They are hoping he will make it: VP assures Nigerians on President’s health

Nigerian Vice President Goodluck Jonathan said today he had spoken to President Umaru Yar’Adua, who is receiving medical treatment in Saudi Arabia, and that the president was in good health.

“We spoke yesterday and even this morning … He asked me to convey his personal greetings to all Nigerians,” Mr Jonathan said during celebrations to mark a Muslim holiday.

“Let me assure Nigerians that the president is okay. We spoke before he left this country and we have been speaking … I assure you that Mr President is healthy,” he said.

President Yar’Adua is being treated in the Saudi Red Sea port of Jeddah for acute pericarditis— an inflammation of the membrane surrounding the heart that can restrict normal beating — but is responding well to treatment, his spokesman said on Thursday.

Pericarditis usually lasts one to three weeks, but is treatable with drugs or, in extreme cases, surgery.

About 20 percent of pericarditis patients have a recurrence within months, according to the American Heart Association.

Mr Jonathan is the acting President.

According to Nigeria’s constitution, the President’s duties are carried out by the Vice President once the Head of State writes a declaration to the heads of the Senate and House of Representatives that he is going on leave or otherwise unable to carry out his official functions. (Reuters)

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AFRICA: Home-based care as effective as clinical care – Home visits help patients save on costly transport to clinics

Photo: IRIN

NAIROBI,  – A new Ugandan study adds to a growing body of evidence that providing home-based antiretroviral (ARV) care in low-income settings can be as effective as facility-based interventions.

The study, run by The AIDS Support Organisation (TASO), a national NGO, recorded the progress of 859 patients receiving home-based care in the district of Jinja in southeastern Uganda, and 594 receiving care at clinics in the town of Jinja, from Feb 2005 till Jan 2009.

“In terms of patient survival, patient retention and virological failure [an increase in viral load after taking ARVs], the patients in both arms of the study had very similar results,” lead author Dr Shabbar Jaffar, from the London School of Hygiene and Tropical Medicine’s department of epidemiology and population health, told IRIN/PlusNews.

In home-based care, 16 percent of patients had virological failure, compared with 17 percent in facility care; 11 percent of patients in both arms of the study died during the course of the research; one percent of patients receiving home care were lost to follow-up, and two percent of those receiving clinical care.

“We also found that for patients, the cost of home-based care was significantly lower because they did not have to make as many clinic visits. Costs incurred by the healthcare service were also slightly less for home-based care, but not by much,” Jaffar said. Overall, the median cost of a clinic visit was US$2·30, about 13 percent of the reported monthly cash income for men, and 20 percent for women.

Task-shifting

Trained field officers on motorcycles visited patients in the home-care group every month to deliver drugs and provide adherence support; patients in the facility-based group obtained drugs from the clinic each month and had routine reviews with a medical officer and counsellor every three months.

“The main significance of this study is that it shows that programmes can successfully roll out care, using non-clinical workers,” Jaffar said. “The need to rely on clinical staff is not as great as previously thought.”

According to the UN World Health Organization, Uganda has only one doctor for every 22,000 patients, and an overall health worker deficit of up to 80 percent. Other African countries are not much better off: Tanzania has just 2.3 doctors per 100,000 people, while Malawi has 1.1 doctors for a similar population.

“Systems like South Africa’s, where HIV service delivery is so highly medicalized, are not necessary, and can in fact inhibit wider access to these vital services,” Jaffar noted.

Several southern African countries – Malawi, Mozambique, Lesotho – have allowed nurses to initiate and manage ARVs, but South Africa, where the doctor-patient ratio is better than many African countries – 69.2 doctors for every 100,000 people – still largely relies on doctors to manage HIV treatment.

Experts estimate that if this country is to reach its target of providing ARV coverage to 80 percent of people in urgent need of the drugs, it would have to more than double the number of people currently starting treatment annually.

Uganda’s home-based care research programme also allowed health workers to provide HIV counselling and testing to other family members, which would not have been possible in the clinical setting, where a patient is usually seen alone. Jaffar said the additional services were very well received.

“Another thing we thought we might find was stigma; we had been warned that we would find that homes that were visited by these workers would be stigmatized by the community, but this is not what happened at all,” he said. “In the Ugandan case, TASO had a good relationship with the community prior to our arrival; in a different setting, stigma could be an issue.”

A need for training

The field officers used in the study had degree qualifications or college diplomas, and received four weeks of intensive training at the start of the study, with subsequent yearly refresher courses in the principles of ARV therapy and adherence support.

