A TRIBUTE: To the People of Lamu; Victims, Widows & Orphans of a War that was Never Yours.

These words;

Parade, formed up, present and ready for your command sir!

Parade will advance in review order, by the centre!

General’s salute; present arms!

Are like music to the ears

Of all Kings, Queens, Princes and Potentates,

They are hallowed in Africa,

Where cultural devotion supersedes nationalism 

And the chorales of these sweet words are;

The principal underwriters of supremacy!

                      

But now, in the hills, plains, and ravines

Of the Congo, Central Africa, Janub Sudan and;

The western shores of the great Indian Ocean

Things are no longer at ease, the cover is out

Cows and goats no longer scour the rich prairies

The fisherman no longer ventures into sea;

The herdsman is now a marksman;

The fisherman a pitchman for bigotry

Defending some mystical authority; ordered by a cultural and spiritual soothsayer!

Oblivious of the dictates by providence and masters of qualified benevolence  

The slopes of Rwenzori are restless, the plains of Jigjiga and Lamu astir;

The lowlands below the Elgon and prairies of the Jade Sea are restive too

As the Lovers of Derriere and the Dragon spur and spar

Over the slimy, smooth and sometimes mucky substance

Abyssinia has a foot in the mix

The Pearl of Africa prefers to bully

Janub Sudan now a pitiable cause 

Kenya no longer watches from the sidelines

But we never learnt, from Nigeria before us;

The dalliance with the slimy substance

Call it the myth of Africanity; the curse of abundance

But don’t we all love energy and influence too? 

Pray fervently that some prophesies should never come true!

@DeCaptainCFE

SERVICE IN THE SECURITY & DEFENCE FORCES IS NOT FOR THE FAINT HEARTED; “HELPING” OR PUSHING YOUTH TO JOIN IS RISKING LIVES.

Recruits lining up for the Selection Process

The just concluded recruitment of constables by the National Police Service has attracted a load of negative comments since its commencement. The blogosphere, social and mainstream media are rife with allegations of malpractice ranging from unfairness, discrimination and outright bribery. Some pressure groups are now threatening court action while the Independent Policing Oversight Authority (IPOA) has called for the annulment and repeat of the entire exercise altogether. However, what caught my attention were comments on social media questioning and complaining of the long hours (into the night) prospective recruits were kept at Recruitment Centers in some parts of the country. For starters, that is really nothing. Ordinarily it takes between two and three weeks of continuous rigorous test; physical exercise and several oral interviews to qualify as a Cadet (trainee officer) in the combat formations of the Defence Forces. For Cadet Officers who offer Specialist Services such as Lawyers, Engineers, Medical Doctors, Graduate Teachers, Pharmacists and Architects etc the recruitment process takes a period of not less than 48 hours.

Recruit going through a physical body check.

Those who were complaining about time ought to appreciate that the National Police Service was not recruiting Boy Scouts and Girl Guides but men and women who can prove beyond reasonable doubt that they can hack the rigours of Para-military training and drill. People who can withstand the painstaking training which converts raw civilians into fighting machines that can endure extreme physical stress and live fire combat. And yes, the Recruiting Officer has a cardinal duty to ensure that all those recruited are medically and physically fit and that they have their full set of teeth as well as other vital body organs (some of which we cannot mention in a family newspaper) in good working order. Nobody should ever get recruited unless and until the results of the Laboratory Tests are out and confirmatory. And there are many good reasons for that. Many a times; men and women in uniform are posted in far-flung areas where they cannot access ordinary life amenities and they must be able to feed and survive on ice cold food, dry ration and very little water. That is when successful recruits get to appreciate the importance of their teeth, tongue, eyes, ears, nose, toes, fingers and other body organs civilians take for granted.

Security forces are not for sissy sassy hood boys and girls. If there are parents who love their children so much that they think that waiting at the Recruitment Center for over 15 hours is a breach of their rights, they ought to think twice. They should in fact withdraw their soft boys and girls from the process entirely. Most have no idea what awaits the success recruits at the training center and boot camp. The recruits’ physical and mental endurance will be stretched to the maximum; the soft “mummy” and “daddy” boys and girls will fall out, or may even die before the training is over.

Police in action during a violent public protest.

