By Agwanda Jowi.
Nyanza based journalist Samuel Otieno  Owida whose reporting has helped expose and publicize the unsolved 2009 murder of reporter Francis Nyaruri received two anonymous threatening phone calls on Friday warning he could share Nyaruri
‘ s fate, according to local journalists.
Owida told “The Citizen Weekly”  that the caller, who claimed to be part of the local Sungu Sungu militia that operates in western Kenya , asked if he was the journalist who publicized the killing of Nyaruri and said they were on to him. In interviews with this writter, local journalists said they believe two suspects in custody for the murder of Nyaruri may be affiliated with the Sungu Sungu. The threats have forced Owida to take precautions and change locations frequently, he said.

Rachuonyo Officer Commanding Police Division Naomi Ichami was quoted in news reports as saying that the district criminal investigation officer had launched an investigation into the matter.

We are alarmed by the threats against Sam Owida and call on the authorities to thoroughly investigate, said Tom
Rhodes , Committee for Protecting Journalists  East Africa Consultant. â?oAuthorities must ensure Owida’s safety and revive
investigations into Nyaruriâ?Ts brutal murder.

A close friend of Nyaruri, Owida was the first person to identify the bound and decapitated body of the late reporter.

At the  Weekly Citizen, Nyaruri had exposed corruption by the local administration in the western town of Nyamira , the victim’s relatives said

While many journalists were afraid to cover the story, Owida spoke on vernacular radio stations in western Kenya and published reports in several newspapers highlighting Nyaruri’s murder and subsequent investigations.

ENDS..

Now we see another African loser clinging to power that has entered into his brain. Why does he not wake up and leave the Presidential palace instead of causing the Ivorians unnecessary  suffering. This man should be forcefully removed and taken to the Hague to face the ICC because he is causing deaths to the people he says he loves.

The problem with many African presidents and heads of government is that they tend to take the country as their property when they get elected. A taste of power causes some of them mad making it difficult to remove them.

The simple reason is the fact they get power, start stealing from the public. Now we hear that the head of the Ivorian army supports him. This only confirms that they have been eating public money together. They both know that if the defeated president accepts defeat, the in-coming president may look into the theft  and have him arrested.

We also hear that he is being offered safety if he relinquished power. Why should stubborn leaders who steal public funds, who are corrupt be rewarded.? The good thing now is that the world is awake. Let him accept safe landing in another country like Taylor of Liberia did when he thought he was safe in Nigeria.

There is no need for promises of safe landing. Just have him kicked out and make him answerable to the deaths he has now caused. Period.

By Chief editor Korir, African Press International

By Terence Sesay – Reporting from Liberia

Monrovia (Liberia)-As death squads continue to roam, resulting in the sharp rise of killings and kidnappings in embattled Cote d’ Ivoire, and defeated Ivorian president Laurent Gbagbo remains adamant in his desire to cling on to power, Ivorians fleeing the rising wave of insecurity have continued to flock into Liberia in search of security.

According to latest estimates, about 5,000 new arrivals are waiting in border towns in northeastern Liberia to be registered.

The latest influx will bring to nearly 20,000, Ivorian refugees who have sought refuge in Liberia since November 29.

According to UNHCR and LRRRC sources, the refugees, mostly women, children and the elderly,  are from western Cote d’Ivoire.

The refugees are not living in camps as is usually the case, but are being hosted in communities, upon the Liberian government’s request.

Relief organizations, including NGOs and UN agencies have moved in to assist these needy people.

Considering the looming insecurity in Cote d’Ivoire in the wake of Gbagbo’s refusal to relinquish power and threats by the international community, including ECOWAS, to use force to remove Gbagbo from power, the number of refugees is expected to increase further.

