Kingwa Kamencu

Kingwa Kamencu is a Kenyan politician. Educated at Nairobi university, at present she is contesting for the position of President in Kenya's forthcoming 2013 election.
Her youth and inexperience have garnered much attention. She carries the hope that Kenya can become self-sufficient and able to deal with crises such as famine and drought. Her thoughts were recorded in the Guardian,a British newspaper, in November 2011.

Mutava Musyimi

Mutava Musyimi is a Kenyan politician. He belongs to the Party of National Unity and was elected to represent the Gachoka Constituency in the National Assembly of Kenya since the Kenyan parliamentary election, 2007

Early Life & Family

Mutava Musyimi was born in 1952 to Tabitha Kisilu and veteran politician Stephen Kisilu (both deceased) in Riakanau village, Embu District. He is the third born of eight children. He grew up in a Christian home, and attended Riakanau Primary School from 1959-1965. He later joined the prestigious Kangaru School,[2] Embu in 1969. He attended the University of Nairobi (Kenyatta Campus- which later became Kenyatta University) in 1972 to pursue a Bachelor of Education degree. It was during this time that he felt the call to become a man of the cloth. After much thought, prayer and consulting, he decided to follow this route, though it took him down a different path. He later joined University of London for a Bachelor of Divinity degree and thereafter the Trinity Divinity School, Illinois for a Master of Theology degree. Upon returning to Kenya, he joined the Nairobi Baptist Church[3] as a Pastor from 1979- 1993. He married his wife Nyambura Musyimi on February 4th, 1984 and later had two children; a daughter, Mueni-Nyokabi (25), a lawyer and theology teacher and a son, Syano (23) a PhD candidate.
[edit]The Church

It was during his tenure at Nairobi Baptist Church[4] that he came to the limelight as he spoke openly against the excesses of the Moi era. He later said, '...it is at Nairobi Baptist Church I started to see the state and individuals…and the pulpit as a powerful place for speaking out against injustice...'. He joined the National Council of Churches of Kenya (NCCK) as the Secretary General and served until 2007. Under his leadership, NCCK was very vocal on human rights issues, democracy and constitutionalism. Introspectively, NCCK made huge leaps in achieving its mandate including; financial stability and sustainability, advocacy and strengthening of its systems and priorities. He led the interfaith Ufungamano Initiative that was instrumental in shaping and achieving Kenya’s new Constitution.
[edit]The State



Mutava Musyimi with Children in Gachoka
In 2007 Mutava left NCCK and ran for Parliament as Gachoka’s MP. He ran against Joseph Nyagah and won, defeating the fifty (50) year old hold the Nyaga family had on the constituency. During his tenure, Gachoka Constituency has seen improved infrastructure including new roads, piped water, electrification and better utilization and monitoring of Constituency Development Funds (CDF). In Parliament he is the current chair of the Lands and Natural Resources Committee, and a member of the Justice and Legal Affairs Committee. He has been touted by several media publications to run for presidency.
[edit]Hobbies

His hobbies include farming, football, art appreciation, and meeting people. He likes to read biographies and African literature. He says ‘…I’m particularly interested in the works of the likes of Chinua Achebe and Wole Soyinka…it is interesting to see how they capture the disruption of [African] society by colonialism, religion…’ Mutava is currently working his way through the Bible in Swahili. He does not like movies, but when pushed on it admits to be partial to Meryl Streep especially in Out of Africa. He admires Nelson Mandela for his sacrifice and patience, Nobel Laureate Wangari Maathai for her passion and persistence, Winston Churchill for his courage and discernment of the times and his late father because he was ‘…a complete person. In faith, family, politics, enterprise and community…’ Asked what historical figure he would have over for dinner if he could he answered King David of the Bible and Mahatma Gandhi. The king, because of his ability to blend all his different capacities into one human being, and the Mahatma for his deep reflections.
[edit]Presidential Ambitions

Mutava has declared his intentions to vie for the presidential seat in Kenya's 2012 General Elections. He launched his candidacy on July 2nd, 2011 in Nakuru. His slogan is 'It's Time!' or 'Ni Sasa' (translated into Swahili). His symbol is a lit candle. He is reported to be pursuing the nomination of the Democratic Party of Kenya when it selects its flag bearer.

Sir George Luchiri Wajackoyah

Stephen Kalonzo Musyoka

Stephen Kalonzo Musyoka (born December 24, 1953) is a Kenyan politician, currently serving as Vice President of Kenya. Musyoka served in the government under President Daniel arap Moi and was Minister for Foreign Affairs from 1993 until 1998; subsequently, under President Mwai Kibaki, he was Minister of Foreign Affairs again from 2003 to 2004, then Minister of the Environment from 2004 to 2005.[1] He was an unsuccessful candidate in the 2007 presidential election, after which he was appointed as Vice-President by Kibaki in January 2008. Musyoka is the party leader of the Wiper Democratic Movement (formerly Orange Democratic Movement-Kenya). He also serves as Chief Commissioner for The Kenya Scouts Association


Early life and career

He was born in Tseikuru, in a remote part of Mwingi District (then part of Kitui District) in Kenya's Eastern Province. Between 1960 and 1967 he studied at Tseikuru Full Primary School to attain basic education. Then he went to Kitui High School in Kitui for the ordibary level and eventually to Meru School in Meru from where he graduated in the advanced level in 1973. Kalonzo Musyoka graduated with a Bachelor of Law degree from the University of Nairobi in 1977. He continued further studies at the Kenya School of Law in 1978 where he was awarded a Post graduate diploma in Law.In 1979, he attended the Mediterranean Institute of Management in Cyprus where he earned a post graduate Diploma in Business. [3]. Recently, in 2008, he was awarded a Honorary Doctorate in Divinity among other 17 beneficiaries at the Charter hall in Nairobi, Kenya.This was one the "honorary professorships and doctorate degrees" that were issued by Prof. Clyde Rivers who is the International Commissioner of the Latin University of Theology which is based in Inglewood, California.
In December 19th, 2008, Kalonzo Musyoka was honored with a Doctorate in Humane Letters (honoris causa) in recognition of his achievements in peace making, conflict resolution efforts, sustainable community development and humanistic ideals by Kenyatta University during its 25th graduation.
[edit]Politics