Kenyans ought to appreciate that service in the Armed and Security forces is not an ordinary job or a business to make money. It calls for the ultimate sacrifice and the threat of death is real and constant considering the high levels of insecurity and many incidents of terrorism in Kenya and the region. The pay is also low compared to other similar and far less risky occupations. It is paradoxical that people are willing to pay bribes to get into a career which has a permanent and guaranteed risk of death. Young Kenyans should be taught right from school that they should only aspire to join the security forces if they are ready to serve and consider it a patriotic duty to do so. Those that join the disciplined forces either because it’s the only “job” they can do or they want to make money and get rich quickly cannot, will not and will never defend Kenya or protect its citizens. For a song, they will trade any intelligence (Daily Situation & Crime Reports) for money from terrorists and organized or politically sponsored criminal gangs. Enlistment in the defence and security forces is about patriotism, service, pride & honour. It is not about money; you make money in business. Any parent or public servant who participated in “pushing” or “helping” their children or relatives to join the National Police Service should be ashamed of themselves. Requests for such “help” ought to be treated with supreme contempt because they put the lives of the recruits and Kenyans at guaranteed risk!

 Twitter: @DeCaptainCFE

THE QUAIL BUSINESS: Another Pyramid Scheme & History Repeating Itself?

The Quail

The snide remarks now littering the social media in relation to the rearing of the fabled quail are not only unfortunate but a serious indictment on public institutions mandated by the law to protect people from ecological and economic harm. As a Certified Fraud Examiner I have often wondered why it is so easy to lure people in East Africa, particularly Kenyans into fraudulent; ponzi, pyramid and multi-level marketing schemes. Let us go back into history. In early April 2005 some ingenious fellows convinced farmers in Nyeri County that they had a ready market for Chameleons. The suave businessmen were armed with official documents certifying that they were fully licensed to trade in reptiles and other protected wild species. The farmers were urged to go into the coffee, tea and wild bushes and collect chameleons of all types, shapes and sizes with a promise that in late April the brokers would bring some foreigners (mzungus) to buy the reptiles at a price ranging between Ksh. 1200 to 1500 depending on size and colour. On the appointed day, farmers from Mukurwe-ini, Othaya and Tetu Constituencies flocked to Tambaya Market ready to sell their catch at a premium. The farmers had woken up very early so that they could sell their "produce" and return home to tend to their shambas. The usually busy horticultural produce market was literally turned into a reptilian market that day. At 6AM the price of one Chameleon was Sh. 1000, by 12.00PM Sh. 100 and by 6PM a mere Sh. 10; the foreign buyer had not turned up and the cunning brokers were long gone. At 7PM the chameleons were released to their natural habitat and the angry farmers, now counting their losses blocked the Mukurwe-ini –Nyeri and Gakindu-Othaya Roads for hours protesting at the Government for failing to protect them from the tricksters. The incident was widely reported by journalists who found the whole story more entertaining than sad!

In 2007 hundreds of pyramid schemes collapsed after fleecing innocent Kenyans millions of shillings. Whereas the Central Bank of Kenya had issued repeated warnings on the operations of those schemes, its managers feigned lack of statutory power to protect innocent people from the massive fraud. The fraudsters had scuttled banking law by registering as co-operative societies and thus operated as if they had official sanction. Victims of this fraud have never been compensated even after the government formed a commission of inquiry to investigate the scam. More recently in 2011, thousands of people from all over East Africa and beyond trooped to Loliondo village in northern Tanzania to partake of a cupful of the miracle cure from one Rev. Mwasapile, a retired Lutheran Church priest who has no medical training. Many people suffering from HIV Aids, Diabetes, hypertension, cancer and other chronic diseases abandoned their hospital beds and travelled to Loliondo to receive Babu’s miracle cure. By the time the government of Tanzania acted to stop this charade a lot of innocent people had died in the enduring queues at Loliondo or in their homes.