A recent Ugandan study found that many clinical officers, nurses and midwives were prescribing ARVs without sufficient training.

“Rolling out home-based care would mean providing staff with training and support mechanisms; effectively you are creating a new cadre of health worker, one that is easy to get hold of, easy to train and easy to retain,” Jaffar said.

The researchers are exploring the possibility of expanding the same model of home-based care to other chronic health conditions such as tuberculosis and cardiovascular disease.

kr/he source.irinnews.org

GLOBAL: Poor scorecards on AIDS responses for women: HIV is the leading cause of death in women of reproductive age

Photo: UNAIDS/P.Virot JOHANNESBURG, – That women and girls are particularly vulnerable to HIV and AIDS is well established, but a new report reveals how little we know about what countries are doing, or not doing, to address their vulnerability. The Scorecard on Women, released on 23 November by non-profit organization AIDS Accountability International (AAI), assessed responses to the specific needs of women in the context of the AIDS epidemic, and the extent to which governments are meeting their commitment to report on those responses. In 2001, UN member states unanimously adopted the Declaration of Commitment on HIV/AIDS, which included specific targets for prioritizing women in AIDS responses. However, the Scorecard finds that three-quarters of countries are failing to report basic information on HIV services for women and girls. Globally, HIV is the leading cause of death in women of reproductive age. The 2009 AIDS Epidemic Update, released by UNAIDS this week, noted that women accounted for approximately 60 percent of new HIV infections in sub-Saharan Africa – the region worst-hit by the pandemic – with girls and young women at particularly high risk. In the nine southern African countries most affected by HIV, prevalence among young women aged 15–24 years was about three times higher than among men of the same age. “Women’s vulnerability to HIV in sub-Saharan Africa stems not only from their greater physiological susceptibility to heterosexual transmission, but also to the severe social, legal and economic disadvantages they often confront,” the UNAIDS report pointed out. The Scorecard on Women rates countries on their reporting of six key elements in an AIDS response tuned to the needs of women, including the collection of HIV data specific to women; progress in ensuring that women have equal access to HIV services; and the impact of national responses on reducing infections among women and facilitating their access to treatment. An overall score reflects the extent of data provided on each element: countries reporting on all six are characterized as “responsive”; those reporting on only some are described as “aware”; those failing to acknowledge women’s particular vulnerabilities to HIV infection are “unfocused”. Countries with the highest HIV burdens were doing the best job of reporting data detailing their female-centred AIDS efforts, with 67 percent earning the “responsive” rating. However, the authors noted that a high score for reporting did not necessarily reflect good performance in delivering HIV services for women. Relatively good reporting by South Africa, for example, contrasted with a poor record in improving the maternal mortality of HIV-positive women, or curbing high rates of violence against women. There was also a disturbing lack of data on the situation of young girls, and what countries were doing to address their particular vulnerabilities. “Because of the almost total lack of data … this is a scorecard on women, and not on women and girls,” they commented. Dean Peacock, co-director of Sonke Gender Justice, a South African-based NGO that was among several organizations providing input to the Scorecard, welcomed the effort to hold countries more accountable in implementing their HIV/AIDS commitments to women. “There’s been widespread recognition that gender inequality is a contributor to HIV and AIDS, and lots of rhetorical commitments made, but very uneven follow-through,” Peacock told IRIN/PlusNews. He said the Scorecard would provide advocacy groups with useful leverage when pushing countries to reach the UN Millennium Development Goals and other internationally agreed AIDS targets. Elizabeth Mataka, the UN Secretary-General’s Special Envoy on AIDS in Africa, commented: “Women matter, and it is time all governments acted on their commitments to protect women and girls from HIV/AIDS.” ks/he source.irinnews.org

AFGHANISTAN: “The most dangerous place to be born”

Photo: Noorullah Stanikzai/IRIN

Shah Bibi says at nights her children cry from cold

KABUL,  – The onset of winter means freezing nights, cold-related diseases and more problems for the children at an informal settlement of internally displaced people (IDPs) in the western outskirts of Kabul city.

“They lack access to adequate food, shelter, healthcare, safe drinking water and sanitation, education, and are vulnerable to forced labour, sexual exploitation and many other problems,” Paola Retaggi, the coordinator of a Child Rights Consortium (CRC) led by Switzerland’s Terre des Hommes in Kabul, told IRIN.

Many IDP children either beg or work on the streets while some fall prey to the insurgents who have been accused by the UN of using children for military purposes.

