26 Jan 2010

KENYAN MP SALARIES HIGHER THAN US SENATORS'

By Gwanjoni
These are some of the hard facts that Kenyans need to deal with. Why on earth should Kenyan Members of Parliamnet earn more salaries that US senators?

Below is a Kenyan MP's total (original) official salary per month:
Basic salary = Sh. 395,000
A minimum commuted mileage = Sh. 75,000
Entertainment allowance = Sh. 60,000
Extraneous allowance = Sh. 30,000
House allowance = Sh. 70,000
Monthly car maintenance allowance = Sh. 247,000
Gym membership allowance = Sh. 2,000
Vehicle fixed cost allowance = Sh. 336,000
Committee meeting allowance = Sh. 40,000
Constituency allowance = Sh. 50,000
TOTAL TAX FREE = Sh. 1,242, 2000 equates to USD $17,742

CAN YOU BELIEVE THAT A Kenyan MP earns $212,904 per year!!

And as if that is not enough, each MP gets the following EXTRAS:
Car loan = Sh 3.3 Million
House loan = sh 10 million

Now COMPARE THIS WITH A US SENATOR's SALARY:
USA senator’s salary is $13,750 per month totalling to $165,000/year.

Think about this the next time you are casting your vote.

Long live Kenya, the island of peace in Africa.

CONSTITUTIONAL REFOMS – FROM AN IMPERIAL PRESIDENT TO A KING

The Members of Parliament have betrayed people of Kenya, particularly the majority poor and exploited and the struggle for new progressive national constitution. No wonder the majority of the MPs that are tampering with the constitution in Naivasha have never been involved in the struggle for democracy in the country. They were part of the dictatorship that was opposed to democratic reforms. While patriots and progressive Kenyans were being persecuted by the Moi and Kenyatta regimes for struggling liberation from dictatorship, those who are now purporting to decide about the constitution for Kenya were accumulating wealth through corrupt deals. The few of the MPs at Naivasha that were reformers yesterday have now turned into opportunists and traitors and are either silent or collude with those who are manufacturing the constitution which Kenyans should reject.

The MPs went to Naivasha with a mandate to discuss about the harmonised draft of the Committee of Experts that had been improved by various views of the Kenyan people and organisations. However, the MPs decided to exceed their mandate by rewriting the draft constitution and messing it in the process. Rather than listen to Kenyans they opted to listen to foreigners and impose their system of governance chosen by imperialists upon us. They chopped off chapters and sections from the draft that embody Kenyan cultural values, social and economic rights and all that empowers the poor. They have removed from the draft the wishes and aspirations of the people that have been expressed over the decades of the struggle for the new constitution. Thus from the imperial president under the present constitution, the MPs have created a king in the new constitution. They have done this by claiming that the majority of Kenyans want to elect their chief executive, president, directly. What they deliberately avoided to say is that while the Kenyan people want to elect all their representatives, they have never wanted to elect a king whether in the form of president or prime minister. In fact, that is why they struggled against colonialism, the Kenyatta and Moi dictatorial regimes. It is for the same reason they struggled for multiparty democracy that has now completely been undermined by the King in the form of a President proposed by the MPs at Naivasha.

As a revolutionary, I cannot afford to be pessimistic. That is why I always argue that a constitution is not Holly Bible or Holly Qumran. There can never be a constitution that is so perfect that it can never require to be changed. Any constitution we shall get will in future be changed again and again to reflect the dynamism of life in Kenya and the world. I am therefore of the opinion that this time round Kenyans must have a new national constitution. I agree with those who are proposing a yes yes referendum in which we shall vote for either the constitution with the presidential system or with a parliamentary system proposed by Kenyans and for Kenyans and based on the historical and material conditions of Kenya. This has been arrogantly rejected by the MPs who falsely tell Kenyans that the yes yes referendum will polarise and divide Kenyans. Some of them have even proposed that there is no need for the referendum arguing that it will divide Kenyans. It is as if in a democracy, and especially in a class society like Kenya, division and class struggles can be avoided. It is as if under the capitalist system in the country Kenyans are united.

