-
10.00pmEvery Wednesday& Thursday Night
ALSO INSIDE PRESIDENTIAL ASSENT Uhuru declines to sign Bill
taking the fl ag from Cabinet Secretaries, Governors, P.12
STANDARDTHEKenyas Bold NewspaperWednesday, April 30, 2014
No. 29578 www.standardmedia.co.ke KSh 60/00 TSh1,500/00
USh2,700/00
ANGLO-LEASINGLSK to fi le private suit against State offi cials
over payments, P.10
State of the economy
CONTINUED ON PAGE 8
CONTINUED ON PAGES 2 & 3
By GEOFFREY MOSOKU
President Uhuru Kenyattas sig-nature on the Marriage Bill
yesterday lifted all legal encumbrances stand-ing in the way of
Kenyan men and the number of wives they desire.
With the signature, the male-dominated National Assembly got
its
By JACKSON [email protected]
Elections, poor rainfall and terrorism weighed heavily on
business last year ac-cording to fi gures in the National Eco-nomic
Survey released yesterday.
The data shows that the economy grew by just 0.1 per cent last
year to 4.7 per cent a very slight increase from the 4.6 per cent
recorded in 2012.
Devolution and Planning Cabinet Secretary Anne Waiguru released
the fi g-ures yesterday, but there was some con-fusion after the
Government, for the fi rst time, failed to indicate by how much it
expects the economy to grow in the next
Grew from 3.2 per cent in 2012 to 4.8 per cent
From 6.5 per cent in 2012 to 7.2 per cent
Expanded by 5.5 per cent up from 4.8 per cent
Grew by 9.6 per cent in 2013, up from 9.1 per cent
MANUFACTURING SECTOR
SECTORS THAT RECORDED DECLINE
SECTORS THAT RECORDED GROWTH
AGRICULTURE TOURISM TRADE ELECTRICITY & WATER
FINANCE INTERMEDIATION
TRANSPORT &COMMUNICATION
BUILDING & CONSTRUCTION
1.3% 13% 1.5% 4.4%
1.6% 0.7% 5.5% 0.5%
Dropped to 2.9 per cent from a revised growth of 4.2 per cent in
2012
Number of interna-tional visitors fell from 1.7 million to 1.5
million
Wholesale and re-tail sector declined from 9 per cent 7.5 per
cent in 2013
Declined from 10.3 per cent in 2013 to 5.9 per cent last
year
New law makes
polygamy much easier
Pain of a mother: Mama Amina Suleiman shares the agony of losing
her son, Aden Suleiman, to terrorists who went on to drag his body
along the streets of Kismayu, on September 1, 2012. She wants
sellers of DVDs of the gruesome act prosecuted. SEE STORIES PAGES 6
& 7
Election jitters, insecurity and decline in key agricultural
sector sees economy expand by a modest 0.1 per cent to register 4.7
per cent growth even as outlook for 2014-15 looks gloomy
Day Al-Shabaab dragged my sons body on Kismayu streetTHE SCARS
OF WARUntold Stories of fallen KDF men
-
Wednesday, April 30, 2014 / The StandardPage 2 / NATIONAL
NEWS
How election jitters, terrorism
slowed down the economy
fi nancial year.It is suspected the omission is due
to the Governments ongoing review of the way in which it
calculates eco-nomic growth.
The revised matrix for working out the growth takes effect in
September when it is expected that new fi gures will be released to
put Kenya at par with middle-income nations.
But even the economic growth pro-jections for Kenya by the World
Bank and the International Monetary Fund (IMF) were missed in
2013.
FOURTH QUARTERKenyas growth was also well behind
that of neighbouring Uganda (5.6 per cent), Tanzania (7 per
cent) and Rwan-da (7.5 per cent).
The outcome contrasts with the rosy projections by a fi red up
Treasury last year.
We had initially projected a growth of 5.6 per cent in 2013 but
looking at the last three quarters we are now look-ing at the
growth of about fi ve or 5.1 per cent. But that means we must grow
strongly in the fourth quarter, Mr Jus-tus Nyamunga, the Director
at Trea-surys Economic Affairs Department, said in May last
year.
Regardless of this, Kenyas is still the largest economy in the
East African Community, which also includes Bu-rundi.
POOR RAINFALL More ominous are fears that poor
rainfall in most farming areas during the planting season,
including in the North Rift region regarded as Ke-nyas grain basket
and terrorist at-tacks will hurt the economy again this year.
Agriculture was the worst hit sector last year, with farmers in
the dairy, sugarcane, coffee, tea and horticul-tural sectors
earning less from their produce.
Growth in the agricultural sector fell to 2.9 per cent from a
revised growth of 4.2 per cent in 2012, partly
38.9 million bags last year, while wheat rose 19.5 per cent from
162.7 million tonnes to 194.5 million tonnes last year.
Rice production increased from 83,600 tonnes in 2012 to 90,500
tonnes last year.
Production of fresh horticultural produce rose 3.9 per cent to
213,800 tonnes.
Much of the blame for Kenyas eco-nomic slowdown is being put
down to election jitters, rising insecurity and insuffi cient
rainfall in the fourth quar-ter of 2013 that hit agriculture,
the
main turbine in its en-gine.
DEVOLUTION FEARSApart from wheat and
rice, other cereals re-corded signifi cant de-clines in
production.
A fall in international prices and erratic weath-er affected
earnings from coffee, tea and horticul-ture, pushing down Ke-nyas
economic perfor-
mance last year.There was risk aversion in the fi rst
quarter as key parastatals and govern-
due to inadequate rainfall received in some grain growing
regions.
While tea output rose 17.1 per cent from 369,400 tonnes in 2012
to 432,400 tonnes last year, earnings from the domestic and
interna-tional market have been on a decline.
Coffee production dropped 18.8 per cent from 49,000 tonnes in
2012 to 39,800 tonnes last year.
Production of maize also fell 2 per cent from 39.7 million bags
in 2012 to
Kenya National Bureau of Standards Chairman Prof Terry Ryan and
Ministry of Devolution and Planning Cabinet Secretary Ms Ann
Waiguru at Kenyatta International Conference Centre yesterday
during the release of Economic Survey Report 2014. [PHOTOS: MBUGUA
KIBERA/STANDARD]
Female graduate teachers eclipse
males in jobsBY GATONYE GATHURA
For the fi rst time, degree trained female teachers surpassed
their male counterparts in primary schools.
According to the Kenya Economic Survey 2014, the Education
Ministry took 83 per cent of the total recurrent expenditure in the
social sector with much of this going to the Teachers Service
Commission mainly to service remuneration awards to teachers.
The Government had also expect-ed to spend a lot of money in the
im-plementation of the now stalled lap-tops project for primary
schools which had been factored in last years expenses.
