The US ambassador in Kenya Mr Ranneberger says Obama will lead Americans

The US ambassador to Kenya is a jumpy-jumpy man. He was appointed by the Republicans and Bush to serve in Kenya. Now he realises that the republicans may be defeated in November then he starts telling Kenyans that the Americans are ready to be lead by Obama. The same ambassador has been pushing for Raila to be respected as PM in Kenya. May be he wants a job from Obama if he wins and most definitely, he may ask the US government to remain in Kenya until he sees Kibaki out of power. This man – Ranneberger is very disturbing. George Bush, his boss should punish him by recalling him now that instead of supporting Senator Mcain, who is taking over from Bush if the republicans win, he starts to support Obama, a man from a different party. As long as he remains in Kenya, the Kenyan politicians will continue to suffer in his hands because he uses the might of his country and money to supress Kenyan leaders. Since whedn have Kenyans heard a Kenyan ambassador in the US say a word and yet this Ranneberger man is talking all the time all over Kenya. API

Tread carefully, PNU warned

MUGO NJERU and ODHIAMBO ORLALE
ODM on Monday cautioned its coalition partner, PNU, to tread carefully on the policies that govern the National Accord.

Cabinet minister William ole Ntimama, who is one of the ODM founder members, said their partners should stop slighting Prime Minister Raila Odinga.

“We are rather worried that our partners are straying on matters policy especially during campaign rallies, but we would like to stress that we are committed to make the Accord hold on our part because it brought peace to this country,” the Heritage and Culture minister told a press conference in his Kencom House offices.

Not wavering

Mr Ntimama, who was accompanied by ODM spokesman Salim Lone, said the party was in the coalition as an equal partner contrary to statements by some people in PNU, including Cabinet ministers.

“We are not wavering on the Accord of the coalition, but utterances by some PNU ministers seem aimed at derailing it before 2012,” he said.

He added: “This protocol thing about the Prime Minister and the Vice-President must be sorted out immediately. It is not a small thing,” he said.

There has been confusion in the past as to who should be senior in the pecking order between the PM and the VP.

“Raila has been quiet and tolerant for sometime now, but this should not be taken for granted,” Mr Ntimama said.

He said ODM was particularly incensed by utterances by a PNU minister during a campaign rally in Wajir on Sunday who reportedly made an “outrageous analogy of the coalition and a woman who stays in a marriage at the pleasure of the husband”.

“Presumably, ODM was the wife,” Mr Ntimama said, adding that it was astonishing that neither the Mr Kalonzo Musyoka nor Deputy Prime Minister Uhuru Kenyatta, who were at the rally, renounced the remarks.

During the press briefing, Mr Ntimama also differed with politicians from his Maasai community who have thrown their weight behind Mr Gideon Konchellah, the PNU candidate for the Kilgoris parliamentary seat.

Elsewhere, the US Government has pledged to continue its support for the grand coalition Government.

US ambassador Michael Ranneberger on Monday said that Kenya is a strategic country in Africa with a history of stability, adding that his Government would also back the ongoing peace and reconciliation efforts.

“We have invited the PM to visit the US to show our support of the coalition Government, and not because of him as an individual,” the envoy said.

Many challenges

But Mr Ranneberger noted that the coalition Government had many challenges, including the oil and food crises locally and internationally, which were affecting the economy adversely.

The ambassador announced that the US will provide technical and financial support to the Government to ensure that it addressed and implemented the explosive land, electoral and constitutional reforms.

He was addressing guests at a luncheon organised by the Kenya Union of Journalists and the Labour Awareness and Resource Centre at a Nairobi hotel.

KUJ chairman David Matende and secretary-general Eric Orina, thanked the US Government for supporting the peace and reconciliation efforts in the country.

Earlier, Mr Ranneberger had told critics of the grand coalition Government to desist from judging it too soon.

And turning to US politics, the envoy said he believed Americans were ready to be led by an African-American, like Senator Barack Obama, who is the Democratic Party’s presidential nominee.