Musyoka vied for the Kitui North Constituency parliamentary seat in 1983, but was defeated. At the time, Kenya was one-party state and the only party fielding candidates was Kenya African National Union (KANU). However, only two years later, in 1985 the Kitui North seat was vacated and Musyoka won subsequent by-elections, thus becoming an MP at the age of 32. In 1986 he was appointed Assistant Minister for Works, Housing and Physical planning and he served until 1988. He was re-elected at the 1988 parliamentary elections and he was appointed as the deputy Speaker to the national assembly in 1988 and [6] served until 1992.He was KANU's National Organizing Secretary from 1988 to 2002.
[edit]1992-1997 Kenyan Parliament

Kenya's first multiparty elections were held in 1992. Musyoka stayed in KANU, renewed his parliamentary position and was appointed Minister for Foreign Affairs and International Cooperation. He also held couple of other ministerial positions while part of the KANU government. In June 1993, he addressed the World Conference on Human Rights in Austria which was the first human rights conference held since the end of the Cold War. He termed the illicit mineral trade which fuels and finances what he called 'the cause of incessant conflicts, environmental degradation but ultimately and sadly too, poverty'[7].The Vienna Declaration and Programme of Action was the major result from this meeting after the participants reached a consensus.
[edit]1997-2002 Kenyan Parliament

He was again elected to the parliament at the 1997 elections, but now from Mwingi North Constituency, since his former constituency Kitui North was split into new constituencies.
[edit]2002-2007 Kenyan Parliament

In the months leading up to the 2002 general election, under the leadership of then KANU secretary general, Raila Odinga, he decamped from KANU to join the Liberal Democratic Party (LDP) as a founding member under the banner of the National Rainbow Coalition, which went on to win the general elections.

On December 1st, 2003, as the Minister for home affairs and international cooperation for Kenya, he welcomed the people to this meeting, whose theme was Strengthening the role of IGAD in regional peace initiatives and post conflict reconstruction on behalf of the republic of Kenya and thanked the Danish government, IGAD Secretariat and the ISS on behalf of the [10] IGAD Member States for their preparations and funding of the meeting.Kalonzo Musyoka was involved in the Sudan peace process between 1993 - 1997 and he was part of the team that reconstituted the draft establishing IGAD in 1995.
Musyoka became Minister for Foreign Affairs for a second time under President Mwai Kibaki, but in a cabinet reshuffle on June 30, 2004 he was moved to the post of Minister for the Environment. In late August 2004, he was additionally removed from his position as chairman of the Sudanese and Somali peace talks and was replaced by John Koech.[11] Musyoka was reportedly unhappy with President Kibaki's refusal to honour a pre-election Memorandum of understanding (MOU) which they had signed with the president's party NAK. He was one of the leaders of the successful "No"-campaign in the November 2005 referendum on the proposed new constitution. Following the referendum, he was dismissed from the Cabinet.[12]
Subsequently Kalonzo Musyoka decamped Liberal Democratic Party (LDP) into the little known Labor Party of Kenya.
Kalonzo Musyoka was widely expected to vie for the presidency in the December 2007 election. Musyoka campaigned for the ODM-Kenya ticket, facing a number of other contenders. His rating for December 2007 election steadily dropped, and political analysts wondered whether he would make a significant impact. His relationship with fellow ODM-Kenya leader Raila Odinga, who was also after the ODM-Kenya presidential ticket, was the subject of much speculation. Many observers questioned whether the presidential hopefuls of ODM-Kenya, particularly Raila and Musyoka, could unite to support one common candidate for the general election.
The ODM-Kenya split into two factions, one gathered around Musyoka and the other around Odinga, in August 2007. Musyoka was elected by his faction as its presidential candidate on August 31, 2007,[14][15] receiving 2,835 votes in a secret ballot against Julia Ojiambo, who received 791 votes.[15]
Musyoka has been quoted as saying "... the war against poverty could not be won unless environmental issues were addressed."[citation needed]
Musyoka launched his presidential campaign at Uhuru Park in Nairobi on October 14, 2007. This move was criticized by those who saw him as a traitor to the ODM party of Raila Odinga. Kalonzo however said that "atapitia katikati" (passing between two people).
[edit]After 2007

According to official results, Musyoka placed a distant third behind Kibaki and Odinga with 9% of the vote.[16] Amid a violent crisis over the results, with supporters of Kibaki and Odinga disputing the outcome, Kibaki appointed Musyoka as Vice-President and Minister of Home Affairs on January 8, 2008.Musyoka expressed gratitude to Kibaki and, referring to the ongoing dispute and violence, said that he was "intensely aware that the appointment has come at a difficult time when our nation is going through a painful moment". He took office as Vice-President on January 9
The political crisis eventually led to the signing of a power-sharing agreement between Kibaki and Odinga. In the Grand Coalition Cabinet that was announced on April 13, 2008, Musyoka remained Vice President and Minister of Home Affairs.
In 2010 Musyoka supported the draft constitution in the campaign for August 4th referendum but Members of the campaign team opposing the draft constitution claimed that he was secretly opposing the draft leading to a satirical comparison of Musyoka to a watermelon which is naturally green outside and red inside, the team supporting the draft constitution was represented by color green while the team opposing the draft constitution was represented by the color red hence the "green team" and the "red team", Musyoka's nickname watermelon was because of his alleged open support for the green team and secret support for the red team.[21]. Most of the opposers of the draft constitution were the clergy.
[edit]Personal life

Kalonzo Musyoka is married to Pauline. They have four children. He was baptized by pastor Masila Munyoki [3]. He is the patron of the Kalonzo Musyoka Foundation and he has served since 2006.