The expenditure in the Education Ministry went up by 17 per cent
from Sh260 billion in 2012 to Sh304.9 bil-lion. However, the
devolution of pre-primary education functions to coun-ties is
indicated to have cut a bit on recurrent expenditure for the
na-tional government.
The upgrading of teachers who had completed degree and diploma
courses resulted in signifi cant in-crease of graduate teachers in
pri-mary schools from 6,865 in 2012 to 19,273 last year, with the
number of degree holding female teachers sur-passing their male
counterparts, says the report.
During the same period, the num-ber of diploma teachers in
primary schools almost doubled from 15,569 to 34, 048 while this
upgrade reduced to zero the number of P2 teachers in the
country.
A similar trend in secondary scho during the period, with the
number of female graduate teachers increasing almost three times
than males. Di-ploma teachers in secondary schools doubled from
3,579 in 2012 to 6,303 last year.
While during the same period the number of enrolment into
secondary schools increased by 10 per cent, the retention rate went
down marginally, which education experts say is a cause for
concern.
More girls than boys were unable to complete secondary education
but still, there was an increase of girls who sat for KCSE last
year compared to boys in the same period.
A signifi cant development in the education sector during the
period was a dramatic enrolment in universi-ties shooting up by 34
per cent last year.
This is attributed to a signifi cant upgrading of public
universities and introduction of new and more mar-ketable causes.
Courses approved for private universities almost doubled in the
same period.
0.1 per cent
2013 economy growth
ment agencies withheld spending dur-ing the transition to
devolved system of governance, said Waiguru.
Tourism suffered as international arrivals fell by 11.2 per cent
from 1.7 million to 1.5 million with tourism earnings declining
from Sh96 billion in 2012 to Sh94 billion last year.
WESTGATE ATTACKThe tourism sector was badly af-
fected by the various travel advisories that were issued by many
source mar-kets owing to security concerns, said Waiguru.
Signs of trouble for Kenyas econo-my emerged in the third
quarter of last year (July-September) when increased cost of living
and effects of the West-gate terrorist attack began to sink in.
The shilling also depreciated as the county imported more than
it export-ed. During this quarter, the economy grew at 4.4 per
cent, compared to 4.5 per cent in a similar period in 2012 with
various sectors such as agricul-ture, hotels and restaurants
registering subdued growth.
On average the economy expanded by 4.6 per cent during the nine
months period (January-September 2013) compared with 4.4 per cent
in 2012.
GROWTH RATE FOR DIFFERENT SECTORS Manufacturing grew by 4.8 per
cent in 2013 compared to a revised growth of 3.2 per cent in 2012
partly due to higher investor con dence, easing of in ation and
stable exchange and interest rates Cargo handled at the port in
Mombasa increased by 1.8 per cent to 22.3 million tonnes Kenya
Railways carried 1.2 million tonnes of cargo last year, 200,000
tonnes less than in 2012 Mobile connections rose from 30.4 million
in 2012 to 31.2 million in last year with Internet subscriptions up
from 8.5 million Mobile money transfers also grew from Sh672
billion to Sh914 billion. Total installed electricity-generating
capacity increased from 1,606.1 Mega Watts (MW) in 2012 to 1,717.8
MW in 2013
Kenyas economy recorded a modest growth of 4.7 % in 2013
Sh1.02 trillionTotal expenditure to stand at Sh1.3tr in 2013/14.
As a result, the net borrowing is expected to deteriorate further
to a de cit of Sh300b
4.8%The Sector sector created 9,000 jobs in the formal sector, a
3.4 per cent increase of the 271,000 jobs created in 2012.
Sh914 billionThe amount of money transacted through the mobile
money transfer service grew remarkably from Sh672 billion as at
June 2012 to Sh914 billion as at June 2013.
Down to 2.9%Depressed performance of the rains affected the
sector, which is the sinlge largest contributor to GDP
1.2m tonnesRailway freight tonnage dropped from 1.4 million
tonnes in 2012 to 1.2 million tonnes in 2013.
Sh1.02 trillionTotal value of mineral output declined by 28.6
per cent from Sh27.6 billion in 2012 to Sh19.7b
TRADE MANUFACTURING MOBILEAGRICULTURE
RAILWAY
MINING
ECONOMIC SURVEY 2014
Continued from P1
-
Wednesday, April 30, 2014 / The Standard NATIONAL NEWS / Page
3
Malaria cited as top killer disease
porting period.But on the social scene allocations
to orphans, vulnerable children and older persons went up
dramatically during the period. The funding for the elderly went up
from Sh1,519 million in 2012 to Sh3,168 million last year. The
allocation to orphans rose from Sh1,081 million to Sh4,763 during
the same period.
THE NUMBERSAccording to the Survey, Malaria
accounted for 12.2 per cent (23,789 deaths) of registered deaths
while Pnemonia accounted for 11.8 per cent (22,918 deaths) last
year.
Cancer, Aids and tuberculosis fol-lowed closely, crossing the
10,000 mark, taking the third, fourth and fi fth positions. Each
recorded 13,720, 11,448 and 11,186 cases respectively for the same
year. Other major causes of death were anaemia (8,134), road traffi
c ac-cidents (4,942), other accidents (4,857), heart disease
(4,544) and meningitis (4,265).
It was also shown that the total registered births increased by
8.6 per cent from 801, 815 in 2012 to 870,599 in 2013.
Garissa, Nairobi, Mombasa, Kiam-bu, Kirinyaga and Embu counties
had coverage of over 70 per cent.
State sets new formula to
gauge growth
apart from in Garissa Country where registration reached 70 per
cent.
Nationally, only about 60 per cent of births were registered
last year and less than half of births were recorded in the same
period.
On the brighter side, there was an impressive rise on the number
of people joining the National Insurance Fund going up by more than
13 per cent. Majority of the new members, 70 per cent, were from
the informal sec-tor; a factor attributed to a better co-ordinated
recruitment campaign.
The national government, the re-port says spent less money on
health with much expenses having been de-volved to the counties
during the re-
By GATONYE GATHURA and LONAH KIBET
Malaria, followed by pneumonia were the leading killer-diseases
in the country last year. Having claimed more than 46,000 lives,
the ailments have proved to be serious threats to the economy.
For the fi rst time, cancer has sur-passed Aids as the third
largest killer, having claimed 13, 720 lives compared to 11,448
deaths caused by HIV.
According to the Kenya Economic Survey 2014 comparative fi gures
for the last four years show Aids and ma-laria to have been on a
slow but steady decline while cancer and pneumonia and other
respiratory disease have been on the rise.
The other causes of deaths that should get Kenyans worried are
road traffi c accidents, which have been on a steep rise, just
approaching the 5,000 mark for the fi rst time.
BIRTHS AND DEATHSHowever, medical experts would
dispute some of these fi gures claiming most deaths recorded as
having been caused by pneumonia, cancers and respiratory illnesses
are actually Aids related complications.