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API/ source.nation.ke

Passaris to be appointed minister if elected ODM MP. She is Raila’s favourite woman in ODM

Who will be sacrificed as Cabinet minister in order to give way for Passaris? If all goes well for ODM in Embakasi by-elections, Kenyans will soon be treated to Cabinet expansion. Raila will use his chest and might to have a cabinet position for the favourite Esther Muthoni Passaris. If not, Kenya may be treated to street demonstrations! President Kibaki may have to give in to the demand. API

All set for Wednesday by-elections

Written By:Beverly Gatimu 

Caption: ODM’s Esther Muthoni Passaris

This week marks yet another milestone in the Kenyan political scene with Wednesday being the D-day for the much anticipated June 11^th by-elections.

The by-elections will be held in five constituencies across the country.

On Sunday, leaders from across the political divide camped in the various constituencies seeking to sway the voters to vote for their preferred candidates.

In Embakasi, where the battle lines are drawn between PNU’s Ferdinand Waititu and ODM’s Esther Muthoni Passaris, the campaigns reached an apex with both candidates urging area residents to vote for them come Wednesday.

Vice President Kalonzo Musyoka and deputy prime minister, Uhuru Kenyatta were in Wajir West drumming up support for Kanu’s candidate, Dr Abdullahi Ali who will be battling it out with ODM’s Mohammed Gabow.

In Emuhaya, Prime minister Raila Odinga and deputy Prime Minister Musalia Mudavadi urged the locals to vote for Wilberforce Otichillo as area MP.

In Ainamoi, various candidates conducted aggressive campaigns with the candidates from the UDM and ODM party locked in a show of might.

In Kilgoris, supporters of PNU’s Gideon Konchellah rallied for his re-election with ODM’s Johanna Ngeno stepping up his pursuit to be area MP.

At the sametime, Vice President Kalonzo Musyoka has appealed to employers to allow their workers who are registered in areas affected by the Wednesday by-elections time off to go and cast their votes.

Speaking when he led a team ministers, MPs and civic leaders to campaign for the PNU Embakasi parliamentary aspirant Ferdinand Waititu, at Mukuru Kwa Njenga playground, Musyoka said it was the democratic right of every Kenyan to choose their leaders without any hindrance.

He reiterated his optimism that the campaigns will not affect the unity existing among the members of the Grand Coalition government.

Among those who accompanied the Vice President included Deputy Prime Minister and Trade minister Uhuru Kenyatta, Public Health minister Beth Mugo and Justice, National Cohesion and constitutional Affairs minister, Martha Karua.

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API/source.kbc.ke

 

 

 

To API Readers: What do you think about this email?

—– Original Message —–

From: “Dr.Abraham Kwesi” <kwesici1@sify.com>

To: <spanker@botergeel.nl>

Sent: Monday, June 09, 2008 5:41 PM

Subject: Transfer Of Fund,

>
> —
> Transfer Of Fund,
>
>
> I am Dr.Abraham Kwesi in Ivory Coast, I am a banker and I need your
> honest assistance to transfer Usd $ 4.8 Million Dollars from here.Please
> reply with your direct phone number if interested. I await your quick
> reply.This fund in question is presently in our bank (BANK OF AFRICA
> ABIDJAN) in the suspense deposit.
>
>
> I want you to know that I am going to offer you 20% of the fund as
> soon as you assist me transfer it in your bank account.
>
>
> I will be waiting for your email as you can call me directly on +225
> 4718 0879 so that we can talk.
> 
>
> Awaiting to read from you soon.
> 
>
> Dr.Kwesi

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API

Ole Kaparo reduced to a rabid tribalist

When the US is setting world trends with calls for unity that transcends colour, creed, religion and ethnicity, back in Kenya, the former House Speaker, Hon Francis Xavier Ole Kaparo, is busy reminding Kenyans in Kilgoris that that is Maasai land, and no one should vote for the Kipsigis.

This is how low our leaders descend. We thought this man was presidential material! How wrong we were.

Kenyans of goodwill are busy talking Peace, National Healing and Reconciliation, yet, people in the Presidents party of choice, the PNU, are dividing Kenyans along tribal and regional lines.

