smolensk airport. Reuters

Posted Sunday, April 11 2010 at 16:43

WARSAW/SMOLENSK, Russia, Sunday

Shocked and grieving Poles observed two minutes of silence for President Lech Kaczynski and much of their country’s elite on Sunday, a day after they were killed in a plane crash in Russia.

The elderly Tupolev plane crashed in thick fog near Smolensk in western Russia on Saturday, killing all 97 people on board. Kaczynski had been planning to mark the 70th anniversary of the massacre of Polish officers by Soviet forces in a nearby forest.

Russian Prime Minister Vladimir Putin saw off Kaczynski’s coffin at a short ceremony at Smolensk. A military plane was due to fly it to Warsaw, and Polish officials said Kaczynski would lie in state at a date still to be decided.

Millions of mourners in this staunchly Roman Catholic nation packed into churches to pray for the dead. Thousands thronged the area in front of the presidential palace in Warsaw, transformed into a shrine festooned with flowers, candles, Polish red and white flags and portraits of the deceased.

Acting President Bronislaw Komorowski and Prime Minister Donald Tusk also laid candles as sirens rang at noon.

Komorowski has declared a week of national mourning and has urged Poles to set aside their political differences at this time. Kaczynski, a combative right-wing nationalist, was a controversial figure who made many enemies.

“We worked together to build Polish democracy,” said Lech Walesa, leader of the Solidarity movement that overthrew communism in 1989 and to which Kaczynski had belonged.

“Differences later pushed us apart… But that is a closed chapter now,” said Walesa, who often sparred with Kaczynski.

Kaczynski’s twin brother Jaroslaw, leader of Poland’s main opposition Law and Justice Party (PiS) and a close political ally, flew to the crash site on Saturday to help identify the bodies.

Stability

The chief of Poland’s armed forces, the head of its navy, its central bank governor, opposition lawmakers and Kaczynski’s wife Maria were among those killed in the crash.

Despite Poles’ deep sense of loss, officials and analysts said the crash should not pose any serious threat to the political and economic stability of Poland, a staunch member of NATO and the European Union.

“We continue to monitor the situation and are ready to take various decisions, but we don’t expect anything dangerous for the Polish economy to happen,” Michal Boni, an aide to Tusk, told a news conference on Sunday.

Ordinary Poles said the crash would leave deep scars.

“I thought to myself this is a moment I’ll always remember. Our grandparents lived through the war, our parents’ generation experienced martial law (in 1981-83) and this is the big shock of today’s younger generation,” said Agata Malinowska, 22, a sociology student at Warsaw University.

World leaders expressed shock and sorrow. Putin, whose country is Poland’s historic foe, told Poles: “This is a tragedy for us too. We feel your pain.”

Komorowski said he would set the date of a presidential election which had been due in October after holding talks with Poland’s political parties. Under the constitution the election must now be held by late June.

The moustachioed, bespectacled Komorowski, 58, is the presidential candidate of Tusk’s ruling pro-business, pro-euro Civic Platform (PO). Opinion polls suggest he would have defeated Kaczynski in the election.

Analysts said they expected an upsurge of sympathy for Kaczynski’s PiS but added that it was too early to predict whether this would translate into votes.

While the Polish president’s role is largely symbolic, he can veto government laws. Kaczynski had irked Tusk’s government several times by blocking health, media and pensions reforms.

Russian factor

The pilot of Kaczynski’s plane ignored several orders from air traffic control not to land, the deputy chief of the Russian Air Force’s general staff, Alexander Alyoshin, was quoted as saying by the Interfax news agency.

Kaczynski, often at odds with Tusk’s centrist government and the EU, was a staunch critic of Putin’s Russia. Putin had invited Tusk, not Kaczynski, to ceremonies last Wednesday marking the Katyn massacre anniversary.

Poles noted the irony of a crash that claimed the lives of so many members of Poland’s elite near the spot where Josef Stalin’s NKVD secret police shot dead some 22,000 Polish officers and intellectuals in 1940, wiping out much of the country’s wartime leadership.

Putin and Tusk had pledged at their Katyn commemoration last week to work to overcome such painful historic memories.

In a further gesture of Russian solidarity, President Dmitry Medvedev expressed his condolences to the Polish nation on Saturday evening in an unprecedented television address. Russia has declared April 12 a day of mourning for the crash.

Poland and Russia both said they planned investigations into the causes of the crash. (Reuters)

Source.nation.ke

Posted by  Sammy, Chief editor African Press International

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Kenya: Ruto not afraid of anybody – he is the bull in the Rift valley with large number of voters for sure, but can he win the presidency?

Posted by African Press International on April 12, 2010

Now it is done. They have split. The PM Odinga and minister Ruto will now fight one another politically.  He may win the referendum but what about the big thing – the presidency.  (API)

Ruto: I am not afraid to lead ‘NO’ campaign

By Edwin Cheserek and Vincent Bartoo

If the political alliance between Prime minister Raila Odinga and Agriculture minister William Ruto was on the rocks then this weekend it sank beyond salvage, save for a miracle.

A day after Raila stomped through his Eldoret North constituency, to an unexpected welcome by a huge crowd given the Ruto-led boycott by several Rift Valley MPs, the minister was on Sunday in a fighting mood, declaring he was ready to face the PM in the 2012 presidential election.

