After Pervez comes Pervez! The profile of the new Prevez, Pakistani Army Chief General Pervez Kayani

The rise of Pakistan’s ”Quiet man” 

By Syed Shoaib Hasan
BBC News, Islamabad

<Gen Kiani has a ‘can-do’ reputation

The rise of Gen Ashfaq Pervez Kayani through the ranks of the Pakistani military has been rapid if not extraordinary.The man nominated by Gen Musharraf to be his replacement as army chief is noted for his patience, diligence, intelligence and sheer determination.

Another contributing factor has been his ability to keep a low profile when necessary while also being able to take decisive action when it’s needed.

Gen Kayani’s clan is one of the largest and most powerful in the northern Jhelum area of Pakistan’s largest province, Punjab.

The harsh and arid region is famed throughout the subcontinent for only one product - soldiers.

So in many ways Gen Kayani was born to the job.

Passion for golf

He initially studied at the local cadet college in Jhelum, and was subsequently accepted at the army’s military academy in the northern town of Kakul.

In August 1971 he was commissioned as a second lieutenant, and joined the famed Baloch regiment.

The general is respected within the army

He joined up in time to experience the military defeat to India of the same year.

His first taste of politics came when he served as deputy military secretary to Benazir Bhutto in her first government in 1988.

Since then he has served at various levels of command.

He is a graduate of army colleges in Quetta and Islamabad, and General Staff College at Fort Leavenworth in the US.

Married with two children, Gen Kayani is president of the Pakistan Golf Association and an avid golfer.

He is respected in the army as a professional soldier who deliberately keeps a low profile.

Crisis management

This is in sharp contrast to the man he has been chosen to replace - Pervez Musharraf.

But maintaining a low profile has not meant that Gen Kayani has shied away from high-profile assignments.

He has a “can-do” image as a man who gets things done.

Gen Kayani has never been seen a part of President Musharraf’s inner circle. But the president has always turned to him when the going gets tough.

It was Gen Kayani who oversaw the investigation into attempts to assassinate President Musharraf in December 2003.

As one of the army’s senior most officers, Gen Kayani could confidently expect to take the top job

In his book, In the Line of Fire, President Musharraf writes how the investigations into the attacks initially ran into problems because of inter-agency rivalries.

“But these disappeared when I appointed Kayani in charge of investigations,” the president wrote.

Observers believe that it was from this time onwards that Gen Musharraf started to rely heavily on Gen Kayani for crisis management.

But insiders say it was actually the winter of 2001-2002 that showcased Gen Kayani’s abilities.

Stand-off

At that time he was serving as Director-General Military Operations (DGMO) - the army’s operational commander.

As Pakistan’s relations with India deteriorated, militants staged a deadly attack on the Indian parliament.

Delhi blamed it on the Pakistan-based militant group Lashkar-e-Toiba, and mobilised its army to take action. Soon the two nuclear-armed neighbours were dug in opposite each other along their 1,500km border.

Gen Musharraf has come to rely on Gen Kiani

Tempers were running high and a single aggressive movement could have sparked conflict. During this time, Maj Gen Ashfaq Kayani was in charge of all troop movements.

Insiders say it was his expert handling of the situation, and his constant contact with the Indian command that kept the eight-month stand-off from becoming an outright war.

It also brought him to the attention of Gen Musharraf. Subsequently, Gen Kayani was promoted to command the army’s elite 10 Corps based in Rawalpindi.

When the attacks on President Musharraf took place in the city, Gen Kayani was the natural choice for the job of finding out who was behind them. The investigations led to a secret military tribunal convicting 11 men of planning and carrying out the attacks.

‘Own man’

Soon after, he was made the head of Pakistan’s powerful Inter-Services Intelligence (ISI) agency. In March 2007, he was part of the infamous “tribunal” of intelligence chiefs who met Chief Justice Iftikhar Chaudhry the day before his suspension by President Musharraf.

Gen Kiani in his younger days

He was later named as the only one who sat silently through the entire episode.

Gen Kayani was also the only official at the meeting who did not submit an affidavit against the chief justice.

President Musharraf’s botched attempt to sack the judge triggered a political storm which led to deals with former prime ministers, Benazir Bhutto and Nawaz Sharif.

Gen Kayani was instrumental in making both these deals possible .