I understand the cynicism, pessimism and a sense of hopelessness that is now growing among progressive Kenyans. How can we justify the energy and struggles we have put for constitutional review for so long if we end up with a constitution that is worse than the present one in terms of governance, many are asking? May be when the document being manufactured at Naivasha eventually comes to parliament it will be rejected by the committee of the whole house. But the chances are slim indeed. Again, should it be passed by parliament then Kenyans will still have a chance to reject it at the referendum. Yet the importance of the referendum in this regard is being questioned even as the propaganda for the king – president is intensified through the media.This brings me to the argument and the propaganda by Synovate that Kenyans want to elect their chief executive directly, and that therefore they are for the presidential system of government rather than a parliamentary system. In the first place, in both systems the head of governments are elected directly by the people. The difference is that in the presidential system the people elect a head of government and state called president who is not directly accountable to parliament and therefore the people while in a parliamentary system the people elect a head of government who may be either a president or prime minister but who is not head of state and who is directly accountable to parliament and therefore the people. Under the presidential system Kenyans will vote mainly for a rich individual while paying only lip service to ideologies and political parties. Under a parliamentary system Kenyans will vote both for political parties, ideologies and leaders of political parties. A leader of a political party that has the most votes and that forms the largest party or coalition of parties in parliament also forms the government to practice the policies they promised the people for a given period in the constitution.

As for the king in the form of president proposed by the MPs at Naivasha, let us open the Bible in the book of Samuel chapter eight. It is written that the elders of Israel told Samuel to appoint them a King to rule them. When they insisted Samuel decided to consult God. God told Samuel to provide them their wish provided they understood the meaning of being ruled by a King. Which is authoritarianism, dictatorship, oppression and slavery. The people of Israel were warned that the King will the King would be a despot who would rob them of their land, property and make them perpetual servants with no freedom and rights. Despite the advise of Samuel and God, the people still insisted they wanted a King. And so they were given their King. And it came to pass that they suffered for thousands of years under the rule of Kings. If therefore it is the desire of Kenyans to have a King in the place of an Imperial president, they will get their King. And the Kenyan ruling class will have they last say.

For the president proposed by the MPs will be added more powers on top of the one he already has. He is both the head of state and head of government. Yet he or she is not required to justify whatever decisions he or she makes directly in parliament. Already Kenya is governed by powerful people and institutions that are only accountable to the president and not the people, from permanent secretaries, heads of parastatals, judges, heads of the army, police, prisons, various commissioners and commissions, ambassadors, etc. On this list will be added ministers. The president will appoint ministers from outside parliament. These ministers will be accountable to the president who appointed them whatever the talk about seeking the approval by parliament. Like permanent secretaries, the ministers will be above politics and therefore Kenyans will be ruled by the king president and civil servants who are not accountable to the people. In a multiparty system like Kenya, ministers are appointed to implement the policies and programs of their political parties. The presidential system proposed by the MPs will render political parties useless and instead strengthen authoritarianism, tribalism, nepotism, corruption, social inequality and arbitrary governance. This is good for the present political and economic ruling class that is united in their desire to maintain the present status quo. But it is the bane of those struggling for a democratic, just, equitable and progressive system in our country. Under this system, the chances of person from the peasant and working class to become president, nay King is the same without of a camel passing through the eye of a needle.

Yes, the struggle for social and national liberation is not easy; it is long, hard and protracted. Yet it has to continue.

Mwandawiro Mghanga, Chairperson of Social Democratic Party of Kenya
Monday, January 25, 2010

18 Jan 2010

Please help HAITI.

Please join hands and help the people of Haiti from the devastation resulting from the world's latest earthquake. Join EltonJohn AIDS FoundationBen Stiller: Stiller StrongMadonna: Raising MalawiMartha Stewart Center for LivingRichard Branson: Virgin Unite and several others in helping this country.

In addition to providing emergency relief, the following organizations are providing various forms of aid to those in need:

Providing Shelter:

15 Jan 2010

Kenya fishermen see upside to pirates: more fish

JASON STRAZIUSO Published: Jan 11, 2010
MALINDI, Kenya (AP)

People here have one thing to thank Somali pirates for: Better fishing. In past years, illegal commercial trawlers parked off Somalia's coast and scooped up the ocean's contents. Now, fishermen on the northern coast of neighboring Kenya say, the trawlers are not coming because of pirates. "There is a lot of fish now, there is plenty of fish. There is more fish than people can actually use because the international fishermen have been scared away by the pirates," said Athman Seif, the director of the Malindi Marine Association.

On one early morning, as the sun bathed their wooden dhow in a pale yellow, four fishermen jumped out of their rickety 15-foot boat, grabbed a hand-woven straw basket and waded ashore. The basket held the bounty: 175 pounds (80 kilograms) of sailfish, barracuda and red snapper, the haul from a 12-hour night on the ocean. Each fisherman stood to make $12, enough in this town to be considered a decent night's work.