It is worth noting that what Ole Kaparo started is now catching up, and all PNU politicians in Kilgoris have taken to that bad road. They are saying that they cannot give the Kipsigis land and leadership, all at the same time! I thought a constituency if defined by geographic boundaries, not tribal boundaries!

I also thought that a Kipsigis can vote for a Maasai, a Turgen, a Kikuyu, a Luhya, just like the rest can also do. I did not know that the Maasai must only vote for a fellow Maasai. They have been voting for George Saitoti all along in Kajiado, and Ole Kaparo has never raised his voice.

This is all coming at this time in history when we are all trying to heal the wounds afflicted on Kenyans by the stupid way in which the December 2007 elections were blatantly rigged in favour of the incumbent. We all know what followed.

As ardent supporters of our various parties, we all paused and sighed with relief when common sense prevailed, and President Kibaki and the Right Hon Raila Odinga signed the National Accord on 28th February.

What we all hoped for and wanted was that sanity should prevail, and no Kenyan should ever kill, rape, and torch each other’s house in the name of politics. We all hoped that these leaders will be sincere to the accord, and spare Kenya the ignominy that we so stared in the face.

We all hoped that not once again will tribal tendencies be brazenly displayed in public for all to see the way Kaparo, Sunkuli, and their PNU candidate are doing in Kilgoris.

It does not matter whichever side you are politically affiliated to. These people are funning tribal animosity, and it could turn worse on the 11th, when the people of Kilgoris will line up to vote.

Kenyans of good will must condemn these attempts at balkanizing Kenya into tribal enclaves. All Kenyans of goodwill must stand up for Kenya at this moment in time. It does not matter whether you are ODM, ODM-K or PNU. Kenya is more important.

Lets us not accept to be led by rabid tribalist. People who see us as Luos, Kalenjins, Kikuyus, et al. Let us be led by people who preach unity, people who want votes from all Kenyans, not sections of Kenyans.

We just came from a very shameful episode, and we must not allow some rabid tribalists like Kaparo and Sunkuli, to drag us back there. Or maybe, power corrupts, and Ole Kaparo, having been defeated by an ODM candidate in the election of the House Speaker, has seen that this is his best time to rub salt into injury.

If Ole Kaparo wants any semblance of respect, he must cultivate a national unifying image. He must not project himself as a champion of the Maasai interests. He must be in the fore front of creating Peace, National Healing and Reconciliation.

He must not be at the fore front of creating discord and disunity among Kenyans. All the time he served as our House Speaker seem to have been wasted years, and Kenyans must take note of this.

All the young generation in Kenya must rise and learn that we can compete politically, and still love Kenya and Kenyans all the more. We all need each other even as we vote differently.

God bless you, God bless Kenya, God bless Kenyans.

Written by Odhiambo T Oketch,
Komarock Nairobi

——————

A Reaction

Dear Odhiambo T Oketch,

I don’t always agree with your opinions, but on this one! I’m behind you 150%!! It’s time we grow past tribal lines, entrenched in the minds of most kenyan politicians. Needless to say that it’s time for them to free up the political arena and give room to the youth in Kenya, ladies and gentlemen who can work in the interest of all Kenyans, not chosen few!

 

By the way, I see you copy all and sundry in your emails, honourables and  others less hounarable- my question is, do they respond to your emails in private? I’m just curious!

 

Food for thought: If Obama could get 1M contributors in his campaign then it’s possible for all Kenyans to support a candidate(s) that could bring change to our country.. We’re tired of the same old spill from same old folk that recite the same poem but with a different tone!

 

Kenya needs change! It’s about time..

 

Reaction by Rose Sang

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Published by African press International – api

CAMPAIGN 2008; His Jewish Problem: A Myth?

