Deadly Storm Brewing AT National Irrigation Board

A Deadly storm with heavy financial implications to the tax payers is brewing in the multi-billion shillings National Irrigations Board (NIB) that may have long term devastating negative consequences on the country’s fight to secure the perennially elusive national food security.

 The fact is that the NIBs was established as a legal entity by the government to play the central role of ensuring that food production in the country is a continuous process throughout the year a departure from  heavily over dependent on seasonal rains in both food and cash production in agriculture to achieve the targeted security.

                                                          Water CS Eugine Wamalwa

                                                                  Eng. Dan Barasa

 

 The board room wars that have recently erupted at that board appears to be only the tip of the ice berg of the real colossal monster that is the driving force of what has recently erupted openly in the media and to the public eye. 

 The crux of the matter is that at the heart of the matter there appears to be a wild and recklessness in top government and state corporations’ officials to loot billions of shillings entrusted into their care to stoke personal arsenals to vie for various political seats at the next general elections – the most targeted being the most lucrative and powerful County Governor.

Right from the corridors of the executive right from state house, the office of the Deputy President have been implicated both directly and indirectly in the vicious battles that have since seen the entire board sacked by cabinet secretary Eugene Wamalwa including the resignation of state corporation’s General Manager Eng. Dan Barasa.

That was only after a circus show of power between the Board, Wamalwa and Barasa after the board last April suspended Eng. Barasa, his deputy Mary Chomber and most critical the procurements and supplies Boaz Akello to pave wave for investigations into impropriety at the institution.

 However long before that, the storm had been reportedly been brewing with the house seen as strongly backing its appointee, Eng. Barasa while the office of the Deputy President was also reportedly fighting to sneak in their own man to head the multi-billion shillings parastatal.

 The fact that the water ministry cabinet secretary immediately moved in with orders to the board based on his ministerial powers to revoke the suspension of Eng.Barasa was a clear indication that that state was talking.

But when the same board defied these orders and stuck to their guns this brought Mr. Wamalwa and by extension his boss at state house Uhuru Kenyatta squarely on the spot prompting much more muscle power to be flexed.

 These board room wars appear to be nothing but just an extension of the multi-billion shillings irrigation projects that the National Irrigation Board is financing across the country and that is why the inclusion of the procurements and supplies manager is a highly critical matter in the brewing storm.

Indeed Mr Wamalwa disbanded the 13-member board on Friday May 20th for defying his call to reinstate NIB executives suspended by the directors, after yet another equally interesting public circus a few days earlier reinstating Barasa and reconciling him with the board. The sacked team was expected to convene a special sitting within 14 days to investigate any allegations made against the executives.

 The fact that despite Mr. Wamalwa having ordered Eng. Barasa’s reinstatement to a defiant board he immediately moved to court to challenge its actions a mater which is still pending in court to date.

The story does not stop there, by the very fact that the former chairman of the board, Sammy Letema, on terming Mr Wamalwa’s move unlawful threatened to seek redress in court saying that the board was sacked for fighting graft and that Mr Wamalwa should be a subject of investigation by the anti-graft agency.

 The most interesting quote that was captured by one of the local dailies quoting Dr. Letema says: “The interest that Mr Wamalwa has over the suspended officials is reason enough that the CS is a person of interest in this matter and that is the reason we will refer him to the Ethics and Anti-Corruption Commission (EACC) for investigations.”

Even though he appointed another new acting manager for the state corporation, what has clearly emerged is there was manipulation at a very high level to ensure that the board was sent packing and Eng. Barasa given a soft landing resignation but after influencing the appointment of his favourite manager at NIBs to the acting capacity.

 Indeed the minister is on the spot to deal with the monster that he has stumbled into explosion to chart the way forward as well as dealing with the legal battles that have been triggered with these actions amongst other activities.

With the EACC brought in may only point to multi-billion shillings that are yet to be exploited and the numerous scandals that have since erupted of those projects of the NIBs in which the parastatal lost billions of shillings.

 Apart from the many smaller ones spread across the counties, the classic example of the scandal is the multi-billion shillings Galana Irrigation Project in which billions of shillings have been pumped over the recent years under the stewardship of Eng. Barasa but has since been declared non-performing.

