22 ILLEGAL FOREIGNERS ARRESTED IN MOMBASA

Kenya police on Friday arrested 22 foreigners without valid documents at Bondeni in Mombasa. The foreigners, 15 Ethiopians and seven Bangladeshis, were arrested in a morning raid at a house in the area. Two Kenyans suspected to be behind a ring sneaking in the aliens were also seized.

Mombasa police boss Tom Odero said police raided the village after a tip-off from the public.
Sinister motive. “The foreigners did not have immigration papers and we suspect they entered the country for a sinister motive,” he said.

Mr Odero declined to shed more light on the matter, but police sources said the group arrived in the town a week ago.

“In our preliminary investigations, we managed to determine their countries of origin but we shall only release more information after we finish interrogating them,” said Mr Odero. The arrests come a few months after Coast Provincial Commissioner Ernest Munyi promised to intensify vigilance on the border to curb illegal entry.

Odero was speaking even as the Minister for Immigration was saying new third generation ID cards will start in January 2010. Kenya immigration policy is so corrupt and lax where everyone who has some few money to bribe can get any official document for travel and trade.

WE NEED TO SEE "CHANGE".........IN KENYA

Agriculture Minister William Ruto has denied rumors that he may be the so-called big fish that had a permanent travel ban slapped on them by the United States of America, He may not be but we know those who are supposed to be on that list...And the List is long...

Ruto aside, What matters is that, We are Kenya and the US is another country. Kenya is not US and US is not Kenya, so let us stop bickering over simple travel advisories. The US has the right to refuse anyone to visit their country the same way we have the right for anyone not to visit us....But first thing first, ask yourself, Is our Immigration Department even working properly? You don't even know who is a Kenyan in the first place.........Why are you bickering about travel ban? Who travels....Politicians....? For simple imagination, Just Remind yourself about The Artur Magaryan Fiasco that almost shamed our immigration and protocols.... Poor Countries even have their limits....



The US embassy on Monday announced a visa ban for an unnamed top government official for allegedly being implicated in graft and since then there has been speculation with the names of several key ministers being mentioned. The US was only helping us contain these greedy people even as our "Pressy" and "Tinga" are busy dining having forgotten that 1500 Kenyans lost their lives during the Last 2007 General Election.....Repeating exactly what brought about that mess....



I don't think if Kenyans or some politicians can be taken serious over their normal verbal utterances that rolls Kenya every now and then. We are tired of these kind of politics and we need seriousness to do some business for the country.


We really Need serious Orange paint in our Country........


We are not interested in mere change of offices but as Minister Orengo just said, we need thorough change in our beloved country ranging from Office of the President( Immigration, Registrations of person, to Streamline and know first who is a Kenyan and who is not), Internal Secuirty(The Police, NSIS), Justice(The whole Judiciary) Electoral structures, Education(8-4-4 & Higher Boards), Planning( Census), Health(Medical Services &Public Health), Roads (We need more roads) We can't even access our Tea, Pyrethrum and Coffee for Exports let alone our tourists having nightmares visiting our Game Parks and Wildlife resorts.

KENYA MEAT COMMISSION(K.M.C) BOARD KICKED OUT

The Government has dissolved the whole board of Kenya Meat commission yesterday following the decline in the management and a clear policy of running the ailing parastatal based near Athi-River in the Machakos District.

Formed in 1950, KMC is the oldest and most experienced meat processing organisation in Kenya, with products like corned beef and fresh cuts of beef, mutton and goat meat.


After Kenya got it's independence, The Kenya Livestock Development Project (KLDP) was launched financed by the US Agency for International Development and the UN Food and Agriculture Organisation which had an ambitious national strategy aimed at completely reforming Kenya's livestock industry. Grazing blocks were started in the northern rangelands of the country and group ranches were set up in the southern rangelands. Immature stock was to be brought from the northern Kenya and sold for fattening and finishing in the better-watered areas of the south. Purpose-made trucks were provided to ferry stock south to the KMC and ranches.