But still, the report shows a lot of births and deaths in Kenya
are not be-ing registered especially in arid areas
BY MACHARIA KAMAU
A new method of computing the market value of goods and services
produced in Kenya is set to see the economy go up by as much as
half a trillion once completed.
The countrys Gross Domestic Product (GDP), which is the total
value of products and services, is set to grow to Sh4.2 trillion
from about the current Sh3.7 trillion.
According to the Economic Survey 2014, the GDP estimate for 2009
is Sh486.6 billion or 20 per cent higher than the previous
estimates.
The Survey dedicated a whole chapter to the rational of
reviewing the computation of the GDP referred to as rebasing which
will give an il-lusion that Kenya is a middle-income country. Kenya
National Bureau of Statistics (KNBS) said the rebasing is partially
done and will be complete towards end of this year.
The process of rebasing the GDP is based on the 2009 fi gures
and factors new sectors that are not captured us-ing the current
methodology of com-puting GDP.
These include certain aspects of Information Communication
Tech-nology, mining, oil and gas. The latter two are expected to
bring about heavy foreign direct investments in coming years. The
last rebasing was carried out in 2001 and the economy includ-ing
its drivers are seen to have signifi -cantly changed in the over
one de-cade. The revised GDP estimate for 2009 is Sh486.6 billion
higher than the previous estimates. This translates to a 20.6 per
cent increase, read the Survey. KNBS said the current revision has
taken four years since inception and will be concluded by end of
next year.Under the new method, agricul-ture is still the single
largest sector but its infl uence slightly waned owing to slowed
growth and a rapid expansion of manufacturing, communication and
real estate.
Why manufacturing sector grew by 5 pcBy FRANKLINE SUNDAY
Increased production of agricul-tural produce particularly in
the sugar and horticulture sectors buoyed Ke-nyas manufacturing
industry above the 2012/2013 slump caused by the 2013 General
Election jitters.
According to data in the 2013/2014 economic survey released by
Cabinet Secretary for Devolution and Planning Ms Anne Waiguru,
output in Kenyas manufacturing industry grew by 4.8
per cent compared to 3.2 per cent re-corded in a similar period
the previous year.
The volume of output grew by 2.6 per cent during the same period
and this is partly associated with the po-litical stability that
prevailed after the March 2013 general elections, read the report
in part.
The manufacturing sector created 9,000 jobs in the formal
sector, a 3.4 per cent increase of the 271,000 jobs created in
2012.
The total value of manufacturing output stood at Sh1 trillion
with value addition and intermediate consump-tion growing by 5.2
and 4.3 per cent respectively.
The production of fi sh however recorded a slump in the second
year running with a drastic 17 per cent drop in output in 2013
while produc-tion in the dairy sector rose by 4 per cent with the
improved performance attributed to favourable weather con-ditions
during the year.
The increased demand for motor vehicles saw the assembly of
motor vehicles, semi-trailers and building of bus bodies grow by
3.2 per cent com-pared to a similar period the previous year.
Kenyas infrastructure and real es-tate growth was once again
evident as demand for cement drove up growth in the sector by 7.8
per cent in 2013 compared to 4.8 per cent recorded in 2012
translating to 5,059 tonnes.
A child is immunised against polio in Embu County. A report has
shown that a lot of births and deaths are not being registered.
[PHOTOS: FILE /STANDARD]
GRIM PICTURE OF RISE IN FATALITIESFrom the Survey, it was also
clear that 2013 recorded the most fatalities, (194,332) compared to
previous years, 2010-2012Death registration level at the national
level rose by 3.5 per cent from 187,811 in 2012. 2010 and 2011 each
recorded 185,100 and 182,652 deaths respectively, read the survey
in part.
1.5m VisitorsThe number of international visitor arrivals
decreased from 1.7 million in 2012 to 1.5 million in 2013, largely
blamed on travel advisories and insecurity
1.5m VisitorsThe number of international visitor arrivals
decreased from 1.7 million in 2012 to 1.5 million in 2013
46,000Malaria followed by pneumonia were the leading
killer-diseases in 2013 claiming more than 46,000 lives and proving
to be serious threats to economy.
3% dropExports declined by 3% from Sh517.8b in 2012 to Sh502b
last year, while imports increased by 2.8% from Sh1.4tr in 2012 to
Sh1.4tr last year
Sh305bThe expenditure in the education ministry went up by 17
per cent from Sh260b in 2012 to Sh304.9b. However, the devolution
of pre-primary education functions has cut recurrent
expenditure for the national government.
TOURISM TRANSPORT HEALTHTRADE
EDUCATION46,000Malaria followed by pneumonia were the leading
killer-diseases in
Exports declined by 3% from Sh517.8b in 2012 to Sh502b last
year, while imports increased by 2.8% from Sh1.4tr in 2012 to
Sh1.4tr last year
HEALTH
ECONOMIC SURVEY 2014
-
population than to poverty incidence in a given area.
A county with a high population and low poverty incidence may
have a higher contribution to national pov-erty than one with less
population even if it has a high poverty inci-dence, reads part of
the report.
According to the survey, Kakamega County, which is ranked the
highest, has poverty index of 4.77 per cent while Lamu has 0.19 per
cent.
The top fi ve contributors to na-tional poverty are Kakamega,
Mande-ra (4.69), Turkana (4.13), Nairobi (3.94) and Bungoma with
3.79 per cent.
Lamu, Isiolo (0.73), Kirinyaga (0.79), Taita Taveta (0.82) and
Tharaka Nithi (0.87) per cent are the lowest contributors to the
national poverty index. According to the 2009 national census,
Kakamega has a population of 1.64 million and Mandera, Turkana,
Nairobi and Bungoma have 927,605, 801,346, 3.06 million and 1.35
million respectively.
The report indicates that poverty incidences per county ranged
from a low of 21.8 per cent in Nairobi to a high of 87.5 in
Turkana.
This implies that two in every 10
people in Nairobi live below poverty line compared to nine in
every 10 peo-ple living in Turkana County.
Additionally, poverty rate in Nairo-bi is approximately half the
national average 45.2 per cent, while Turka-na has almost double
the national poverty incidence.
The results also show that Wajir and Mandera in Northern Kenya
have high poverty incidences of above 80 per cent while those with
low poverty rates of below 30 per cent are Kiambu, Kirinyaga and
Nyeri counties.
BELOW THRESHOLDCounties like Siaya (38.2), Kisumu
(39.9), Trans Nzoia (41.2), Machakos (42.6), Bungoma (47.3),
Laikipia (47.9), (Homa Bay) 48.4, Kakamega (49.2) and Migori (49.6)
per cent have pov-erty indices ranging from 38 to 50 per cent
respectively. The poverty line is a threshold below which people
are deemed to be poor. The poverty gap shows how far off
individuals are from the poverty line.