END

By Rev. Lainie Dowell

An Open Letter to Barack Hussein Obama And The Nation

In a manner of speaking, the world has taken leave of its collective senses. Anybody with an ounce of sense is bound to get weary of all these voices interspersed with plenty of fake denials coming from the Obama camp. Whether our discussions are about his health care, his religious affiliation (or not), his czars, his family, his intentions for America, his trustworthiness (NOT!), or anything else that comes from his mouth or his pen — we cannot feel good about what is coming from deep down inside of his hard heart. It never changes.

Is that the kind of leader worthy of having an honored position in America? Yet, the pundits continue to make excuses for his failure to obey his oath of office from the time he was in the state Senate of Illinois, the United States Senate, and on into the White House as President.

Obama has left behind him all that has historically gone on before in order to pick up a brand new thing which never should have been touched at all to his deceptive tune of “Yes We Can” (change America’s Godly culture and society)! And, much to our chagrin, the professional mainstream media helped him to get it done. And now here we sit stunned in America, our native land, twisting and turning in the wind while he pulls the strings.

The United States of America is a Republic and it is not a democracy. The will of the population is not to be scattered into the four winds with a wet finger raised in the air to test which way the political wind is blowing before leaders decide to make a move. But, what do you expect to happen in a nation when the leadership is inept, corrupt, and unfeeling, and uncaring? For example, why not hop on down to sunny Hawaii on taxpayer money and forget the people left behind out in the cold without any idea about how they’re going to get a job, keep their homes, feed their children, or buy meds all because of the mandates and edicts of ungodly, hard-hearted men and women – elected and unelected – who take their orders from Obama. Forget about our men and women in the military all over the world but, especially, on battlefields sacrificing so much. But what does Obama care???? He could care less.

Barack Obama’s manner of governing is to do nothing except by committee, unvetted czars, and unelected coalitions of like-minded individuals and organizations he calls his “partnerships.” But, America is not a nation that is to be governed by coalitions, period! It is not a parliamentarian government. In this century, why must we tolerate a sitting President who flaunts his abuse of power and authority by continuing to campaign and go around raising funds both at home and abroad for his next election years away? Obama has never once stopped electioneering on his own behalf. It is outrageous. Even now, we can hardly look at a magazine or a website without seeing Obama or his wife, Michelle, peering back at us from those pages.

Furthermore, Obama, Joe Biden, their wives, and their lobbyists bombard a select segment of the public with emails to solicit donations from them and to expand their election “fan” base. There is just no let up with them. From morning, noon, night, and in between we have chaos coming from all directions. Many times it is because of something Obama has either said or done. It is as if he has never heard the age-old adage that “too many cooks spoil the soup.”

Barack Obama Analogizes Political Governing to Driving an Automobile

Even a most inexperienced teen will understand that only one person can drive an automobile at a time. And, yet, we are all thrown into his driver’s seat to step on the brake, because Obama can’t take his foot off the gas. Full speed ahead is his motto.

In using that analogy of the automobile during the 2010 Primary Election, Obama told on his ownself. For he loves to be at the helm of everything coming his way but he runs his mouth and refuses to look in the direction where he’s headed. Full speed ahead — and there we are in the driver’s seat beside him trying to pull up the emergency brake! Obama has said that “R” stands for reverse and “D” stands for drive. Well, in my estimation, the “R” he speaks of stands for Revelation and the “D” that he has in mind stands for Demonic.

But just wait and see! When we finally pull into the station and put Obama’s car in park, we can shove Obama out the door and clarify the meaning for him of how fast he can go from the White House Executive Office. Why? Because the only way we can hope to get back control of our Constitutional government is to impeach Obama and stop going along with him and his crowd for the ride.

In 2011, we have a brand new year to get it together. And, above all, the Republican Party has to get out of its own way, if Obama is to be defeated in 2012 or before he destroys our vehicle for freedom and justice.

The Hurried and Worn

Our laws are to be deliberated in an orderly way by Congress and not delivered willy nilly in the way Nancy Pelosi (D-CA), the former House Speaker, and Harry Reid (D-NV), the past and current Senate Majority Leader, have demonstrated by their lack of regard for the Rule of Law. Their mantra is rush and then vote. And, foolishly, Republicans keep going along with them for the ride. Step on the brake!!!