“I am not afraid of anybody because he (Raila) is a man just like me. We will see each other at the ballot box,” he said in his Kalenjin dialect.

Agriculture Minister William Ruto. A day after Prime Minister Raila Odinga stormed his Eldoret North constituency declared he was ready to face the PM in the 2012 presidential election. Photo: Peter Ochieng’/Standard

He described Raila as ungrateful leader who after accepting his victory was stolen did not intervene on behalf of youths who protested against the results and were arrested.

“I told you last time that this man is not a straightforward and trustworthy person,” he went on.

“Now that everybody knows that I am the leader of the ‘No’ campaign (on proposed constitution), people will want to know if I will change my stand. But I will campaign against the draft even if it means going it alone,” said Ruto who added the outcome of the referendum will determine who between him and Raila is popular.

Ruto chose to downplay the psychological boost Raila’s visit could have handed those who still believe it is too early to write off the PM in Rift Valley, by declaring its influence insignificant and the ripple effect as unfelt.

Speaking in Turbo, the heartland of his constituency, Ruto declared he would fight the Proposed Constitution, whose ‘Yes’ vote the PM is leading in their Orange party, to the end even if it means he will be the last man left standing.

Ruto spoke as claims swept through Orange Democratic Movement that it was because of his betrayal in Naivasha that the party lost its bid for a three-tier type of government as a check against a powerful pure presidential system.

(Read separate story page 7)

After Ruto spoke, and going by Raila’s own harsh words against Ruto it was clear the falling out precipitated by the PM’s stand on handling of post-election suspects, Mau Forest evictions, the reversed suspension of Ruto from Cabinet and now the ‘Yes’ and ‘No’ split, their alliance could be dead in the water.

It has not helped matters that Ruto appeared to seek refuge in a new tribal alliance — anchored by Deputy Prime Minister Uhuru Kenyatta and Vice President Kalonzo Musyoka — at the expense of ODM which prided itself as being in the league of America’s Democratic Party and South Africa’s apartheid crusher, ANC.

Two statements in Raila’s speech, the day before in Eldoret when the struck a reconciliatory tone, let out what he could be holding back from the public but is raging deep inside.

Cabinet reshuffle

Buoyed and elated by the crowd despite the absence of many Rift MPs, he borrowed from his bank of figurative and analogous speeches: “This is a big sign. I can see clouds gathering and it is a sign rain will fall. Whoever has eyes should see and whoever has ears should hear.”

Then in what could rekindle memories of his threat to reshuffle the ODM side of the Cabinet when President Kibaki reversed his suspension of Ruto he said: “There is a wind blowing and is going to sweep all garbage and take it to the sea.”

But speaking in Bosiebor Anglican Church the Agriculture minister asked; “What was he (Raila) looking for? Does he have anything of his here? It does not add value.”

Ruto spoke as his allies, mainly first-term MPs from Rift Valley, declared they were in the ‘No’ side, not because they were convinced it is the winning side, but to ensure they go down in history as having apposed the Draft Constitution.

Ruto, however, made no mention of the broadside delivered against him by Cabinet ministers Henry Kosgey and Dr Sally Kosgei, and the horde of Rift MPs who chose to accompany Raila.

They included Assistant minister Josphat Nanok (Turkana South) Musa Sirma (Nominated), Magerer Langat (Kipkelion), Julius Murgor (Kapenguria) and Wilson Litole (Sigor).

These included Dr Sally Kosgei’s advice to ODM supporters in North Rift on Saturday: “Claims the Prime Minister has lost popularity in the region are just misconceptions and lies peddled by those who want to lead you out of ODM.”

She added: “ODM is not dead in Rift Valley. It is still strong. If there is someone leading you out of ODM, he has lost direction. He is going nowhere.”

“I am here because the Pokot are solely behind the PM and they have sent us here to say ‘Yes’,” said Litole.

Mr Kosgey who is the Industrialisation Minister, said those opposing the Draft in the province were taking locals for a ride.

“But we are not fools. They are the same people who did not oppose the draft when it came to Parliament for passing and they are now purporting to oppose it,” he said.

He added: “We sent them there to champion our interests. But they came out of Naivasha saying they had a deal yet the draft did not have majimbo (Devolution).”

Nanok asked where the ‘dume’ (bull) of the homestead was and posed: “Why are some of our children choosing to stay outside ODM when there is a lot of cold out there and jackals?”

In response, Ruto’s confidants Mr Joshua Kuttuny (Cheragany) and Dr Julius Kones (Konoin), boasted they were not bothered by the final outcome of the referendum but want it remembered they warned Kenyans that the document was wrong.

Cosmetic reforms

“Ruto has not been abandoned by anybody. This has given him an opportunity to prove to Kenyans he is a principled man who takes a position and stands by it,” claimed Kuttuny.

He added: “The draft as it is will be a recipe for chaos on land and issues that Christians are pointing out. It is better we stand against it to the end but history will prove us right.”

Kones argued: “This is a campaign by people who don’t believe in cosmetic reforms. It is not for people who are driven by foreign interests. The ‘No’ campaign is for stability and genuine homegrown solutions.”

source. standard.ke

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