“Afghanistan today is without a doubt the most dangerous place to be born,” Daniel Toole, regional director of the UN Children’s Fund (UNICEF) for South Asia, was quoted in the media as saying on 19 November.

About a quarter of Afghan children die before their fifth birthday (257 per 1,000) mostly from preventable diseases such as pneumonia and diarrhoea, according to UNICEF. The country also has some of the worst child malnourishment, stunting, underweight and vitamin deficiency figures in the world.

Half the country’s estimated 25 million population is below 15 but millions of Afghan children are deprived of their basic rights and are vulnerable to different forms of violence, aid agencies say.

“Internally displaced children suffer the most among all other children,” said Retaggi of the CRC.

More than 262,000 people are displaced in different parts of Afghanistan, according to the UN Refugee Agency (UNHCR). Conflict, natural disasters, poverty and communal tensions are among the major factors.

Little help

Between 2002 and 2005 more than one million people were internally displaced in Afghanistan, according to aid agencies. Most IDPs were accommodated in camps in Kandahar, Helmand and Herat provinces where UN agencies delivered essential aid.

Photo: Noorullah Stanikzai/IRIN

Aid agencies say IDP children lack access to adequate food, healthcare, education and protection

The UN-backed assistance programme ended in March 2006 and the IDPs were encouraged to return home in a bid to prevent a protracted emergency.

Many IDPs resettled in their original areas mostly in the northern provinces but tens of thousands have remained in camps, saying it is still unsafe for them to move back.

The ongoing conflict and recurrent natural disasters have added to the number of displaced families in the country over the past few years.

However, the UN and government have opposed the establishment of new IDP camps, particularly for conflict-affected families, and little sustainable aid has been provided to them.

“Refugees are assisted and protected by UNHCR but no agency has a clear mandate to assist IDPs,” said CRC’s Retaggi, adding that IDP children were particularly deprived of protection and assistance.

“What we fail to do [for] these children now will with no doubt reflect on the future of the entire country in a couple of years,” Hansjorg Kretschmer, head of the European Commission Delegation to Afghanistan, told a press conference on 22 November in Kabul.

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In Brief: Markets critical to food security in Sahel

Photo: Nicholas Reader/IRIN

A woman pounds millet in a Niger village (file photo)

DAKAR, 27 November 2009 (IRIN) – Some communities in the Sahel region could face “extreme food insecurity” after erratic rains this year deeply cut cereal production particularly of the staple millet, food security experts say.

The Famine Early Warning Systems Network, FEWSNET, in a 25 November alert says 2009 millet production in Burkina Faso, central Chad, northeastern Mali, Niger and northern Nigeria is likely to be 30 percent below average.

Total production for the region should be near average given surpluses in some areas, but how cereals flow through grain markets will be critical. Experts say rain is just one of many factors affecting whether Sahelian families find enough to eat; local markets play a pivotal role.

“If food flows relatively freely from surplus to deficit areas, availability in affected areas will be sufficient to meet needs,” FEWSNET says. “Access to food markets, however, will be constrained by high prices and reduced incomes.”

If governments restrict cereal flows, poor farmers in Niger, Chad and northeastern Mali could face reduced availability, high prices and locally extreme food insecurity, the alert says. “Every effort should be made to encourage the free movement of cereals across borders.”

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INDONESIA: Focus on earthquake preparedness, not prediction

Photo: Jefri Aries/IRIN

The remains of a mosque following the 30 September earthquake in West Sumatra (file photo)

 

JAKARTA, – Predicting earthquakes is an inexact science – which is why disaster preparedness remains key to saving lives, scientists say.

Experts have forecast that a long undersea faultline along Indonesia’s Sumatra Island is due to produce a powerful and devastating earthquake in the next few decades.

Sections of the fault, called the Sunda megathrust, have ruptured a number of times over the past decade, causing several earthquakes in the region.

A major earthquake could trigger a tsunami that could result in casualties and damage equal to the 2004 Indian Ocean tsunami, writes Kerry Sieh, a scientist at the Earth Observatory of Singapore, in an article made available to IRIN.

“To those living in harm’s way [on] the coasts of western Sumatra, it should be useful to know that the next great earthquake and tsunami are likely to occur within the next few decades, well within the lifetimes of children and young adults living there now,” the article states.

A magnitude 7.9 earthquake that devastated West Sumatra province and killed more than 1,100 people on 30 September originated near that faultline, according to experts.

