wfn.org | ALL AFRICA NEWS AGENCY January 13, 2003 BULLETIN No. 01/03 (c)

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ALL AFRICA NEWS AGENCY January 13, 2003 BULLETIN No. 01/03 (c)

AANA Bulletin is an ecumenical initiative to highlight all endeavours and 
experiences of Christians and the people of Africa.  AANA Bulletin is 
published weekly and, together with the French Edition - Bulletin APTA - is 
also available through e-mail.	For editorial and subscription details, 
please contact: 

AANA Bulletin	: Acting Editor - Mitch Odero		
Bulletin APTA: Edition en frangais, ridacteur intirimaire : Sylvie Alemba

All Africa News Agency
P.O. BOX 66878 NAIROBI, KENYA
TEL : (254 2) 442215, 440224 ; FAX : (254 2) 445847/443241
E-mail : aanaapta@insightkenya.com

POST ELECTION  HIGHLIGHTS

Kenyans went to polls last December 27 and voted in a new 
government.  Former ruling party for 40 years, Kenya African National Union 
(KANU), lost the hotly contested elections to a coalition of opposition 
parties, National Rainbow Coalition (NARC).   NARC has since formed a new 
government headed by  President Emilio Mwai Kibaki.  Following are some 
post election reactions and highlights.

Polls Observers Pose Challenges To New Government

NAIROBI (AANA) January 13 - A report released here recently by a domestic 
observer group in last December's general elections has described the 
country's electoral exercise as a "great success for the democratic cause 
among all the people of Africa."

The group, comprising mainly religious organisations such as the Kenya 
Episcopal Conference (KEC)/Catholic Justice and Peace Commission (CJPC), 
the National Council of Churches of Kenya (NCCK), the Supreme Council of 
Kenya Muslims (SUPKEM), and the Hindu Council among other civic 
organisations,	nevertheless observed that serious challenges remained for 
the new government, the Electoral Commission of Kenya (ECK), as well as the 
civil society.

These, they said in their preliminary report released here on December 29, 
included the persistent problem of pre-election-related violence, voter 
intimidation and bribery, and frequent logistical challenges such as 
transport and up-to-date voter registration.

The group was concerned about reports from  some constituencies that a 
number of possibly registered voters were denied the right to vote because 
their names were missing from voters' register.

"Clearly, there is an urgent need on the part of the ECK for the voters' 
register to be cleaned up for future polls to stop these kinds of problems 
that deny Kenyans the right to vote," the observers pointed out.

External observer groups from the Commonwealth, European Union and Carter 
Centre, concurred in their preliminary statements that the elections were 
generally held in a conducive atmosphere.

The Carter Centre, led by former Zambian President Kenneth Kaunda, 
concluded their statement with a loaded message: "Kenya's important role as 
a leading African nation has been enhanced by these elections and the 
country's newly elected leaders should take immediate steps in the fight 
against corruption, consolidate democracy, and respect for the rule of law 
to lay the groundwork for Kenya's economic and political development," they 
said.

  Reported by Osman Njuguna

Women Happy With Outcome

NAIROBI (AANA) January 13  - Kenyan women have a positive story to tell. 
After years of cries of inadequate women representation in key 
decision-making positions, they now can talk of a record 16 women 
parliamentarians, out of a previous nine.

The just concluded general elections have seen eight women elected to 
parliament through the new ruling party, the National Rainbow Coalition 
(NARC) and one from the former ruling party, Kenya African National Union 
(KANU).  Seven more have been nominated, four by NARC and three by KANU.

In an apparent move to fulfil its pledge of engaging women in key 
government positions, NARC has appointed six women in its Cabinet 
line-up.  Three of the women are full ministers and the remaining three 
have been given assistant ministerial posts.

The new government has also engaged four women as permanent secretaries, to 
serve as chief executives of their respective ministries. The previous 
government had only two.

The former head of the civil service and secretary to the cabinet, Dr. 
Sally Kosgey, a woman, was retained in her position.  She served in the 
previous regime.  The story is crowned by the establishment of a ministry 
to take care of gender issues.

In his inaugural statement soon after the cabinet appointments on January 
3, the new Minister for Gender, Sports, Culture and Social Services, Najib 
Balala pointed out strongly that his ministry will work hard to address 
issues of gender violence among the various forms of discrimination.