The road to Loliondo

Fast forward in 2013, the quail and its products have been cited as a panacea to all manner of chronic illnesses without any scientific backing. Even assuming that this is true nobody has carried out a study to establish the number of people who constantly need quail products for therapeutic purposes. If the main reason for consuming the quail is medicinal, then in the absence of an epidemic of chronic ailments, supply is bound to outstrip demand in the event of mass and uncontrolled production of the bird. Any prudent investor ought to know that it is consumer markets that sustain production. Despite the attractive prices, the initial market for quail and its products was not based on any consumptive demand. The market is unsustainable since the initial high demand was cyclical at best. It was driven by new entrants (producers) rather than consumers demanding quail products. The business has all the traits of a multi-level marketing or pyramid scheme. Arguments by the Kenya Wildlife Service that they are not responsible because they only license the farmers do not wash. KWS has experts who know that trade in protected wild species is lucrative because it is highly controlled and restricted. Such products are only sold to high-end customers in exclusive establishments, the kind of establishments which KWS licenses to deal in game meat. The quail is a wild bird and ought to be treated in the same way; KWS should restrict the production and distribution of its products. Unrestricted production of the bird and its products is bound to send the prices crushing down. My heart bleeds for the many innocent Kenyans who are now counting losses owing to this misadventure.

Travellers enroute to Loliondo.

Twitter: @DeCaptainCFE

FORM ONE SELECTION: IT IS TIME TO REVERSE THE QUOTA SYSTEM IN HIGH SCHOOL ADMISSION

High School Students in a Classroom

On 2^nd January 2014 the Ministry of Education released the Form One Selection Guidelines to be used for pupils who sat for the Kenya Certificate of Primary Education (KCPE) in 2013. The guidelines are still heavily steeped in favour of the Quota-System and have one major deficiency; the failure to appreciate the important role played by high school education in nation building and national cohesion. High School is a very critical stage in the life of every person. Most of the things people learn in High School stick in the mind; for life. It is in high school that a young Kenyan born and bred in Murang’a will most likely have his first encounter with people from the Turkana, Pokot, Teso, Orma/Wardei, Rendile, Borana and Kuria communities. Previously he will only have heard and read of these communities from history books. In high school he will also learn that Maragoli is not the name for all Abaluhya speakers; that Nandi is not synonymous with Kalenjin; that Meru people fall into several sub-groups and that whereas the Samburu and the Maasai share the Maa dialect, they have some innate differences. It is at that stage that he will get to know the importance of a separate prayer room for his classmates who are Muslims and also understand the reason why his Hindu classmates need to travel to the nearest town on certain days. High School teaches young people to appreciate and respect the religious, cultural, linguistic and ethnic diversity in their country. They cultivate and acquire great life-time friends from virtually every corner of the country if not the world. Most of the biases and prejudices that affect their world view later in life are either acquired or shed off at this stage in life. And this is why we need to critically examine the Quota-system criteria in High School admission.

It is very likely that the most virulent tribalists in Parliament, Public Service, Public Universities, Private Sector and Social Media spent their formative years in District Schools and nondescript Provincial Schools where they hardly interacted with people from other ethnic, cultural and religious backgrounds. That is where their skills of propagating negative ethnicity were horned. Not even University/College education can change these bigots. But  we cannot don’t blame them; they are products of an ill conceived and poorly executed system which balkanizes young people into their villages and home districts, sometimes for life! Yes, we now have Universities in almost every district and somebody can even acquire a PhD without leaving his/her village or District! Add the reality of County Governments in the mix and you have a situation where some Kenyans can end up schooling and working in their home districts in their entire life-time. Such a scenario is not only possible, but is extremely dangerous to nation building and inimical to national cohesion.

Nyandarua High School Students

The Quota-system was drafted by policy makers at the Headquarters of the Ministry of education in the mid 1980s. Those old drafters of the Quota-System could hardly communicate in neutral English and/or Swahili and their public speeches were heavily accentuated by mother-tongue influence. They simply could not think outside the box! Our country is already paying a very heavy price in the form of wide-spread negative ethnicity all because of this policy.  We cannot continue applying Quota-System in High School admission and expect to eradicate negative ethnicity. In the past educationists and politicians used to blame former President Daniel T. Arap Moi for the quota system but it is now more than 10 years since he left office and nothing has changed. Interestingly although the Ministry of Education is now managed by new people; career educationists but the quota system remains. The new managers know that high school students’ own outlook and world view is greatly enriched by attending high school far away from their villages and having schoolmates from all parts of Kenya. They also know it is a shame that a Kenyan can now study in the village right from nursery school to university but are unwilling to use their positions of influence to change this “villagisation” policy.

