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African Press in Norway, APN, africanpress@chello.no

The coming Kenya general elections and how to do the politicking

Lifted story: APN concurs with the writer of the story.

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Raila must curry favour with Ruto and Kalonzo

By Dominic Ondipo

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The 1968 American presidential election remains a near classic in how modern campaigns unravel and the role major issues play, or do not play, in such contests.

As Kenyans gear up for a political battle for the presidency, it is useful to look back at some of the lessons of 1968 America. By April, there were two very exciting, though not openly declared candidates, from the Republican Party — and one rather dull, but highly experienced and focused protagonist.

The exciting candidates were Governors Nelson Rockefeller of New York and Ronald Reagan of California. In the middle was the dull, but totally focused former vice-president, Richard Nixon. From the Democratic Party, after the withdrawal of President Lyndon Johnson, were also two exciting contenders — Senators Eugene McCarthy of Minnesota and Robert Kennedy of New York. And lurking in the wings was vice-president Hubert Humphrey.

Dull candidates win

The major issue then was the war in Vietnam where scores of American soldiers were being killed every week. As the campaign rolled, the most exciting and colourful candidates from both parties dropped out for one reason or the other. Nixon beat Rockefeller and Reagan quietly but decisively for the Republican ticket. Among the Democrats, Kennedy was shot dead at the moment of his greatest triumph, opening the way for Humphrey to defeat McCarthy.

And so it came to be — the two dullest candidates, Nixon and Humphrey, ended up squaring it off for the presidency that year. When the votes were finally tallied, Nixon edged out Humphrey by less than a quarter of one per cent. The supreme issue that year, the Vietnam War, was neither seriously addressed during the campaign nor resolved.

For both candidates, the first priority was putting and then holding together a national coalition that would ensure victory. Discussing and resolving the major issues were not considered a critical component of the winning strategy. In their best selling history of the campaign, An American Melodrama, Lewis Chester, Godfrey Hodgson and Bruce Page captured it thus: “It is only in the necessary mythology of democracy that a final campaign resolves questions.

In practice, the main thrust of the enterprise must be to rally support, working within a framework of definitions made earlier — more or less hazily. Resolution of questions must take second place to the consolidation of coalitions. The mythological version of an election campaign helps, however, to secure general allegiance to the process.

Lessons for Raila

It should, therefore, be understood, and deferred to with care by people with a particular interest in politics.

“There are three lessons here for the ODM-Kenya leadership and especially Mr Raila Odinga. The first is that the most exciting and colourful candidates do not always get to the starting line of the final lap.

The second is that discussing the major issues facing the country, day in, day out, is not always a winning strategy as it can scare or even bore whole blocks of voters. And the third, and probably the most important, is that building and nurturing grand coalitions that can survive till election day and turn out the vote is the most effective and, therefore, the most important strategy.

Speaking in separate meetings last week, Raila was quoted saying: “Kibaki is trying to rig himself back to power. He fears me because I taught him a lesson in the referendum.” And at another meeting he was quoted saying: “Some people have been so much part of the failed system that they cannot promise change.”

Indirect attack of Kalonzo

In the heat of the moment, perhaps Raila may not realise what damage such statements might be doing to his presidential aspirations. He may not realise how much violence he is doing to the possibility of building an election-winning national coalition.

To say that Kibaki fears him alienates not just millions of Kibaki’s supporters, but also many of Raila’s partners in the referendum-winning coalition. To attack, at this stage, those who have been part of the failed system will be seen as a thinly veiled attack on Mwingi North Mr Kalonzo Musyoka who served for many years in the former regime.

In the race for the presidency, no two men will be more important to Raila than Kalonzo and Eldoret North MP Mr William Ruto. In his campaigns, Raila must, at all costs, avoid antagonising any of the men directly or by innuendo.

If, in this regard, he does not watch his words, those words will return to haunt him.