Because of bereaucracy and corruption, The outfit(KMC) has never had a serious business strategy helping the nomadic communities of Kenya. It has never been headed by someone from a nomadic community background and so it went from one board of directors to another.

"There is no one really attending to the livestock problems. That is why there are problems all over," says Aden Keynan, who represents Wajir West (in NEP) in the Kenyan Parliament and a member of the Pastoralist Parliamentary Group.


"So, literally the livestock farmers have nothing. He is at the mercy of nature, at the mercy of middlemen, at the mercy of everyone. There is no institution that takes care of his interests." The parliamentary group wants a minimum of 10 percent of the government's budget assigned to the pastoral sector.

SOMALI PIRATES FIRING AT KENYA VESSELS

Suspected Somali pirates opened fire on a merchant vessel in the Indian Ocean off the coast of Kenya during a failed hijacking attempt, a maritime official said Saturday.


"One skiff with six men onboard came within 100 metres of the merchant vessel and fired what was believed to be a rocket-propelled grenade," Andrew Mwangura, of the East African Seafarers Assistance Programme, said in a statement.


Mwangura did not identify the ship but said the attack took place on Friday, around 265 nautical miles (490 kilometres) east of the Kenyan port of Mombasa."The alert merchant mariners took appropriate anti-piracy measures and escaped with no damage to the vessel, crew or cargo," he added.Mwangura said the attack was the eighth incident in which shots were fired at merchant vessels in the Indian Ocean south of the equator since October.


Since the surge in hijackings by ransom-hunting Somali pirates in 2007, most attacks have been carried out in the Gulf of Aden, where thousands of ships bottle-neck into the Red Sea each year.Increased navy presence in the area however has encouraged some pirate groups to hunt ships further out at sea.Despite a slight drop in attacks in recent weeks, Somali pirates still hold 10 ships for ransom.

KENYA CHASED ANTI-OBAMA AUTHOR

NAIROBI, Kenya - The American author of a best-selling book attacking Barack Obama as unfit for the presidency was being deported from Kenya on Tuesday, a criminal investigations official said.

Jerome Corsi, who wrote "The Obama Nation: Leftist Politics and the Cult of Personality," was picked up by police Tuesday for not having a work permit, said Carlos Maluta, a senior immigration official in charge of investigations.

He was briefly detained at immigration headquarters before being brought to Jomo Kenyatta International Airport for deportation, said Joseph Mumira, head of criminal investigations at Jomo Kenyatta International Airport. It was not immediately clear when he would fly out. A message left on Corsi's mobile phone was not returned. Obama spokesman Bill Burton said the campaign had no comment.

Corsi had been scheduled to launch his book Tuesday in Kenya, where the Democratic U.S. presidential candidate is wildly popular. Obama's late father, whom he barely knew, was a Kenyan economist and the candidate is considered by many Kenyans as a native son. Minibuses are emblazoned with his picture and vendors sell T-shirts bearing his image.

Obama was born in Hawaii, where he spent most of his childhood raised by his mother, a white American from Kansas. There is Obama-mania in Kenya at the moment.

Corsi's book claims the Illinois senator is a dangerous, radical candidate for president and includes innuendoes and false rumors — that he was raised a Muslim and attended a radical black church. For your information, Obama is a Christian who attended Trinity United Church of Christ in Chicago, and his campaign picks apart the book's claims on the Obama campaign's rumor-fighting Web site, FightTheSmears.com. His critics lay claim that his family had a Muslim background which have often been refuted.

According to a statement announcing Corsi's visit, he arrived last week at the invitation of Christian missionaries concerned about the rise of Islam. Corsi was planning to file daily dispatches all week, the statement said. Islam is growing very fast in Africa.