Prof. Kaimenyi, Education Secretary

The “Digital” Government of President Uhuru Kenyatta and his Deputy William Ruto should reverse this policy now and ensure that we revert back to the pre-1985 admission criteria. The system then ensured that all high schools admitted students from every part of Kenya. That a girl from Othaya could be admitted to Matuga Girls High School, a boy from Migori to Thika High School, a boy from Tinderet to Machakos High School and a boy from Chogoria to Kapsabet High School. This can start now, with the impending high school admission for 2014. Everything has a beginning. Aren’t we starting to give Primary 1 pupils lap-tops now? Let us kill the Quota-system too!

Twitter: @DeCaptainCFE

ICC: FRANCE IS INTERFERING WITH THE KENYAN CASES TO FOSTER ITS ECONOMIC & COMMERCIAL INTERESTS.

I can bet my money that the United Nations Security Council (UNSC) is going to reject the African Union (AU) motion for the deferral of the two cases facing President Uhuru Kenyatta and his Deputy William Ruto before the International Criminal Court (ICC). Time and history show that the United Nations is not about the furtherance of Justice, Democracy or Human Rights. It is an organization designed to further the political, economic and commercial interests of the 5 permanent members of the UNSC and other major economies of the world which fund the UN and its specialized organs. A few facts will illustrate that the UNSC often functions to promote the political and economic interests of its 5 permanent members rather than foster world peace and security.

Evidence of UNSC's neglect of the 1994 genocide in Rwanda

Between April and July 1994 the UNSC failed Rwanda. It failed to intervene to save thousands of lives even when information available was clear that mass murder was happening in an unprecedented scale in recent history. Historians and commentators have suggested that the UNSC was acting at the behest of France, a permanent member of the UNSC. 

Former French President Francois Mitterand with his erstwhile ally Juvenile Habyarimana of Rwanda in 1993.

Of the 5 permanent members of the UNSC, France is the most anomalous. Between 1990 and 1994 the French government supported and propped up the regime of President Juvenal Habyarimana in Rwanda. It provided a safe haven for the Akazu or the War Council that was the power behind Habyarimana’s government. The French also gave funds and logistical support for the training and arming of the Force Arme Rwandaise (FAR), the gendarmerie as well as the interahamwe and impuzamugambi militia groups which eventually executed genocidal attacks against the Tutsi minority and moderate Hutus. When the murderous Hutu regime fell to the Rwanda Patriotic Front (RPF), the FAR and huge populations of their sympathizers crossed into Eastern Congo DRC with the tacit logistical support of the French Government. In those camps the FAR organized the refugees into some form of a government in exile where they were fed and catered for the by the UN which had completely ignored the victims of their atrocities back in Rwanda. 

French forces with the Interahamwe militia in Gisenyi Rwanda in 1994

Interestingly it is the UNSC which allowed France to send its forces to Rwanda in 1994 under the guise of Operation Turquoise to essentially provide a safe passage to enable the genocidaires cross into Eastern DRC and eventually escape justice. As a result of this inflow of armed groups into its Eastern Provinces, the DRC experienced massive political instability and endured two non-international armed conflicts in 1996 and 1998. The situation almost turned catastrophic in 1999 and to forestall fresh genocidal attacks in the Great Lakes Region, the UN Office for the Co-ordination of Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA) in conjunctions with the UN High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR) launched the Great Lakes Operation (GLO) in early 1999 with the sole aim of resolving the issues relating to the Rwandan refugees caseload in Eastern DRC. Eligibility officers based in Nairobi recorded horrendous accounts of extreme suffering from the survivors of the Rwandan genocide. Almost all the survivors of genocide blamed the French government for supporting, training and arming the perpetrators of genocide and for sending its forces to provide a safe passage for the perpetrators to flee into Congo and escape justice. It is no secret that most of the political leaders who fanned the ideology of genocide in Rwanda fled to Belgium and France after the collapse of the Hutu regime.

Bodies of the victims of the FAR & the Interahamwe militia removed from Lake Victoria.