According to the results, nearly fi ve in every 10 people in the
rural areas are poor compared to only three in 10 in urban
areas.
Page 4 / NATIONAL NEWS Wednesday, April 30, 2014 / The
Standard
Report lists counties with highest levels of poverty
By RAWLINGS OTIENO
Kakamega County contributes to the national poverty index 25
times more than what Lamu contributes, a new report has shown.
The Economic Survey 2014 indi-cates that a county with a high
popu-lation of poor people contributes im-mensely to the national
poverty index.
The survey states that the contri-bution to the national poverty
indica-tor is defi ned as the number of poor people in a county
expressed as a per-centage of the total number of poor people in
the country.
The indicator is more sensitive to
Stakeholders keenly follow release of the 2014 Economic Survey
Report at Kenyatta International Convention Centre, yesterday.
[PHOTO: MBUGUA KIBERA/STANDARD]
It states that a county with high population and low poverty
incidence may have a higher contribution to national poverty
By NICHOLAS WAITATHU
Depressed rainfall patterns in most grain growing parts of the
coun-try last year contributed to 1.3 per cent decreased growth in
the agricul-ture sector.
Launching the Economic Survey 2014 yesterday in Nairobi,
Devolution Cabinet Secretary Ann Waiguru con-fi rmed that growth in
the agriculture sector decelerated to 2.9 per cent from a growth of
4.2 per cent in 2012.
Even though low rainfall patterns instigated the low production,
other factors such as high cost of produc-tion and processing in
some sectors, and low international prices occa-sioned the
same.
Most of the cereal crops recorded signifi cant decline in
production dur-ing the review period apart from rice and wheat. For
example, maize pro-duction decreased from 39.7 million bags in 2012
to 38.9 million bags in 2013. Over the same period, produc-tion of
beans decreased from 6.8 mil-lion bags to 6.1 million, she
said.
Following the depressed output of
major crops, the total value of mar-keted agricultural
production de-clined from Sh344.6 billion in 2012 to Sh334.7
billion in 2013.
The decline in international coffee prices together with lower
produc-tion resulted in 29.2 per cent decrease in earnings from
Sh15.4 billion in 2012 to Sh10.9 billion in 2013. The de-cline was
further triggered by rising costs of farm and processing
inputs.
DEFIED ODDSWaiguru indicated that a number
of subsectors dared the drought pe-riod to record increase both
in pro-duction and value.
For example, a notable increase was recorded in the output of
pro-cessed milk products following an in-crease in the volume of
milk deliver-ies to processors.
And the value of wheat increased from Sh5.6 billion in 2012 to
Sh6.9 bil-lion in 2013 while the value of mar-keted sugar cane
increased by 13.4 per cent from Sh21.7 billion in 2012 to Sh24.6
billion in 2013.
See related stories on page 42
By STANDARD REPORTER
There were more than 742,000 jobs created last year, majority by
the informal sector.
Increase in number of jobs created in 2013 was attrib-uted to
growth in labour intensive sectors.
According to the Economic Survey 2014 released yester-day, the
total number of persons enrolled in both formal and informal
sectors increased from 12.8 million in 2012 to 13.5 million in
2013, translating to 742,800 new jobs.
The formal sector recorded 116,000 new jobs, 26,300 jobs of
which were by the Government.
This means more than 600,000 jobs were created by the informal
sector.
Despite being essential in employment creation, the in-formal
sector has largely operated with little support from the
Government, which has to a large extent failed to offer a conducive
environment including the operationalisation of essential
legislation as well as putting in place infra-structure.
The document detailing the performance of Kenyas economy last
year notes that employment in Government was fuelled by the
implementation of devolution, which has resulted in county
governments hiring in large num-bers.
The expansion of jobs in the public sector was mainly attributed
to the recruitment in the devolved structures and employment of
more teachers, adds the report.
Agriculture production drops after rains fail, prices fall
Over 600,000 jobs created in informal sector
ECONOMIC SURVEY 2014
-
Wednesday, April 30, 2014 / The Standard Page 5
-
Wednesday, April 30, 2014 / The StandardPage 6 / NATIONAL
NEWS
Untold stories of the fallen KDF men the fallen KDF men SCARS OF
WAR
Mother speaks about shocking incident which turned her world
upside down
BY PAUL WAFULA and NYAMBEGA GISESA
On the morning of September 1, 2012, the world woke up to
shocking footage of Al-Shabaab militants drag-ging the bodies of
men in military uniform in the streets of Kismayu.
The militants had forced families to come out of their homes to
watch them lugging the bodies leashed on cars. Kenyans were being
subjected to same humiliation that Americans endured in 1993 when
warlords dragged muti-lated bodies of US soldiers through the
streets of Mogadishu.
The Twitter handle for Al-Shabaab even referred to the infamous
Battle of Mogadishu in 1993, saying Just like all invaders before
them, #Kenyan sol-diers were mercilessly dragged in the streets of
Kismayu by an angry mob.
One of the bodies tied to a vehicle driving through the streets
was that of
Private Suleiman Adan, the son of a soldier from Isiolo, who was
barely out of his teens by the time he was enlisted in the
military.
The Kenya Defence Forces prom-ised Kenyans that they would do
every-thing possible to have Suleimans body brought back home for
burial.
Although, fi nding the remains of their son was supposed to dry
their tears and bring closure to their three-month nightmare, the
scars in their hearts remain fresh.
One-and-a-half years after Sulei-mans remains were brought home
and laid to rest, the pain is yet to go away.
My son grew up wanting to be a soldier and to serve his country,
his mother Amina says, her face aged by the ordeal. Often, she
breaks down when memories of her son fl ood back. He was only
23-years-old when he was killed.
Amina leads a quiet life alone in Isiolo town, nursing painful
wounds from the 30 months of war. She heard about the existence of
a DVD showing her son being dragged through the streets. She went
out, bought one and inserted it into her player and held the
remote. I just could not watch it.
Suleiman had worked for two years before he went to Somalia
and
never came back. He had great plans for this family and when he
got the job, we were hopeful that they would be fulfi lled, she
says.
A footballer, Suleiman had bravely followed in the footsteps of
his father, Adan Idema, also a soldier who is cur-rently deployed
in South Sudan for peace keeping. He went to Isiolo Boys and St
Kizito Primary school.
Since the start of Operation Linda Nchi on October 11, 2011, the
blood-bath at Miido has been one of the low-est moments for
KDF.
On August 31, 2011, men from the Eldoret-based 9KR battalion
under the command of Lieutenant Colonel Has-san left Afmadow for
the 90km match towards the epicentre of the war Kis-mayu.
But they were attacked from all sides a few kilometres after
Afmadow, leaving one of the platoon command-ers, Lieutenant Francis
Muthini, Pri-vate Joseph Nditika Nyamu, Private Martin Kimngich and
Corporal Charles Ndemo dead.