Obama's Kenyan uncle, Said Obama, said he was unaware of Corsi's detention and had no comment. A government spokesman did not return calls for comment.
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KENYA'S LIVESTOCK A MULTI-BILLION SECTOR

Kenyan Vice President Kalonzo Musyoka on Saturday said the government will allocate 1.66 billion shillings emergency funds to fight the Peste De Petit Ruminant (PPR) disease that threatens the multi-billion dollar livestock industry.

The PPR outbreak which began in 2006 and has spread to 17 districts in the country has so far wiped out 2.5 million sheep and goats, putting the livelihood of millions of people in Arid and Semi areas of the country at risk. Musyoka said that the government will ensure that the PPR and other recurring disease outbreaks will be eradicated within the next five years.

"For us to export more meat products to better markets, we have to ensure that our meat is disease free," he said in Merti, Isiolo district during the launching of the second phase of the PPR control activities that will cover 59 districts in the northern, Central and Southern Rift, lower Eastern, Coast and North Eastern Provinces.

Musyoka noted that the Grand coalition government has put in place strategies to revamp the livestock industry through the sinking of boreholes for water, construction of dams, putting up slaughterhouses in various parts of the country as well as sourcing more export markets in Europe, Middle East and Seychelles.The plans also include the construction of an International Airport at Isiolo to facilitate export and tourism arrivals.

The Vice President disclosed that policies and laws governing livestock development are also being revised to make them relevant to current realities. Musyoka noted that the government, through the Ministry of Livestock Development, will put in place appropriate and cost effective breeding technology in order to improve livestock species especially in the arid and semi arid areas, for higher productivity and better incomes.

The vice president said that livestock development is a crucial component in the government poverty eradication and wealth creation strategy adding . He added that the livestock industry is a multi-billion shilling sector, contributing about 12 percent to the national GDP and employs 50 percent of the agricultural labor force.

EASTLEIGH IS A "CITY WITHIN A CITY".....

When the British colonialists established an airbase at Eastleigh,little did they know that it would grow into a huge commercial gateway. It has since evolved into a "Dubai" of East Africa, where cheap imports are accessible.

Today, the dry ‘free’ inland port attracts traders from the Democratic Republic of Congo, Sudan and Uganda.

Eastleigh was first allowed to accommodate Africans between 1910 and 1914. Initially, Asians who established shops and other micro-businesses dominated the area.

But over the years, Eastleigh has come to be known as "Mogadishu Ndogo" - Swahili for "Little Mogadishu"

BETH MUGO HAS LED BY EXAMPLE

How many of us are from Wajeer or are Reer Wajeer.....Many of us ofcourse.Whether you went to Wajir High School, Sabunley, had a family in Wajir, or even passed Wajir from Mandera, on your way to Nairobi and Mombasa, many of us Nepians have from time to time related Wajir as being the Centre of NEP.

But ask yourself, what is peculiar with Wajir as a town itself ? Maybe good schools, Mybe good roads, It is the Unsung Heroes....albeit not the Dedan Kimathi type but the night soil men who gather around collecting "Human Excrement" in tractors around the town.

These unsung heroes are about to go out for what is surely one of the most unpleasant jobs in the world - collecting what they call "Night soil", that is human excrement, from people's houses by bucket.

Many people now take for granted the flushing away of waste using modern infrastructure developments such as piped water and sewers, but in towns like Wajir in north-east Kenya, they have to rely on older systems.

The population is almost 200,000 and growing, and with a very high water table close to the ground surface, pit latrines would contaminate the drinking water. So they have had to use a bucket latrine collection system.

"These buckets are emptied every night from every house by the council tractors and council night soil men," explains Wajir district council official Ahmed Omar.

Yet the unglamorous work is not only poorly rewarded but unhealthy as well, as the men were only too quick to tell me. One man showed me his medical documents revealing he was suffering from TB. He says he was emptying the contents of a bucket into the tractor and then some droppings from the tractor went into his eyes.

