IDEAL LEADERS 4NEW KENYA

I dint want 2start this early but am obliged to. I first want to mention the major contenders for presidency in 2012 then we can analysis them one by one and then together we can chart a way forward.  The Kenya after 2012 will require leaders who are visionary,able to lead n make a stand despite facing opposition,understand the current status of the country`s social-economic n political status of the country.Someone who knows our strengths,potentials,weaknesses,shortcomings n what is stopping us from achieving our maximum.Should not be tainted by corruption,should be open minded n ready to learn n democratic,n above all be having a strong reform credentials.Since the new Katiba we fully come in force after 2012,the government that we be formed we shape the future of Kenya n will set precedents that future governments will follow,that's why  we can fail to heavy scrutinize the candidates that will want 2lead us.At this point allow me 2declare my preferred CEO of the country n deputy,later will give my reasons,then you will give your choice n reasons n hoping this will educate us to make the right choices. President,Raila Amolo Ondinga,Deputy President,Martha Wangari Karua,me thinks this rare combination can take the country to great heights,reasons later,What about you my reader??

QUALIFICATIONS OF A GOVERNOR

The new Constitution was inspired by a clear vision — to facilitate the development of a human rights state in Kenya by overhauling the neo-colonial state established by the British and sustained by the successive post-colonial administration. To build the new human rights state, the new Constitution has created devolved county units. The 47 counties will work like 47 parastatals. Each parastatal shall have a chief executive officer, the governor, who will be accountable to a board of directors called the County Assembly. Each governor must ensure the county government defines the development objectives, sets out a plan through programmes, proposes a budget for delivering each programme, employs the best talent to manage the works on each of the programme, supervises each of the programmes daily, accounts to the County Assembly, and ensures that all the legal and constitutional obligations of the county government are met. The County Assembly must ensure that the chief executive delivers by performing four functions — oversight, representation of interests, making enabling laws and undertaking advocacy on behalf of the county government at the national and international levels. Only men and women with the skills to deliver on the following four areas should be elected to the assembly. The governor must manage a clean, lean, effective, accountable and responsive county government. This means that he or she must employ only non-corrupt officers at the county government. He or she must, of course, be clean, with no record of corruption and sleaze. The counties should not become cash cows where unnecessary workers are stocked to draw cash without delivering services or adding value. This means the county governments must be lean and rationalised. We must get it right from the word go. Thirdly, the county governments must be effective, which requires that it cultivates the capacity to ensure security for its citizens and facilitate them to lead quality lives. Fourthly, county governments must be accountable both vertically and horizontally. Horizontally, it must be accountable to the County Assembly on all matters of budget management, personnel and strategic management. Vertically, it must account to the people directly. Similarly, the county government must account to the senate and the National Assembly as well as to the executive as regards its policy choices and how it is applying funds given to facilitate development in the county. Fifth, governors must ensure county governments are responsive to the needs of the people. A consultative process must be established where the residents have a say on the priorities of investments and action. It must also have the capacity to mitigate disasters. Governors, therefore, must be leaders as well as gifted managers who know how to balance politics with government responsibilities. For example, the Busia governor must know how to balance between the politics of the county with the massive tasks and responsibilities of the government in Busia. He or she must know how to address each of the wards, polling stations, members of the County Assembly, the area MPs, the senator as well as the President without losing focus on the core business. The governors must be men and women who are public-spirited, and civic-minded and ready to hire the best talent. They must know how to build teams. They must be tough but wise. They must be good communicators who also know how to fundraise and manage resources. They must be good planners and organisers. They must be people who love their families enough not to want to expose them to scandal and odium. People who have run down constituencies, political parties, parastatals, schools, ministries, trade unions, associations, clubs and government offices do not qualify. Most of the old guys who belong to the advisory bench do not qualify to occupy the office of governor in Kenya.

COUNTY LEADERSHIP

Forget politicians; let professionals take over the running of counties

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By RASNA WARAH
Posted Sunday, September 19 2010 at 18:12

Recently, the Coast People’s Forum proposed that professionals, rather than politicians, be nominated as county governors and senators under a devolved system of government.

A couple of weeks ago, the Forum came up with a list of people they would like to see running the show in the region. Media reports suggest that the list comprised mainly scholars and technocrats — no one on the list was a politician.