Martha Karua

William Ruto

Uhuru Muigai Kenyatta (born 26 October 1961) is a Kenyan politician who has served in the government of Kenya as Deputy Prime Minister since 2008. He is the Member of Parliament for Gatundu South Constituency and Chairman of Kenya African National Union (KANU), which is currently part of the Party of National Unity (PNU).
Kenyatta is the son of Jomo Kenyatta, Kenya's first president (1964–1978). His name, Uhuru, is Swahili for "freedom". He attended St Mary's School in Nairobi. From there he went on to study political science at Amherst College in the United States.
Nominated to Parliament in 2001, he became Minister for Local Government under President Daniel arap Moi and, despite his political inexperience, was favored by President Moi as his successor; Kenyatta ran as KANU's candidate in the December 2002 presidential election, but lost to opposition candidate Mwai Kibaki by a large margin. He subsequently became Leader of the Opposition in Parliament. He backed Kibaki for re-election in the December 2007 presidential election and was named Minister of Local Government by Kibaki in January 2008, before becoming Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of Trade in April 2008 as part of a coalition government.
Subsequently Kenyatta was Minister of Finance from 2009 to 2012, while remaining Deputy Prime Minister. Accused by the International Criminal Court (ICC) of committing crimes against humanity in relation to the violent aftermath of the 2007 election, he resigned as Minister of Finance on 26 January 2012.

Political life

His initial entry into politics came through his election as the chairman of his hometown branch of the ruling party, KANU, in 1997. This came with the tacit approval of President Moi. At the time, many saw the election as a calculated move to prepare Uhuru for bigger things.
In the general election held the same year, Uhuru contested the Gatundu South Constituency parliamentary seat, once held by his father. It was assumed he would sail through. But that was not be: Uhuru lost to Moses Mwihia, a little-known Nairobi architect. After losing the election, Uhuru's friends say that he was extremely upset and that he vowed to quit politics altogether.
He hurriedly retreated to the family business empire that includes five-star tourist hotels, airlines and commercial farming. Little did Uhuru know that President Moi was still intent on propelling him onto the national political scene.
In 1999 Moi appointed Uhuru the new chairman of the Kenya Tourism Board, where he worked with Kenya's political power-broker Nicholas Biwott, a very close confidante of the president. Apparently the young Uhuru was undergoing even more intensive training. Then came October 2001 and Uhuru was nominated to parliament and subsequently to the cabinet as Minister for Local Government. In March of this year Uhuru Kenyatta made it big on the national political scene when he was elected as one of the four national vice-chairmen of KANU.
President Moi paid a heavy price for ensuring Kenyatta was KANU's presidential candidate, with several senior party figures, their own ambitions thwarted, resigning to set up another party (the Liberal Democratic Party).
In the presidential election held on 27 December 2002, Kenyatta was soundly defeated by opposition leader Mwai Kibaki, taking only 31% of the vote against 62% for Kibaki; this marked the end of KANU's continuous 39 years of rule since independence. Many attributed Kenyatta's defeat to his association with the retiring President Moi, whose long rule was widely regarded as hopelessly corrupt and ineffectual. He was also seen to be lacking experience and his campaign team lacked the big names, most of whom had left KANU to join the opposition NARC. Despite losing the presidential election, Uhuru Kenyatta won an MP seat at the Gatundu south constituency.
Since he joined Moi's inner circle, Uhuru Kenyatta has been fighting to prove that he is his own man and not Moi's stooge. In late January 2005, Uhuru Kenyatta defeated Nicholas Biwott for chairmanship of KANU, taking 2,980 votes among party delegates against Biwott's 622.[1]
Uhuru led his party Kanu in Campaigns against the draft constitution in 2005, having teamed up with the Liberal Democratic Party to form the Orange Democratic Movement. This saw Kenyans humiliate the government by rejecting the draft constitution by a noticeable margin.
In November 2006, Kenyatta was displaced as KANU leader by Biwott, although Kenyatta said he would not accept the decision. [2][3] On 28 December 2006, the High Court of Kenya reinstated Uhuru Kenyatta as KANU chairman. However, further court proceedings followed. [4] On 28 June 2007, the High Court confirmed Kenyatta as party leader, ruling that there was insufficient evidence for Biwott's argument that Kenyatta had joined another party.[5]
On 13 September 2007, Kenyatta withdrew from the December 2007 presidential election and said that he would back Kibaki for re-election.[6] He said that he did not want to run unless he could be sure of winning.[7]
Following the election, which proved extremely controversial when Kibaki was declared the victor despite claims of fraud from challenger Raila Odinga and his Orange Democratic Movement, Kibaki appointed Kenyatta as Minister for Local Government on 8 January 2008.[8] After Kibaki and Odinga reached a power-sharing agreement, Kenyatta was named Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of Trade on 13 April 2008, as part of the Grand Coalition Cabinet. He is the Deputy Prime Minister representing the PNU, while another Deputy Prime Minister, Musalia Mudavadi, represents the ODM.[9][10][11] Kenyatta and the rest of the Cabinet were sworn in on 17 April.[12][13]
To his supporters Uhuru Kenyatta is a visionary leader. Being the son of Mzee Jomo Kenyatta, Uhuru's upbringing was steeped in politics.
According to Uhuru, "Growing up in the Kenyatta household taught us many things. My father taught us to treat everyone fairly. He taught us the essence of justice and fairness, he told us to learn from history but not to live in history."
[edit]Minister of Finance