The writer is a lecturer and consultant in Nairobi

dominicodipo@yahoo. _________________________Lifted story and Published by African Press in Norway, APN, africanpress@chello.no, tel +47 932 99 739 source.standard.ke

Norway: Died while on a stealing spree

A midnight stealing spree has ended a man’s life. According to Aftenposten, “53 year old man apparently suffered a heart attack just as he and another man were stealing hay from a farm in Lier.

The highly unusual theft, and resulting death, has puzzled police in Lier, a rural area between Oslo and Drammen.

The two men broke into a barn at Grette GĂĄrd (the Grette Farm) late Wednesday night, reported website dt.no on Friday. The men then proceeded to steal several bales of hay, worth only about NOK 80 (USD 12) each.

The hay was loaded onto a trailer, but then the 53-year-old hay thief suffered some sort of seizure. His 36-year-old accomplice drove him to a local hospital, where he was pronounced dead.

“We don’t know what kind of a seizure it was,” Thor Ingolf Johansen of the Lier sheriff’s office told dt.no. He said police have asked for an autopsy.

The dead man’s accomplice, meanwhile, has admitted being at the farm and taking the hay bales.

The owner of the farm said he found a pair of shoes inside his barn, and about 10 bales of hay on the trailer that was left abandoned nearby.”

The farm owner has been quoted by the media saying he is socked by the incident.

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Lifted by Korir,

Published by African Press in Norway, APN, africanpress@chello.no, tel.+47 932 99 739, source.aftenpostenENG

Bagandans are targets for future assassinations, if one goes by the words of former Obote II soldier exiled in Norway

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The soldier’s name, and photo temporarily withheld for legal reasons, but will be released in our follow-up story and after final consultations with our legal advisers.

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We say Africa has economical problems and poverty, but now it is time to accept the true factor that does not allow our continent to develop, and to progress in the right direction.

We are talking about “tribal” hate. This is the biggest enemy in the continent. It is tribal feelings that destroy Africa, and the African people.

Many countries are faced with tribal conflicts, because each tribe wants to be the master over the other.

Uganda:

When one looks at the history of Uganda, one should expect the country to be one of the leading nations in Africa.

The country has many brilliant businessmen, and women. The country is rich in fertile land. But the country has tribal clashes in memory, memories that many are unable to forget.

<President Yoweri Museveni. He has been the president since 1986.

When Museveni took over power, there were those who thought peace had finally come to Uganda, but they were wrong.

Tribes will always want to fight one another. They look for supremacy. The LRA – Lord Resistance Army has fought President Yoweri Museveni’s government for over 2o years now, and the conflict is still on.

LRA, first led by a woman by name Lakwena who died in a Kenyan refuge camp recently, and later taken over by Mr Joseph Kony (right photo>), still wages war against Museveni’s government. Many Ugandans have lost their lives in the process.

Kony is now in a dilemma. LRA and the government are in talks to bring peace to Uganda. But Kony is wanted in the Hague to face charges of mass murder during the conflict he is accused to have masterminded for many years. The international arrest on him makes it difficult to reach a peace deal. Kony has been quoted in the media saying that he is not guilty of any atrocities against the Ugandan people.

Before Museveni was Obote

<Dr Milton Obote, the first Ugandan executive head of state. Exiled in Zambia for 20 years, died  80 years old, and was buried in Uganda after President Yoweri Museveni gave a yes to the request. Allowing Obote to be buried in Uganda was President Museveni’s re-conciliatory move to unite the country.

Obote in Obote I 

Looking back at Obote I regime, there are sad and chilling stories to tell. One may not want to hear them, but to get a healing process going, things must be told. Obote in Obote I regime, led the country in the 60’s when Uganda gained her independence.

Obote’s rule was marred by terrible violence, and was overthrown by the military led by Idi Amin Dada 1n 1971.

Idi Amin favoured a section of Ugandans in terms of tribal connections. Leaders are afraid of other tribes, and in fear to be overthrown, they choose to be tribal when selecting people to be appointed to higher positions in the governments they lead.