I have not seen the list, nor do I know the criteria used for the nominations, but I agree that if this country has any chance of achieving meaningful development, it will come about, not through the efforts of politicians, but of professionals in various fields.

Let us take the example of Malindi, a town that I have a particular fondness for and which I have made my home in recent months.

People who come for short visits to this laid-back resort town will notice that it is particularly popular with European retirees, and that its highly visible Italian population has turned Malindi into one of the best places south of Sicily to sample Italian cuisine.

They will also discover that this coastal town is particularly renowned for a delicacy known as halwa, which has its roots in the Arabian peninsula.

Many visitors will be surprised to learn that Malindi was the site of a 19th century slave market and that Vasco da Gama took a pilot from this town to guide him through his historic sea voyage to India in the latter part of the 15 century.

Agro-economists will be astonished to learn that Malindi has very high agricultural potential and that as far back as the 16th century, it produced oranges, lemons, rice and millet in abundance.

Writers will also be interested to know that in 1934, the American author Ernest Hemingway stayed in Malindi at what is now known as the Blue Marlin hotel for eight days.

However, these gems of information have not been sufficiently utilised by the government or politicians to bring about significant development to the town. The main road into the centre of Malindi Town from Lamu, for instance, is dilapidated and full of potholes.

And despite its huge potential as a tourist destination, the majority of hotels remain largely unoccupied for much of the year. There is only one fully-equipped hospital in the town. If the residents need specialised treatment, they have to drive 100 miles south to Mombasa.

Locals often complain about the growing sex tourism menace in the town and the increasing drug addiction among youth, both of which are linked to two other scourges affecting the local residents — poverty and unemployment.

Now, under a devolved structure, these problems could be handled technically, not politically. If county governments comprised professionals such as engineers, educationists, economists, doctors, sociologists, historians, artists, marketing professionals and businesspeople, they might want to spend the county funds solving real problems, rather than use the money for “political projects”.

The engineer, for instance, may propose that the major highway linking Malindi to Lamu be expanded and rebuilt. A sociologist might propose that a youth centre or football stadium be built to alleviate the drug addiction problem among the youth.

An economist might suggest that the economy of the area be diversified to include industries that process local produce. A medical practitioner may want to address the increasing cases of child sex abuse at the Malindi District Hospital, where nurses struggle daily to heal victims of paedophiles.

The historian might propose to undertake a study to document the rich history of the area (interestingly, the only known authoritative historical account of the town is to be found in a wonderful booklet titled Malindi: Past and Present by Esmond Bradley Martin, which was first published in 1969, and recently re-printed by the Malindi Museum Society.)

The businessperson may want to market Hemingway’s visit to organisers of literary festivals and at exhibitions marketing Kenya as a tourism destination.

With so many diverse minds dedicated to improving Malindi, the town, would be a thriving node of prosperity in no time.

Yes, it is about time that the development of this country was undertaken by smart, ethical and forward-looking professionals, rather than useless politicians.

Even poetry is a career

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By Mwaura Samora msamora@ke.nationmedia.com
Posted Sunday, September 19 2010 at 16:57

Sitawa “Sweetawa” Wafula is among the artistic minds riding the crest of the giant poetic wave that is currently sweeping across Nairobi and the country.

What sets the 26-year-old above the rest in this rapidly emerging sector of the entertainment industry is the fact that she scripts her arithmetically savvy lyrical lines as much for art as to advance the welfare of the human course.

“How odd numbers experience most of the joys experienced by their even counterparts despite not being divisible by two,” she says in one verse that she has been using in a campaign for the girl child.

The gallantry and zeal with which Wafula does her thing belies the fact that she landed in the world she thrives in more by chance than choice.

“I never had any interest in poetry in high school beyond the mandatory literature lessons, hence composing or performing in public was never heard of in planet Sitawa,” she recounts.

Mathematics had always been Wafula’s subject of choice. So when she joined the University of Nairobi in 2003 for a degree in Actuarial Science, her sole mission was to graduate and establish a career in the world of high finance.

But unknown to her, destiny had already conspired to turn the tides of her life in a strange direction.

During the second year of her studies, she started to experience severe seizures which would put her down for weeks. Spells in and out of hospital became a regular feature of the diary of her life.

Apart from the interruptions to her academic work, the hospital bills were also rising, whittling down the family savings meant to cater for her school fees. She eventually dropped out of college in 2005 to concentrate on recuperation.