Uhuru Kenyatta was moved from the post of Minister for Trade and appointed Minister for Finance on 23 January 2009, while remaining Deputy Prime Minister.[14] Since his appointment, he has spearheaded a number of reform measures that have seen a change in how treasury and government by extension transacts it business. These include:
[edit]Economic Stimulus Programme
The Economic Stimulus Programme, commonly referred to as ESP Kenya Economic Stimulus Program, was launched under the leadership of Uhuru Kenyatta in his capacity as the Minister for Finance. ESP is an intensive, high impact programme, that aims to stimulate economic activity, create employment opportunities, encourage innovation in wealth-creation, spur entrepreneurship and support the building blocks that anchor a healthy, educated and innovative populace.
Kenya Economic Stimulus Program outlines various objectives which include boosting the country's economic recovery, investing in long term solutions to the challenges of food security, expanding economic opportunities in rural areas for employment creation, promoting regional development for equity and social stability, improving infrastructure, enhancing the quality of education, availing affordable health-care for all Kenyans, investing in the conservation of the environment and expanding the access to and building the ICT capacity of the general populace of Kenya.[15] In launching the Economic Stimulus Programme, the Ministry of Finance aimed to achieve regional development for equity and social stability.
[edit]Integrated Financial Management Information System re-engineered
Originally introduced in 2003 the Integrated Financial Management Information System (IFMIS)[16] was re-engineered by the Ministry of Finance to curb fraud and other malpractices that stem from inefficiency. In re-engineering IFMIS, the Ministry aimed to put Kenya's financial and economic information in a format that was accessible from an online platform which would radically improve public expenditure management under the Ministry of Finance.
IFMIS enables fully integrated planning for the budgeting process since it links planning policy objectives and budget allocation.[17] It also seeks to support the e-Government shared services strategy by taking government financial services online. IFMIS will ensure that status reports are readily available which enhances capacity to track budgets thus enabling effective decision-making. The three pronged benefits of IFMIS include leading to improvements in planning and budgeting, monitoring, evaluation and accountability and budget execution. Other benefits include aiding in the reduction in maintenance cost of government fleets in terms of fuel and spares where huge losses have been previously incurred.
IFMIS can also accommodate last minute changes on the budget more easily thereby increasing accuracy of presentation. Also, the availability of accounting information in a consolidated format will allow the government's books and those of the Central Bank of Kenya to be reconciled. In pioneering the re-engineering of IFMIS, Uhuru Treasury provided the whole of government a way of dealing with corruption; an evil that has drained Kenya's national coffers of much needed resources. With the system in place, corruption will soon be dealt its final blow.
[edit]Funds for the Inclusion of Informal Sector
Uhuru Kenyatta launched the Fund for the Inclusion of Informal Sector (FIIS)[18] which is a fund that allows Micro and Small Entrepreneurs (MSE) to access credit facilities, expand their businesses and increase their savings.
It also aims to help informal enterprises transition to formal sector enterprises through access to formal providers of financial services. The fund is a revolving fund through which the government enters into credit facility agreements with select banks for on-lending to MSEs through branches, authorized banking agents and other channels, particularly mobile banking.
It was launched in March 2011, and so far it has 3 banks, the Cooperative Bank of Kenya, Equity Bank and K-Rep bank, as partners. The launch of the fund seeks to address many of the defining challenges facing Kenya's national economy like unemployment, particularly among youths. Through the fund, the Ministry of Finance has undertaken the necessary steps to transform the SME sector to be one of the key drivers for achieving broad based economic growth, employment creation and poverty reduction in Kenya.
Its objective is to ensure that the MSE sector becomes efficient, innovative and has a diversified and competitive product range. It will also provide policies that raise the earnings and productivity of the sector and transform the sector into a more formal setup. Through directing the development of the fund, Uhuru Kenyatta sought to ensure Financial Inclusion of an estimated 8.3 million Kenyans working in the informal sector. These included 2 million in the Jua Kali sector and 5 million kiosk owners, mama mbogas and hawkers, with the rest in the informal transport sectors and the small-scale manufacturing sectors.
[edit]Investor compensation fund
The operations of the investor compensation fund which aimed to compensate investors who had lost money to defunct stock brokers such as Nyaga Stock Brokers and Discount Securities Limited were launched under his watch. In launching the operations of the fund, also ensured that the interests of future investors were safeguarded. The fund had prior to the launch of its operations been established under the Capital Markets Act.
This Fund is specifically meant to compensate investors who suffer losses resulting from failure of a licensed stockbroker or dealer to meet his contractual obligations. In both the case of the collapse of Nyaga Stock Brokers and the collapse of Discount Securities Limited all genuine claims within the statutory maximum of Sh.50,000 per every investor were compensated.
Uhuru Kenyatta also directed that interest on contributions made to the investor compensation fund be exempt from tax.
[edit]Treasury's Internal Audit Department
Through the Ministry of Finance, Uhuru Kenyatta initiated an internal audit on all donor-funded projects and found that funds given to both KESSP and WKCDD had been misappropriated. Together with the relevant ministries, Uhuru Kenyatta directed that the related staff members be suspended.[19]
The government, through treasury and public financial management reforms, strengthened audit capacity as a result of structured capacity building and the merger of all Government of Kenya (GoK) audit functions (including those of schools and local authorities) so as to enhance their independence and effectiveness. The Ministry of Finance also issued a circular to bring donor-funded projects within the mandate of the Treasury's Internal Audit Department (IAD) with an aim of effectively monitoring the use of funds allocated to these projects.
On 13 June 2011, Uhuru also released a statement on the Final Foresic Audit Report for Ministry of Education and Ministry of Medical Services. The forensic audit itself was carried out between April and September, 2010 and involved the Ministry of Finance Internal Audit Department (IAD) with technical support from DFID. This forensic audit showed misappropriations in the named ministries.[20]
[edit]Cutting government expenditure
In 2009, Uhuru Kenyatta directed that government Ministers, along with Assistant Ministers and Permanent Secretaries, should turn in their Mercedes-Benz government cars for Volkswagen Passats. In doing this he aimed not only to reduce government car costs to about two-thirds the price of a Mercedez-Benz but also to reduce the cost of running and maintaining these cars.
'Time Magazine' reported that, "Thanks to a government cost-cutting program aimed at saving taxpayers some $27 million, Finance Minister Uhuru Kenyatta announced this summer that government ministers, along with assistant ministers and permanent secretaries, must turn in their ubiquitous Mercedes-Benz for Volkswagen Passats, which not only cost about two-thirds the price of a new Benz in Kenya, but are, says the government, cheaper to run and maintain.[21]
[edit]Use of social media in the budget making process
The Business Daily, one of the Kenya's leading financial newspapers, reported Treasury invites Kenyans to 'tweet' their budget views.[22] "Citing Article 10 of the Constitution of Kenya, which recognizes inclusiveness as part of the National Values and Principles of governance, the Minister said he was pursuing a more inclusive means of formulating the document.... Within three hours, more than 300 people had submitted responses to the Treasury using an on-line document that asked questions like which sectors should get funding and how the government could increase its tax intake."
'All Twitter' reported,[23] "In a move that might be the most social media friendly we've seen from a politician, Kenya's Finance Minister has asked his Twitter followers for their input on the country's budget – and promises to take their comments into consideration in the next draft....but this request from Kenya's Finance Minister goes above and beyond political representation to hear directly from the people.... This is a fantastic example of using social media to empower democracy.... Kenyatta has shown that any politician interested in actually hearing from the people can do so."
Uhuru Kenyatta's use of social media has endeared him to the tech savvy community in Kenya who know that to reach him, he is just a tweet away. Aljazeera's The Stream which taps into the extraordinary potential of social media to disseminate news covered Uhuru's use of Social Media in their show.[24]
The Minister also notably called on other members of parliament during his 2011/2012 budget speech to use social media to communicate directly with Kenyans.
[edit]Open government
The Minister released the budget estimates to the public through the Ministry website[25] a week before the reading of the Budget and immediately the budget was read, his Budget Speech,[26] A Citizen's Guide to the Budget,[27] were made public through his various platform. These are some of the actions that have seen him declared as a proponent of open government.
[edit]Controversies