Now he can only use one eye. The other eye has been infected and even this is getting damaged due to the work and pressure of using only one eye.

He says they are the heroes of Wajir but are not recognised.

"We have got no source of support. If only the authority's system of waste collection and facilities could be enhanced, it would be easier," he says.

Amazingly, these same guys have many complaints arising from their duties but ask yourself.. "Why do these men do it?" they seemed to be thinking along similar lines and sometime enjoy their work. Having a chance to voice their grievances seemed to galvanise them and lots of them began an impromptu strike, it seemed, and walked off the side roads back to their homes.

The smell is overpowering as they move the buckets from one place to another.As you might expect, the smell is quite disgusting. Each of the black buckets is overflowing with excrement and toilet paper, as they gingerly pull them out. To do that, is hectic and many of these hardworking night soil men need to be looked after in terms of health risks and devising proper sanitation methods

While the rest of Wajir is sleeping, these men have very little money and with no protective equipment whatsoever are keeping this town from a serious disease epidemic.
The story in the media about the deplorable sanitation conditions in Wajir had the country in shock. It was shocking to learn that Wajir has no modern sanitation facilities. The residents were exposed to serious health dangers as they had to use portable toilets with council workers ferrying the waste.

This week's quick reaction by Public Health and Sanitation Minister Beth Mugo is laudable and is something for all our leaders to learn from. It was impressive to see her personally going out to Wajir to see the situation to come up with solutions to this very serious health issue. Mugo is an example of the servant leadership that l leaders should emulate. Let us see other leaders reacting quickly to people’s suffering.

NEP RESIDENTS WORRIED OF US MARINE "NUCLEAR WASTE"..

The presense of US Marines in North Eastern province of Kenya has been questioned many times and just yesterday, Mr Farah Maalim (Lagdera, ODM), asked Foreign Affairs minister Moses Wetang’ula to clarify whether the 80 marines in his constituency were doing more than drilling boreholes for the residents.

Mr Maalim, who is also the deputy Speaker in the Kenyan National Assembly, said the marines had been in the arid area for over a year and had not succeeded in getting water for the residents.

Why can't anybody know what they are doing? Are they depositing Nuclear wastes there?

The ODM MP asked whether the marines were there to bury nuclear waste. He accused the marines of operating under a lot of secrecy, saying that local leaders, including the provincial administration and councillors were in the dark about the activities of the US soldiers.

Justice minister Martha Karua, who is the deputy leader of Government Business, gave an undertaking to communicate the request for a ministerial statement to Mr Wetang’ula.We are still waiting for a formal communication from Wetangula.

The return of United States marines in North Eastern Province has raised eyebrows among the local Somali Muslims amid fears that the province is likely to be used as the launching pad for the wider war on terror, albeit covered in the clothes of humanitarian assistance.

The Counter-Terrorism operations has from time-time been done along Kenya-Somalia-Ethiopia-Djibouti Borders to stem what Americans call "Terror" related incidents.

“The overall mission of the CJTF-HOA is countering terrorism in the Horn of Africa,” A statement from US embassy said.

It noted that civil action programs in Kenya contribute to this effort by allowing the U.S. soldiers to work on specific, real-world projects with their Kenyan counterparts and also to become more familiar with the people and customs of the area. Projects are also selected in part to help establish better relations with local residents and counter any misunderstandings about U.S. intentions in the region. Similar programs have taken place elsewhere in the Horn of Africa, specifically in Djibouti and in Ethiopia.

Officials from both ends, Kenya and USA are however worried about the possible complications of US counter terrorism measures.

An American official in the past has said the US assessments of the Kenya-Somalia border situation and the whole region has been inadequate. "America does not have sufficient knowledge of the (Somali) people and hence needs a better understanding of the region," the official added.

The last time the marines were there, they spent the upward of Sh200 million on health, education and water for the impoverished residents.After a hostile reception and boycott of their humanitarian services, residents said the marines wormed their way into their hearts with goodies.