Commentary send in by : sisterrosetta (IP: 72.208.130.215 , ip72-208-130-215.ph.ph.cox.net)
URL    :
Whois  : http://ws.arin.net/cgi-bin/whois.pl?queryinput=72.208.130.215

The candidate sought to reassure the crowd at AIPAC last week
By Mark Hosenball, Jake Sherman and Richard Wolffe | NEWSWEEK
Jun 16, 2008 Issue

http://www.newsweek.com/id/140476

EXCERPT

Obama has trailed Clinton among Jewish voters in polling matchups against John McCain (though both beat him soundly). But Obama has many high-profile Jewish fund-raisers, and aides claim his support among Jews will equal or surpass John Kerry’s 75 percent in 2004. McCain has enlisted high-profile help of his own to help win Jewish votes: Connecticut Sen. Joseph Lieberman, a self-described “independent Democrat” who has criticized Obama’s leadership qualities, has agreed to head up a booster group called Citizens for McCain. In a brief but animated Senate floor confrontation last week, according to a campaign aide who asked for anonymity when talking about private discussions, Obama told Lieberman he was surprised by Lieberman’s personal attacks and his half-hearted denials of the false rumors that Obama is a Muslim. (The aide says Lieberman was “strangely muted” during the exchange; a Lieberman spokesman says the chat was “private and friendly.”) McCain spokeswoman Jill Hazelbaker
says Lieberman “played a key role in reaching out to the Jewish community in the primary  and you can expect that will continue.”

http://www.politico.com/blogs/bensmith/0608/

What_that_was_about.html

Obama seems to be zeroing in on these whispers — what he called “cultural issues” — as opposed to Iran policy or other elements of a  traditional right/left divide as the central threat to his candidacy.

http://www.moonbattery.com/archives/2008/06/

obamaniacs_fret.html

Obamaniacs Fret about the Jewish Lobby
Obama’s website sure requires a lot of maintenance. Every time someone who hasn’t drunk the Kool-Aid sees what they’ve got up there, they have to take it down.  A screen capture of the latest, via Michelle Malkin:

http://michellemalkin.com/2008/06/08/creepy-antisemitism–

caught-on-the-mybarackobama-site-and-quickly-scrubbed/

Concern about the nefarious “Jewish lobby” is a preoccupation among Obamaniacs. Meanwhile, Obama has been trying to convince Jews that he doesn’t hate their guts like other black supremacists  with predictable help from the leftist media. Not all Jews are so slavishly devoted to moonbattery as to believe him.

http://littlegreenfootballs.com/article/

30245_At_the_Official_Obama_Site-_The_Israeli_Connection_to_9-11

At the Official Obama Site: ‘The Israeli Connection to 9/11’
Sun, Jun 8, 2008 at 1:55:40 pm PST
Looks like in their rush to delete the antisemitic post I wrote about earlier, the administrators at my.barackobama.com missed something: Barack Obama : : Change We Can Believe In | Socialists for Obama: The Israeli Connection to 9/11.

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API

Mauritanian FA sacks national soccer coach

The French soccer coach, Alain Robert Moizan of the Mauritanian national squad was dismissed on Sunday in the aftermath of their 1-4 heavy loss against visiting Moroccan team.

The Mauritania football association (FFRIM) has rescinded the contract with Alain Robert Moizan, the FFRIM chairman, Mohamed Salem Ould Boukhreiss told a press conference in Nouakchott on Sunday afternoon.

“I have no intention to resign”, the Frenchman said on Saturday after the home defeat to Morocco in their Group 8 joint 2010 African Nations Cup and World Cup qualifiers.

Moizan was appointed national coach of the “Mourabitounes” on 15 February 2008.

A former Mauritanian footballer, Salem Ould Harouna alias Sneidri was appointed interim coach for the preparations of the national squad ahead of the next joint qualifying series.

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API/source.apa

Egypt to attend Sahel-Saharan summit in Benin

Egypt has announced its participation in the summit meetings of the Sahel-Saharan States to be held in Cotonou, the Beninese capital, from 12 to 16 June.

The Egyptian assistant Foreign Minister for West African affairs, Ambassador Sanaa Atta Allah, told reporters Sunday that a high-level delegation will represent Egypt at the summit.

The meetings of Sahel-Saharan States in Cotonou will be held at the level of senior officials on 12 June followed by a meeting of foreign ministers and then the summit proper, she added.

Ambassador Atta Allah revealed that another round-table meeting on global food crisis will be organised on 15 June on the sidelines of the Sahel-Saharan summit.