But while helping his “mentor”, he has remained very much aloof from the increased political wrangling as elections approach.

As one of the army’s most senior officers, Gen Kayani could confidently expect to take the top job. But because he was head of the controversial and shadowy ISI, some felt that he had disqualified himself from further promotion.

No ISI chief has ever been appointed commander of Pakistan’s army. The agency’s dealings have often been at odds with the policy of the government of the day.

Some observers had also contended that Gen Kayani was too much “his own man” for Gen Musharraf to place faith in him.

But Gen Musharraf chose to ignore these doubters when naming his successor in early October.

Now, two months later, on 28 November 2007, Gen Ashfaq Pervez Kiyani has assumed charge of what is the most powerful office in the country.

The 14th chief of Pakistan’s army has his work cut out, with militants challenging the power of his institution, whose morale is at an all time low.

How he, and his army, copes with the situation could well be a defining moment in Pakistan’s history.

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Musharraf gives up army uniform: A step in the right direction

 Gen Musharraf (Right) said the army was the saviour of Pakistan

Pakistan’s President Pervez Musharraf has handed over the command of the military in a ceremony in Rawalpindi.

Gen Musharraf passed a ceremonial baton to Gen Ashfaq Pervez Kayani at the army’s headquarters.

In his farewell address, Gen Musharraf said the army was his “life” and he was proud to have been the commander of this “great force”.

He had been under huge pressure to quit as army chief and is due to be sworn in as civilian president on Thursday.

Opposition leader Benazir Bhutto welcomed President Musharraf quitting his army post but said her party was in no hurry to accept him as a civilian leader.

US Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice said President Musharraf’s stepping down was a good first step but called for a state of emergency to be lifted ahead of January elections.

President Musharraf has led Pakistan’s military for nine turbulent years. As a civilian leader he will have to work out a relationship with a new army chief and an elected prime minister.

The BBC’s M Ilyas Khan in Karachi says President Musharraf has shown great resilience over the years, often bouncing back when seemingly on the ropes.

His legacy as a military leader on the front line of the “war on terror” is a country beset by militancy.

Despite his having preached “enlightened moderation”, President Musharraf is a reluctant democrat whose policies have provided political space for religious conservatives to the exclusion of moderates and liberals, our correspondent says.

‘Half a century’

Dressed in full military uniform, Gen Musharraf arrived at the ceremony with a baton under his left arm.

Genaral Ashfag Kayani

On his arrival, he was greeted by Gen Kayani and inspected a guard of honour.

A military band played Pakistan’s national anthem and the ceremony began with a recitation from the Koran.

The colourful ceremony was shown live on national television.

“I am bidding farewell to the army after having been in uniform for 46 years,” Gen Musharraf said in his address. He became army chief in October 1998.

“This army is my life, my passion. I love this army, and this relationship will continue, although I will not be in uniform,” he said.

Gen Musharraf added:

“I am fortunate to have commanded the best army in the world. This army is an integrating force, the saviour of Pakistan.

“Without this army, the entity of Pakistan cannot exist.”

‘Excellent soldier’

Gen Musharraf expressed full faith in the ability of his successor, Gen Kayani, to lead the force.

“He’s an excellent soldier and I can say with full confidence that under his command, the armed forces will achieve great heights,” Gen Musharraf said.

He had designated Gen Kayani, a former head of the intelligence services, as his successor in October.

The most serious pressure on the president to give up his uniform had come from the United States, his main international backer.

Washington has grown concerned in recent months at the army’s inability to rein in pro-Taleban militants and by Gen Musharraf’s growing unpopularity.

As a civilian leader, President Musharraf will still have considerable powers, including the ability to sack a civilian government.

He imposed emergency rule on 3 November in order, he said, to control an unruly judiciary and deal with the growing threat from Islamist militants.

General elections are to be held on 8 January. President Musharraf’s critics in Pakistan and allies in the West say they cannot be free and fair unless the emergency is lifted.

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ORENGO STAND NO CHANCE OF WINNING HIS OLD UGENYA SEAT

By Leo Odera Omolo

API/APN in Kisumu, Kenya -  27/11/07

James Aggrey Orengo (Nyatieng’) un-nominated ODM Parliamentary candidate for the Ugenya constituency in Siaya district chances of recapturing the seat, which he lost several years ago to his brother – in- law are said to be the remotest.