If America is to thrive and not become a whipping boy for the world’s dictatorships to command as they so choose, then we have to take hold of their whip and get this country back to the Constitutional foundation of the United States of America. If there is no way to do that, then there is no way for America to survive.

However, if one man with no sense of patriotism can destroy America so easily while people who claim to have a sense of pride stand near and watch him do it, then what are we saying to our nation as a civilized and Godly people? When will the people come together against Obama and his ungodly agenda to make America into what is not his to do while whiners and puny-minded onlookers dare to lambaste the ones who stand up and speak out to demand that Obama would adhere to the Constitution and work together with Congress and the Judicial branches of government “to protect, preserve, and defend it?”

If Obama and his minions and all of his shadow government inside of our one and only legitimate government slip by citizens and make their own rules and laws, then we as a nation are doomed to reap the same fruits from the kinds of lives that Obama’s own Kenyan and Indonesian relatives have experienced, because of corrupt leaders. And America, like those nations, will also become a third-world powder keg.

If the Obama Administration and their hangers-on buddies continue to steal our money (i.e., Where is it going?); take over our livelihood (i.e., Obama said the jobs are not coming back); make our children into their secular clones (i.e., Feed them propaganda that dismisses capitalism, Constitution, and God); strike down our rule of law and legitimate government in the way Obama helped his cousin Raila Odinga to do not too many years ago (i.e., Obama uses the power of Executive Orders to circumvent Congress); then Americans will live to see blood run down the streets of our cities, towns, states, communities as never before seen across this nation.

Moreover, we will become an unruly society without self-control or defense, because it is clear that neither Obama nor his vice president nor his cabinet has any intention of stopping what they are doing to cause scorn to be heaped upon this nation. Nevertheless, Americans and all people of good will have already risen up and made their voices heard. However, the leadership have placed ear muffs on their own ears and turned their eyes to see nothing of the suffering going on right here.

We want our nation to be restored! Obama has rejected his oath of office and deliberately tried to dismantle the Constitution. Shall he get by with that? Naturally, he thinks he can. But that is because he does not know our God. All in all, God Himself shall surely show this nation and the world that He alone is God and mankind is not.

The Prophetic Word of the Lord

Thus saith the Lord — Man has the say. But God has the last say over every say so. And what will you answer when God says that your time is up, as only God Himself has that power and authority? Wake up. Wake up. Wake up and live!

God Bless America. America Bless Our God.

Commenting on events in Liberia, where a rising tide of the concern for impunity has engulfed the country following the killings of over 200,000 Liberians during its more than 14 years of civil war, Bernard Gbayee Goah writes: “Crimes sponsored, masterminded, or carried out by a handful of individuals cannot be conferred upon an entire nationality, in this case Liberians.”

Operation We Care for Grand Gedeh (OWCGG) has been made aware that the Sirleaf led government is using calculated tactics designed to make the Liberian people believe that implementing the TRC final recommendations would only bring to book every child soldier, who dominantly made up of indigenous children, were recruited to fight for warring factions during the
course of the Liberian civil war.  Such tactics are not in the interest of peace, but used to misinterpret the TRC final recommendations against the will and wishes of the Liberian people. It is unacceptable for President Sirleaf and her accomplices to capitalize on the country’s high rate of illiteracy to get away with crimes that require legal process in a court of law.

Such tactics said to be carried out by the Sirleaf led government has the propensity to derail the peace process as well as breed disunity amongst the people of Liberia. Using the TRC report as a medium to bring about disunity is a calculated evil.