Their unexpected arrival in a convoy of trucks with sophisticated military and engineering equipment caused a stir in Garissa town.

"We thought we had seen the last of them when they left the province late 2004 after completing the humanitarian projects," said Mr Hussein Issa, a Garissa branch Narc chairman.
"Now that they are back, it seems they have a special attachment to Northern Kenya — probably due to its proximity to Somalia," he added.

Rumours are rife about US Marine missions in NEP kenya. Some residents are convinced that the marines are "polluting" the vast arid area with nuclear wastes while pretending they are drilling boreholes.Some say The marines are out to track down Al-Qaeda sleeper cells in Somalia. Others think the marines are on their way to Somalia to protect the ailing Transitional Federal Authority of Somalia from the increasingly powerful Union of Islamic Courts, which are perceived to be sympathetic to the Al-Qaeda cause.

The rare spectacle when the Americans landed in town caused commotion as hordes of curious residents milled around the Garissa Kenya Military Barracks, where the marines have made temporary base.

Ironically, the last time the marines were in town, the Government was forced to publicly declare their mission after the predominantly Muslim residents ejected them from a Garissa hotel.

During the incident, the marines were forced to abandon medical and veterinary services to the residents.There were claims that their drugs could cause infertility. The residents feared that the drugs were meant to reduce and subsequently wipe out the Muslim community.

The propaganda was even spread in local mosques and coffee shops. Many residents took the fears seriously and stayed away from a free medical camp at the Kenya Red Cross Society camp.

U.S. military doctors were there to provide free medical treatment for over 1700 residents of the busy North-eastern Kenyan town of Garissa during a three-day medical civil action (MEDCAP) program despite protests by Muslims in the area.

Hundreds of protesters, later took part in a demonstration on that Friday against a free medical camp being run by American marines. Some of the protesters, most of whom were ethnic Somalis, threw stones at the hotel housing the Americans in the town of Garissa.

A statement from the United States Embassy in Nairobi however allayed fears and controversby by giving a clear statement but the residents took time to digest.

“There was some local controversy about the presence of the U.S. military in this remote, largely Muslim community, controversy which the soldiers on the ground had tried to allay in meetings with local elders, imams, and other civic leaders and on Friday afternoon a noisy protest broke out in front of the hotel which the U.S. military had been using. Kenyan police quickly ended the disturbance, arresting nine or so demonstrators,” the statement said.

During the demonstration, residents suspected the camp was part of a ploy to extend the US war against terror in the region. Residents held street protests and invaded a hotel where some of the marines were residing.

The issue was solved as leaders softened their stance against the marines, but demanded infrastructural development.

The United States government later repackaged the charity and instead opted to rehabilitate and improve public institutions in the region. Some of the projects the marines undertook included the Sh8 million renovation and fencing of Wajir District Hospital. They also donated Sh18 million for the construction of Bute Girls Secondary School, sh7 million fro the Arabia Secondary School in Mandera District, rehabilitated facilities at Modogashe, Bura and Mbalambala secondary schools to the tune of Sh2.5 million each and sunk wells in some locations.

Later, many residents turned up for treatment.

The statement continued “We were hoping to treat as many as 1000 patients in the few days we were here,” said Army Major Ralph Engeler, “but there was an especially strong turnout on the second and third days of the MEDCAP. We treated lung and intestinal infections, parasites, various kinds of skin rashes and malaria. It was a good week’s work for us.”

The Garissa MEDCAP ended as planned on the weekend and is the third civil action program in Kenya in recent months. Medical, veterinary and other civil affairs projects took place in Lamu later and some are still ongoing.

The US Embassy claims, Medical and veterinary supplies for all these missions are purchased by the U.S. military from Kenyan suppliers whenever possible.