Private George Karari and Suleiman never returned to base after
combat. The military classifi ed them as missing in action
(MIA).
SOCIAL MEDIAHours after the attack, KDF de-
ployed more men including a team from its highly trained Special
Regi-ment unit to search for the missing.
At the crack of dawn, the militants with a penchant for social
media, posted pictures of the badly mutilated body of Suleiman on
Twitter and Face-book. His body was later discovered in a mass
grave with the help of residents of Kismayu after the port city was
liber-ated by KDF.
It was transported to the Armed Forces Memorial Hospital in
Nairobi for DNA analysis. It was later released to his family for
burial, nearly three months after his death. He was buried at Jamia
Mosque Cemetery in Isiolo town.
Suleimans family is reluctant to talk about his death. They fear
this can bring back painful memories. The fam-ily learnt of his
horrifi c death through the Internet, throwing his mother and
sister into their own private battle. It has been a silent war at
home that has gone unnoticed for nearly two years.
It is a struggle to erase the horror of Suleimans death. The
tormenting im-ages of him being dragged in the streets are replayed
like a bad movie every night.
Al-Shabaab has portrayed the on-
going war in Somalia as a religious fi ght against Islam. They
describe the Muslims, who are not on their side as Kafi r, an
Arabic word used in an Is-lamic doctrine to refer to a traitor, an
infi del, an unbeliever or a disbeliever.
The militants view KDF as a foreign force occupying Somalia.
Yet, ironically, Suleiman was a Mus-lim. According to the terror
group, he should not have gone to Somalia. They argued that he
endured the most pain-ful death because he was Muslim.
The family is reminded every morn-ing of Suleimans death
whenever they walk in the streets of Isiolo town. Ami-na feels
deeply betrayed by some members of her religion who branded her son
a Kafi r.
My son was called a Kafi r yet he was out there serving his
country. I raised him and I know Suleiman has never stopped being a
staunch Mus-lim, she says. So it torments me so much when his faith
is put to question just because he was fi ghting in Soma-lia. He
was not fi ghting Muslims.
But her nightmare does not end with the terror groups and
Muslims who branded her son an unbeliever. They are accentuated by
the ruthless and heartless businessmen who are making money out of
her sons pre-dicament.
They openly sell the videos of my son being tortured in Kismayu
in small video kiosks in the streets of Isiolo town. How do you
think a mother can feel when people of my faith fi nd plea-sure in
watching how my son was tor-tured?
We bought the DVDs at Sh300 out-side Isiolos Jamia Mosque. The
vendor asked if we wanted a DVD of the late Sheikh Aboud Rogo
preaching or the one with the beating of KDF in Kism-ayu. My prayer
is that the Government would one day appreciate the pain I go
through and stop these businessmen from distributing the videos,
she says.
Rahma, 23, Suleimans younger sister says that though her father
is a soldier, she cannot stand watching a man in military uniform.
It opens fl oodgates of pain. I do not want to hear the word
Somalia. It is like every-thing starts afresh when someone talks
about Somalia. I avoid watching TV, she says.
[email protected]@standardmedia.co.ke
Fallen KDF soldier Sulei-man Adans sister (left) and mother.
RIGHT: The late Suleiman Adan. [PHOTO: STANDARD/COURTESY]
The day they dragged my sons body in the streets of Kismayu
4DAYARMY WIDOWSMy wedding gown arrived two weeks after my fi
ancs burial, only in your copy of
Tomorrow.
-
Page 8 / NATIONAL NEWS Wednesday, April 30, 2014 / The
Standard
Go ye and marry many wives, new law says
riage. According to the Act, marriage is the voluntary union of
a man and a woman, whether in a monogamous or polygamous union,
registered under the Act.
The National Assembly passed the controversial law last month in
a heat-ed session that saw women MPs storm out in protest. The MPs
allowed an amendment that denies a jilted lover the right to seek
damages and anoth-er that gives men a free hand to take second
wives to go through.
This now means that a provision that required a partner who had
promised marriage to pay damages in the event they do not honour
the promise, will no longer be applica-ble.
Women will also be roped into the sharing of maintenance costs
for chil-
way and so just as with cars, which all come with individual
registration plates, men now can have as many marriage certificates
as the number of wives they marry.
This is because for the first time, monogamous and polygamous
mar-riages equally have the force and guarantee of legal
recognition and ex-istence.
But for men who want to increase their domestic brood, there is
an un-stated caveat anchored on personal considerations; they would
still have to contend with the reaction of their religious guides
and the economic burden that comes with each extra mouth to feed in
a household.
That notwithstanding, there is one thing that should make many
men smile today a husband in a custom-ary marriage will not be
required to seek the consent of his wife before taking on a second
wife as this earlier clause was repealed before Parlia-ment passed
the Bill sent to the Presi-dent.
While polygamy was not illegal, a marriage certificate could be
issued only for a monogamous union.
The Marriage Act (2014) defines various types of marriages
including monogamous, polygamous, custom-ary, Christian, Islamic
and Hindu.
The new law for the first time brings civil law, in which a man
is al-lowed only one wife, into line with customary law by
providing for the same legal status in the case of polyg-amy as
that of a monogamous mar-
dren in cases of divorce. Male MPs had ganged up to delete the
clause that had required a husband in a cus-tomary marriage to seek
consent from his wife before marrying a second one.
Leader of Majority Aden Duale, Justice and Legal Affairs
Committee chairman Samuel Chepkonga, Gem MP Jakoyo Midiwo and Suna
East MP Junet Mohamed were vocal in sup-porting the deletion.
They argued that it was against tradition to seek consent to
marry a second wife and claimed their female colleagues had
ulterior motives in try-ing to push for the clause.
When you marry an African wom-an, she must know the second one
is on the way, and a third one this is
Africa, Junet argued.I want my Christian brothers to
read the Old Testament; King David and King Solomon never
consulted anybody to marry a second wife. Du-ale added. Narok Woman
Representa-tive Sopian Tuya argued that for the sake of peace, it
was important that men seek their wifes consent to take another
one.
MAN ENOUGHAt the end of the day, if you are the
man of the house and you choose to bring in another party (and
there may be two or three), I think it behoves you to be man enough
to agree that your wife and family should know, she ar-gued.
Priscilla Nyokabi (Kiambu) unsuc-
cessfully pushed the argument that it was important that the
amendments be defeated for the sake of family uni-ty.
If you choose to marry, it is im-portant you inform your wife
that you are taking another partner. For the sake of cohesion, it
is important to in-form all the parties, she said.
But Benjamin Washiali (Mumias) supported the changes, saying he
was a product of a second wife.
sEiziNG prOpErtyMidiwo claimed that women op-
posed to the amendments were only interested in seizing family
property. The law also provides for parties in marriage to meet the
maintenance costs for children in cases of divorce.