 This squarely brings President Uhuru Kenyatta’s Jubilee administration which has been rocked by mega multi-billion shillings scandals in a wide range of ministries and their projects some of which forced scores of powerful cabinet secretaries out of office – the highest profile being Anne Waiguru’s dramatic exit.

Though it was widely reported that Waiguru’s apparent most powerful stature in President Uhuru’s cabinet was because they were previously very close associates and once into the cabinet maintained that which Waiguru and her associates appear to have exploited.

 That scenario is no different from with what is happening at the National Irrigation Board with Eng. Barasa’s close links with state house being through his Wife Alice Ng’ang’a the Member of Parliament for Thika Town constituency which happens to be 28kms away from the President’s home tuff of Gatundu.

Indeed it has since emerged that the billions of shillings being out rightly looted in the government ministries and state corporations are targeting amassing colossal campaign kitties to be splashed at the next general elections, but some of which is already being spewed out openly in political contests through harambee fundraisers.

 Indeed just like Waiguru who has declared interest to outs Nairobi City Governor Evans Kidero come 2017, Eng. Barasa has equally declared the same against Busia County Government’s Sospeter Ojaamong where he happens to come from.

The Engineer although a shadowy character when it comes to the real hard balls politics of the Busia County, is considered the most financially able to deal with Ojaamong who has equally made enormous fortunes since becoming the County Governor.

 The duo and scores of others interested in that job have from last year been traversing the county splashing their monies all over in highly conspicuous, ruckus, boisterous, drunken and messy functions – most conspicuous being who contributes more than the other in funeral fundraisers.

 

 

 

 

 

 

DREAM ABOUT AN MP, RAPING AND DEFILING ALL VULNERABLE GIRLS WHO APPEARS IN HIS RADAR

Posted on Face book by Daniel Luchu- on May 13 at 11.40am.

I had some disturbing dream. In my dream, i met an old lady along the beaches of port victoria. She seemed bitter and decided to narrate a rather strange chronological account of some past that she claimed nobody wanted to talk about for fear of attacks.

After we got acquainted, though i cant vlearly remember who she was, this is the story she narrated to me..

"We can not be a community that condone leaders who are on record defiling children.
The best girl in Budalangi Constituency in 2008 was the casualty of this defiler who even posed as the guardian to this girl.
He started taking this girl to bed when she was still in form 2 at Alliance girls.The difiler ensured that she offered monetary gifts to the girl and also sponsored the mother's businesses so that just in case the mother learnt, she would be silenced.The guy made it a habit of hitting this girl each time she was on holiday.
The wife learnt and till today the wife cannot meet this girl eyeball to eyeball. Alliance girls expelled this girl after the wife attacked her in school.
This bright girl ended up scoring a D something after leading a frustrated life there in.He ruined this girls life while his children are getting good education.It never ended there.All girls who go through his office for any fee assistance must open their thighs before he assists them.

This has made him line up a good number of the girls that hangs around him for sexual abuse. The wicked mp has never ended his heinous character with High school girls.

Some few years back his wife caught her red handed with a Class7 from a primary school in his constutuency.The wife caught him in his matrimonial bedroom in their palatial beach home.Its bacause of the wife that the issue went viral. She beat the girl till she almost died.The streaming of the girl made neighbors to come in numbers to witness by their eyes as the wife was beating her like burukenge.
The paedophile mp silenced the whole thing.He offered monetary bribes to the poor family of the girl and hid the girl for some good time.She was only brought back after ensuring that everything was silenced and the parents well paid to silence the whole saga.Sometimes last year the guy made a daughter to one his brothers pregnant.
This was the shame of the year.The mp sent money for abortion after it was realised that he was the father to the unborn baby.The girl refused to abort, the mp was forced to go back home and take the child by himself in Kitale where he managed to convince her eliminate.

A girl at Port Mixed primary school privately owned up to them and narrated how this skinny mp has been forcefully taking her to bed.The mp could call her parents that he wants to see the girl over making her a beneficiary of his briefcase foundation.In this visits the mp could force the girl into sex.The girl went to these ladies for guidance . Unfortunately these two ladies watered down this matter.Its believed that they are close friends to the rogue mp.

