Uhuru Kenyatta can pull some fancy footwork. He delivered his keynote speech at the launch of his new party TNA in a formal business suit, then doffed jacket and tie to join the youngsters at the music concert.

His jam on the stage to UB40’s I Got You Babe seemed so easy and natural. It was not stilted or rehearsed, and showed his connection to the Uhuru generation.

The event, dubbed “iBelieve”, was more than the mere launch of a party. It was affirmation that Mr Kenyatta will be in the running, putting to rest the notion that the International Criminal Court indictments will stand in his way.

It affirmed, also, that there is no ‘Plan B’, the notion that Mr Kenyatta and his Hague co-accused William Ruto would prop up alternative candidates if they were engaged elsewhere.

For Mr Kenyatta, it was also meant as a declaration of independence, of Uhuru; the signal that he had come of age and was no longer retired President Moi’s pet project; and nor was he depending on President Kibaki to hold his hand.

Even the very act of ditching Kanu, the party that his father rode to independence, signalled a resolute break from the past.

Professionally scripted and organised, the launch of the The National Alliance put all past political events in Kenya to shame. Mr Kenyatta’s message was all about youth, a new beginning, and a new way of doing things.

Yet Mr Kenyatta will find that it requires more than mere words to overcome what is simultaneously his greatest asset and his greatest weakness – being a Kenyatta.

One preacher at the function summed it up. He noted that the crowd was under the steely gaze of giant bronze statue of the founding, father Mzee Jomo Kenyatta, “from whose loins and the womb of Mama Ngina” Uhuru sprang forth.

The preacher could have gone further and noted that other than the statue, the event was on the grounds of the landmark Kenyatta International Conference Centre.

It was within sight of Jomo Kenyatta’s mausoleum on the Parliament grounds.

The National Assembly is bordered to the west by Uhuru Highway, which one just needs to cross on foot to enter Uhuru Park.

One driving could also make his way to the park via Kenyatta Avenue, probably with a detour by Mama Ngina Street.

In his address, putative running mate Eugene Wamalwa tried to address some of the issues that refuse to go away – the “another Kikuyu” tag and the matter of a privileged princeling, he said, were not issues to worry about.

The very venue and all the symbolism around might have reminded the crowd otherwise.

On social media conversations, many gawked at the scale of the event and how it was put together; but there were also many cynics who attributed it all to money that no other politician can raise.

And when it comes to money, discussion swiftly turns to the source of that fabled wealth of the Kenyatta dynasty.

There were quite a few sniggers when Uhuru talked about redressing historical injustices when many might say he is a happy beneficiary of those injustices.

What one cannot quibble about, however, is that Mr Kenyatta knows how to put on a show, and that he has taken a quantum leap in the effort to define his political image.

He brought a brand new party, not weighed down with the baggage of the Kanu-Narc-PNU outfits.

He placed in the leadership, not the same tired and boring old politicians and the Gema crowds gravitating around him like vultures, but a new crop of youthful, modern, bright, enthusiastic faces who might be built very much in his own image.

But then questions might be raised whether the likes of Johnson Sakaja and Onyango Oloo command any mandate other then being hand-picked acolytes of the party owner.

When Mr Kenyatta starts to build his party, cold reality will set in, and the same old politicians will be by his side.

The politicians from central Kenya fronting their own parties but proclaiming loyalty to Mr Kenyatta, are already wondering where they will fit in the equation.

Article by Macharia Gaitho
mgaitho@ke.nationmedia.com
Source: http://www.nation.co.ke

If Mr Mugo Kibati, the Director-General of Vision 2030 Delivery Secretariat, the country’s long-term economic blueprint, had his way, every Kenyan would be happy and life would be such a bounty.

The 2008 mid-term plans were aimed at lifting the GDP that had fallen from 7.1 per cent in 2007 to 4.5 in 2008, 7.9 per cent in 2009, 8.7 per cent in 2010, 9.4 per cent in 2011 and 12 per cent by 2012.

However, when the Economic Survey 2012 was released a week ago on May 15, 2012, this dream had been tragically punctured.

In the report, the Gross Domestic Product dipped to 4.4 per cent in 2011 compared to a revised growth of 5.8 per cent in 2010.