The Act, which consolidates vari-ous laws relating to marriage,
pro-vides procedures for separation and divorce. It also regulates
the custody and maintenance of children in the event of separation
or divorce.
The MPs had also amended the Bill to make it mandatory for those
who want to stop a Christian marriage to put their reasons in
writing despite opposition from other MPs that it might
discriminate against Kenyans who dont know how to write but have
valid reasons to stop an intended marriage.
It states that parties to a marriage have equal rights and
obligations at the time of marriage, during the mar-riage and at
the dissolution of the marriage. All marriages registered un-der
the Act have the same legal sta-tus.
Polygamy now recognised by law For the first time, monogamous
and polygamous marriages equally have the force and guarantee of
le-gal recognition and existence While polygamy was not illegal, a
marriage certificate could be is-sued only for a monogamous union
But for men who want to increase their domestic brood, there is an
unstated caveat anchored on per-sonal considerations; they would
still have to contend with the reac-tion of their religious
guides
Continued from P1
-
Wednesday, April 30, 2014 / The Standard Page 9
-
By Wilfred AyAgA A parliamentary committee
has approved Government plans to pay off Sh1.4 billion owed to
two companies associ-ated with the infamous Anglo Leasing
contracts.
The joint committee on Budget and Appropriations, and Finance
voted to allow the Government to pay the money to Merchantile
Securities Cor-poration and Universal Satspace LLC.
But the decision will be considered when the report is tabled
this afternoon in the House where it is likely to raise a storm
because the opposi-tion has vowed to reject the payments.
The committee resolved to give the Government the green light to
make the controversial
Committee approves Anglo Leasings Sh1.4bJoint committee members
want the Government to pay for non-existent projects
payments, which have been pending since last year when the
Government lost two court appeals against the two com-panies.
The joint committee ad-opted the report on the back of arguments
by the Treasury that the Government was staring at the possibility
of its property abroad being attached should it fail to honour the
court deci-sions awarded in Swiss and British courts.
Treasury Cabinet Secretary Henry Rotich appeared before the
committee earlier in the day accompanied by Solicitor General and
told the commit-tee that the Government has no option but to
pay.
government AssetsIt is important to note that
the Government has a notifica-tion for the attachment of
Government assets. Therefore, failure to pay the negotiated amounts
will result in the at-tachment of its assets abroad, said Mr
Rotich.
The cases are accruing interest at the rate of Sh264,000 per
day. On an annual basis, the Government would be lia-ble to pay an
additional Sh96.6
million, Rotich told the com-mittee. He said the Govern-ments
efforts to float a sover-eign bond in the international market were
being harmed by delay in making the pay-ments.
We estimate that the cost of not paying could potentially reach
Sh20 billion, arising from higher domestic interest rates. Without
the issuance of the sovereign bond, domestic in-terest rates are
likely to be higher for both private and public sector, he
said.
While members allied to the Jubilee coalition supported the
payments, those allied to the opposition, CORD, voted to have the
report thrown out.
Among those who sup-ported the report were Jim-myAngwenyi
(Kitutu Chache North), Johnson Sakaja (nomi-nated) and Jamleck
Kamau (Kigumo). Four members op-posed this, among them Timo-thy
Bosire (Kitutu Masaba) James Nyikal (Seme) and Jared Opiyo
(Awendo).
The allegation that this is the only Government that is paying
for the so-called Anglo-Leasing contracts is incorrect, Rotich
said.
LSK Chief Officer Apollo Mboya, Chairman Eric Mutua and lawyer
Willis otieno at a press briefing yesterday. LSK has warned against
paying Anglo Leasing. [PHOTO: BEVERLYNE MUSILI/STANDARD]
Page 10 /NATIONAL NEWS Wednesday, April 30, 2014 / The
Standard
By moses miCHirA
Lawyers have threatened private prosecution on any officer
involved in the payments to An-glo Leasing companies.
Law Society of Kenya (LSK) Chairman Eric Mutua has warned top
officials at the national Treasury that they would be held
individually liable for payments for the controversial
con-tracts.
If these payments are made, then the Law Society of Kenya shall
take out private prosecu-tion against all persons who contractually
com-mitted the country to such payments, said Mr Mutua in a
statement.
LSK has also demanded that Kenyas argu-ments and submissions in
the Swiss court that awarded the Anglo Leasing firms to be made
public. Sharing the arguments could be a sig-nificant step in
unraveling a case that is billed to be Kenyas biggest corruption
scandal and pos-sibly the deepest mystery.
Mutua faulted the Geneva court in awarding the shoddy companies,
citing that a corruptly entered contract could not be enforced.
It is feared that the 18 Anglo Leasing con-tracts that were
cancelled in 2004 could poten-tially cost the taxpayer Sh125
billion. So far, two of the firms were awarded Sh1.4 billion in
De-cember following inability of the State to defend its decision
to cancel the suspicious contracts ten years ago.
An even bigger mystery is exactly how much Kenya is exposed in
the court cases following cancellation of the contracts. Top
officials have been issuing contradicting figures on how much the
country could be paying, with amounts vary-ing from Sh1.4 billion
to Sh125 billion.
Treasury Cabinet Secretary Henry Rotich disclosed in February
that the State needed to settle Sh125 billion owed to the Anglo
Leasing related firms to forestall endless legal battles. He has
now changed his stand and says Kenya is ready to pay Sh1.4
billion.
LSK to sue individuals making payments
NOTICE OF ANNUAL GENERAL MEETINGNOTICE IS HEREBY GIVEN that the
Ninety Sixth Annual General Meeting of The Standard Group Limited
will be held on May 23rd, 2014 at 11am at The Standard Group Centre
along Mombasa Road, Nairobi, to transact the following
business:
To read the notice convening the meeting, this is issued in
accordance with Article 137 of the Articles of the Company.1) To
confi rm minutes of the ninety fi fth Annual General Meeting held
on May 31, 2013.2) Matters arising there from.3) To receive and
consider the Balance Sheet and Accounts for the year ended 31st
December 2013, together with the 4) reports of the Chairman, the
Directors, and the Auditors report therein.To approve payment of a
fi nal dividend of Kshs.0.50 per share for the year ended 31st
December 2013, subject to 5) shareholder approval.Re-election of
Directors:6)
In accordance with Article 101 of the companys Articles of
Association, Dr. James Mcfi e who is an independent a. Director
retires by rotation and being eligible, offers himself for re
-election.In accordance with Article 101 of the companys Articles
of Association, Mr. Francis Munywoki who is an b. executive
Director retires by rotation and being eligible, offers himself for
re -election. Shaun Zambuni, was appointed on the 28c. th February,
2014 and in accordance with Article 102 of the Companys Articles of
Association, he hereby retires and offers himself for re
-election.