The most recent case was the controversial pregnancy of a Chakol girls form 3 girl. A daughter to his cousin and a very close associate.
The mp made several visits to the home of this girl begging her to do away with the pregancy but the child stood firm and refused. Am told she told them that she would rather be chased away from the home than removing mimba ya mtu mkubwa.The girl was taken to exile in siaya where she gave birth to a bouncing baby boy..All these indicate that the mp goes to bed with all these girls without even using a condom.Does this guy have some desease that he wants to spreas around to girls that he cannot even use a condom?
What really attracts this guy to school going girls and worse still primary school girls? Why does he do this to girls from poor families that some little money to the parents gets the whole story killed? Who will save these poor girls from this evil mp?"

I listened in shock as the lady complained bitterly.. thtowing pebble stones into the calm waters of lake victoria.. "He will face judgement some day" she added while getting up and preparing to leave with tears lingering in her eyes.

My dream ended there and the narrator of the dream dissappeared.

When Silent Is Sinful

Ignore it and it will go away. That seems to be the tactic the charismatic movement has adopted when it comes to false prophets, heretical theology, and phony miracles. Many charismatics simply turn a blind eye to the corruption in their midst, assuming that if it’s not happening in their church then it’s not their problem.

But that’s not the biblical pattern for dealing with sin in the church. In fact, it directly contradicts the apostle Paul’s instructions for dealing with false converts and professing believers whose sin is corrupting the church. To the church at Ephesus he wrote, “Do not participate in the unfruitful deeds of darkness, but instead even expose them” (Ephesians 5:11).

Our Christian responsibility goes beyond abstaining from the “deeds of darkness.” We are also called to expose them. To ignore evil is to encourage it, and to keep quiet about it is to help promote it. The verb translated as “expose” (from elegchō) can also carry the idea of reproof, correction, punishment, or discipline. We are to confront sin with intolerance.

Sometimes such exposure and reproof will be direct and at other times indirect, but it should always be immediate. When we are living in obedience to God, that fact in itself will be a testimony against wrong. When those around us see us helping those in need rather than exploiting them, hear us talking with purity instead of profanity, and observe us speaking truthfully rather than deceitfully, our example will be a rebuke against selfishness, unwholesome talk, and lies. Simply refusing to participate in a dishonest business or social practice will sometimes be such a strong rebuke that it costs us our job or a friendship. Dishonesty is terribly uncomfortable in the presence of honesty, even when there is no verbal or other direct opposition.

Often, of course, open rebuke is necessary. Silent testimony will only go so far. Failure to speak out against and oppose evil is a failure to obey God. Believers are to expose the works of darkness with whatever legitimate, biblical means necessary. Love that does not openly expose and oppose sin is not biblical love. Love not only “does not act unbecomingly” but it “does not rejoice in unrighteousness” wherever it might be found (1 Corinthians 13:5–6). Our Lord said, “If your brother sins, go and show him his fault in private. . . . If he does not listen to you, take one or two more with you. . . . If he refuses to listen to them, tell it to the church” (Matthew 18:15–17). This is the responsibility of every Christian (cf. 1 Timothy 5:1, 20; 2 Timothy 4:2; Titus 1:13; 2:15).

Unfortunately, many Christians are barely able to keep their own spiritual and moral houses in order that they do not have the discernment, inclination, or power to confront evil in the church or in society at large. We should be so mature in biblical truth, obedience, holiness, and love that the natural course of our life is to expose, rebuke, and offer the remedy for every kind of evil.

Sadly, many Christians do not confront evil because they do not take it seriously. They laugh and joke about unadulterated wickedness—things that are immoral and ungodly in the extreme. They recognize the sinfulness of those things and would likely never participate in them; but they enjoy them vicariously. In so doing, they not only fail to be an influence against evil but are instead influenced by it—contaminated to the extent that they think and talk about it without exposing and rebuking it.

Whether the sin is isolated to one small group or congregation, or it thrives on a global scale like the corruption in the charismatic movement, God’s people need to be faithful to expose and deal with it biblically.

How cartels eyed Galana project cash

                                                    ENGINEER: DAN BARASA

A worker inspects a maize crop in the pilot Galana-Kulalu irrigation project. The multi-billion project has been marred by delays and claims of financial scandals. PHOTO: FILE

The Galana-Kulalu project at the Coast could have been derailed by an intricate web of cartels seeking to control its multi-billion shilling expenditure reports the people daily of 5^th Jan 2016.

The consultancy for pre-feasibility study and designs was inflated from the initial Sh793 million to Sh920 million.