Operation We Care for Grand Gedeh opposes current attempts made by the Ellen Sirleaf led government to influence the outcome of the pending national referendum. We have heard that President Sirleaf and her group  intend to place President Ellen Johnson-Sirleaf on a save political ride as regards the 10 years residency clause for persons seeking the presidency of Liberia.
Such manipulation is unacceptable, and not in the interest of the country especially so during these critical moments when Liberians look forward to lasting solutions and durable peace after more than 14 years of madness.
Either the President does not meet the residency clause requirement as stipulated in the elections guidelines of Liberia or such clause should not apply to the 2011 presidential elections at all.

We do not see the 2011 elections different from that of the 2005 elections giving the current situation in Liberia where is more scaring for Liberians to return home because of the presence of Madam Ellen Johnson-Sirleaf, Prince Johnson and other warlords who continue to move freely without any question. Any elections that are held under such circumstances are
considered special meaning they cannot be considered normal elections under a full constitutional protection.

Reducing the residency clause to 5 years only to make President Sirleaf qualify for the 2011 elections, is a complete insanity on the part of whoever chooses to do so because it will not serve the interest of the Liberian people.

Acting ethically and intending to be ethical are not always the same. President Sirleaf may have intended to take the best course of action she believed would move Liberia forward.  Holding all else constant, we are also very much aware that the President did not really know what the best course of action was as well as the aftermath of her perceived intent when she sent her entire cabinet on administrative leave. We call on Her Excellency Madam Ellen Johnson-Sirleaf to reframe from such acts only because she has the power to do so. While it may be true that President Johnson-Sirleaf has the constitutional backing to appoint ministers, once they are appointed, they become accountable to the public also, not just the President.  Cabinet ministers serve as advisors to the President on important issues ranging from education to national security.  We see the President’s actions as calculated to exclude potential opponents from her administration only to favor family members, loyalists, and friends. We believe that such behavior is a form of nepotism as such unconstitutional. Such decision resembles that of madam Sirleaf’s personal decisions made to support Charles Taylor rebels in the 1990s only to say she was fooled by Mr. Taylor refusing to accept responsibility of the part she played.  We question the President’s judgments at this time.

With Liberia declared in 2010 by the German-based Transparency International as the most corrupt country on the face of the planet, we are convinced that such declaration is a direct sign of failure on the part of the Sirleaf led government. We condemn the Sirleaf led administration for failing to combat corruption as was promised by her during her 2005 political campaign when she declared that corruption would be her number one enemy.  Giving the high level of corrupt practices in her government, we have come to the conclusion that fighting corruption in the current Liberian government would mean
fighting against the interest of the President herself.

We condemn President Sirleaf’s refusal to acknowledge that contemporary problems require contemporary solutions and that her “good old day” way of doing politics may be obsolete as well as retardant in modern-day Liberia.
After five years in office, President Sirleaf has just realized the importance of automating the banking systems in Liberia. We see such realization as overdue. The year 2006 should have been the year of automation of Liberia’s banking systems. If that was done, tracking a paper trail would have been easy, thereby minimizing corruption and thus improving accountability within government institutions. Having worked at western institutions and the World Bank, failure of President Sirleaf to encourage the earlier institution of transaction automation machines at all government ministries convinces is a deliberate way to institutionalize corruption.

Operation We Care for Grand Gedeh condemns tactics currently being used by her Excellency President Johnson-Sirleaf’s led government which only prioritizes road development in certain areas within Liberia but leaves the whole of the  Southeastern region unimproved.  We believe these decisions are symptoms of segregation. The people of the Southeastern region are Liberians, they deserve good farm to market roads in order to transport their produce to market in the capital.

We condemn President Ellen Johnson-Sirleaf’s administration for expressing high expectations in 2005 when she promised the Liberian people enough jobs would be created when she took office, only to see young Liberian women dwelling on the practice of prostitution to feed themselves and their children because of the lack of jobs.

We strongly condemn remarks made by President Ellen Johnson-Sirleaf in which she said that prostitution in Liberia is not illegal, but improper.  While it is true Liberia does not have such laws on the books, it is morally important to mention that only uncivilized persons would make such a statement.  The President’s statement is an embarrassment to the people of
Grand Gedeh County and Liberia. We believe as a President, making such a statement in a volatile nation such as Liberia where economic hardship is physically visible, has the propensity to increase among young people promiscuous sexual activities thus increasing unhealthy sexual practices across the country.