Fishermen and sportsmen say they've been catching more fish than ever. Howard Lawrence-Brown, who owns Kenya Deep Sea Fishing, said fishing stocks over the last year have been up "enormously - across all species."
"We had the best marlin season ever last year," said Lawrence-Brown, who owns Kenya Deep Sea Fishing. "The only explanation is that somebody is not targeting them somewhere. ... There's definitely no question about it, the lack of commercial fishing has made a difference."

Fishermen in the region have seen their incomes and quality of life rise. New boats and better equipment can be seen on the water.

In Malindi, a second-tier tourist town whose tastiest seafood restaurant is called "The Old Man and the Sea," after the Ernest Hemingway novel, the income of many families is determined by the number of fish caught during a half-day's turn at sea.

On a recent weekday, fisherman Abdi Ali said he has more money of late to send his kids to high school, which costs money in Kenya. As Ali spoke, a man nearby held up a 2.5-foot (.75-meter), 9-pound (4-kilo) red snapper to motorists on Malindi's main oceanfront drive in hopes of enticing a sale. "This year the amount of fish we have caught has been very good. We get about 150 kilograms to 200 and even 300 kilograms, depending on how much we fish," said Ali. Three hundred kilograms is about 660 pounds. "There were fish that had disappeared and have come back like the barracuda, oranda, red snapper and other types," he said. "We are very happy now that there are so many fish."

Fishermen in Somalia, too, say they've seen increased catches. Traders at a Mogadishu fish market are happy because more fish means lower prices, which means more Somalis can afford to buy. "I remember some days I used to go to the sea early to catch fish and would return with no fish, but nowadays there are plenty. You can catch it everywhere," said fisherman Bakar Osman, 50. "I do not know the reason but I think the foreign fishing vessels, which used to loot our fish, were scared away by pirates."

Somali pirates have increased attacks the last two years because of the millions of dollars in ransom they can earn. They currently hold close to a dozen vessels and more than 200 crew hostage. Fishermen here acknowledge the horror of the attacks - they occasionally are harassed by pirates themselves.

Before the pirates came out in big numbers, fishing longliners roamed the coasts, Lawrence Brown said, laying out miles (kilometers) of line. "They kill everything from the bottom of the ocean to the boat. They run at 22 knots. They can lay their lines for 24 hours, pick them up and get out of there," he said. "The damage on the sports fishing side is immeasurable."

A report on pirates this year by the S. Rajaratnam School of International Studies in Singapore said the value of illegal catches from Somalia's maritime jurisdiction is estimated at between $90 million and $300 million a year, and that foreign fishing vessels hail from all around the world.
The report's author, Clive Schofield, a research fellow with the Australian Centre for Ocean Resources and Security at the University of Wollongong, called it ironic that nations contributing warships to anti-piracy efforts are in some cases directly linked to the foreign fishing vessels "stealing Somalia's offshore resources." "This situation has led some pirates to justify their actions on basis of illegal foreign fishing activities - styling themselves 'coastguards' and characterizing ransom demands as 'fines,'" the report said. "Without condoning acts of violence at sea, it is clear that the Somalis who hijack shipping off their coast are in fact not the only 'pirates' operating in these waters," it said.

Piracy has not had a huge effect on Kenya's overall fishing industry, which is not very well developed on the coast, according to the permanent secretary for Kenya's Ministry of Fisheries Development, Micheni Japhet Ntiba. Kenya has brought in between 5,000 and 7,000 metric tons of fish off its Indian Ocean coast each of the last several years, he said, less than a tenth of Kenya's yearly catch from Lake Victoria, on Kenya's western edge.

Piracy "is a negative thing for Kenya fisherman. It's a negative thing for the Kenyan economy. It's a negative thing for the western Indian Ocean economy," Ntiba said. "What I think is important for us is to invest in security so the government and the private sector can invest in the deep sea ocean resources."

Still, Kenya's sports fisherman say the pirates appear to have had a hugely positive effect on their industry. Angus Paul, whose family owns the Kingfisher sports fishing company, said that over the past season clients on his catch-and-release sports fishing outings averaged 12 or 13 sail fish a day. That compares with two or three in previous years.

Somali pirates, Paul said, are a group of terrorists, "but as long as they can keep the big commercial boats out, not fishing the waters, then it benefits a lot of other smaller people."
___
On the Net:
Kingfisher sports fishing: http://www.kenyasportfishing.net
Kenya Deep Sea Fishing: http://www.kenyadeepseafishing.net

13 Jan 2010

Happy New Year!!!!!!!!!!!

We at KiN wish you a very great and happy new year 2010.
KiN will be back with highlights from 2009 while introducing this new year in style. Our team of reporters were in Kenya during the month of December and are ready to present bits and bytes from their trip. Keep an eye on us for more informastion on the same.

Happy New Year 2010.