Samwel Kambi & Joseph Ole Lenku Join Uhuru's Cabinet

President Uhuru has today nominated Samwel Kazungu Kambi and Joseph Jama Ole Lenku to fill the two remaining slots to his cabinet.

Samwel Kazungu Kambi has been nominated as Cabinet Secretary for the Ministry of Labour, Social Security and Services while Utalii College principal Joseph Jama Ole Lenku as Cabinet Secretary for the Ministry of Interior & Coordination of National Government.

The two names have been forwarded to Parliament for approval.

More to follow..

The Truth Justice and Reconciliation Commission of Kenya Report is Out

The Truth Justice and Reconciliation Commission of Kenya has released its report as mandated by TJRC Act number 6 of 2008.

The commission was tasked with investigating and analyzing gross human rights violations and other historical injustices in Kenya between December 12, 1963 and February 28, 2008 as part of the Agenda Four of the National Accord signed in 2008 by former President Mwai Kibaki and former Prime Minister Raila Odinga.

Occupy Parliament: An Uprising Against Collective Greed of Kenyan MPs

On Tuesday, May 14, 2013, peaceful demonstrators will occupy Parliament buildings in Nairobi to protest against an attempt by Members of Parliament to arm-twist the Salaries and Remuneration Commission (SRC) into yielding to the MPs’ demands for indefinitely higher pay.

The act of occupying Parliament by members of the general public shall symbolize the power and pre-eminence of the public over persons who hold elective office.

In the recent past, local MPs have made concerted attempts to usurp SRC’s mandate of regulating salaries and apportioning the national wage budget across the public sector. Indeed, caving in to MPs’ pressure to disband SRC, the Sarah Serem-led commission surprisingly decided to award MPs a tax-free grant of Sh5 million each for the purchase of vehicles. Negotiations to have MPs salaries increased are ongoing.

Venue: Uhuru Park, Freedom Corner at 10AM
Dress Code: White T-Shirt and Black Trouser

Objectives of Operation Occupy Parliament

Profiles of Kenya's Cabinet Secretaries Nominees

President Uhuru Kenyatta and his deputy William Ruto have today unveiled twelve more cabinet secretaries nominees to bring the number to sixteen out of the eighteen who will make up the new cabinet.

Here are the 16 Cabinet Secretaries Nominees

Amb. Rachel Awuor Omamo, Ministry of Defence

Studied Law at the University of Kent at Canterbury in the UK.
Senior Counsel, has been an Advocate of the High Court of 27 years standing.

She was the First Woman Chairperson of the Law Society of Kenya
First woman Ambassador of Kenya to France, Portugal, The Holy See and the Republic of Serbia and Permanent Delegate of the Republic of Kenya to UNESCO.

Rayechelle has made substantial contribution to the advancement of the rule of law in Kenya and to the development of legislation and policy, for example:

Member of the Task Force on the Establishment of the Truth and Reconciliation Commission for Kenya;

Member of the Task Force on the Review of Landlord and Tenant Legislation;
Assisting Counsel to the Ndungu Commission:

She was the Jurist of the Year 2002.

Adan Mohammed - Ministry of Industrialization and Enterprise Development

Born December 1963 in Mandera.

Adan has worked for Barclays Bank for over 15 years in different parts of the world.  He has been the CEO of Barclays Kenya for a period of 10 years that has seen the Bank grow from strength to strength.  In recognition of his contribution, Barclays Group recently promoted him to the role of Chief Administrative Officer with responsibilities for 10 countries in Africa.

Prior to Barclays, he worked for PricewaterhouseCoopers for a period of 7 years in London where he trained as a Chartered Accountant.

4 out of 18 Kenyan Cabinet Secretary Nominees

President Uhuru Kenyatta has named four of his 18 Cabinet Secretary nominees in a press conference held at State House, Tuesday.

The four include a respected World Bank consultant Dr Fred Matiang’i Okengo, seasoned diplomat Amina Mohammed, Economist Henry K Rotich and James Wainaina Macharia from the private sector.

Profiles

 Amb Amina Mohammed, Foreign Affairs
 Married to Mr. Ahmed and has two children.

• Lawyer and diplomat by profession and has served in the public service since 1985.
• Former Assistant Secretary General of the United Nations and Deputy Executive Director of the United Nations Environment Programme at Nairobi.
• Former Permanent Secretary of the Ministry of Justice, National Cohesion and Constitutional Affairs. 
• Former Ambassador of Kenya to the United Nations at Geneva.
• Served in the Ministries of Local Government, Foreign Affairs and Justice.

Teacher's Rights Crusader David Okuta Osiany

David Okuta Osiany, the Kenya National Union of Teachers (KNUT) secretary general  has died in Nairobi.

The vocal champion of teachers' right was pronounced dead on arrival at the Nairobi Women’s Hospital, Rongai after he developed breathing problems.

Acting Secretary General Xavier Nyamu has called on all KNUT branches countrywide to suspend all activities until his burial.

List of all Nominated Senators & Members of Parliament

The Independent Electoral and Boundaries Commission (IEBC) recently gazetted the names of the nominees, 20 of them to the Senate and 12 to sit in the National Assembly.

Here is the complete list of senators and members of parliament

Bildad Kaggia: The Struggle for Freedom & Justice

A book giving a detailed account of activities of the Kenya African Union (KAU), the freedom movement, Mau Mau and Kenya's first government is in bookstores.