To approve the Directors remuneration for the year ended 31st
December 2013.7) To note that the Auditors, KPMG Kenya, have
expressed their willingness to continue in offi ce under section
159(2) of 8) the companys Act (Cap 486), and to authorize the
Directors to fi x their remuneration.Any other transaction of the
ordinary business of the company for which appropriate notice has
been issued and 9) received.
By order of the BoardRonald LubyaCompany Secretary
Note:1 . A member entitled to attend and vote at the above
meeting is entitled to appoint a proxy to attend and vote in
his stead .If the member is a corporation, the proxy shall be
appointed in accordance with the Articles of the Company, or be
represented in accordance with the Articles. Such a proxy need not
be a member. A proxy form may be obtained from our website
http://www.standardmedia.co.ke/corporate/annualreport.pdf, and if
used, shall be deposited with the secretary of the Company, or at
the Companys share registrars, Image registrar Ltd, 6th Floor,
Barclays Plaza, Loita Street P O Box 9287 - 00100 Nairobi, no later
than 48 hours before the time appointed for holding the meeting
.
2. The full annual report may be downloaded from our website
http://www.standardmedia.co.ke/corporate/annualreport.pdf. For
further inquiries contact Naomi Kosgei (Telephone: 3222010,
[email protected]) Please Note: transport will be offered
to shareholders to the Standard Group Centre along Mombasa road,
the venue
of the Annual General Meeting, from outside I&M Bank towers
along Kenyatta Avenue from 9am.
UNIVERSITY OF NAIROBI
Applicants must meet the following criteria:1. A good fi rst
degree in Economics or a related fi eld from a recognized
institution.2. A good Masters degree in Economics (with a course
work component) from a
recognized institution.3. The applicant must attach the
following documents to his/her application:
a) Certifi ed copies of academic transcripts and degree certifi
cates for his/her bachelors and masters degrees
b) At least three letters of recommendation from senior
university academics who previously taught the applicant.
c) A detailed curriculum vitae.d) Evidence of attachment to an
institution in Sub-Saharan Africa engaged in
economic management, research, and/or training in the public
sector in the region.
e) Evidence of participation in research and publication.
Qualifi ed candidates should send their applications to:
The Director, School of Economics, University of Nairobi,
P.O. Box 30197-00100, GPO Nairobi Email:
[email protected]
The closing date is May 31, 2014.
SCHOOL OF ECONOMICS
PH.D SCHOLARSHIPS IN ECONOMICS
Applications are invited for Ph.D. scholarships in
Economics.
-
Wednesday, April 30, 2014 / The Standard Page 11
Back to School
-
Page 12 / NATIONAL: PARLIAMENT
The team wants the State not to pay Essar during their exit
since they failed to upgrade and modernise the refinery as per the
agreement It wants the State to fast-
track development of a modern refinery to cater for national
consumption and export, noting delays in modernisation of the
refin-ery had contributed to high pump prices
It wants Essar to under-take a cleanup before mov-ing out. It
urges Nema to assess the environmental impact at the refinery and
ensure Essar undertakes the cleanup
committee recommendations
Esther Koimett John Mruttu Patrick Nyioke
Wednesday, April 30, 2014 / The Standard
House team wants top State officers probed over refineryPIC
wants anti-graft agency to probe officials over alleged skewed
agreement favouring Essar
By MOSES NJAGIH and ROSELYNE OBALA
A parliamentary watchdog committee wants the anti-corruption
commission to in-vestigate a governor, the In-vestment Secretary
and a former PS over a skewed Kenya Petroleum Refinery Limited
shareholder agreement.
In a report tabled in the National Assembly yesterday, the
Public Investment Com-mittee (PIC) recommends that the Ethics and
Anti-Corruption Commission (EACC) should launch investigations into
how the officers allegedly devel-oped the skewed agreement which
favours Essar Energy Overseas Limited, a Mauritius firm at the
centre of a sus-pected scam in the refinery upgrading.
The team wants Investment
By ROSELYNE OBALA
Mumias Sugar Company (MSC) is at the center of investigations
over the influx of illegally imported sugar in the country.
Parliamentary Committee on Ag-riculture was told that the
company has been constantly circumventing the law by importing and
re-packing sugar, which they later sell to Kenyans
at an exorbitant price. The illegal im-ports are a threat to the
survival of other industries and six million cane farmers.
Following the revelations, the MPs raised a red flag on the
impact of the illegal exercise in the country, warn-ing that if not
urgently addressed, it would kill the sugar industry and push cane
farmers out of business.
They raised concern that since
2008, a total of 50 metric tonnes of sugar amounting to about
Sh201 mil-lion have found way into the local market.
The committee chaired by Adan Mohammed Nooru also took to task
Inspector General of Police David Kimaiyo and Criminal
Investigations Directorate (CID) Director Ndegwa Muhoro over
failure to apprehend sugar barons. The legislators noted
that for years, MSC has continued to import sugar into the
country and even repackage it yet no action has been taken against
it.
They informed the top security officers that the company between
2006 and 2008 failed to export sugar to Uganda (3432 metric
tonnes), Su-dan (501 metric tonnes), Rwanda (300 metric tonnes),
and Democratic Re-public of Congo (50 metric tonnes).
Mumias Sugar in a spot over illegal imports
Adan Mohammed
>>House Diary
Debate: National Police Service Commission Amendment Bill
Debate: Tabling of budget estimates
By JAMES MBAKAand FELIX OLICK
The participation of the Govern-ment in Thursdays Labour Day
cele-brations remains uncertain after La-bour Cabinet Secretary
Kazungu Kambi yesterday said he would give the fete a wide berth if
it will not be representative of two warring labour unions.
The Central Organisation of Trade Unions (Cotu) has been locked
in a supremacy tussle for the preparation, organisation and
moderation of the May 1 annual celebrations with its rival the
Federation of Public Servants
Trade Union (Pusetu). Yesterday the industrial court ordered
Pusetu to refrain from interfering with the work-ers day
celebrations, technically blocking the infant labour union launched
barely three weeks ago from attending the event which will be held
at Uhuru Park in Nairobi.
Yesterday, Pusetu claimed there was a plot by their opponents to
dis-rupt the workers celebrations.
The union executive board, through Secretary General Dr Charles
Mukhwaya, claimed it had received intelligence reports that Cotu is
hiring goons to cause mayhem.
(See related story on Page 18)
By JAMES MWANGI
Nairobi County Public Works and Transport Executive Officer
Evans Ondieki has been sacked after a Mo-tion seeking his removal
overwhelm-ingly sailed through the assembly.
The county assembly sanctioned his removal from office over
several accusations including alleging graft among Members of the
County As-sembly (MCAs), incompetence and gross misconduct.