“This was hard on me and I eventually slipped into depression. Watching and listening to colleagues making plans for their graduation pushed me deeper into the psychological abyss,” she recalls.

But as Nelson Mandela once said “the greatest glory in living lies not in never falling, but in rising every time we fall.”

The soft spoken but iron willed entrepreneur narrates that during the crisis the “greatest tower to Sitawa” proved to be her resolute desire to live and have a strong belief in the Almighty.

“Today is the foundation of tomorrow, so things can only get better or worse depending on what you have going today. Therefore, I try my best to give my all today for a bigger, better, and brighter tomorrow,” she explains the life energy that kept her going in those tough times.

“Circumstances and people can only put you down if you allow them to.”

It was during that period that Wafula discovered the therapeutic benefits of creative writing, using this expressive art form to drain her inner pain.

“I loved my pen and paper for they were always there for me. I wrote a lot about things I needed to offload and this helped me a lot.”

She has compiled her pieces into a book that she hopes to launch soon.

However, even with the new-found way to vent her inner storms, more challenges awaited.

“I was still having seizures which would sometimes put me in hospital for up to two weeks so I couldn’t hold a job for long.
On one occasion, I blacked out as I was serving a client,” she explains.

She laments the discrimination of employers against staff with chronic conditions.

Among the regular events that her company organises is the monthly poetry night at Discovery Restaurant where lovers of the spoken word congregate for an evening of reading and reciting poems.

She also conducts workshops for aspiring poets where she takes them through the basics of writing and performing.

NEW KENYA!

Kenya is new,citizens are hopeful that things are heading 4the better,optimism is high,which is good news 4the country. One thing though is that the old familiar faces that have dominated our social,economic n political sphere are still as present as ever,funny enough the political kingmakers of yester years who were rejected by voters after they couldn't deliver are lining up 2revive their political careers with some going 4the new created posts either as Governors or Senators. I respect their democratic right as Kenyans 2vie 4any post they are interested in but my issue with them is,if they failed before,they have been there for a long time hence members of the status quo club,they have no new ideas 4the new kenya,some mismanaged n messed us up during their reign,many do not know the new problems nor the solutions 4them,many have no vision but just 2 massage Egos,they are apart of the old Kenya that didn't work us,most are obstacles to our new Jerusalem. We cant afford another wasted moment,during Independence we wasted the momentum which could have propelled us 2great heights,not again,this time we must be wise enough 2elect leaders who rhyme with us,the citizens. I  appealing2all patriots n especially the youth 2take charge of mapping the new kenya,Civil society must give civic Education especially on role of different positions created by new Katiba,requirements 4holders n the rights of Kenyans.

Even in death, Maruge is still a hit abroad

For 83 years, Kimani Maruge led a nondescript life. Then free primary education was introduced in 2003 and life literally started at 84 for the man who would become the oldest pupil in the world.

Now a year since he died, fame seems to be following him to the grave. A new movie on his life is receiving great reviews at a US film festival.

The film, The First Grader, is one of the biggest attractions at the Telluride Film Festival in Colorado. It profiles Maruge (played by Oliver Litondo) who rose to fame when he enrolled for Standard One in 2003 after the government introduced free primary education in President Kibaki’s first term.

Maruge (right), then 84, joined Kapkenduiywo Primary School in Eldoret so that he could be able “to read the Bible”. This decision was viewed by many as a stunt and ill-advised but the old man pushed on with youthful vigour that confounded critics.

His first day in school was bumpy after the teacher, Mrs Jane Obunchi (Naomi Harris), turned him away, saying the school only catered for children.

But he stood his ground and was enrolled. The scenes on Maruge the pupil are captivating. We see him interacting with his classmates, all of them the age of his great grandchildren, learning to write and even reciting the alphabet.

This is punctuated with snapshots of Maruge the boy growing under the British colonial rule. The film is directed by John Chadwick and written by Ann Peacock.

Mr Chadwick first heard of Mr Maruge in the Los Angeles Times. The story was so compelling that he flew to Kenya to meet the old man.

Mr Chadwick could not speak Kiswahili and Mr Maruge could not read or write in English, so they bonded via a translator. The experience prompted Mr Chadwick to shoot the film about his new friend. Maruge died of stomach cancer last year before the film was shot, but his tale lives on.