“The growth rate is a major setback,” Mugo said. “Last year, oil prices hit our shilling and suffered shocks from the eurozone crisis.”

Compared with its peers in the region whose economies grew by between 5.5 per cent and 6.8 per cent, Kenya’s performance was disappointing.

This has sent the country’s top policy think-tank, National Economic and Social Council (NESC) and the Vision 2030 team back to the drawing board.

Although the World Bank’s lead economist for Kenya, Mr Wolfgang Fengler says the growth is in line with the bank’s projections of 4.3 per cent, there are fears the performance in 2012 might sink even further.

“If our economic performance of 2011 is anything to go by, we are headed for tougher times,” wrote Billow Kerrow in his Standard on Sunday column.

“The Economic Survey 2012 does not paint a rosy picture, and our political landscape is wilting as we rumble towards the General Election, making all less hopeful of the future ahead,” Kerrow, also an economist wrote.

By stimulating growth and fine-tuning three pillars — economy, society and politics — the government hopes to spin Kenya into the same league as South Africa, Singapore and Taiwan. In the three countries, industry and ICT drive growth.

In its Medium Term Plan 2008-2012, Kenya hoped to grow the economy by 10 per cent by 2012.

Key Kenya Vision 2030 pillars

To drive this are six sectors that form the economic pillar — tourism, agriculture, wholesale and retail trade, manufacturing, business process outsourcing (BPO) and financial services which constitute 57 per cent of the country’s GDP and provide about half of Kenya’s employment.

According to the survey, the performance of these sectors fell short of projected targets.

With erratic weather conditions, high cost of agricultural production — rising farm inputs prices hitting on agriculture, which contributes a quarter of GDP, chances of touching even half of the envisaged growth are slim.

This is despite the government’s bid to subsidise fertiliser and farm inputs in 2011.

Agriculture, which was pummelled by post-election violence, has remained wobbly returning a disappointing growth of 2.4 per cent compared to 6.4 per cent in 2010.

While releasing the report, Mr Wycliffe Oparanya, the Minister of State for Planning, said that all the major crops registered declines in production, including maize, wheat and coffee, except for rice, cotton, pyrethrum and sisal, even though high prices for tea and coffee compensated for declining volumes.

Kenya Vision 2030 Growth area

Also key sectors that have driven the Kenya economy in the past five years performed dismally.

Transport and Communication, a key growth area in recent years, was down to 4.6 per cent. This was in spite of a huge growth in mobile phone users from 20 to 28 million.

Wholesale & retail, manufacturing and the financial sector all recorded decline in growth.

“The drop in agriculture, which contributes a quarter to GDP, inflicted the biggest dent on the economy,” Kibati says. “We need to move away from rain-fed to irrigated farming. We also need to improve our value addition,” Kibati told Business Weekly in an interview.

Analysts say the dent in agriculture is a direct consequence of the increased frequency and duration of dry conditions.

“While erratic weather conditions are something we cannot control, we need to look deeply at our interventions and optimise them,” says Aly Khan Satchu, Nairobi-based Investment analyst.

Dr XN Iraki, a lecturer at the University of Nairobi’s School of Business, says Kenya needs to wean its economy off agriculture and move towards industrialisation and getting alternatives.

“Our best bet is skipping the smoke stacks and posting industrial age based on services,” Iraki says.

However, even as Iraki touts manufacturing —which accounts for 10 per cent of GDP — as key to heating an icy economy, the Economic Survey 2012 notes a myriad of challenges that choke this sector. In the survey, the sector marginally expanded by 3.3 per cent last year.

Unreliable power supply forced several manufacturers to operate at less than their optimum capacity. Only so few have resorted to using fuel to run their processes — which has inadvertently pushed the cost of operations through the roof.

The weak shilling through the last quarter of last year also increased the cost of imported intermediate inputs, thus adding to the final price of locally manufactured products.
Iraki says only mechanisation of agriculture can salvage the once high-net earner.

Kenya Vision 2030 Full potential

“However, the subdivisions of land in Kenya into uneconomic units make it hard to mechanise,” he says.