The County Executive Committee member made allegations in the
me-dia against the MCAs, thereby casting aspersions on their
integrity, the mover of the Motion, Ngara Ward Representative Chege
Mwaura, said.
The notice of Motion was tabled on Thursday giving Governor
Evans Kidero three days, as Standing Orders provide, to dismiss
Ondieki from of-fice. However, when the time lapsed without action
being taken, the as-sembly sacked him.
SIGNATURES TABLEDThe Speaker said the Motion ad-
hered to Section 42 of the County Government Act 2012 and
Standing Order 62 (1) and (2) of the County As-sembly.
The Motion required a third of the House-43 MCAs-to have their
signa-tures tabled in the assembly but 115 members out of the total
127 signed it. Nyayo Highrise Ward Representa-
tive Maurice Akuk said the move would bring major changes in
Nairobi, a sentiment echoed by Eastleigh MCA Nelson Masiga.
We allocated Sh1.2 billion to his (Ondieki) department hoping he
would change Nairobi. Now they have used all money to repay
developments done five to seven years ago. We need somebody who can
give meaningful services, said Akuk.
Ondieki was also accused of asking members to give lists of
proposed five roads per ward (425 roads in all 85 wards) for
rehabilitation for which there was reportedly no budgetary
provision. Committee Chairperson Diana Kapeen observed that Ondieki
was to blame for his fate.
MCAs sack Nairobi transport official
Secretary Esther Koimett, for-mer Energy PS Patrick Nyoike and
Taita Taveta Governor John Mruttu, the then Chief Execu-tive
Officer of the refinery, probed and possibly prosecut-ed for
irregularities in the ne-gotiations, drafting and signing of a
skewed shareholder agree-ment in favour of Essar Energy Overseas
Ltd.
The committee chaired by Eldas MP Adan Keynan further wants the
EACC to investigate and determine the ownership
of Essar, a company incorpo-rated in Mauritius in 2007.
It recommends that the of-ficers be held to account for
impropriety that saw Essar ac-quire 50 per cent stake of the
refinery, with a view of moder-nising and enhancing its ca-pacity.
The envisaged moderni-sation, including construction of residue
conversion facilities, production of clean products and
determination of product specifications, minimisation of emissions
and stabilisation of
electricity supply is yet to take place and Essar is seeking to
pull out of the agreement.
The officers should be held accountable for commit-ting
Government to an agree-ment that seeks to pay Essar US$5m (Sh434
million) on exit. EACC should investigate cir-cumstances under
which the considerations payable to gov-ernment for waiver of its
pre-emptive rights was reduced from the initial $15 million to $2
million, it recommends.
State presence at Labour Day fete remains uncertain
By STANDARD REPORTER
President Uhuru Kenyatta has declined to assent to a Bill that
barred Cabinet secretar-ies from enjoying the historical privilege
of flying the national flag on their official vehi-cles.
The draft law, which also denied gover-nors the privilege of
flying the miniature flag, ranked Cabinet secretaries further down
the pecking order of State officers.
Yesterday, the President did not assent to the National Flag,
Emblems and Names (Amendment) Bill that was passed by the National
Assembly on March 26, 2014.
According to State House Spokesperson Manoah Esipisu, the Head
of State was re-viewing the Bill and is likely to return it to
Parliament with a memorandum in respect of Cabinet secretaries.
MPs defeated an amendment to the Bill that had sought to include
Cabinet secretar-ies in the list of State officers who should enjoy
the privilege of flying the miniature flag.
Majority Leader Aden Duale had sought to introduce the amendment
to include Cabinet secretaries during the committee stage, in a bid
to preserve the historical privilege that senior Government
officials have enjoyed.
The amendment was defeated even as the House granted a similar
privilege to the countrys diplomats. The diplomats, who are below
the Cabinet secretaries in the Govern-ment pecking order, will
however, be allowed the flags while in foreign missions only.
Efforts by Naomi Shaaban (deputy Major-ity Leader) to convince
the members to vote for the inclusion of Cabinet secretaries in the
list failed.
Uhuru rejects Bill barring officials from flying flag
-
Wednesday, April 30, 2014 / The Standard Page 13
LEADERSHIP STRATEGY TRANSFORMATION
e Standard Newspaper pro les Kenyas Captains of Industry.
CEOs whose transformational Leadership
is steering their Corporate Ships from Good to Great
EXCLUSIVE TO...To Participate Contact: Tel : 0723 128 850 | 0736
702 678 | 0726 554 457 or Email: [email protected]
Share your story in:
At National Bank we have crafted a fi ve year transformational
strategy, seeking to grow the Banks turnover from the current
Sh8billion to Sh.31Billion and
attain Top Tier Bank by 2017
Transformational Leadership
Munir AhmedManaging Director
National Bank of Kenya
-
Page 14 / EDITORIALS Wednesday, April 30, 2014 / The
Standard
Superiority wars at Lands costly to country
The Standard is printed and published by the proprietors,
THE STANDARD GROUPNewsdesk: 3222111 | Fax: 2213108Email:
[email protected]
Group Managing Editor (Print): Kipkoech Tanui
Registered at the GPO as a newspaper.
What to do to grow the economy by double-digit?
WHAT OTHER MEDIA SAY...
It took too long for the chief government legal advisor,
Attorney General Githu Muigai, to come out and speak publicly about
the stand-off between the chairman of the National Land Commis-sion
(NLC) and the Cabinet Secretary, Ministry of Lands.
Day to day operations at the ministry have suffered while the
two institutions mandated to deal with matters of land and title
deeds pull in different directions bickering over who is
constitutionally empowered to issue title deeds, appoint key
officials and renew land lease documents. The reluctance of Mrs
Charity Ngilu to hand over some key functions to the NLC has not
only occasioned bad blood, it has seriously affected
operations.
In his observation that none of the contested functions
exclusively belonged to either of the antago-nists, the AG was
simply affirming what has been observed to be a duplication of
duties, not just at the Ministry of Lands, but other institutions
as well. Indeed, a review of existing institutions is necessary to
stop duplication of work and unnecessary friction. Calling upon the
NLC and the parent Lands ministry to sit and work together in
collaboration, consultation and co-operation is an exercise in
futility. The two seemed to have irredeemable differences.
To avoid continued paralysis, there is need for Parliament to
sit and deliberate on the functionality of the Lands ministry vis
-a -vis the National Land Commission and to set out clear
demarcation lines in the functions of both parties. Only recently,
the NLC put on notice land grabbers. Its efforts might come to
naught if at some point, the parent ministry objects to its mode of
operation. In a letter to governors, and which they have vowed to
ignore, the Lands Cabinet secretary appears intent on subjugating
the National Land Commission or stating that NLC was superfluous
and needed to be disbanded. Meanwhile, no title deeds are being
issued to legitimate landowners.
JK8E;8I;K?