US Marines have devised a new way of dealing with suspicions but have not come out open to help communicate with what they are doing in these areas.They are always said to be on a humanitarian mission. The soldiers — in their twenties and donning military fatigues — this time round arrived in batches, perhaps to conceal their numbers.They usually left the town after dusk with local Administration Police officers in tow.

Herdsmen in the district have reportedly fled whenever they encountered the marine’s convoy snaking through the rangeland in some sites they intend to sink wells.

The North Eastern Provincial Commissioner, Mr Kiritu Wamae, was at times forced to call an impromptu public meeting to dispel the negative perception about the presence of the troops in town. He several insisted that the marines were on a humanitarian mission in the region and were working in partnership with the Kenya Army officers.

Wamae said the soldiers planned to drill 10 boreholes in Garissa District.We can't confirm this has been done upto date.

A senior US counter terrorism commander with the combined joint task force (CJTF) in Djibouti recently said attention had shifted to the Horn of Africa to police the Somali coast, East Africa sea board and lower Middle East following the September 11 terrorist attacks in America.

He disclosed that the 1,800 troops and warships are responsible for Eritrea, Somalia, Sudan, Ethiopia, Kenya, Djibouti, Mauritius, Comoros, Seychelles and Yemen.They are based in Djibouti.

The sources also intimated that military and civilian staff of CJTF were involved in humanitarian and civil works and allayed fears that the marines had their designs on Somalia.

"US forces harbour no designs on Somalia although Washington is concerned about the flow of arms into country(presumably NEP)," the commander said.

FAILED "FOREIGN" POLICY A BOOST FOR OBAMA CAMPAIGN

Despite its Peace Corps-like approach, though, the Pentagon still has some hearts and minds to win in its periodic visits to the NEP.

'I just don't like them here,'' said Sheik Mahmoud Ahmed Abdulkadir, the imam of Pwani Mosque in nearby Lamu, who has urged his followers to shun the Americans even at the Coast of Kenya. ''I feel that they are my enemy. I have no intention of harming them, but I cannot show them a smile on my face.''

The face of American foreign policy is shambled all over the world. From Afhanistan, Iraq, Iran, Cuba, Venezuela, North Korea, Somalia, Lebanon, Many countries in the Middle East and this is what Barrack Obama is capitalizing on against McCain Campaign regarding Foreign Policy,

"These are the same guys who helped to engineer the distraction of the war in Iraq at a time when we could have pinned down the people who actually committed 9/11," the presumed nominee told reporters aboard his campaign plane. "This is the same kind of fear-mongering that got us into Iraq ... and it's exactly that failed foreign policy I want to reverse."

CENSUS: THE NEWEST PLAN TO SUB-DIVIDE "NATIONAL CAKE"...

Regarding the Upcoming Kenya's Ethnic conference, previously elaborated in my previous thread,

http://kenyasomali.blogspot.com/2008/03/kenyas-national-ethnic-conference.html , I would ask my readers, many of who are Kenyan Somalis to "thoroughly" check the difference between these two maps showing population densities...The newest way of planning how to the National Cake...

They say, The majority rule the minority but surely this cannot be the case for a country like Kenya.

Previous regimes have been using "political" census to deny our people the right to national cake, on the pretext that Kenyan Somalis are 2% of 37 million people and that funds allocation for them in various projects, be it education, health and infrastructure was strangled.

The situation is now different and after the Kenya's "rigged" 2007 disputed election, some fellas came with the idea of "Kenya's Ethnic Conference" which was our best way to express the subjugation dealt on our people.

We have just amended the "cooked" census records and going by records at both the National Registeration Bureau at the Ministry of State, Office of the President and research undertaken by various agencies including IRIN and UNDP, The "correct" map will read something like herebelow.

Going from blog to blog, many Kenyans do not even mention somalis when talking about Kenyan tribes.Check some statements from one Japson kap kirwok, explaining Kenya's ethnic composition in relation to dividing The just concluded cabinet...