Titled 'The Struggle for Freedom and Justice', the biography of the late freedom fighter Bildad Kaggia was launched on Saturday at the Kaggia Mausoleum.

The book was written by the late Kaggia, his son Mwaganu Kaggia (deceased) and a Dutch researcher, Wiegert de Leeuw with Transafrica Press taking up the publishing. Former Gichugu MP Martha Karua wrote the forward.

List of All 47 Elected Senators in Kenya

Here is the list for the entire senate that was elected by Kenyans on 4th March General Election:

List of All 47 Elected Governors in Kenya

Here is the list of all the governors elected in the 47 counties in Kenya:

President Elect, Uhuru Muigai Kenyatta Acceptance Speech

Here is the President Elect, Uhuru Muigai Kenyatta acceptance speech at the Catholic University of Eastern Africa

Deputy President, William Ruto Acceptance Speech

Here is Deputy President, William Samoei Ruto Acceptance Speech at the Catholic University of Eastern Africa

Uhuru Muigai Kenyatta, Kenya’s 4th President

Jubilee Coalition presidential candidate Uhuru Muigai Kenyatta has been elected Kenya’s fourth president after defeating Raila Amollo Odinga of CORD Coalition in a hotly contested general election.

According to official results released by the Independent Electoral and Boundaries Commission (IEBC), Kenyatta had won 50.07 percent of the vote to surpass the 50 percent plus one constitutional requirement mark in order to avoid a runoff.

The 51-year-old outgoing deputy prime minister garnered 6,173,433 votes out of a total of 12,338 million votes while CORD’s Raila garnered 5,340,546.  

The Commission pronounced Uhuru the President of the Republic of Kenya today afternoon.  

Uhuru’s Timeline

Kibiwott Munge: Teenager Wins County Assembly Seat

19-year-old Kibiwott Munge has made history in Kenya by clinching a country assembly seat. Munge who vied on a United Republican Party (URP) ticket, bagged the Lembus Perkera Ward in Baringo County, to become the youngest Kenyan to win a political seat in an election.

Photos: Stage Set for Kenya Presidential Debate

The stage is set for the long-awaited presidential debate that will have over 40 million people following on radio, TV and online.

The first-ever debate will take place Tomorrow at Brookhouse International School.

Quick Facts on the Debate

44 million anticipated audience

 100 million cost of the debate in shillings

 5,000 list of questions already received from voters

 8 presidential candidates to participate
7 pm the time debate starts
200 number of audience at the venue from all sectors

5 pm the time members of the audience to arrive at the venue

International Acclaim for Tales from the Bush Larder Show

Tales from the Bush Larder, Kenyan culinary adventures of  internationally-renowned chef Kiran Jethwa has entered into a deal with Fox International Channels (FIC). The deal will see FIC acquire global distribution rights for the popular TV show.

The show which traverses the country for traditional and exotic ingredients has been airing exclusively on Zuku TV's Zuku Afrika  since the 6th of September and is expected to be released on FIC's leading lifestyle channel 24Kitchen.

FIC owns the Tales from the Bush Larder’s exclusive Pay-TV rights for worldwide distribution, excluding North America and Africa where Zuku will be in-charge of the distribution.

Don't miss this exciting show airing every Thursday at 8:30pm on Zuku Afrika channel 100.

Google Unveils Kenya Elections Hub

Technology might not be a major issue in the country compared to other major challenges but Google use will help Kenyans track elections’ information through a hub. Google has employed the use of fusion tables among other Application Programming Interface (APIs) to ensure transparency and easy access of this information.

Speaking during the launch of the Kenya Elections Hub at the Sarova Stanley Hotel in Nairobi, Ory Okolloh, Google’s policy manager for Africa said that the organization’s role is to organize elections information and not to provide an opinion.

IEBC Releases Election Nomination Dates for Candidates and Parties

The Independent Electoral and Boundaries Commission (IEBC) has published the nomination dates for candidates and political parties on their website. In a notice dated December 28^th, 2012 the electoral body has confirmed that the next General Election will be held on March 4, 2013.

According to the notice, political parties wishing to participate in the polls must finalize the nominations of its candidate on or before the January 18^th, 2013 while the days for the nomination of political parties candidates and Independent candidates for the Presidential Election will be on January 29^th, 2013 and January 30^th, 2013.

IEBC Releases Report on Registered Voters

IEBC

Your Vote, Your Future 

According to the recently released report by the Independent Electoral and Boundaries Commission (IEBC), 14.3 million eligible Kenyans were registered as voters in the exercise that took place from Monday, November 19 to Tuesday, December 18, 2012.

IEBC managed to register 14,337,399 Kenyans, representing 79.7 percent of the initial projected target of 18 million voters. 

IEBC Voter Registration to Start on Monday

‘Your Vote Your Future’

President Mwai Kibaki will on Monday, November 19^th 2012 launch the Biometric Voter Registration at the Kenyatta International Conference Centre.

The Independent Electoral Boundaries Commission (IEBC) expects to register nearly 18 million voters, after receiving the Biometric Voter Registration (BVR) kits three weeks ago.

IEBC has identified 30,000 registration centres and they will be gazetted by next week. The registration process will take 30 days (November 19 – December 18) followed by 15 days of voter register verification.  

About 29,000 clerks have been trained on the operations of the kits, which capture both facial, and fingerprints of the voter.

Registration will take place each day (including weekends) from 8am to 5pm and all Kenyans are urged to register afresh at the nearest registration centres.