Dispatch from Mombasa

Deputy president William Ruto raided CORD co-principal vote turf and made fleeting donations that might make the principal curse in envy. The DP toured Akamba handicraft in changamwe, Kalonzo Musyoka's vote basket  where he assured the crafter's of government's support in improving their business. The crafter's had petitioned the government over tax returns, land rates, construction of a show room and sheds and salary arrears to employees. The DP said he had requested the taxman to recompute the tax arrears for the artisans. "However, we have paid the Kshs 300,000 land rates. I also pledge Kshs 5 million for salary arrears and today I present to you Kshs 2 million," he said amidst claps of joy. He observed that the NYS will he involved in the rehabilitation of the area at a cost of Kshs 10 million. "The NYS will in the next two weeks bring their architect to work with management on the designs. We will also fence the premises," he said. The mo...

Source: World Vision Zambia Many years ago when I used to work as a Government reporter, we used to accompany the long serving Cabinet Minister Katana Ngala and MP for Ganze for relief distribution efforts in the Constituency of the then Kilifi District. Hon. Katana was not particularly known to keep time. He was the kind of a guy who would slot a meeting for 2.00.p.m. but would not appear until the sun was setting in the west. What particularly touched were the very many helpless women and children who would wait for eons on end for the hallowed Minister. They would have to brave sweltering heat and dust as they waited for “ Mubomu ” (The Leader). Many women with strapped little frail children in their backs hid under scanty brush and would only come to life when the perennially late Minister would put two two-kilogram “ Gorogoros ” of maize into their baskets. It used to be heart wrenching moment witnessing frail old women and sometimes men open their bags expectantly for ...

"….. 90% of any decision is emotional. The rational part of us supplies the reasons  for supporting our predilections." - Justice William O. Douglas, Supreme Court Judge USA), * As the dust settles in the just concluded American elections, questions are likely to arise on what went wrong in Secretary Hilary Clinton’s campaign camp. Many people were of the opinion that Hilary Clinton was likely to win. Their observation was backed by opinion polls that gave her a between 4-8% lead over President-Elect Donald J. Trump. Secretary Clinton had a good message going. She spoke policy and the continuation of President Barrack Obama’s legacy which had seen the American economy register significant growth compared to when President George Bush left White House in 2008. What concerns me is the role played by strategic communication advisers for Donald J. Trump that left the Clinton camp stun and with egg on the face. Their role provides crucial lessons to any practising or a...

Moments after Washington outsider and business mogul Donald Trump was elected US President, Facebook was ablaze with a bitter war of words between ODM and Jubilee over who should learn from the win. The election of Trump stunned both supporters and opponents the world over with stock markets reacting angrily to the election of a man who is widely considered to be an outsider. In Kenya, ODM and Jubilee decided to trade accusations over who supported him in the elections. The first to fire a salvo was ODM’s Director of Communication Phillip Etale who in his Facebook page accused Government insiders saying they had a lot to learn from the win. Dennis  Itumbi The PSCU Director of Digital Communication was the first to respond saying that the winning lessons were mainly meant for former PM Raila Odinga. He gave a link in which the former PM and ODM flag bearer had supported Hilary Clinton and even attended the Democratic Party Congress in which she was d...

Former Devolution and Planning Cabinet Secretary Ms Ann Waiguru Source: www.politics.co.ke If the Government through its hallowed institutions like the EACC and Parliament’s PAC cannot nail Former CS Ann Waiguru for the theft of Kshs 791 million from the National Youth Service, they should let her go. Period. This is because the probe by PAC and other associated institutions has turned into a circus. In my opinion, the probe has not yielded much and instead of exposing the alleged scam, it has turned into a political witch hunt where the opposition takes advantage of the alleged graft in Government to advance its course.  On the other hand, Government MPs take sides and only offer placates when it comes to probing the scam because it doesn’t want to be seen as playing into the hands of the opposition. Ms Waiguru has been presented before the court of public opinion, tried, judged and found guilty. Her identity, image and reputation have been compromised and as things s...