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API/source.apa

The United Nations Special Envoy to Somalia, Ahmedou Ould Abdallah, on Sunday in Djibouti announced during a press conference his decision to close the intra-Somali dialogue following “parties’ failure to come to an agreement”.

The talks gathered members of the Somali Transitional Federal Government and those of the opposition outnumbered by the Islamists.

The UN envoy said both parties agreed on the core of the issue, but rejected the formulation.

He however said he noted some progress in the four-theme talks discussed at the end, which included “Access to humanitarian aid, End of armed violence, Reconstruction and development, and Justice and Reconciliation”.

Ould Abdallah further announced the setting up of a follow-up and political cooperation committee tasked with implementing the accord likely to be signed by both parties.

The UN Special Envoy blamed the Somali parties and the insuperable psychological hindrances for the failure, stressing that “each party wants the maximum” while compromises are needed to reduce the sufferings of Somali people.

The UN special envoy finally said the talks could not be prolonged indefinitely due to “budget and moral constraints”.

However, no date was set for the resumption of the talks.

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API/source.apa

Insurgents gun down senior advisor to Somali parliamentary speaker

A senior advisor to the Somali parliamentary speaker was gunned down amid a confrontation between the speaker’s bodyguards and insurgents in Baidoa, 250kms south of Mogadishu, on Sunday night, residents told APA.

The battle broke out as the armed insurgents attacked the speaker’s home at 9.30 pm local time with machine guns and rocket propelled grenades, and during the firing, the senior advisor, Mohamed Kushin, who was on the way to his home, was fatally wounded.

“Kushin died in the hospital after several bullets hit him. The rebels were heavily armed and they were firing in different directions,” said Mursal Daadey, a resident near the speaker’s home. He added that the insurgents succeeded in sealing off the area for several minutes while firing was going on.

This is the first time in Baidoa for insurgents to attack one of the top Somali government official’s home with machine guns and in a face-to-face gun battle. Previously attacks were only with hand grenades targeting officials.

Baidoa is the seat of the Somalia transitional federal government, where most of members of parliament are based but recently more explosions, roadside bombs, assassinations and attacks have been reported there.

Somalia had been plunged in anarchy after the overthrow of former president Mohamed Siad Barre in 1991, when warlords used their clan based militias to fall over the dictator then fought each other for power, leading to constant inter-clan war which left thousands killed and millions displaced.

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API/ source.apa

Arab League rejects accusations of neglicence in Darfur crisis

The Arab League has rejected the statements the chairman of the Darfur Justice and Equality Movement rebel group, Khalil Ibrahim, made accusing the Arab League of negligence toward the Darfur crisis.

The Arab League envoy to Sudan, Ambassador Salah Halima, told reporters on Sunday in Cairo that the Arab League is doing its utmost efforts to reach a political settlement of the crisis in the western Sudan region of Darfur.

The Arab League met all Sudanese parties without distinction, whether government or armed movements, he added, pointing out that the League sponsored more than an agreement between the parties, the latest being the 2007 Sirte agreement.

Ambassador Salah said the lack of tangible progress in solving the Darfur crises is due to several reasons most importantly the non-completion of a complex deployment of international forces, the intervention of some regional powers, tension in relations between Sudan and Chad and the unclear vision of several armed movements that reject the signing of the peace agreement.

————–

API/source.apa

Egyptian tribal sheikhs denounce Al-Qaeda call to storm Egypt-Gaza border

Tribal chiefs in the Sinai region (about 550km, north-east Cairo) denounced the call of the Al Qaeda second in command, Ayman Al-Zawahiri, to Egyptians in border areas with the Gaza Strip to support the efforts of Gazians to storm Egyptian borders.

Tribal chiefs expressed their denunciation at a public gathering held Sunday in the eastern border area of Egypt.

They denied any presence of Al-Qaeda organization in Sinai, saying “nobody can deny Sinai sons their Egyptian nationality.”

The tribal chiefs stressed that they are part of the motherland Egypt and proud to be Egyptians, adding their position stems from their patriotic feelings.