Questions were also raised about some alleged dubious procurement of at least 50 companies which were to carry out bush clearing and other preparatory activities to the tune of Sh400 milion.

According to official records at NIB , the estimates indicate the farm and irrigation system was to take up to Sh3.5 billion of the Sh14.5 billion model project, knowledge and logistics centre (Sh3.8 billion), piping (Sh846 million), operations and maintenance (Sh3.4 billion) and taxes (Sh2.3 billion).

Lucrative tender “The project was hijacked by interested parties and degenerated into a cash-cow,” an insider intimated.  A lucrative tender was awarded to twin Israeli firms Green Arava and Agri-Green at a the cost of Sh14.5 billion.

Green Arava, the parent company of Agri-Green Consulting undertook a Sh920 million consultancy on the irrigation technologies for the project.

The suspended NIB General Manager Engineer Daniel Baraza declined to comment to the said allegations when he was contacted on phone states the newspaper.  Among contract awards that raised questions were Enwag Company (Sh8.4 million), Techno Brain (Sh10.5 million), the International Institute of Tropical Agriculture, IITA, (Sh3.2 million) and Services & Computer Industries Kenya Ltd (Sh6.5 million).

On August 15 last year, NIB awarded the Sh15.5 billion contract to Green Arava Limited, the Israeli conglomerate, for the establishment of a 10,000-acre model farm.

The paper states that the letter of offer was issued on August 8, 2014 with pre-contract negotiations taking place the following day, two days to the deadline for the submission of tender documents. The opening of the documents was done the same day.

“There was no reasonable alternative competent contractor to implement the design of the model farm other than the sister company of the lead design consultant.  There was urgent need to engage the contractor in order to produce maize crop to mitigate the looming hunger,” a copy of the award of the direct tender dated August 15, 2014 reads in part.

Eyes are now set on the CS for water Hon. Eugine Wamalwa who is hardly one year at the Ministry whether he will decide to revoke the suspension or let investigations take its full course. On the other side the board which suspended Eng. Dan Barasa and three other top officials have their hopes banked on President Uhuru Kenyatta who has declared war on corruption.

High Bank Interest Rates Strangling Saccos

                                                       HABIL OLAKA-KBA CEO

The financial crisis that has been plaguing the country’s commercial financial institutions since last year is strangulating the more than Kshs. 500 billion Cooperative movement forcing operators in the sector either to go back on the drawing board or collapse.

A majority of the Savings and Credit Cooperative Societies (SACCOS) are being forced to review or totally overhaul their ways of conducting business, new products they have to offer their members, transforming from the traditional ways of conducting Sacco business, their lending and borrowing practices among a wide range of measures.

The financial crunch which is still keeping a stranglehold on the country’s commercial financial institutions, has over the months forced them to continuously raise their lending interests rates from as low as 16 to 18 per cent to gallop beyond 28 and 30 per cent.

The Kenya Bankers Association Chief (KBA) Executive Habil Olaka says: “As a matter of fact most commercial financial institutions have been forced to shelve their annual programmes to pay accumulated profits from their shareholders’ investments which they are now being forced to re-plough back into their businesses to shore up their operations as they discourage their major clients against taking credit until after the normalization or stabilization of the loan market interest rates.”

Mr. Olaka says that this state of affairs according to impeccable sources from the sector, affected all loans – the existing when the crunch struck most of which had been secured when the rates were between 16 to 18 per cent, therefore nearly or simply doubling the interests rates that were to be paid by the individuals and institutions which had borrowed the monies.

He says that therefore, it means new and old borrowers are expected to repay their loans with reigning market interest rates which means that if they gallop away to 40 per cent – that is what the borrowers will have to pay to their respectful lending financial institutions.

The Sacco Societies may have no option but to take this option of capitalizing their members’ dividends. This is a route that has already been adopted by Stima Sacco which embarked on it first through an aggressive advertisements campaign to convince their members.

This state of affairs has adversely hit the country’s cooperative movement, especially Saccos most of which had existing credit facilities with their traditional lending commercial banks like the Cooperative Bank of Kenya and the Kenya Commercial Bank (KCB) from which they have traditionally enjoyed preference soft lending rates.

KUSCCO Managing Director, George Ototo says that the worst scenario is the fact that as the commercial financial institutions tighten up their belts, their customers most of whom are members of the cooperative movement, particularly contributors to their respectful Sacco societies have mostly abandoned borrowing from the banks due to the prohibitive interest rates and move to their Saccos for credit.