Prostitution might not be considered illegal but to see it sanctioned by her Excellency the honorable President of Liberia is a grave cause for concern and makes us very anxious to know how her administration would combat the spread of HIV/Aids in Liberia when over 14,000 refugees continue to enter Liberia from HIV and AIDs infected country such as the French Ivory Coast.

According to Global HIV and AIDS estimates in  2009, in Sub-Saharan Africa where Liberia is located; Adults & children living with HIV/AIDS reach 22.5 million, Adults & children newly infected reach 1.8 million, Adult prevalence reach 5.0% and AIDS-related deaths in adults & children sky rockets to 1.3 million.

President Johnson-Sirleaf must publicly rephrase her statement on prostitution in Liberia as well as take steps towards AIDS prevention in Liberia and not buttress the spread of the disease.  We ask that such steps are wholly and solely carried out by President Johnson-Sirleaf herself on public radio and public television.  President Ellen Johnson-Sirleaf support
of prostitution it is directly against the mental and physical health of the people of Grand Gedeh County and Liberia as a whole.

We call on the people of Grand Gedeh County not to cast their vote for President Ellen Johnson-Sirleaf in 2011 because she is working against the interest of the entire county.

We want President Sirleaf to know that her statement of support for prostitution brings about questions surrounding her moral ethics and has dangerously exposed Liberia to international criticism. President Sirleaf must desist from public support of prostitution while she serves public interest because it is unethical for a President of a nation to do so since
she represents an entire nation.  Perhaps her focus should be on creating jobs that allow those who turn to prostitution as a means to support themselves and their families another option.

On November 28, 2008, Liberia’s Truth and Reconciliation Commission (TRC) published a list of “Persons of interest” who to date have not appeared at the Commission but are considered persons who have particular knowledge and information about past events deemed expedient to the inquiry process of the commission, given their roles, positions in government or privy to public policy issues over the period 1979 to 2003.  Charles Taylor did not appear before Liberia’s TRC.

Mr. Charles Taylor may have in-depth information on the role Madam Ellen Johnson-Sirleaf played during his NPFL revolution as such we call upon madam Sirleaf to create a supportive atmosphere that will buttress the TRC efforts
already made especially so, asking the ICC to permit Charles Taylor to give his side of the story on national radio and national television about his role played as former rebel leader, and former President of Liberia. In this way, the Liberian people would get the full understanding of the actual roles President Sirleaf and Charles Taylor played during the Liberian civil war.  We believe this forum would heal the wounds of thousands of war victims. Paving the way for genuine reconciliation in Liberia will require the participation of all Liberians including Mr. Charles Taylor. Leaving former President Charles Taylor out of the entire picture without getting his side of the story on national radio and television in Liberia is an act of injustice to Mr. Taylor and the Liberian people.

We finally condemn President Sirleaf’s desire not to have former Charles Taylor explain his side of the story on a Liberian national radio and television concerning the role he played during the Liberian civil war as well as his side of the story about her involvement with the NPFL rebels. We believe there is more than enough information in the possession of Mr. Taylor concerning madam Sirleaf’s involvement with the NPFL rebels. Such information is reason behind the delay in the freezing of Mr. Taylor’s asset by the Ellen Johnson-Sirleaf government. It is unjust for Madam Sirleaf to say on a Liberian national radio that she was fooled by Mr. Taylor when Mr. Taylor is not given the chance to exonerate himself to the Liberian public on national radio.

By Bernard Gbayee Goah
President,Operation We Care for Grand Gedeh

By   Dickens Wasonga in Kisumu.

Hopes for the Ocampo Six ,as they are now commonly known seemed to sink further as the Kenya’s prime minister declared the country had lost the opportunity to have the suspects tried locally.