“We wont let any body dictate his will on us,” they said.

Ayman Al-Zawahiri has criticized in a audio recording on the Internet “Egypt for not opening its border with Palestine.”

——————–

API/source.apa

HIV/TB Global Leaders’ Forum

 

World leaders at UN meeting call for joint action

to reduce tuberculosis deaths among

people living with HIV

 

9 June 2008, New York City – For the first time ever, heads of government, public health and business leaders, heads of UN agencies and activists came together at UN Headquarters today to confront  a threat to global health that could undermine investments in life-saving drug treatment for people living with HIV.

Tuberculosis (TB) is taking the lives of nearly a quarter of million people living with HIV each year. TB is the number one cause of death among people living with HIV in Africa. Worldwide it is a leading cause of death in this population.

The World Health Organization (WHO), the Joint United Nations Programme on HIV/AIDS (UNAIDS) and the United Nations Children’s Fund (UNICEF) recently announced that some three million people are now receiving life-saving anti-retroviral treatment, but TB, especially drug-resistant forms of the disease, threatens to hinder this progress. Because HIV weakens the immune system people living with HIV are up to 50 times more likely to develop TB disease over their lifetimes than people who are HIV negative. Without proper treatment with anti-TB drugs, the majority of people living with HIV die within two to three months of becoming sick with TB.  

The leaders spelt out specific measures, recommended by WHO*, needed to avert deaths from HIV/TB. People living with HIV must be screened regularly for TB. Those who are sick with TB need effective TB treatment, and those without TB disease should receive preventive therapy with the drug isoniazid. These treatments are not expensive. A six-month course of TB treatment costs US$ 20, and a course of preventive drug therapy costs US$ 2. Simple measures to prevent the spread of TB among HIV-infected people, especially in health care settings, also need to be put in place.

In 2006, WHO reported that only 1% of the total estimated number of people infected with HIV worldwide were screened for TB. But some countries are making gains on detecting HIV among TB patients and providing life-saving treatments for both diseases.

Kenya, Malawi and Rwanda, for example, more than doubled the proportion of TB patients tested for HIV infection and treated appropriately between 2004 and 2007, according to national government data. In Kenya, the percentage of TB patients tested  for HIV rose from 19% to 70%, and in Malawi the increase was from 25% to 83%. In Rwanda, in 2004, TB services were not testing any patients for HIV; in 2007, they tested 89%.

Today’s HIV/TB Global Leaders’ Forum was convened by the UN Secretary-General’s Special Envoy to Stop TB, Dr Jorge Sampaio, and endorsed by the UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon. The Forum was opened by the Secretary-General and Mr Srgjan Kerim, President of the UN General Assembly.  

The leaders pointed to HIV/TB as a major constraint to economic development, since most TB deaths are among adults of working age. Because it most often strikes society’s most disadvantaged people, they said, the dual epidemic is a barrier to social justice and human rights. They also warned that HIV/TB could evolve as a threat to global health security, particularly in the light of emergence of virtually untreatable TB strains. 

Dr Sampaio will report on the outcome of the forum to the UN High-Level Meeting on AIDS, which begins tomorrow. Today’s forum was supported by UNAIDS, the World Bank, WHO, the Global Fund to Fight AIDS, Tuberculosis and Malaria and the Stop TB Partnership.  

For further information, please contact:

Judith Mandelbaum-Schmid, Stop TBPartnership, mobile +41 79 254 6835, email schmidj@who.int.

Glenn Thomas, WHO Stop TB Department, mobile +41 79 509 0677, email thomasg@who.int

Patricia Leidl, WHO HIV Department, mobile +41 79 619 8525, email leidlp@who.int

Jon Liden, Global Fund against AIDS, Tuberculosis and Malaria,  mobile +41 22 79 11723,

email jon.liden@theglobalfund.org

Mahesh Mahalingham, UNAIDS, mobile  +41 79 892 3814,  email maheshm@unaids.org

Phil Hay, World Bank, mobile +1 202 409 2909, email  phay@worldbank.org

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Published by Korir, Chief Editor, African Press International – api, africanpress@getmail.no