Phoebe Asiyo of the Kenya Women Political Caucus, also a commissioner in 
the Constitution of Kenya Review Commission, noted: "This historic 
appointment is a clear indication of NARC's pragmatic commitment to protect 
and promote justice through the construction of a gendered citizenship."

Asiyo said there was no doubt that a greater and proportional 
representation of women at all levels was on the way and that gender 
discrimination "would soon be a thing of the past."

The League of Kenya Women Voters, a prominent civic education organisation 
here, said in a statement that the cabinet appointments by NARC were a 
positive move in the direction of ensuring one-third representation of 
women in government.

The League's communications officer, Tulezi Clement, says the election of 
the nine women to parliament is a clear indication that people are changing 
their attitude towards women. "This shows that people have confidence in 
women. They are beginning to realise that women too can deliver, just like 
their male colleagues," he observes.

He says the struggle to get more women to top positions had not been won 
yet but with the emerging trend, this would soon be realised.

Reported by Joyce Mulama

A Recap Of NARC's Pledges

NAIROBI (AANA) January 13 - Kenya's new President, Mwai Kibaki, pledged in 
his inaugural speech after being sworn in as the country's third president 
on December 30, that his government would bring back the culture of "due 
process, accountability and transparency in public office."

Kibaki promised a government that would serve the people and not the 
contrary.  He said  the new National Rainbow Coalition (NARC) government 
would make and uphold laws and policies for the general good of the people.

His government, he said, would provide adequate  social services to enhance 
quality of life of Kenyans.  His implication was that the previous regime 
had not effectively performed its role.

Following are some key highlights of his commitment to Kenyans:

o	Free primary education, which has since been implemented;

o	Elimination of corruption by enacting an Anti-corruption Act to 
establish an Anti-corruption Authority with powers to prosecute;

o	Resumption of the stalled constitutional review process. The new
Ministry 
of Justice and Constitutional Affairs was set up to perform this task and 
has promised Kenyans a new Constitution by June this year.

o	Affordable health care for all.  The Ministry of Health is currently 
considering free health services in public hospitals.

o	Economic growth, infrastructure development and creation of jobs.

Reported by Joseph K'Amolo

Kibaki's Ascent To Power Was Apparent Years Ago

NAIROBI (AANA) January 13 -  Born 71 years ago in Nyeri town, in Central 
Province, about 200 kilometres from Nairobi, Emilio Mwai Kibaki is a man 
with an envious background.  He is considered the most brilliant president 
Kenya has ever had.  He holds a Bachelor of Science degree in Economics and 
Public Finance from the London School of Economics.  He is also a graduate 
of the acclaimed Makerere University College in Uganda.

His fame for brilliancy goes back to the days of his studentship in both 
primary and secondary school, when he sailed easily as an "A" student all 
through.

He joined Makerere University College in 1951, where he emerged top student 
four years later.  This earned him a scholarship to the London School of 
Economics.  He left a mark as the first Kenyan to earn a first class 
honours degree at the economics school.

Kibaki's leadership qualities became more prominent during his days at 
Makerere University.  He was leader of the Kenya Student Association and 
also vice chairman of the Makerere Students Guild.

After graduating from Makerere, he worked briefly with the Shell Company of 
East Africa, Uganda division as an assistant sales manager before joining 
the London School of Economics for postgraduate studies. He returned to 
Uganda after graduating from the institute to take up a teaching job in 
Makerere.

But in 1960, he developed interest in politics. He quit his job as a 
lecturer at the then prestigious Makerere University to join the Kenya 
African National Union (KANU) party as its executive officer. This was the 
period Kenya was jostling for independence from the British colonial 
regime. Household figures then in KANU were names like the late Jaramogi 
Oginga Odinga, Mzee Jomo Kenyattaa, and the late Tom Mboya, who is said to 
have played a role in shaping Kibaki's political career.

Kibaki first contested and won a parliamentary seat in one of Nairobi's 
constituency in 1963, before shifting his  political base to his home town 
(Nyeri) in 1974.  He has since been a parliamentarian.

His fame as an astute leader has been acknowledged internationally.  In 
1974,  Time Magazine, in its survey of potential personalities for world 
class leadership for the second half of the 20th Century, identified Kibaki 
as the only East African who qualified as world-class future leaders.