[edit]Budgetary discrepancies
Though noted as one of the few ministers without any scandals[28], on 29 April 2009, Uhuru faced a scare after he presented a supplemental budget that was approved by parliament. The supplemental budget was to cover the budget gap that had arisen due to slow economic growth. The government required an additional Kshs 38 billion, but compromised on a figure of Kshs 22 billion and non essential proposed expenditure was postponed as a result. After voting on the bill brought forward by Kenyatta, Gitobu Imanyara brought up discrepancy questions as to what exactly had been approved by the house. It appeared that parliament had voted on Kshs 31 billion as opposed to Kshs 22 billion that they thought they were voting on – the difference totalling Kshs 9.2 billion. The Deputy Prime Minister initially defended the budget that had been passed but later admitted that there were computer or typographical errors in budget bill. An investigation by the CID and a parliamentary committee was ordered by the Speaker, to question him on the discrepancies.[29] He was later cleared of any wrong doing by the Joint Finance and Budgetary Committee on the issue.
[edit]2007-2008 post-election violence
On 15 December 2010, Uhuru Kenyatta was named as a suspect of crimes against humanity by the International Criminal Court prosecutor Moreno Ocampo, for planning and funding violence in Naivasha and Nakuru.[31] This was in relation to the violence that followed the bungled national elections in Kenya of December 2007. He has been accused of organizing a Kikuyu politico-religious group, the Mungiki, in the post-election violence. Uhuru maintains his innocence and wants his name cleared. On 8 March 2011, he was indicted after being summoned to appear before the ICC pre-trial chamber. He is to appear at the Hague on 8 April 2011 alongside 5 other suspects.[32] On 29 September 2011, while seeking to exonerate himself, Uhuru Kenyatta put up a spirited fight as he was being cross-examined by ICC Chief prosecutor Luis Moreno Ocampo in the Hague, denying any links with the outlawed Mungiki sect. He said Kenya's Prime Minister Raila Odinga should take political responsibility for the acts of violence and killings that followed the 2007 presidential elections in Kenya. He told the three judges that "by telling his supporters election results were being rigged, fanned tensions and then failed to use his influence to quell the violence that followed the announcement of the 2007 presidential results." (see headline of Thursday, 29 September 2011 here) Website.
[edit]Confirmation of the ICC charges
Though Uhuru had previously dismissed ICC summons[33], he changed his decision along the way and together in the company his two other co-accused suspects; Head of Civil Servant, Ambassador Francis Muthaura and former Police Commissioner Hussein Ali. The trio honored the ICC Summons that sought to determine whether their cases met the set standards for international trials.[34] On 23 January 2012, the ICC confirmed the cases against Kenyatta and Muthaura