In tourism, the dream was to attract two million tourists by 2012, with targets of Sh200 billion a year. The survey, however, reported 1.8 million international arrivals last year from 1.6 million in 2010. Tourism raked in Sh97.9 billion last year from Sh73.3 billion in 2010.

However, Kibati says the sector’s full potential is yet to be reached. “Most flagship projects for the medium-term have yet to gather steam. Tourism is still underexploited and we have many underutilised parks,” he says.

Source: http://www.standardmedia.co.ke

The church, through its leader Archbishop Eliud Wabukala, said the church will not receive gifts from politicians or allow the pulpit to be used to spur animosity among Kenyans.

“We must embrace humility and become wiser as the country nears the General Elections. We will not allow the church pulpits be used by politicians to attack each other,” said Archbishop Wabukala on Sunday after leading a Sunday worship session at the All Saints Cathedral Church in Nairobi.

Anglican Church in Kenya is non-partisan

“As a church, we will remain non-partisan, but politicians who want to divide Kenyans on tribal lines should be discouraged at all costs. We are aware that some of them may not mean well,” said Wabukala.

The statements by the head of the Anglican Church in the country follow an earlier resolution by several priests from Mombasa Catholic Archdiocese who warned MPs William Ruto and Uhuru Kenyatta, former Civil Service boss Francis Muthaura and journalist Joshua Sang, who are accused of crimes against humanity at the International Criminal Court (ICC), against holding prayers in their churches.

“I, as the Archbishop of Mombasa, and my 80 priests will not allow the four suspects to hold prayers in our place. This will be tantamount to promoting impunity, which this country must abhor,” said Archbishop Boniface Lele of Mombasa Archdiocese.

Seventh Day Adventist in Kenya Position

The Seventh Day Adventist church, through a newsletter to all its branches, has also directed church elders not to use the church podium to campaign for their preferred political parties or leaders.

The church said it will remain neutral on political matters and urged its congregation to keep their political opinions to themselves.

The Anglican church on its part said politicians will only attend church services as normal worshipers and there will be no preferential treatment.

It is common for politicians to attend religious services during an election period to seek support where they often use the opportunity to promote their own political agenda and attack their opponents.

Source: http://www.standardmedia.co.ke/

Uhuru marshalled thousands of his supporters from across the country to attend the function at the Kenyatta International Conference Centre (KICC).

The G7 alliance members including Constitutional Affairs Minister Eugene Wamalwa and Eldoret North MP William Ruto led more than 70 MPs who attended the function.

Speaker of the East African Legislative Assembly, Mr Abdi Ramadhan, also attended the event alongside Cabinet Ministers Yusuf Haji, Jamleck Kamau, Dr Naomi Shaaban, Samuel Poghisio, Professor Sam Ongeri, Dr Mohammed Kuti and Wamalwa among others.

Ruto caused a stir and temporarily disrupted the event when he strode in shortly before the speeches commenced in the company of MPs Charles Keter, Aden Duale and Muhamud Mohamed to ululations from the crowd.

Mr Onyango Oloo, the Secretary General and Mr Johnson Sakaja gave  speeches detailing the ideals of TNA.

Sakaja announced that TNA officials would not be contesting elective posts in the General Election.

“A statement of faith has gone out across the country and beyond. We vow to make Kenya a better country for current and future generations to live in and for the economy to thrive,” said Sakaja.

He said the party would champion the rights of people of all class in the society.

“A torch has been passed to a new generation that is proud of their cultural heritage, ready and willing to pay the price, carry the burden to ensure peaceful country,” he said.

Sakaja added: “a movement towards a better Kenya has began and we will stand tall, proud and undivided as a people as we need visionary, committed leaders.”

Oloo said the country required transformative leadership as the clamour for change had come to a close with the promulgation of the new Constitution.

“Leaders who previously pushed for reforms are today the worst reformers and non-performers in government and political scene. That is why we refuse to accept leadership being imposed on us as we must usher a youthful crop of committed professionals,” said Oloo.

He said TNA would ensure that there is a free and fair nomination and election process in the General Election.

“We will not allow divisive and sectarian interests to prevail as we have a duty to God and future generations to safeguard our country from sliding to dictatorship,” he said.

Oloo said voters had a responsibility to pick dedicated leaders with the ability to bring about the much-needed integrity in the political scene and roll out meaningful development.