Currently, reports from New York suggest that French envoy and economic strategist Béatrice Le Fraper du Hellen is leading the onslaught against the African Union’s motion for the deferral of the Kenyan cases before the ICC. Being a member of the French government’s delegation to the United Nations she must have the express support of her government. It is paradoxical that a country that would readily host and protect genocidaires is now lecturing the African Union on matters relating to human rights, justice and democracy.

One of the key tenets of President Kenyatta and his Deputy Ruto’s campaign was ethnic reconciliation and harmony. The two leaders used the campaign platform to promote peace and harmony among communities that had hitherto been warring particularly in the Rift Valley. They managed to convince these communities to vote on one side and won the election. The two are the chief sponsors and guarantors of the peace and calm that is currently being enjoyed in the Rift Valley and many parts of Kenya. It would be naive for anybody to imagine that Kenya will remain peaceful if any of the two leaders is removed from the country by the ICC. Renewed ethnic strife in the whole or part of Kenya would definitely be a threat to national and regional peace and stability. The long standing strife in Somalia which has now spilled beyond its borders is a good example. This is an issue that UNSC should seriously take into account in deliberating the AU’s motion for deferral.

But the French see things differently. Their behavior is not surprising. It is symptomatic of their attitude towards Africa where they support weak regimes and exploit fragile ethnic differences between opposing groups thereby gaining a political hold over fledgling regimes and a chance to advance their commercial interests. It is no wonder that most of the countries that have experienced political upheavals and inter ethnic conflict in Africa are from the Francophone sphere. Rwanda, Burundi, Congo-DRC, Congo-Brazzaville, Ivory Coast, Chad, Mali, Madagascar and currently Central Africa Republic easily come to mind. 

Rwanda's defiance to death and despair

Currently Kenya, Uganda, Rwanda, Ethiopia and South Sudan are engaged in a number of multi-lateral infrastructural projects aimed at facilitating faster movement of good services to spur regional trade and development. It is no secret that a number of companies from France have expressed interest in some of these infrastructural projects. Kenya seems to be leaning towards the East precisely China thus denying France and other members of the European Union a chance to partake in these multi-billion dollar projects. This begs the question; is the France using the ICC cases and its permanent membership in the UNSC to arm-twist the government of Kenya in order to obtain preferential treatment in matters relating to international trade? Time and space will eventually answer this question. Is France ready to risk the security of millions of Kenyans just to obtain a comparative economic advantage?  Do the French care for the safety of Kenyan citizens who look up at the presidency to guarantee their peace and security?

Twitter: @DeCaptainCFE

MR PRESIDENT (UHURU KENYATTA), THIS COUNTRY NEEDS OF A BREATH OF FRESH AIR URGENTLY!

To the majority of Kenyans the most enduring legacy of the retired President Mwai Kibaki regime are the many infrastructural projects spread in each and every County. However, to many who were in the Public Service in December 2002 Kibaki achieved much more than this. Before the NARC regime assumed power most public institutions in Kenya were led by strategically placed home boys and girls who in turn appointed their trusted henchmen into pivotal positions within government. These skewed appointments were the bastion of cartels and syndicates which constantly fed the insatiable appetites of racketeers who virtually held the appointments, hiring, procurement and promotion processes in the public service hostage. Where I once served the catch-phrase by these homeboys and girls was that “in the race of life we run in the inner lane and everybody else must keep to the outer lane”. 

 

In early 2003 Mwai Kibaki did the unthinkable. Having campaigned and won elections on the pedestal of change and buoyed by the renewed enthusiasm of a population that was enjoying a sense of freedom after years of repression by KANU, the president started a purge in the top echelons of the public service. People who previously seemed invincible were routed of office, their henchmen were left exposed and the racketeers who depended on them to win lucrative government contracts started to close shop. At one point the Kibaki government dismissed all Procurement Officers in key government departments. Cowboy contractors and brief case suppliers closed shop and disappeared from town. The Kenya Anti-Corruption Commission (KACC) was revived and came alive with sting operations which mainly targeted Traffic Policemen and low ranking civil servants who engaged in abusive corruption which directly hurt the common mwananchi. Traffic policemen who previously took bribes openly were forced to change tact. Judges who had been accustomed to “negotiated” or “procured” justice were shunted out of office through the infamous “radical surgery” of the Judiciary. Public servants soon learnt that they did not have their jobs guaranteed for life. Civil servants accustomed to the culture of “hanging coats’ could not cope. They were either forced out or to grudgingly accept the offers of “golden handshakes” and retire early. Within a very short time Mwai Kibaki managed to induce a paradigm shift in the public sector and infuse a sense of service in government offices. Much of this good history of the Kibaki regime is often forgotten or overlooked owing to the unfortunate events and post-election violence that followed his swearing into office in December 2007.