Miraculous Obote gets a second chance

With the help of the late Tanzanian president Julius Nyerere, Milton Obote was returned to power from exile. He became one lucky president to get a second chance after having been militarily overthrown.

Feeling betrayed by many, when he was overthrown in Obote I rule, and having known his real enemies who did not want him to go back to Uganda when he was exiled in Tanzania, this was a different Obote, one angry man returning to assume power he had lost.

Loosing power for some leaders is like life has ended, so getting it back may be very dangerous. Coming from exile where he had suffered psychologically due to losing the prestigious seat of power in a coup, Obote may have had his list of enemies.

Obote in Obote II rule

On establishing Obote II government, many observers were of the opinion that he might revenge, and they were not wrong. He came with new loyal soldiers who supported him no matter what, and that made Uganda a dangerous country for many to live in.

His rule in the 80’s was not better than the first one in the 60’s. His rule was marred by violence that saw many people killed like flies. Obote has been blamed for the atrocities, but one should understand that a president may be misled by his followers who are thirsty after other people’s blood and for their own satisfaction.

Obote lived a lonely life in Zambia for 20 years until his death in 2005. His last days in Zambia was very bad, because he had no telephone facilities and lived without soldiers guarding his residence. It is said that he spend his last days doing gardening, and sometimes he had to cook for himself. A sad end for any former president..

Call for healing period and reconciliation

<21.10.2005. Miria Obote standing in front of her husband’s casket during the funeral in Uganda. While addressing mourners, she called for healing and reconciliation  

While Mrs Obote called for reconciliation during the burial of her husband, a reconciliation that could see all tribes in Uganda working together, there are those who are not ready to move forward in that direction.

When he was overthrown in the 80’s, many of his loyal foot soldiers left the country as well, in search of refuge, fearing if they remained in Uganda, the new regime was going to punish them for crimes they may have committed.

One would think that they are happy to be part of a reconciliation, that would open the way for them to return, and join the rest of Ugandans in nation building. So far, few have accepted Museveni’s arm of reconciliation.

Not yet ready for reconciliation 

Although Obote is accused of the pain caused to the country during his rule, some power hungry soldiers may have gladly, and willingly exceeded their powers without the late Obote knowing, as may be the case with one soldier who was recently observed raining verbal attacks on two Bagandans in one Oslo bar.

The soldier has been quoted saying he is not ready to heed Mrs Obote’s call for reconciliation, a reconciliation brought about by Museveni’s will when he accepted to give Obote a state funeral in 2005.

The soldier calls himself an old timer, a hard liner, and a man who is still loyal to the past Obote II regime. He still addresses the late Obote as “my president” to this day. He loves to boast publicly, on how he commandeered soldiers under him in butchering sprees, directed against the Baganda tribesmen and women.

During the discussions between him, and two Bagandans on Thursday last week, a name Captain Nkwanga featured. He was mentioned as the former FEDEMU leader who was murdered in cold blood.

The soldier in question exiled in Norway, told the two Bagandans on how Nkwanga pleaded for his life to be spared, as the soldiers danced and tortured him. The former soldier says Nkwanga had his head chopped off as he cried louder, and louder pleading to him for his life.

The former soldier having stated that he ordered his men to cut Nkwanga’s throat slowly, made his two Bagandan listeners to understand how good he felt when the man was being tortured. He told them that watching Nkwanga die slowly was the sweetest thing he has ever experienced.

Although this is a chilling story, and painful to narrate, it is being told in a hope that our leaders may understand the pain their soldiers are causing in the name of “protecting my tribe and my president.”

According to the soldier, Obote II slogan was, “a dead Muganda is a good one.” 

Ronald Muwenda Mutebi II (right photo>), known to his people as Kabaka, is the traditional King of Buganda. During Obote I rule, the country’s traditional Kingdoms were abolished. It was through Museveni’s reconciliation project that made it possible for the Kabaka to return from his exile in the UK.