He say,

“.....Our source of statistics for Kenya’s ethnic composition is the March 2008 edition of the CIA’s World Fact Book. If we map ethnic composition against the distribution of full Cabinet positions, we get the following statistics. The Kikuyu, our most populous ethnic group, compromises 22 per cent of the population. Their share of positions in the Coalition Cabinet is 19 per cent. The Luhya, at 14 per cent of the population is the second most populous ethnic group. Their share in the current Cabinet is 19 per cent. The Luo come next at 13 per cent of the population; they occupy 12 per cent of the slots in the Cabinet. The Kalenjins represent 12 per cent of the population and their share of Cabinet positions is also 12 per cent, while the Kamba are 11 per cent of the population with a share of seven per cent of Cabinet positions. The Kisii represent six per cent of the population and have six per cent of the Cabinet positions, while the Meru are six per cent of the population with a two per cent share of the Cabinet. The rest of the other 35 African ethnic communities comprise 15 per cent of the total population. Their share of the Cabinet is a surprising 21 per cent. Finally, the non-African "tribes" — Europeans, Asians and Arabs — comprise one per cent of the Kenyan population with a share of the Cabinet of two per cent. The picture changes only slightly when we include the Assistant ministers. We may quibble about a percentage higher here and a percentage lower there, but a it is reasonably balanced. ....”

How can we change these notion, that Kenya Somalis are not 2% and that someone may have removed 1 infront of 2 to mean 12% of 37 million Kenyans?

LACK OF BASIC AMENITIES IN KENYA

A woman in labour is carried on a wheelbarrow along the Butere/Mumias Road-Western KENYA.

Nominated MP, Prof Ruth Oniang’o, who was passing by, offered her car, which took her to the district hospital(miles away).

She delivered a baby-girl who was named after the MP.

THIS IS WHAT WAR MEANS TO SOMALIS.........

Kenya has turned away thousands of refugees at its border with Somalia and forcibly returned hundreds who had fled Somalia's rampant violence before the border was closed — leaving them susceptible to hunger, beatings and rape, Amnesty International said in a report Tuesday.

The human rights group urged the Kenyan government to reopen its border with Somalia, which it closed in January as Ethiopian and Somali government troops drove Islamic insurgents toward the frontier.

The group also called on Kenya to help those Somali refugees stranded at the border receive proper humanitarian aid and protect them from attacks by armed groups.

"It's very dangerous for civilians in Somalia right now," said Ann Corbett, a Kenya specialist for Amnesty International. "Kenya's action in closing its border is deplorable and a violation of a fundamental right enshrined in international law — the right to seek sanctuary from persecution."

Kenya's government spokesman, Alfred Mutua, dismissed the allegations as "a lot of hogwash." He said the government was monitoring the refugee situation in Somalia.

"The situation in Somalia is right now an internal displacement," he said, refusing to comment further.

The Kenyan government said in January that it closed the border to keep militants from entering the country. It also said it would not accept any Somali refugees because the Ethiopian and Somali soldiers were not directly attacking civilians.

Amnesty International said in its report there were between 5,000 and 7,000 Somali refugees waiting for entrance to Kenya when the border closed in January. The group also reported that Kenyan border guards ejected 400 people, mostly women and children, on the day of the closure — what it called a violation of international law.

Khadija, a 24-year-old mother of four children who was only identified by her first name, told Amnesty that the refugees were "dropped and left in the middle of nowhere." She said that as they were walking on foot in the bush, a low-flying helicopter forced everyone to run and hide. As a result, she lost her children.

The organization launched a fact-finding mission to Kenya in March to investigate reports that refugees were being denied entrance to the country and those who had managed to get into camps were not being registered properly and therefore did not receive aid.

The final report estimated that nearly 2,000 refugees who had crossed into Kenya illegally were fearful of registering with humanitarian agencies and did not have access to food or other aid.