Fast forward in 2013 President Uhuru Kenyatta and Deputy President William Ruto were elected into office on the platform of economic transformation; youth and women empowerment and digital revolution. After weeks of halting they picked fresh faces, mainly technocrats to serve in Cabinet. Majority of their Cabinet appointees are new to government and do not carry the historical baggage of the past. There was clearly a digital whiff of freshness in the process of picking the current Cabinet & Principal secretaries and this was greeted with a renewed sense of hope and enthusiasm by local and regional observers. President Yoweri Museveni of Uganda is on record praising President Kenyatta for breathing fresh air into the East African Community (EAC). Despite the drawbacks occasioned by their pending cases before the International Criminal Court (ICC) at the Hague, Netherlands, the unfortunate incidents of fire that gutted a section of the Jomo Kenyatta International Airport (JKIA) and the Westgate terror attack, it is easy to discern a sense of urgency by the Uhuruto regime. An urgency to fulfill and deliver on their campaign pledges. The agenda of supplying laptops to pupils in public primary schools is on course, the Uwezo Fund for the youth is up and running while preferential access to government contracts by youth, women and persons with disability (PWDs) has now been institutionalized by law. But everything ends right there. A general sense of pessimism is slowly enveloping these efforts. Why is this so? The ICC, run-away insecurity and unfortunate incidents such as the JKIA fire and the Westgate terror attack seem to be the defining issues for Uhuruto. 

Whereas Kibaki had people like the late “hurricane” Karisa Maitha and John Michuki who easily won public trust for openly reprimanding indolent public servants, none of the 18 technocrat Cabinet Secretaries in the current government is yet to earn such public confidence or engender a sense of responsiveness within government. Whereas the tone at the top appears to be good a cursory look around the country displays a sense of subdued hope. Within the rank and file in the public service everything appears to be business as usual. It is as if nothing changed or will change any time soon. There are no signs that there is a new sheriff in town. For example the Traffic Police Department has receded back to its old ways and the fairly lethargic officers watch indifferently as rogue public transporters break the law and reduce poorly maintained PSV Matatus into daily death traps for commuters. County Commissioners who are supposed to co-ordinate the affairs of National Government in the devolved units seem to be overwhelmed by the political hubris generated by Governors who more often than not behave like ethnic or regional Paramount Chiefs than service providers. It is still not crystal clear who is in charge of security at County level. Criminal gangs have taken note of the ensuing confusion and now freely roam the countryside kidnapping for ransom, raping, robbing, killing and maiming defenceless citizens. Cowboy contractors seem to be back in business if the number of abandoned construction sites all over Nairobi County and its environs is anything to go by. 

It is often said that a choir assumes the tone of the soloist. Uhuruto must change gear now, crack the whip and breathe fresh air into the lives of Kenyans. They are no longer strangers in government. By now they must have realized that there is a lot of dead-wood in the middle and lower echelons of the public service; economic saboteurs who view public service through the prism of personal aggrandisement rather than service delivery. Such people must be eased or socialized out of the public service. 

The promise by President Kenyatta to launch an internet site or a web page where citizens can freely interact and report incidents of corruption directly to him must be viewed in this light. Nothing impedes service delivery in government more than procurement fraud; bid rigging and bid fixing which force taxpayers to pay for goods and services at astronomical prices. Whereas Mwai Kibaki failed miserably in fighting collusive (high-level) corruption within government, the Jubilee government has a perfect opportunity to take up this mantra and create an enduring legacy. Unfortunate as it was, the Westgate terror attack has revived our sense of national unity and renewed support for government. The Presidency must seize the moment and set a new tempo of urgency within the rank and file of the public service. Those who will be reported to the President and non-performers must be dealt with mercilessly. This may just be the perfect antidote to the general pessimism creeping back into the minds of Kenyans. 

Twitter: @DeCaptainCFE