Orengo who was beaten hands down by the youthful populist and resourceful Steve Okoth Mwanga who was undemocratically and unceremoniously robbed his election victory by the chairman of the ODM election board the retired Justice Richard Otieno Kwach and his team.

The move has since sparked off discontent among the voters who have since vowed they would teach the ODM election board a lesson, which its member will live to regret by voting Mr. Mwanga on Dec 27 during the election proper..

The electorate have vowed to vote for Mr. Mwanga en-mass despite him having crossed to the Cyrus Jirongo KADDU party.

A group of people who fronted themselves as opinion leaders in Ugenya told this writer at Ugenya town this week that their allegiance to Raila Odinga, the ODM party presidential candidate remain unchanged. They will vote for Raila but for the parliamentary candidate. And they made it categorically clear that they would vote for the populist Mr. Mwanga.

The reasons they floated is that despite having represented Ugenya in parliament previously for close to 22 years Orengo has done nothing to his own credit in term of economic and educational development in the area.

‘’We agree the lawyer is a high profile politician and our most illustrious son. But he is not development conscious person. He had no development agenda in his vocabulary. We rejected his bid to be nominated as the ODM torchbearer in Ugenya and as such the clearance certificate should have been issued to Mr. Mwanga who was the legitimate winner of the nomination.’’

‘’We feel betrayed and cheated but we want to make it plainly clear that we shall still vote for Mwanga. He is our darling because his election could change this most backward constituency in Luo - Nyanza to higher heights of development,’’ said Mr. Ogutu an ODM operative in Ugenya.

In Ugenya, Orengo can only represent a classic society of certain elite, but not the move not simple poor rural folks because he is a very unproductive and mean leader, he added..

Despite being seasoned politician Orengo credibility as a leader is dented by his lukewarm and lackluster performance when he represented the area previously. He is said to be a very mean and a selfish person who care for his own self. But with negative attitude toward the older poor rural folks.

This class of people are the majority and Mwanga has fallen in love with them. It is also disgraceful to the DM as a party for having short-changed Mr. Mwanga and robbed him his victory. The party, the local political pundits say would pay dearly for its mistake.

In the previous incident that in the year 2002 Mr. Paul Nyamodi had won the LDP nomination in Ugenya. But, he too, was robbed off victory when the clearance nomination certificate was handed to the immediate former MP Archbishop Stephen Ondiek.

During the visit I discovered that many voters will vote for Raila Odinga in his presidential bid, but have settled on someone else’s to be their next MP decided to vote for the youthful Mwanga.

It was also learnt that all the ODM’s civic leaders have deserted Orengo and joined Mwanga campaign team. Jirongo’s KADDU party can now be rest assured of harvesting one parliamentary seat in Luo-Nyanza and this is the Ugenya seat.

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Darfur situation deteroriating: Violence will increase if nothing drastic is done

Nairobi (Kenya) A new report released in Nairobi by the International Crisis Group (ICG) says that the Darfur crisis is deteriorating by the day and warns violence in the region is on the increase.

The report titled “Darfur New Security Reality” released on Monday states that the Darfur conflict has changed radically in the past one year and not for the better.

It also warns that access for humanitarian aid is decreasing and the international peacekeeping is not effective.

“While there are fewer deaths than during the high period of fighting in 2003-2004, it has mutated, the parties have splintered, and the confrontations have multiplied,” the report says.

The report adds that the strategy the African Union-United Nations mediation has been following cannot cope with this new reality and needs to be revised.

While releasing the report one of the co-authors and ICG analyst, Sally Chin said that now that the peace talks have been put on hold the mediation should use this opportunity to reformulate the process, broadening participation and addressing all the root causes of the conflict.

The report accuses the ruling party in Khartoum, the National Congress Party (NCP), of pursuing destructive policies in Darfur while at the same time resisting key provisions in the 2005 Comprehensive Peace Agreement signed two years ago in Nairobi, which ended the north-south war, thus triggering a crisis.

“The NCP wants Darfur in chaos to limit the room for an opposition to emerge, while resettling key allies on cleared land and defying Security Council resolutions by integrating its Janjaweed irregulars into official security structures instead of disarming them,” the report says.