“We don’t know when such a great earthquake will happen. It could be tomorrow, next year or the next five years,” said Fauzi, head of the Earthquake Center at the Meteorology and Geophysics Agency in Jakarta, who like many Indonesians only uses one name.

“It will be much more beneficial if we focus on preparedness. Earthquakes don’t kill, but collapsed buildings do,” he told IRIN.

Fauzi said between 1991 and 2009, Indonesia was hit by 43 major earthquakes, 15 of which generated tsunamis. The 30 September quake in West Sumatra resulted in a tsunami, though it was very small, he said.

Predicting earthquakes is also a sensitive issue in Indonesia and false rumours could create panic, Fauzi warned. “When scientists say an earthquake with a magnitude of 8.8 is likely to occur based on scientific findings, people refuse to go to school or work and SMS relatives,” he said. “The public talks about tomorrow, while scientists talk about years.”

Forecasting

Wahyu Triyoso, a geologist with the Bandung Institute of Technology, said the magnitude of an earthquake correlates with the size of the fault.

“If we could measure the amount of slip precisely, probably we could make rough estimates and we can make necessary preparations,” he told IRIN. “Forecasting means little if we don’t know the fault size, the dimension, length and width.”

Triyoso said even though knowledge of a potential earthquake was useful for scientists, it would be hard to communicate to the general public.

Photo: Jefri Aries/IRIN

Earthquake preparedness is key, say experts (file photo)

“If we say a certain place is dangerous and the public panic, it could become a social disaster,” he said. “So at the moment, preparedness is the best course of action,” he said.

In West Sumatra, an NGO called the Tsunami Alert Community (Kogami) has been working to instil a culture of preparedness among the population since 2005.

Kogami has been providing training on disaster preparedness in schools and communities in the provincial capital Padang, teaching them what to do should an earthquake and a tsunami hit.

The group has mapped out evacuation routes, with high-risk areas zoned red, while low-risk areas are zoned yellow.

It is introducing similar programmes in other districts in cooperation with other NGOs.

“Many people [live] in fear because they have received little information about earthquakes and what to do when a disaster happens,” said Patra Rina Dewi, Kogami’s executive director.

“We know we live in an earthquake zone and our job is to equip people with necessary knowledge,” she said.

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The beast to swallow some Kenyan leaders is around the corner: The Hague beckons for suspects

ICC Prosecutor Luis Moreno-Ocampo addresses a press conference at Windsor Golf Club in Nairobi on November 7, 2009. He has requested judges to open an inquiry into Kenya’s post election violence. Photo/FILE

By BERNARD NAMUNANE

In Summary

• Ocampo asks ICC judges for go-ahead to start the probe into Kenya’s case

 

The indictment of key post-election violence suspects drew closer on Thursday after International Criminal Court prosecutor Luis Moreno-Ocampo asked for the go-ahead to start investigations.

At exactly 1.31 pm, he placed before the Hague’s pre-trial chamber the case for his intention to start the investigations, marking the beginning of the process to punish perpetrators of the violence.

“Today at 1.31 pm Kenyan time, I asked the judges of the ICC for authorisation to investigate those behind the violence after the 2007 elections. Now it is up to them to decide on my request,” he said.

Was confident

Mr Ocampo was confident the three-judge bench would grant his wish because “we have more than enough evidence” to start work immediately. “If the judges authorise the investigations, my teams are ready to deploy. We have analysed the boxes and other documents from the Waki Commission and other reports,” he said.

The ICC prosecutor was speaking at a press conference at The Hague which was beamed live at the UN offices in Nairobi. It has taken Mr Ocampo three weeks to make the request after his visit to Kenya during which President Kibaki and Prime Minister Raila Odinga declined to hand over the case to the ICC.

The prosecutor said he had taken the step because the government had failed to set up a local tribunal. However, he said, should one be established, Kenya could challenge his investigations. “There are no national investigations into violence but in future they can challenge and give reason,” he said.

Though he had said he would seek authorisation next month, the ICC’s time table indicating that judges will go on vacation after December 12, pushed him. He said he was moving fast to ensure suspects were punished before the next elections. “We are trying to be as fast as possible. Individuals should face justice in 2010,” he said.

Mr Ocampo said the government had promised to cooperate with investigations and allayed fears that witnesses might fail to give evidence following threats. He said the ICC had an “efficient” witness protection programme nurtured over six years.

“Protection of witnesses is our responsibility. We have used it for the last six years in different countries without fail and we intend to maintain that record.”