Speaking at Kenyatta sports grounds in Kisumu Raila Odinga said the ICC had taken over the case and it was formally underway adding that the recent developments in parliament where MPs passed a motion seeking the country’s withdrawal from the courts as futile efforts that should not worry Kenyans.

The PM who was in Kisumu to witness the home-coming ceremony of the recently installed chairman of Luo council of elders Mr Willis Otondi said those who initially opposed the Hague process while describing the local tribunal option as vague have now realized that the ICC process is real and was here with them.

” When the matter of forming a local tribunal was brought for debate before the floor of parliament,most MPs who are now anti-Hague described it  as the best option.  One of them even  told the house that we should not be vague,go to the Hague.  They believed the process would take years to catch up with the perpetrators.”Said Raila.

The ODM supremo said Kenyans had all the time to ensure those implicated were tried locally but the MPs frustrated the move and they must now chew what they picked.

” If a child cry for a razor blade, you as a parent should give him or her and if he or she cut himself or herself with it,they learn” Raila said in Kiswahili.

He  said Kofi Annan who brokered a peace deal that eventually ended the post poll chaos and later saw Kenya form a coalition government held the secret envelop which had names of those believed to have organized and funded the violence for three months with the hope that the leaders would choose the local option in vain.

” Even Ocampo also held the envelope for a while thinking that we could agree to have a local solution to this matter but it did not happen so nobody should claim he is favouring any side of the political divide  because he is not even a Kenyan” He said.

And as if to offer solace to the Ocampo six, Raila said  the Hague process can be reversed only if a local tribunal was formed and a thorough judicial reforms are carried out which will meet the UN set standards.

Raila  said that route  would take several years and the six would still be under the close watch of the ICC until Kenya convince the international community that it now has the capacity to try to deliver justice to the victims of the post poll chaos.

He said the only way to end impunity in the country was by ensuring those who committed any atrocity during the violence are tried.

Other MPs who spoke at the function included MPs Nicholas Gumbo [Rarieda], James Rege [Rachuonyo], Oyugi Magwanga [KasipulKabondo] and also included ministers James Orengo [ lands] OtienoKajwang’  [Immigration]and assistant ministers
Ayiecho Olweny[ Education]and Dr. OburuOdinga [Finance].

Since the naming of the suspects, MPs allied to those six have been making claims that Raila had and in the issue and allegedly knew who was to be picked.

Those now opposing the process have of-late been pushing for withdrawal of Kenya from the ICC claiming it was partisan.

ENDS.

By Terence Sesay, Liberia
Monrovia (Liberia)-Two major political parties in Liberia, the United People’s Party and the Liberia People’s Party have signed an accord to support the candidacy of incumbent President Ellen Johnson Sirleaf in the 2011 elections.

According to a press statement issued here Tuesday, the parties signed the accord late Monday following ‘careful consideration’.

Members of the two parties are considered progressives in the Liberian political landscape because of the role they played in ending the political hegemony of Americo-Liberians, who ruled the country from its founding in 1825 to 1980. Liberia was founded by freed American slaves in 1825.

It was the founder of the United People’s Party, the late Gabriel Bacchus Matthews, supported by founders of the Liberia People’s Party (LPP), that staged the April 14 Rice Riots which served as an eye opener to Americo-Liberian misrule.

The riots were followed by years of activism in the 1970s that open the eyes of  Liberians to Americo-Liberian misrule.

This standoff between the government and citizens on that day left several dead, and is considered the precursor to the April 12, 1980 military coup that ended Americo-Liberian rule.

The announcement by the two parties to support the incumbent president will also boost her chances in the 2011 elections, due to the influence they wield in the southeast of the country, where President Johnson Sirleaf performed dismally in the first round of the 2005 presidential election.

Earlier this year, two other major parties, the Liberia Action Party and the Liberia Unification Party signed a Merger Accord to present one presidential candidate in the 2011 elections.

End