He holds a record of having been Kenya's longest serving Finance Minister. 
He started off as an assistant Minister in 1963 to 1966, before being 
elevated to a full Cabinet minister. This was during the reign of Kenya's 
first president, the late Mzee Jomo Kenyatta.  In Kenyatta's government, 
Mr. Kibaki also briefly served in the Ministry of Commerce and Industry 
apart from the finance ministry.

When the immediate former president, Daniel Toroitich arap Moi ascended to 
power in 1978, following Kenyatta's death, Kibaki was appointed vice 
president, and retained his finance portfolio until 1988.

He quit the ruling party KANU after the advent of multi-partyism in 1992 to 
form the Democratic Party of Kenya (DP). He contested the presidency in the 
same year but emerged third after Moi (KANU) and Kenneth Matiba of Forum 
for the Restoration of Democracy (FORD-Asili) with just over a million votes.

He made his second attempt for the top job in 1997 and was widely expected 
to win.  He however, came out second.  Nevertheless, he seemed to have been 
gradually making his way to the top, which he managed in the latest 
elections with a whooping 3.6 million votes against his major challegner's 
(Uhuru Kenyatta) score of 1.8 million votes.

Mr. Kibaki is married to Lucy Muthoni and they have four grown up 
children.  He is well known for his sporting activity in golf and is a 
member of a number of golf clubs.

Reported by Joseph K'Amollo

BOOK  REVIEW

The Role Of Media In Africa's Democratisation Process

Title - Media And Democracy in Africa
Editors: Goran Hyden, Michael Leslie and Folu
F. Ogundimu
Publishers: Transaction Publishers, New Brunswick, New Jersey
Volume: 260 pages
Year of Publication: 2002
Distributor in U.K: The Africa Book Centre, 38 King Street, London, WC2E 
8JT, England

NAIROBI (AANA) January 13 - Through intensive research work, a group of 
scholars in the field of communication/Journalism have affirmed that the 
media in Africa has played a vital role in the continent's democratisation 
process.

While the African media may still be relatively weak, they have come to 
play a much more important role than ever before since independence, as 
stated in this 260-page book, edited jointly by Goran Hyden, Michael Leslie 
and Folu Folarin Ogundimu.

The three are part of eight internationally recognised scholars, from 
Nigeria and South Africa, whose joint research on the subject, resulted 
into the production of this book. They are professors in US Universities.

The authors have tackled the subject under nine distinct areas: 
Communications and Democratisation in Africa; The Media and the Two Waves 
of Democracy; Media Laws in Political Transition; and Broadcasting and 
Political Reform.

Other subjects include: African Politics and American Reporting; 
Alternative Small Media and Communicative Spaces; and Media and Democracy 
in the Twenty-First Century in Africa.

The authors observe that African countries have carried out constitutional 
reforms with regard to the party system and the division of power between 
the various branches of government, stressing, "It is important to take a 
closer look at what these reforms entail".

The book notes that African transitions are different from those elsewhere 
and are equally internally varying. "Scholars have yet to discern 
inter-African divergences when it comes to democratisation," say the authors.

They recommend that democratisation of information and knowledge should 
become a more prominent aspect of the on-going political transition.

To reflect this concern, there is a need for a legislative framework that 
will guarantee all constituent segments of a society-balanced access to 
state-owned media and other communication services.

The book states that  the importance of Africa in the cold war of 
ideologies since independence also worked to perpetuate state control over 
media resources in the region.

When it served East/West interests, financial and moral backing was 
provided to enhance media services to newborn states, the authors point out.

The book exposes interesting facts: That from Algeria to South Africa and 
from Angola to Mozambique, clandestine radio played a role in the 
liberation from colonial rule.

The book notes that in the post-colonial era, the media's ability to 
support or topple empires created a situation in which broadcasting 
facilities became strategic points of control for emergent states. Those 
who did not exercise firm enough control over the media ran the risk of 
loosing control over the state itself.

The authors conclude by stating:  "By claiming that the media are 
significant institutions for sustaining democracy, we are not saying that 
open media or open communications alone are sufficient conditions for 
sustaining democracy".

Reviewed by Osman Njuguna