The ICC prosecutor said reports in the Kenya media citing intimidation of witnesses could be attributed to claims that police were involved in the killings and said Internal Security minister George Saitoti and Attorney General Amos Wako had assured him of witnesses’ safety.

Final list

Mr Ocampo said there was a possibility some of the suspects would be heard by investigators before the final list is taken before the judges but said this would depend on requests from those who think they were mentioned in the Waki Commission or any other report. “We are thinking of the idea (that) those most responsible can request to be interviewed to hear what they say about the chaos,” he said.

He also signalled that new names could come up for prosecution as his office would compile a list based on evidence from various reports. “I will collect evidence and decide who will be the suspects. There is of course the Waki Commission list but legally the court makes its own conclusion,” he said.

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Raila Odinga may be falling like his father did in search for the presidency he never got: Raila’s critics flock to back Ruto Mau fund

Deputy Prime Minister and Minister for Finance Uhuru Kenyatta (left) confers with Agriculture minister William Ruto (right) during a fundraising at the Pan Afric Hotel to raise funds for the Mau Forest evicted settlers residing by the road side. A total of 5 million shillings was raised. Looking on is Special programmes minister Naomi Shaban. PHOTO/ Fredrick Onyango

By LUCAS BARASA

In Summary

• Members of Cabinet and 50 MPs gather to raise money and hit out at Prime Minister

 

It was billed as a simple fundraising event for squatters evicted from the Mau Forest, but the loaded political speeches pointed to a new political grouping united by a common antipathy towards Prime Minister Raila Odinga.

Key participants were Agriculture minister William Ruto and the chief guest, Deputy Prime Minister Uhuru Kenyatta, reflecting a regrouping of the Kanu leadership brought to the fore ahead of the 2002 elections.

Another key Kanu leader of the time, Vice-President Kalonzo Musyoka, was expected to put in an appearance but sent his apologies, a donation of Sh100,000 and words of support.

The three make up the so-called 3Ks, the mooted Kalenjin-Kikuyu-Kamba alliance seen by its promoters as the best way to stop Mr Odinga in his tracks come 2012.

Mr Ruto, an ODM deputy leader, has been openly at odds with his party boss over the Mau evictions and a host of other issues ranging from public service appointments to proposals that key perpetrators of the post-election violence be tried, whether by a local tribunal or the International Criminal Court.

On Wednesday evening, the Eldoret North MP demonstrated his political clout by assembling 10 ministers and more than 50 MPs from across the political divide to launch broadsides at Mr Odinga.

The powerful line-up at the Panafric Hotel raised Sh5 million, but the speeches made it apparent that the agenda was not so much the plight of the Mau evictees but the opportunity to hit out at Mr Odinga, who was variously labelled as dictatorial, dishonest and trouble-maker unfit to lead the country.

A day before the event, it was rumoured that Mr Odinga had held a meeting with President Kibaki and asked him to prevail on Mr Musyoka and Mr Kenyatta not to attend as this would indicate a divided government. The latter’s entry was greeted by loud cheers.

Mr Musyoka was in Mombasa on official business, but was represented by a key ally, Justice minister Mutula Kilonzo, who sent greetings from the VP with the reminder that he had warned Kenyans against Mr Odinga.

The ODM-K secretary general said justice must be done in Mau and took the opportunity to announce that the VP would soon be seeking political support from Rift Valley residents.

Mr Musyoka has been at the forefront in pushing the KKK agenda, to the discomfort of Mr Ruto and Mr Kenyatta who have both, in public at least, criticised the formation of ethnic groupings.

Mr Kenyatta emphasised that he was not contradicting a government stand on Mau by participating, saying he had attended such drives for IDPs before.

On Friday, an aide to Mr Kenyatta, former MP David Murathe, denied that the Deputy PM had been asked by the President to skip the fund-raiser. Mr Murathe said there was no way Mr Kenyatta could defy a collective government decision but had every right to attend the function to promote reconciliation.

A source close to Mr Musyoka confirmed that the VP had been called by the President and alerted that his participation would send wrong signals.

Mr Ruto questioned why some people did not want the harambee to take place yet similar fundraisers had been held for Sachang’wan, Nakumatt and Faza Island fire victims.

A notable person who sent representation and a donation was President Kibaki’s son Jimmy, who has been trying to cut his political teeth as sponsor of the Simama Kenya initiative.