Youthful professionals at the helm of the party Mr Wambui Gichuru (treasurer), Patrick Chande (organising secretary), Dr Boniface Chitayi (secretary for health), Dennis Kirwa (deputy treasurer),Charles Waithaka (deputy secretary general) and Ms Lydia Mokaya (vice chairperson) delivered their pre-taped speeches.

Gender Minister Dr Naomi Shaaban said Uhuru had a constitutional right to contest the Presidency and had the potential to succeed President Mwai Kibaki at State House.

Assistant Minister Cecily Mbarire said Kenyans wanted a united nation devoid of tribalism and corruption.

“We need a country where youth and women can achieve their full potential and where they will be included in decision making at all levels,” said Mbarire.

Assistant Minister Lewis Nguyai said that TNA was capable of effecting the much-needed change on the  political scene.

Perhaps in the clearest indication yet of their working relation, the responsibility of inviting Uhuru to speak rested on Wamalwa, a member of the G7 alliance.

“I am not a TNA party member as I belong to New Ford Kenya. I am here as a friend of Uhuru and the party,” Wamalwa said.

The Saboti MP was the only non-party member who spoke at the function.

Uhuru marshalled thousands of his supporters from across the country to attend the function at the Kenyatta International Conference Centre (KICC).

The G7 alliance members including Constitutional Affairs Minister Eugene Wamalwa and Eldoret North MP William Ruto led more than 70 MPs who attended the function.

Speaker of the East African Legislative Assembly, Mr Abdi Ramadhan, also attended the event alongside Cabinet Ministers Yusuf Haji, Jamleck Kamau, Dr Naomi Shaaban, Samuel Poghisio, Professor Sam Ongeri, Dr Mohammed Kuti and Wamalwa among others.

stir

Ruto caused a stir and temporarily disrupted the event when he strode in shortly before the speeches commenced in the company of MPs Charles Keter, Aden Duale and Muhamud Mohamed to ululations from the crowd.

Mr Onyango Oloo, the Secretary General and Mr Johnson Sakaja gave  speeches detailing the ideals of TNA.

Sakaja announced that TNA officials would not be contesting elective posts in the General Election.

“A statement of faith has gone out across the country and beyond. We vow to make Kenya a better country for current and future generations to live in and for the economy to thrive,” said Sakaja.

He said the party would champion the rights of people of all class in the society.

“A torch has been passed to a new generation that is proud of their cultural heritage, ready and willing to pay the price, carry the burden to ensure peaceful country,” he said.

Sakaja added: “a movement towards a better Kenya has began and we will stand tall, proud and undivided as a people as we need visionary, committed leaders.”

Oloo said the country required transformative leadership as the clamour for change had come to a close with the promulgation of the new Constitution.

“Leaders who previously pushed for reforms are today the worst reformers and non-performers in government and political scene. That is why we refuse to accept leadership being imposed on us as we must usher a youthful crop of committed professionals,” said Oloo.

He said TNA would ensure that there is a free and fair nomination and election process in the General Election.

“We will not allow divisive and sectarian interests to prevail as we have a duty to God and future generations to safeguard our country from sliding to dictatorship,” he said.

responsibility

Oloo said voters had a responsibility to pick dedicated leaders with the ability to bring about the much-needed integrity in the political scene and roll out meaningful development.

Youthful professionals at the helm of the party Mr Wambui Gichuru (treasurer), Patrick Chande (organising secretary), Dr Boniface Chitayi (secretary for health), Dennis Kirwa (deputy treasurer),Charles Waithaka (deputy secretary general) and Ms Lydia Mokaya (vice chairperson) delivered their pre-taped speeches.

Gender Minister Dr Naomi Shaaban said Uhuru had a constitutional right to contest the Presidency and had the potential to succeed President Mwai Kibaki at State House.

Assistant Minister Cecily Mbarire said Kenyans wanted a united nation devoid of tribalism and corruption.

“We need a country where youth and women can achieve their full potential and where they will be included in decision making at all levels,” said Mbarire.

Assistant Minister Lewis Nguyai said that TNA was capable of effecting the much-needed change on the  political scene.

