stand up and speak now! Poem by Ojijo Ogillo - Allpublicspeakers

stand up and speak now! Poem by Ojijo Ogillo - Allpublicspeakers

1.      stand
up and speak now! (poem by Ojijo ogillo)

 

they assailed you with the choice,

they dared you to talk, taxing your guts,

they told you, stand up and speak now,

 

oh how you were sweating and
panting,

how you stuttered and
stammered,

how you winked and blinked,

and they told you, stand up
and speak now,

 

you bit your lips and ground your teeth,

you trembled an almost fell ,

as the podium advanced to you,

and they told you, stand up and speak now,

 

you had not paced the path
of prose,

the forest of speech,

or the lane of language,

but they told you, stand up
and speak now,

 

you shivered with dread,
faltering with hesitation,

you treaded with
uncertainty,

 sneaking to the front,

you had to stand up and
speak now,

 

 

will they twist and turn
with boredom,

will they giggle and chuckle
with glee,

or will they nod and clap in
applause,

 

i am not afraid anymore,

i shall stand up and speak
now,

Dr. Alfred Mutua, The Leader...!!!

 

 

Dr Alfred Mutua Governor Machakos County

Dr. Mutua has been termed as the governor to watch with kind of development agenda he has set out for his county.  He is referred to as a pace setter that other governors should emulate since he has already laid down the foundation on which his county will stand.  Standing in a class of its own and through the able leadership of Dr. Mutua, Machakos County was the first country to hold an international investors conference which was meant to create awareness of the county’s untapped potential.  In a well laid out road map, if investors invest in this country, then employment opportunities will be created ending the problem of youth unemployment in this county and in its environs including the capital city, Nairobi.
Dr. Mutua, who was formerly the government spokesman under the Kibaki government, is proving to be a leader well in touch with the needs of the people of Machakos. He is full of passion for what he does, believes in himself and the potential of his country. He has a vision and is willing to go the extra mile to bring his dream of a successful country into reality.  
Paving way as a man fully in charge, his county has come out as the only one that is not faced with leadership wrangles, a common phenomenon associated with many other counties.  As the other counties keep wasting time fighting over who should hold what position, his county moves on even as investors rush to invest after being given an incentive of free land. Reports have it that the Governor has secured about Kshs 290 billion for development of 4,000 acres of land and make Machakos a city.
Residents of Machakos are proud of their Governor and have a lot to say about him.  George Muthama says that he is proud to be from Machakos.  A lot of people have always associated Machakos with poverty and hunger but now they will see a different county.
Dr. Mutua is doing everything in order to attract investors to Machakos.   Machakos is soon going to have good infrastructure, water, industries, more banks, ICT centers, universities and colleges.   Once this happens, then Machakos will be the county every body will want to live in.  If this is achieved, then should Dr. Mutua want to become Kenya’s fifth president, he has my vote.

Dr. Mutua’s Leadership in Securing Forensic Laboratories for Kenya’s County Laudable by Martin Lyria

 

By: Martin Lyria

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[ Posted On: 2013-05-23 ]  
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[ Martin Lyria ]

The recently released Truth, Justice and Reconciliation Commission's report provides Kenyans with a great opportunity for remedying past mistakes in the administration of justice in the country.

Most of what is contained therein may not be news to Kenyans, but for it to provide a basis of healing and reconciliation; existing weaknesses in the handling of suspects of crime by the state as well as the investigation and prosecution of crime must be addressed swiftly. That is why the mostly youthful, well educated and tech-savvy leaders at national and county levels in Kenya provides much hope to Kenyans that perennial problems with public administration will be solved much faster and more efficiently.

Looking at the security and infrastructure challenges that the new Kenyatta administration in Kenya is facing in its days of infancy and the constitutional burden of addressing the issues raised in the truth report, it becomes more apparent that the financial liability is much greater than Kenya can afford at present while it tries to provide essential services such as investing in health. Kenya has one doctor for every six thousand Kenyans against the United Nations recommended ratio of one doctor for every six hundred Kenyans.

Not withstanding the great achievement made by the honorable Chief Justice and his team in reforming the judiciary, Kenyans will not have complete faith in the local criminal justice process if greater effort is not made in reforming the collection and analysis of evidence from the scenes of crime.

In essence, the reforms in the justice system in Kenya should go beyond fighting corruption among judicial staff and better remuneration because if the prosecution is weak, then there is injustice in the system. Yet, for there to be effective prosecution, there has to be effective gathering and analysis of evidence. That is why the recent effort by Dr. Alfred Mutua, the Governor of Machakos County, towards the construction of modern forensic laboratory and research center for his county should be emulated.

Attempts have been made in the past to remedy weaknesses in the evidence collection process and one such example was the proposed construction of a forensic laboratory at the criminal investigations headquarters in Nairobi at a cost of nearly sixty million American dollars.

The year 2001 project ended up as the infamous Anglo-leasing scandal. But from a personal experience in Afghanistan, forensic laboratories do not have to cost 'billions of Kenya shillings' to construct. Indeed, with some help from friendly states, each of Kenya's forty-seven counties can easily construct and equip a modern forensic laboratory.

By partnering with agencies such as the United States Agency for International Development (USAID) or United Kingdom's Department for International Development (DFID), the task can be achieved more efficiently because of the expertise and experience which they have in constructing and equipping such facilities at home and in places such as Afghanistan.

Governors and other leaders must remain aware that, as it has happened in the past, such projects in Kenya are at times promoted by individuals with crooked motives. To avoid such mistakes, including possible inflation of costs, projects must be conceptualized, designed and build through an open and transparent process knowing too well that the budget for the 'Anglo-leasing' project was more than enough to construct and equip one laboratory in each county in Kenya. Many years after such cutting edge technology as DNA analysis was introduced to the world, there is no logical explanation why it should not be in wide use in Kenya, given that good quality DNA testing equipment can be bought for less than five thousand American dollars.

Also there are experts in fighting and solving crime from our friendly nations who could be embedded and work within the Kenyan police force to help them learn from their expertise. Kenyans should not be afraid of integrating them within the force because if it is right for Kenyans in the Diaspora to work as public servants in other countries, then it should be right for our friends to be embedded within any sector of Kenya's economy to improve the quality of service provision.

Enabling the Kenyan police to arrive at the scene of crime on time to respond to calls is vital to improving the administration of justice in Kenya. So, as we cooperate with our western friends, we will learn that their police force do not travel around with expensive four-wheel drive vehicles but they instead use affordable cars that could make it easier for a larger potion of the budget to be dedicated to catering for the officers' welfare.

By partnering with such friends, Kenya can import low-maintenance fuel-efficient duty-free used vehicles which can then be leased to the police force to ease the transport challenges while availing mobile stations to repair and maintain the fleet.

Article Source: http://www.afroarticles.com/article-dashboard