Youth outfit

Although it bills itself as a youth outfit, Simama Kenya is patently on a succession-planning campaign ahead of President Kibaki’s exit and has tried to target the same Rift Valley, Central and Eastern regions, with Coast thrown in too, in what seems like a bid to isolate Mr Odinga.

The fund-raiser got a surprise boost when Energy minister Kiraitu Murungi and some PNU officials abandoned a party meeting at the same hotel to join in.

Mr Murungi, who only a day earlier had lavished praise on Mr Odinga for his tough stance on the Mau evictions, changed his stance and enthusiastically joined the PM-bashing chorus.

Mr Ruto donated Sh500,000 and Mr Kenyatta Sh350,000.

Live as one

Former Cabinet minister Nicholas Biwott gave goods worth Sh200,000 while Mr Jimmy Kibaki, Mr Murungi and ministers Najib Balala (Tourism), Mohamed Elmi (Development of Northern Kenya), Mohamed Kuti (Livestock) and Lugari MP Cyrus Jirongo donated Sh100,000 each.

Other ministers present included Mr Franklin Bett (Roads) and Mr Yusuf Haji (Defence).

Mr Kenyatta said the day Rift Valley people decided to live as one would be the day Kenya and whole of East Africa did the same.

“Leaders should stop divisive politics and using wananchi to achieve personal glory. Where there’s war, let’s sow peace, where there’s hate, let’s sow love and where there’s disunity, unity,” he said.

The Kanu chairman said climate change was a reality that Kenyans and government must deal with but the country must stop creating more IDPs.

He said people living in Mau must leave so the environment could be protected for future generations, but added: “We don’t need to victimise today for tomorrow just as we can’t sacrifice tomorrow for today.”

Mr Kenyatta said some people in government he would not name had tried to dissuade him from attending.

Mr Ruto said the success of any leadership was measured by how it took care of the weak, the vulnerable and the poor.

“A leadership that calls them criminals and says they are shedding crocodile tears is wanting. Our job is to take care of the weak, the poor and vulnerable. You cannot fight poverty by creating more poor people,” he said.

Mr Ruto, however, did not comment on the proposed political alliance, saying Rift Valley faced the biggest challenge of communities co-existing peacefully and that the harambee would help unite them.

Was dangerous

“We want to wipe the tears of every person living in Rift Valley because we are all Kenyans. We are happy our brothers from Central are here. We are all prepared to do whatever it takes to bring the communities to live together in harmony. Nothing should stop us from having a peaceful and stable Rift Valley,” he said.

He said Forestry and Wildlife minister Noah Wekesa’s assertion that Mau settlers should go back to their original homes was dangerous and should not come from a person who knows Kenya.

Mr Balala said he attended the harambee in solidarity with justice and described guests at the high table as future leaders of Kenya and that they all supported majimbo.

Building walls

He said Coast people and Muslims were with those of Rift Valley and their decision was final.

Mr Murungi added that the country could not move from one set of IDPs, the post-election violence victims, to another.

“Some things speak for themselves. We have spent time building walls against each other. It is time to pull them down. There is a season for everything. It is time to break down walls among ourselves,” he said.

Mutito MP Kiema Kilonzo said Mr Odinga had forgotten the people who helped him get into power while Agriculture assistant minister Kareke Mbiuki said Eastern Province was together with Rift Valley and they would unite to get into power in 2012.

Special Programmes assistant minister Mohammed Ali said people in Mau were more important than the forest and that the Finance ministry should provide money to assist them like other IDPs.

Special Programmes minister Naomi Shaban warned that if Rift Valley was destabilised, the whole country would suffer. She said those displaced from the Mau should not be treated differently, giving an assurance that the government would resettle all of them whether they had title deeds or not.

Mr Elmi said a good follower was one who told “you” the truth and one who did not sing the song that you wanted.

Dr Kuti called on Mr Ruto and Mr Kenyatta to organise meetings every Saturday in all parts of the country to assist Kenyans suffering from “oppression like those in Mau”.

Nowhere to go

Mr Bett, who cautioned against using the meeting to campaign for the presidency, said those leaving Mau were the Ogieks and had nowhere to go.

“Telling them to go where they came from is to tell them to go back to the forest,” Mr Bett said.

Livestock assistant minister Aden Duale, who is also one of the ODM vice-chairmen, said he had no regrets attending the harambee.

“We have no apologies for supporting Kenyans who are vulnerable. You are either with the Mau people or not,” he said.

Contacted, Mr Odinga’s spokesman Dennis Onyango refused to comment on the harambee.

“We can’t comment on that,” he said.

 

source.nation.ke