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Sahel and Sahara communities calls on the Chadians to stop the fighting

Tripoli( Libya) The Secretariat of the Community of Sahel and Sahara Community States (Cen-Sad) in Tripoli on Tuesday issued a statement calling for immediate secession of fighting between the Chadian forces and the rebels which erupted Monday in eastern Chad.

The Cen-Sad statement called for an unconditional and immediate ceasefire and for the parties to refrain from any action that might destabilize the peace and security of the area.

Cen-Sad further appealed to the leaders of Forces Union for Development and Democracy (UFDD) and Forces Movement for Change (RFC) to stop the escalation and to give priority to negotiation and dialogue under the mediation of the Libyan leader Colonel Muammar Qaddafi.

The Cen-Sad statement went on to express regret at the human losses resulting from the fighting, which it said was in complete contradiction of the spirit of the peace agreement signed in Syrt, in Libya on the 25th October 2007.

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UN to assess the situation: Ogaden region in Ethiopia

Addis Ababa (Ethiopia) The United Nations Under-Secretary-General for Humanitarian Affairs on Tuesday visited the Ogaden region of Ethiopia where several people are in need of food aid following the Ethiopian government’s recent crackdown on the rebels of the Ogaden National Liberation Front (ONLF).

As a result of the insurgency, UN agencies estimate that close to one million people are in need of food aid since the past three and four years.

Currently, the government, in collaboration with international NGOs and UN agencies is delivering 7,000 tons of food aid.

Humanitarian conditions in the area have worsened in the past several months due to fighting between the Ethiopian National Defense Forces and the ONLF rebels which killed 65 Ethiopians and nine Chinese oil workers in April 2007.

Holmes, who is on a nine-day visit to Africa will also visit Sudan and Kenya, and meet with aid agencies and officials to discuss about humanitarian the situation in the respective countries.

While in Sudan, Mr Holmes, who is also UN Emergency Relief Coordinator, is scheduled to go to Nyala and El-Fasher in Darfur region, where he will meet people who have been affected by the conflict there.

Holmes is also expected to meet with the Ethiopian Prime Minister Meles Zenawi on Wednesday, when they are expected to discuss about the humanitarian situation in the Ogaden region.

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KENYA’S LEADING DAIRY FIRM IS LOOKING DOWN SOUTH FOR SALES OF ITS PRODUCTS TO THE SADC COUNTRIES.

By Leo Odera Omolo

API/APN in Kisumu, Kenya - 27/11/07

Kenya’s Brookside Dairy Ltd, a firm in which the family of the founding father of the nation the late President Jomo Kenyatta has the controlling shares spurred by rising competitions coupled with tremendous growth in milk output and consumption locally, has begun to look beyond the country’s borders for its products.

The Brookside products, which include yoghurt, butter, cream, ghee and the preserved long life milk (UHT).

In an effort to capture the East African Community Market, Brookside Dairy  opened sales offices in Dar Es Salaam, Arusha and Mwanza in January this year.

The company’s sales and marketing general manager Elias Ocholla was recently quoted as saying that Tanzania offers a vast market for Brookside’s range of long life products as well as high value fermented products.

In 1994, Brookside Dairy was producing 5,000 processed milk daily. This has since risen to over 750,000 litres a day.

‘’The increased processing capacity sets the stage for expansion in the region,’’ says Mr. Ocholla.

But it is the company’s recent break into the Southern African Development Community (SADC) market that has made the greatest statement on the firm’s intent to go truly regionals. Under the deal Brookside will supply over Ksh 500 million  (USD 75) worth of long life milk products annually in the next three years to SADC countries.

The regional trading bloc is currently facing severe milk shortage.

The milk producers Associations of South Africa estimates that the regional market will face a shortfall of over 20 million litres annually for the next three years. At the same time, South African farmers are currently only meeting domestic demand with no extra for export to the SADC porting states.

The most affected markets are Zambia, Mozambique, Botswana, Angola, Mauritania, Namibia and Malawi.

The Brookside Manager attributed the acute milk shortage in Southern Africa to the near collapse of small-scale dairy farming in the region occasioned by hyper-inflation in the pricing of cattle feeds.

This has meant that large South African milk processors such as Parmalat and Clovers are no longer supplying satellite countries as they concentrate on meeting local demand.

The Kenyan firm recently won supply tenders for Egypt, Middle Eastern and other countries.