“This has resulted in massive credit demand from the Saccos thus exerting extremely high pressure on their existing credit facilities for their members, whose financial supplies cannot meet the demand pressure – the worst of it all pay their members the annual dividends from their shares that are due this month,” says Mr. Ototo

He says this was worsened by the fact that a majority of the Saccos had before the commercial financial institutions credit interest rates started sky rocketing had secured loans from the banks for their members running into billions of shillings whose interest rates they must pay at the current rates as dictated by the market forces.

The Managing Director says that the worst scenario is the fact that most of the Saccos are forced to lend their members loans whose interest rates are stagnated at only 12 per cent reducing rates and at the same time service the high bank interest rates on existing loans as well as meet the highly increased demand for loans from them and pay their members dividends running into hundreds of millions by the end of this month.

That is not the end of the story on the Saccos woes, since they have to pay millions of shillings to the Saccos’ Regulatory Authority (SASRA) in annual licenses and a myriad of other charges to stay in business or forced out by the authority.

The KBA CEO said: “In short the Saccos are caught up not just between a rock and a hard surface, they are caught up between un-breakable steel and another un-breakable steel, a state of affairs from which they have to wiggle themselves out or perish – hence the need to go back to the drawing board.”

It is from this background that the former minister for cooperative development and marketing, Joseph Nyagah  made a proposal for Credit Co-operative Societies (Saccos) to review up their loan rates spells more trouble for borrowers, especially those who had been fleeing from commercial banks to other alternative avenues.

Nyagah was quoted as saying,"There is a lot of pressure on Saccos brought about by the prevailing high interest rates from banks. This is why we urge them to adjust rates upwards to safeguard their savings from being depleted." 

The Afya Sacco Chairman Vitalis Lukiri said: “Leaders and the Sacco societies must be focused and adjust to the current economic forces otherwise the Saccos will collapse. They are business concerns and not social entities. We cannot borrow and pay interest at nearly 40 per cent increasing rates and expect to pay these loans when we are loaning our members to pay interest at 12 per cent reducing rates.”

Mr. Lukiri says that the situation demands that the Saccos have to review their modes of operation if they have to remain relevant and sustainable as business entities on the market in the current financial market environment.”

“As leaders within Afya Sacco we are consulting widely with the movement leadership and members so that we can come up with the way forward that is acceptable to all of us, but we can’t afford to let the society to collapse,” he said.

Mr. Lukiri’s counterpart at Harambee Sacco Maclaud Malonza says the society leadership was critically looking at the emerging scenario in the movement and will take appropriate measures to counter the challenges.

“We must face reality of the fact that matters have drastically shifted in the general financial sector and as Micro financial institutions we cannot afford to live and operate in isolation in an environment where we are facing increasing competition even from commercial banks,” says Mr. Malonza.

The UN Sacco chairperson Mary Oyugi says the Sacco has moved into high gear to review the interest rates levied on members loans as well capitalization of their dividends since in the long run it will be of immense benefit to the members.

Ms. Oyugi says that with the rapid dynamic developments in the country’s financial sector some of which have been un-predictable, it was paramount that the Saccos have top swiftly shift gear and modes of operation including products to market to stay afloat.

“These developments are coming too fast and too many but we have to meet the challenges, because as we all know many financial institutions we have come up with many products and services that traditionally the preserve of the Saccos,” Says Mwalimu Sacco Chairman, Mrs. Teresa Mutegi.

 Mrs Mutegi says that stakeholders and members of the movement must also change their attitudes face reality and quickly adapt to the emerging changes to ensure that the Sacco movement in the country, which is leading in Africa does not collapse.

The SASRA regulations which technically came into force late 2010 demand that all deposit taking savings and credit societies in the country must have an accumulated core share capital of not less than shs. 10 million before applying for a license for consideration to operate.

They stipulate that the rule applies not only to the already existing Sacco societies on the market but as well as all those new ones that will be seeking entry into the market beginning June this year – a core share capital which must be maintained at all times of operations.

 The regulations also state that every registered society as of now as the new applicants will be required to pay shs. 50, 000 annually as an individual entity and shs. 20, 000 for every branch that the society operates or is planning to open in any part of the country.