Perhaps in the clearest indication yet of their working relation, the responsibility of inviting Uhuru to speak rested on Wamalwa, a member of the G7 alliance.

“I am not a TNA party member as I belong to New Ford Kenya. I am here as a friend of Uhuru and the party,” Wamalwa said.

The Saboti MP was the only non-party member who spoke at the function.

Source: Standard.

Because of the significant dry spell early in the year, traders have been sourcing sweet potatoes from as far as Tanzania. On the surface, there appears to be an onslaught on the highly advertised cereals, confectioneries and margarines.

The turn to the roots, called orphan crops by the Ministry of Agriculture, however, may be too little too late. New statistics indicate that Kenyans are getting fatter, drinking more and ailing more.

Comprehensive data released by the World Health Organisation says the consumption of tobacco, alcohol, salt, sugars and lack of physical exercises are major health risk factors in Kenya.

The World Health Statistics 2012, which covers the 194 member states of the WHO, says the world is getting heavier with lifestyle diseases becoming a major killer.

In Kenya, communicable diseases are the number one killer led by Aids in adults and diarrhoea in children. Heart conditions lead among lifestyle diseases.

More than 60 per cent of deaths in Kenya are caused by infectious diseases such as Aids, malaria and pneumonia while 12 per cent are attributed to heart conditions, six per cent to cancers, two per cent to diabetes and six per cent to other lifestyle diseases.

Lifestyle diseases generally kill more men than women, and at a younger age, while women pay the balance through high rates of maternal deaths.

Obesity, long established as a major health risk factor, is also not shared proportionally among Kenya with women carrying more weight than men.

According to the data, Kenyan women are almost twice as heavy as men. While about two per cent of men are obese, this figure jumps to 6.2 per cent for women.

Even among women, the obesity is not shared equally. An affluent woman living in Nairobi’s Kitisuru estate or Mombasa’s Nyali is likely to carry more weight than their counterparts in Kawangware slums.

But even as more Kenyans opt for a leaner breakfast, the report says the expected results are spoilt by other consumption habits such as smoking. Kenyan men smoke more than what is the regional average; at least 26 per cent of males are smokers with the majority of them in rural areas.

Evidence shows that one in five males between 18 and 29 years and one in two males between 40 and 49 years are using tobacco products.

According to the report, alcohol abuse is on the rise in Africa with Kenyan men starting off when they are still young.

A study carried in November by SCAD, a youth not for profit organisation, in 28 schools in Nairobi and Kiambu covering 1,470 students, found that boys start drinking alcohol at age 12.

“Majority (26.5 per cent) of current alcohol users had their first alcoholic drink between the ages of 14 and 16, while 23.2 per cent of current users took their first drink aged below 12 years.”

Statistics from the Kenya Bureau of Standards and the market indicate that alcohol consumption is on the increase in Kenya, and as the economy improves, this will continue to rise.

Last year, Kenyans downed 601 million litres of alcohol, some 30 million litres more than the previous year.

This, coupled with an increasing sedentary life, with more urban housewives spending more time on the couch watching soap operas, is a risk factor leading to obesity.

According to the WHO statistics, 15 per cent of Kenyans are dangerously inactive with the ministries of health lacking a physical activity programme. However, with the coming of a devolved government, this is bound to change.

According to a draft health Bill prepared for legislation by the two ministries of health, the county governments will be responsible for promoting and providing facilities for physical activities for their populations.

One suggested way to increase physical activity, especially among students, is to make sure that they walk to school instead of using buses or their parents’ cars.

“Exercise is an effective way of addressing health inequalities. However, many parents are afraid of letting their children go outside because the roads are so busy, and in many communities there are the additional dangers of unsafe environments where play areas are littered with discarded syringes and broken glass,” says Dr Nicolas Muraguri, the former head of the National Aids and STDs Control Programme.

The other factors fuelling the increase of lifestyle diseases are the high intake of salt and sugar.

Last year, WHO director-general Margaret Chan called for immediate and aggressive action against tobacco, alcohol, foods rich in salts, fats and sugar to stop what she called “globesity.”

The growing ratio of lifestyle diseases piles on top of yet-to-be-tamed infectious diseases responsible for 62 per cent of all deaths in Kenya.