Brookside is confident of meeting its export commitment without interfering with local domestic market demand.

Kenya on the other hand, is currently experiencing milk boom driven by sustained growth in the dairy sector, which now stands at four billion liters annually.

Industry report say that increased demand for milk is also being noticed in Latin America, Asia and China where consumption is expected to grow ten-fold in the next seven years.

Countries in the SADC bloc have had to source milk from other markets including Kenya. ‘’We have the most modern equipment in the region and thereafter can easily meet the orders from SADC’’ said Mr. Ocholla.

Brookside Dairy will be supplying the SADC countries its range of long-life milk, particularly UHT products that are in short supply currently. The company products have been tested and meet all quality standards of SADC as well as International Quality Standards.

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A ticking time bomb: Kenya slums expanding rapidly

By Harrison Mwirigi Ikunda, API/APN in Nairobi, Kenya.

By 2012 it is estimated that 65% of Kenya’s population will be living in urban areas. This is also in line with global trends where more and more people and actually majority of the world’s population will be living in urban centres in the next 10 or so years.

With the Kenyan economy in the upswing mood the push and pull to urban centres will be greatly enhanced. Additionally the returns from agriculture being relatively lower and harder to come by, plus the difficult albeit also a bit controversial and very problematic land tenure system in Kenya,  a bigger push to urban centres is quite inevitable.

But the Kenyan urban situation as is in most developing countries is also growing into a major calamity and that is to be found in poor planning and the growth of informal settlements otherwise called slums. Kenya is rapidly growing into a slum capital. The biggest slum in Kenya – Kibera- is the largest in Africa. And slum is a growing phenomenon in Kenya. Majority of the population in Kenya’s biggest cities led by Nairobi and Mombasa live in Slums.

Strangely or probably it is to be expected the highest number of
voters in Kenya’s cities like in Nairobi are to be found in slum.
Despite economic ‘boom’ nothing seems to change on the settlements side. More and more people are habiting in squalid areas. Even in not so slum areas and indeed in low cost housing areas like Githurai, Zimmerman, Kawangware, Riruta Satellite, Mathare North, Mlango Kubwa, Eastleigh, Huruma, Dandora and so on have a very thin line in differences to slum areas when it comes to social amenities like schools, health centres, crime rates, sewerage disposals, lighting and so on. Indeed simply stating there is almost nothing like planning in our Kenyan cities and towns. Then you wonder why traffic congestion on the roads not to mention in housing is the order of the day.

Now with all these chaos add the evil phenomenon of aids prevalence, poverty, moral decadence, corruption, negligence and so on. Kenya is growing a generation of children and young people who are simply hopeless. But not everybody has lost hope. A young man called Armstrong O’Brian Ongera, the Executive Director of Capital Youth Caucus Association (CYCA) a partner to ADDHU International (a humanitarian NGO from Portugal) is optimistic that something can be done about it.

Such optimism is rare. And coming from young people like Brian is even rarer. Recently he (Brian) and the president of ADDHU International, Professor Laura Vasconcellos visited the slums in Nairobi and other poverty alleviation centres around the country and got a scare so to say. But they are optimistic something can be done if there is political will and people with means including the corporate sector chips in.

The trip follows another one done by an investigative Journalist from New York (USA) a Mr. Robert Neuwirth who with the CYCA leader (Brian) visited Kibera extensively and other slums and interviewed a good number of people. Another Journalist from Public Radio International/BBC USA a ms Sheri Fink in the company of Brian visited the slums and developed a documentary on slum life. The documentary was named ’slum life in Kenya’ and was initially aired by the PRI/BBC USA. They also published a book ‘Shadow Cities’. It was published in USA in 2005.

Strangely some foreign media outlets, Tourists, international
organizations seem more worried by the growth of slum life in Kenya than Kenyans themselves. When the current UN Secretary General Ban KI Moon visited Kenya for the first time he made a highly published detour of Kibera slums in Nairobi. Indeed Kenya is increasingly becoming a slum tourist centre. Shame on Kenya!

Something needs to be done and very urgently. Poor urban planning, poverty, congestion, a don’t care attitude, scarcity of water, insecurity, poor infrastructure, lack of very essential social amenities, prostitution (including child) and so on is a hard sticking time bomb!

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