"The border crossing has contributed to increased human rights violations since those who have been forcibly returned to Somalia are facing death, starvation and other terrible abuses, including beatings and rapes," Corbett said. "Others who are stranded near the border face similar threats and risks to their lives."

She said Amnesty has made several requests to the Kenyan government to reopen the border, but has not received any response. The group said it will present its report to the Kenyan ambassador to the U.S. on Wednesday and appeal to the State Department to increase pressure on Kenya.

Fighting reignited in Somalia's capital of Mogadishu in late March as Ethiopian and Somali troops made a final push to defeat the Islamic insurgency. Humanitarian groups estimate more than 1,000 people were killed and nearly 400,000 people were driven from their homes — many taking shelter in rural areas where relief supplies were lacking.

Somalia has been mired in chaos since 1991, when warlords overthrew dictator Mohamed Siad Barre and then turned against each other. A U.N.-backed transitional government was established in 2004, but has failed to assert any real control over the country.

WARNING TO ETHIOPIAN GOVERNMENT

No one wants to go to Somalia...as far as The African Union is concerned.The US is cornering African Union to prepare soldiers for Somalia's mission..A mission where it's forces lost many soldiers (1992-1993)... Operation restore hope...

POINT:

Somalis can sort their own issues without any external interference.....

END OF WEEK KENYA-POLITICS......

We know that a politician is becoming egoistic, losing direction or becoming irrelevant when she/he takes every opportunity to remind people about who she is.

Well, Charity Ngilu has once again reminded us that she is still the chairperson of Narc and NPK presidential aspirant and for that precise reason can therefore not say ‘Agwambo tosha!’ Once again she has proved to have few peers when it comes to double-speak, blaming the media for misquoting her as she attempted to reclaim her waning political clout.
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Some things can only be Nigerian. Less than two weeks to May, Tinapa, the so-called Africa’s premier business resort, is still running adverts on Dstv saying that it is opening in March. Who is fooling us, Tinapa or Dstv?
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And instead of Kenya's Internal Security minister Mr John Michuki bothering about ghosts in Sri-Lanka and Dubai, that have now returned to haunt and could hound him out of office, why can’t the minister and the Government concentrate on sorting out the murdereous Mungiki militias that fall not only within his docket, but his province as well. Or were the matatu reforms’ the last trick of an old wear horse, torn socks and all?
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When it comes to male runners, Kenya is a giant. But our women lack consistency, any tips from Eastern Europe? Cheruiyot, Kwambai and Kiogora did Kenya proud in the Boston Marathon by taking positions one, two and three. But our women let Eastern Europeans Hidiya and Helena of Russia and Lativia conquer the pole positions one and two. So should we now send our women runners to training camps in Siberia, the way foreigners camp in the North Rift to learn how to run.
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And finally...

Kenya's Internal Security minister Mr John Michuki has a comrade in the rugged mountains of Afghanistan when it comes to raiding TV stations. Afghanistan’s A-G, accused of regularly breaking the law, on Monday raided the country’s most popular TV station, Tolo, with over 50 armed policemen, assaulting staff and arresting senior journalists accusing them of inaccurate reporting.

Oxfam-UK pulls out of Wajir-Kenya

A British aid agency has suspended relief operations in Wajir District of kenya.

Oxfam-GB suspended its operations on Thursday after a group of leaders threatened to attack the staff and offices. The leaders claimed the agency was not fair in recruitment of local aid workers and claimed it was biased in distribution of relief supplies.

More than 10 civic leaders led by councillor Sheikh Noor stormed the international aid agency’s offices in Wajir town and accused the senior managers of lacking transparency during the recent recruitment of four aid workers.

A meeting between the leaders and Oxfam officials to end the stand-off at the DC’s boardroom ended in disarray after the agency insisted the recruitment would not be repeated.

During the meeting, Mr Sheikh Noor claimed some junior aid workers with the NGO were asking for favours from the relief beneficiaries to get rice.