Musalia Mudavadi MusaliaMudavadi.com is the official website of Kenyan Presidential Candidate Musalia Mudavadi. Visit the site for the latest updates from the Mudavadi campaign including pictures, videos and information on how to volunteer and donate to the campaign.
Mudavadi was born on September 21, 1960 and is a Kenyan politician, currently serving as Deputy Prime Minister and is currently a presidential hopeful under the United Democratic Forum Party (UDF) after decamping from the Orange Democratic Movement (ODM) led by the prime minister Raila Odinga where before his resignation he served as the Deputy party leader. Mudavadi left ODM after he was technically locked out of the presidential race through a party constitution clause that gave the party leader a direct nomination to be a presidential candidate. Musalia however refused to resign as the Deputy Prime Minister of the Republic of Kenya citing that the office of the Deputy Prime minister is a political office therefore he is not resign. Mudavadi is the 1st Deputy prime minister while Uhuru Kenyatta is the 2nd Deputy Prime minister. Both Deputy prime ministers do not have ministerial portofolios. Uhuru resigned in march and musalia mudavadi resigned as Local government minister early May 2012
Mudavadi was born in Sabatia, Vihiga District. He first became an MP in 1989, when he was elected unopposed to take the Sabatia Constituency seat vacated by his deceased father Moses Mudavadi.[1]
In late 2002, Mudavadi was the last and shortest serving Vice-President of Kenya under President Daniel arap Moi. Mudavadi was appointed in an unsuccessful attempt to bring the Luhya tribe into the camp of KANU, which had been the party of government since independence.
Mudavadi ran for Vice-President as Uhuru Kenyatta's running mate in the 2002 election. Despite the support of the outgoing President Moi, the KANU political machine and the provincial administration, the Kenyatta/Mudavadi ticket was roundly beaten and Mudavadi lost his Sabatia parliamentary seat.
In 2005, Mudavadi made a political comeback by aligning himself with the 'No' side in that year's Referendum on the proposed new Constitution. This aligned him clearly with Raila Odinga's LDP and it was speculated that he could become the leading Luhya politician.[citation needed]
After the Orange Democratic Movement (ODM) split from the ODM-K, Mudavadi sought the nomination of the ODM as its candidate for the December 2007 presidential election. On September 1, 2007, the ODM elected Odinga as its presidential candidate; Mudavadi took second place with 391 votes, far short of Odinga's 2,656 votes.[2] Along with the other defeated candidates, Mudavadi expressed his support for Odinga afterward, and he was named Odinga's running mate for the election.[3]
Although the election was officially won by Kibaki, ODM disputed the official results and claimed victory for Odinga. A violent crisis developed, which eventually led to the signing of a power-sharing agreement between Kibaki and Odinga. As part of the grand coalition Cabinet, Mudavadi was named as Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of Local Government on April 13, 2008. He is the Deputy Prime Minister representing the ODM, while Kenyatta is the Deputy Prime Minister representing Kibaki's Party of National Unity.[4][5][6] Mudavadi and the rest of the Cabinet were sworn in on April 17.[7][8]
As a youngster, he played rugby union for Mean Machine RFC

Raila Amollo Odinga (born January 7, 1945), also popularly known to Kenyans as Agwambo, is the Prime Minister of Kenya in a coalition government. Odinga, a Member of Parliament for Langata since 1992, served as Minister of Energy from 2001 to 2002 and as Minister of Roads, Public Works, and Housing from 2003 to 2005. He was the main opposition candidate in the 2007 presidential election. Following a violent post-electoral crisis, Odinga took office as Prime Minister in April 2008, serving as supervisor of a national unity coalition government.
Odinga is the son of the first Vice President of Kenya, Jaramogi Oginga Odinga; Raila's brother, Oburu Odinga, is also currently a Member of Parliament (MP). Raila is commonly known by his first name due to coincidence: he was an MP at the same time as his father between 1992 and 1994, and is currently in the House with Oburu. Raila was a presidential contender in the 1997 elections, coming third after President Daniel arap Moi of KANU and Mwai Kibaki, the current president of Kenya and then a member of the Democratic Party. Odinga campaigned to run for president in the December 2007 elections on an Orange Democratic Movement (ODM) ticket.
On September 1, 2007, Raila Odinga was elected as the presidential candidate of the ODM. He garnered significant support in the 2007 General Election, with majority of the votes in Rift Valley, Western, his native Nyanza, Coast, Nairobi (Capital) and North Eastern provinces. Kibaki led in his native Central province and beat Raila in Eastern province. Out of the 2007 elections, his party, ODM, got 99 out of 210 seats in the parliament, making the ODM the single largest party in parliament.
On December 30, 2007, the chairman of the Kenyan election commission controversially declared Raila's opponent, incumbent president Kibaki, the winner of the presidential election by a margin of about 230,000 votes. Raila disputed the results, alleging fraud by the election commission but refused to adhere to the constitutional procedure and present an election petition before the courts. Most opinion polls had speculated that Odinga would defeat president Kibaki. Independent international observers have since stated that the poll was marred by irregularities favouring both PNU and ODM, especially at the final vote tallying stages.[1] Many ODM supporters across the country rioted against the announced election results.