As though Nkwanga’s sad story was not enough, the former soldier became even more and more tribal in his statements. And as the talking continued, the two Bagandans got agitated, and angered by what they were being told, even though to APN it seems that they knew of the story from before.

The soldier told the two men that he would not hesitate doing the same again, if he got the chance to be in power.

Telling them how his troops enjoyed murdering Bagandans in Makindye barracks, he let them know how bitter he is with the Baganda tribe, saying Bagandans will be targets for future assassinations if he ever joined another regime in Uganda.

He informed them that Makindye barracks’ slogan was “a good Muganda is a dead one”, adding that all the soldiers had to subscribe to it if they wanted to remain in Obote II regime.

This is why we say the worst enemy for Africa is tribal inclinations, whereby one tribe wants to be the master over the other forcefully, a thing that is not easy to achieve, unless one uses the power of the gun, as was in Makindye barracks, if one has to go by the former soldiers story.

What does governments do when they hear of such chilling stories, being told boastfully by those who have committed atrocities.?

Some so-called democratic countries in the west, when they hear such stories as true as they may be, if they are, never take action to assist in the capture of those in question, to face justice in the international tribunals, or be deported to their home countries to face the law. This is so, because they see it as an African problem.

In the case of Rwanda, many who are listed as men and women who committed atrocities, because they were active in the 1994 genocide, are protected by the west who give them comfortable refuge, far away from President Paul Kagame’s long arm of the law. The UK, however, shown the way recently when they arrested four individuals in Kagame’s list.

Kagame wants all Rwandese accused of genocide to face justice.

Museveni government looks at things differently, in comparison to Kagame’s government. Uganda has not made a list demanding for the return of those who may have committed crimes during Obote’s rule.

He has urged those who are in exile to return, and has promised not to punish them even if they committed atrocities. He says he wants to promote reconciliation among Ugandan tribes.

The problem facing those still in exile is how far they are ready to go in trusting Museveni’s word. Many who were in Obote II regime have not returned, fearing that Museveni may change his mind, and make them face the law once they are back in the country.

APN did not manage to reach the former soldier for comment.

By Korir,

Published by African Press in Norway, APN, africanpress@chello.no, tel + 47 932 99 739. source.bbc.ph

Alliance for Patriotic Reorientation and Construction party wins elections in The Gambia

<President Yahya Jammeh

The results tightenPresident Yahya Jammeh and his ruling Alliance for Patriotic Reorientation and Construction (APRC) party has won the elections getting 42 of the 48 elected seats in the National Assembly, according to media reports. 

The two opposition parties “took five remaining seats, with one going to an independent. Five more seats are to be filled by appointees of President Jammeh.”

Now the president with the majority of seats in the assembly tightens the grip to rule the country for a number of years. He was re-elected last September.

There is always the cry of the wolf in every country when elections are held.

Dissatisfied with the results, “opposition leader Oussainou Darboe accused the security forces of hampering his party’s campaigning.”

By Korir, 

Published by African Press in Norway, APN, africanpress@chello.no, tel +47 932 99 739

source.bbc

Statistics on viewer development today by 02.00

Country Share
Continent Share

Figure nr 1. shows viewers in percentage pr country by today at 02.00

Figure nr 2. shows viewers in percentage pr continent by today at 02.00

We update the statistics now and then.

By Statistics section

African Press in Norway, APN, africanpress@chello.no

Guinean president gives in to demands

<The President

 

The media has now reported that Guinean unions has called the strike in the country. The strike has put the nation into a standstill and clashes.

BBC reports that, “nearly 60 people have died in protests since the strike was called on 10 January to demand government reforms.”

The president Lansana Conte after feeling the heat of the strike, “agreed on Friday to cede some powers to a prime minister who would head the government.”

To show a will to compromise, although the president did not say yes to all the demands, “the unions said the president’s concessions were sufficient for them to end the strike.”

By Korir,

Published by African Press in Norway, APN, africanpress@chello.no, tel +47 932 99 739 source.bbc