HIV is the major single killer disease in Kenya claiming over 24 per cent of all adult deaths.

This is followed by malaria at 7.2 per cent while tuberculosis comes fourth, claiming about five per cent of all deaths. Together, these three diseases are the most heavily funded, especially by donors.

The level of donor support to HIV, malaria and tuberculosis has been rising dramatically from about $86 million in 2002 to more than $565 million in 2009, with the bulk going to HIV.

While in 2002 donors were meeting, only about half the expenses for the three diseases, by 2009 this had risen to almost 90 per cent. The US remains the biggest donor to the health sector in Kenya.

Among children, the major killer, according to the WHO report, is diarrhoea. The report shows a worrying trend where the provision of safe drinking water to all Kenyans, apart from the richest, is deteriorating.

Only about 20 per cent of Kenyans in rural areas get safe drinking water, pointing towards more water-borne diseases. Despite the growing population and increasing disease burden, the general government spending in health had been on the decline from 2000 to 2007.

The report also captures the now endemic food insecurity in the country, reflected in child malnutrition among poor families.

“Children from the poorest urban quintile are four times more likely to be chronically malnourished than children from the wealthiest urban quintile.”

If these children can manage to survive the many infectious diseases, they could expect to live to the age of 54, at which they are most likely to contend with the increasing number of lifestyle health conditions.

Only recently, veteran politician Martin Shikuku was admitted to a Nairobi hospital after being diagnosed with prostate cancer. Public Health Minister Beth Mugo, her Medical Services counterpart, Anyang’ Nyong’o, former chairman of the defunct Electoral Commission of Kenya, Samuel Kivuitu, East African Community Permanent Secretary, David Nalo, and various other personalities are battling with various forms of cancer.

And there is just no good news as thousands of ordinary Kenyans are also currently suffering from the illness.

Cancer’s rising status as Kenya top silent killer has now been made official, with statistics from the Department of Civil Registration (DCR) showing that the disease claimed 11,907 lives last year alone. This amounted to 10.3 per cent of the total deaths recorded in 2011, making cancer the fourth highest killer disease in the country. And the number of cancer patients could even be higher, with some medical experts noting that cancer-related complications claim up to 50 lives daily. Cancer fatalities are now almost overtaking those of Aids, which last year accounted for 12,176 (10.5 per cent) of all deaths.

According to the DCR, malaria and pneumonia topped the list, accounting for 28,360 (24.5 per cent) and 23,915 20.5 per cent of all deaths respectively. Other leading killers included tuberculosis (11,679), anaemia (8,208), the much-talked about road accidents (4,746) and heart diseases (4,745).

Dr Kimanthi Kimende, a surgeon and breast cancer specialist notes that more cancer cases are being recorded worldwide. But he attributes this to improved detection mechanisms as opposed to a rise in cancer prevalence.

“The environment is playing a major role in this since through media, more people are now aware of cancer and its symptoms and are going to doctors early. We also have proper research systems and new technologies that are helping detect the disease better as well as a cancer registry to record the cases. All these have contributed in having a high number of cancer cases,” he explains.

Kimanthi nonetheless decries the fact that most cancer patients are dying prematurely and helplessly, as they cannot afford the rather expensive cancer treatment. He says it is time the Government intervenes and saves the citizenry.

“This is a serious  problem and the Kenya Government should consider subsidies. There should also be official policies that ensure that these patients get proper treatment,” he states.

In 2011, Eastern Province had the highest number of cancer casualties at 2,658 followed by Western Province with 2,011 cases, Central Province with 1,630 and Nyanza with 1,469.

While the late Nobel Laureate Prof Wangari Maathai was among the key cancer casualties last year, the disease has already claimed key figures this year. Among them is former Environment minister John Michuki, his Defence counterpart Njenga Karume and former National Cohesion and Integration Commission (NCIC) vice- chairperson Mary Onyango.

Over the years, the cancer situation has been worsening in most parts of the world as many patients remain unscreened, undiagnosed and in other cases inadequately treated due to the high cost of chemotherapy.

For those who can afford treatment, the illness has been eating away their finances and investments, with the Government coming under heavy criticism for not investing much in cancer treatment.

Source: http://standardmedia.co.ke/