Early life

Raila Odinga was born at Maseno Church Missionary Society Hospital, in Maseno, Kisumu District, Nyanza Province on January 7, 1945 to Oginga and Mary Juma Odinga. He went to Kisumu Union Primary School, Maranda Primary and High School where he stayed until 1962. He spent the next two years at the Herder Institut, a part of the philological faculty at the University of Leipzig in East Germany.[2] He received a scholarship that in 1965 sent him to the Technical University, Magdeburg (now a part of Otto-von-Guericke University Magdeburg) in the GDR. In 1970, he graduated with a degree in Mechanical Engineering. While studying in East Berlin during the Cold War, as a Kenyan he was able to visit West Berlin through the Checkpoint Charlie. When visiting West Berlin, he used to buy goods not available in East Berlin and bring them to his friends in East Berlin.[3]
On returning to Kenya in 1970, he worked as a lecturer at the University of Nairobi. In 1971 he established the Standard Processing Equipment Construction & Erection Ltd (later renamed East African Spectre), a company manufacturing liquid petroleum gas cylinders. In 1974, he was appointed group standards manager of the Kenya Bureau of Standards, in 1978 he was promoted to its Deputy Director, a post he held until his 1982 detention[citation needed].
[edit]Detention

Raila was placed under house arrest for seven months after being suspected of collaborating with the plotters of a failed coup attempt against President Daniel arap Moi in 1982. He was later charged with treason and detained without trial for six years.[4]
A biography released in July 2006 indicated that Raila was far more involved in the attempted coup than he had previously claimed. After its publication, some MPs called for Raila to be arrested and charged,[5] but the statute of limitations had already passed and, since the information was contained in a biography, Raila could not be said to have openly confessed his involvement.[6] His mother died in 1984, but the prison warders told him about it only two months later[citation needed].
Released on February 6, 1988, he was rearrested in September, 1988 for his involvement with human rights and pro-democracy activists[7] pressing for multi-party democracy in Kenya, which was then a one-party state. To his political followers, he is also referred as "Agwambo" meaning difficult to predict, or "Jakom" meaning Chairman.
Raila was released on June 12, 1989, only to be incarcerated again on July 5, 1990, together with Kenneth Matiba, and former Nairobi Mayor Charles Rubia.[8] Raila was released on June 21, 1991, and in October, he fled the country to Norway alleging government attempts to assassinate him.[9]
[edit]Multi-party politics

At the time of Raila's departure to Norway, the Forum for the Restoration of Democracy (FORD), a movement formed to agitate for the return of multi-party democracy to Kenya, was newly formed. In February 1992, Raila returned to join FORD, then led by his father Jaramogi Oginga Odinga. He was elected Vice Chairman of the General Purposes Committee of the party. In the months running up to the 1992 General Election, FORD split into Ford Kenya, led by Raila's father Jaramogi Oginga Odinga, and FORD-Asili led by Kenneth Matiba. Raila became Ford-Kenya's Deputy Director of Elections. Raila won the Langata Constituency parliamentary seat, previously held by Philip Leakey of KANU.[10]
When Jaramogi Oginga Odinga died in January 1994, and Michael Wamalwa Kijana succeeded him as FORD-Kenya chairman, Raila challenged him for the party leadership. The elections were marred by controversy after which Raila resigned from FORD-Kenya to join the National Development Party (NDP). In the 1997 General Election, Raila finished third after President Moi, the incumbent, and Democratic Party candidate Mwai Kibaki. He retained his position as the Langata MP.[10]
After the election, Raila supported the Moi government, and led a merger between his party, NDP, and Moi's KANU party. He served in Moi's Cabinet as Energy Minister from June 2001 to 2002, during Moi's final term.
In the subsequent KANU elections held later that year, he was elected the party's secretary general. In 2002, the then President, Daniel Arap Moi, pulled a surprise by endorsing Uhuru Kenyatta – a son of Kenya's first president Jomo Kenyatta to be his successor. Moi publicly asked Raila and others to support Uhuru as well.[11]
Raila and other KANU members, including Kalonzo Musyoka, George Saitoti and Joseph Kamotho, opposed this step arguing that the then 38 year old Uhuru, was politically inexperienced and lacking leadership qualities to lead government. The Rainbow Movement went on to join the Liberal Democratic Party (LDP), which later teamed up with Mwai Kibaki's National Alliance Party of Kenya (NAK), a coalition of several other parties, to form the National Rainbow Coalition (NARC) that eventually defeated Moi's protege, Uhuru Kenyatta.
[edit]Dissent from within

President Kibaki did not appoint Raila Odinga Prime Minister on assuming office as perceived to have been agreed in the memorandum of understanding (Kenya's current constitution does not recognize a Prime minister); neither did he give LDP half the cabinet positions. He instead sought to shore up support for his NAK faction by appointing MPs from the opposition parties (KANU and FORD people) to the cabinet.[12]
The perceived "betrayal" led to an open rebellion and a split within the cabinet, which culminated in disagreements over a proposed new constitution for the country. The government-backed constitutional committee submitted a draft constitution that was perceived to consolidate powers of the presidency and weaken regional governments as had been provided for under an earlier draft before the 2002 Elections. Raila opposed this, and when the document was put to a referendum on November 21, 2005, the government lost by a 57% to 43% margin. Following this, President Kibaki sacked the entire cabinet on November 23, 2005. When it was formed two weeks later, Raila and the entire LDP group were left out. This led to the formation of the Orange Democratic Movement (ODM) - an Orange was the symbol for the "no" vote in the constitutional referendum.
In January 2006, Raila Odinga was reported to have told police that he believed his life was in danger, having received assassination threats.[13]
[edit]2007 presidential election



Raila Odinga and his wife Ida at a political rally
On July 12, 2007, Odinga alleged that the government was withholding identity cards from voters in places supportive of the opposition and that the intended creation of 30 new constituencies was a means by which the government sought to ensure victory in the December 2007 parliamentary election.[14]
In August 2007, the Orange Democratic Movement-Kenya split in two, with Odinga becoming head of the Orange Democratic Movement (ODM) while the other faction, the ODM-K, was headed by Kalonzo Musyoka.[15] On September 1, 2007, the ODM elected Odinga as its presidential candidate in a National Delegates Conference held at the Moi International Sports Centre in Nairobi. Odinga received 2,656 votes; the only other candidates receiving significant numbers of votes were Musalia Mudavadi with 391 and William Ruto with 368. Earlier, Najib Balala had withdrawn his candidature and endorsed Raila.[16] The defeated candidates expressed their support for Odinga afterward, and Mudavadi was named as his running mate.[17]
Odinga launched his presidential campaign in Uhuru Park in Nairobi on October 6, 2007, which saw a record attendance in this or any other venue in independent Kenya. The police estimated an attendance of close to 50,000.[18]
Following the presidential election held on December 27, the Electoral Commission in controversial circumstances declared Kibaki the winner on December 30, 2007, placing him ahead of Odinga by about 232,000 votes. Jeffrey Sachs (Professor of Economics and Director of the Earth Institute at Columbia University, and Special Advisor to former UN Secretary General) faulted the United States' approach to the post-election crisis and recommended an independent recount of the vote.[19]
Odinga accused Kibaki of fraud, and violence broke out in the country as ODM supporters attempted to make the country ungovernable.[20] Following two months of unrest, a deal between Odinga and Kibaki, which provided for power-sharing and the creation of the post of Prime Minister, was signed in February 2008; it was brokered by former UN Secretary General Kofi Annan. Odinga was sworn in as Prime Minister, along with the power-sharing Cabinet, on April 17, 2008. Previously the post of Prime Minister had not existed since 1964, when it was briefly held by Jomo Kenyatta following independence; Odinga is thus the second person in Kenya's history to hold the position.[21]
[edit]Political role

Raila Odinga has progressively transcended beyond his original base support among his native Luo mainly occupying Kenya's Nyanza province, to wield considerable support in the Coast, Western, North Eastern, Rift Valley and Nairobi provinces. A Gallup/USA poll taken in September 2008 found him to have an 85 percent approval rate.[22]
Further to this, there have been recent calls from the Minister of Justice and Constitutional Affairs, Martha Karua, for Raila to answer allegations regarding impropriety in the purchase and subsequent sale of land on the Kisumu Molasses Plant.[23]
Currently Raila is eyeing the presidency of Kenya come the next general elections. There are calls from some MPs who want Kibaki to choose him as his successor.
[edit]Political positions

[edit]Homosexuality
Odinga has called for the arrest of homosexuals. In November 2010 he said "If found the homosexuals should be arrested and taken to relevant authorities". He also stated that homosexuality is unnatural and it is mad for men to fall in love with each other while there are plenty of women available.[24] Odinga retracted his statements days later, saying he only meant that same-sex marriages are illegal in Kenya.[25]
[edit]Economics
Due to an economic downturn and extreme drought, Odinga suspended taxes on fuels and certain foods that disproportionately impact the poor.[26]
[edit]Personal life

Baptised as an Anglican in his youth[27] Odinga later became a Born-Again Christian[28] through an Evangelical church in Nairobi.
Odinga is married to Ida Odinga (born Ida Anyango Oyoo). They live in Karen, Nairobi (but have a second home at Opoda Farm, Bondo District). They have four children—two sons and two daughters: Fidel (born 1973), Rosemary (1977), Raila Jr (1979) and Winnie (1990). Fidel is named after Fidel Castro[29] and Winnie after Winnie Mandela. Winnie is currently studying Communication and International Area Studies as a double major student at Drexel University of Philadelphia, PA.[29]
In a January 2008 BBC interview, Odinga asserted that he was the first cousin of U.S. president Barack Obama through Obama's father.[30] However, Barack Obama's paternal uncle denied any direct relation to Odinga, stating "Odinga's mother came from this area, so it is normal for us to talk about cousins. But he is not a blood relative."[31] Obama's father came from the same Luo community as Odinga.[30]
He briefly played soccer for Luo Union[29] (later known as Re-Union) as a midfielder.
Raila Odinga is an industrialist with interests in liquefied gas cylinder manufacturing (the East African Spectre), industrial ethanol production and Petroleum import and distribution.
Mr. Odinga has been appointed by African Union to mediate in Ivory Coast between Outarra and Gbagbo.
[edit]Controversy

During his premiership Raila appointed Mr. Miguna Miguna as Adviser on coalition affair who he later Suspended (Aug 2011)[32] citing "gross Misconduct". Daily Nation quoted reason for suspension as... "...is accused of misrepresenting the Office of the Prime Minister, possibly a reference to his having aired strong views which may have embarrassed the PM."
His suspension came at a time when electoral body (IIEC) was in is in uproar and unsettled by anonymously authored complaints which the commissioners characterise as a hate campaign but which raise troubling questions on corruption and nepotism. Later Miguna MIguna after suspension issued a statement that "I was instructed to write my article on the IIEC chairman and the position he had taken with respect to the party's decision to kick out rebellious MPs and Councillors." He later denied According to the Nairobi star

Source

Prospective candidates
The following are some of the candidates who have made public their intentions to run or speculated to run by media analysts and polling organizations:
Raila Odinga current Prime Minister of Kenya
Stephen Kalonzo Musyoka current Vice President of Kenya
Uhuru Kenyatta current Deputy Prime Minister of Kenya
William Ruto MP for Eldoret North Constituency
Sir George Luchiri Wajackoyah Diaspora Candidate
Martha Karua MP for Gichugu Constituency
Eugene Wamalwa MP for Saboti Constituency
Mutava Musyimi current Gachoka MP
Kingwa Kamencu Oxford Rhodes Scholar
James Ole Kiyapi Permanent Secretary Education
Musalia Mudavadi The other Deputy PM]
Peter Kenneth Current MP Gatanga Constituency
Paul Muite Former MP Kabete Constituency.
Raphael Tuju Former MP Rarieda Constituency.
Joseph Hellon Jazz Maestro. Chair Placenta Party.
Dennis Nzioka Gay Kenya Public Relations Director.
Cyrus Jirongo Current MP Lugari Constituency.