The Star 12/22/2016

Half of Kenya would vote for President Uhuru Kenyatta if presidential elections were held today, a poll by Ipsos released yesterday suggests. The poll shows that while 50 per cent of those polled would vote for Uhuru, only 22 per cent would vote for his 2013 main challenger, Cord leader Raila Odinga. The poll suggests that Uhuru has lost one point from the 51 per cent he got in a previous poll in June, while Raila has shed six per cent from 28 per cent. Ipsos chief researcher Tom Wolf explained that while Uhuru’s candidature is under the Jubilee Party, Raila is still in talks with other opposition leaders on who should be the flagbearer. “Such uncertainty on the opposition side is also reflected in the correlation of such presidential…

UHURU KENYATTA Launched VW plant in Thika President Uhuru Kenyatta yesterday launched the Volkswagen production plant in Thika. He urged Kenyans to buy products that are made, assembled or value-added in Kenya. Uhuru welcomed the decision by the Volkswagen Group to invest in Kenya, saying it resonated well with his administration’s policy to industrialise the economy. See Page 6 DANIEL WAITHAKA Denies Christmas tree cost Sh2m The Nyandarua governor yesterday denied that a Christmas tree he lit in Ol Kalou town on Monday cost Sh2 million. He blamed the media and political detractors for peddling the allegations. The tree, which is about five metres tall, was lit outside the assistant county commissioner’s office. Residents said buying it is “a public disgrace”. See Page 24 YUSSUF HAJI Told he’s too old…

In an obscene Facebook post, Gatundu South MP Moses Kuria has threatened to insert a broken bottle into Mbita lawmaker Millie Odhiambo for insulting the President. On his official Facebook account, Kuria on Tuesday night castigated Odhiambo for calling Uhuru Kenyatta “a fake President” who rigged the last election. Kuria, notorious for offensive comments, said Odhiambo had “crossed the red line” and told her to “keep off Parliament.” He posted in English, “You have pushed our patience to the end. Last year you got your way through removing your smelly panties to suffocate us with the repugnant stench of your maggot-infested things.” Kuria went on, “Today you have crossed the red line disrespecting the lawful authority of the land. Now no one will have a reason to blame me. Keep…

IS lawyer Evans Monari, who sits in the IEBC selection panel, related to Margaret Shava, a candidate for IEBC chairperson, who is also said top be President Uhuru Kenyatta’s cousin? Well, Corridors has it that Monari is married to Shava’s sister. There are concerns that the conflict of interest was not disclosed during the shortlisting and interview process. But it was Oliver Kisaka and Consolata Nkatha Bucha who shocked a section of the panel. During the interview, Kisaka allegedly said the outgoing IEBC chiefs deserve another term after “performing very well under a very difficult and complex environment in 2013”. His response prompted the panel to inquire why he wanted the job. Nkatha said the problems bedeviling Kenya’s electoral processes are never caused by the election management agencies, but by…

Shortly after lawmakers brawled in Parliament, President Uhuru Kenyatta pronounced some MPs “idiots” using the august house to insult him at will. He did not refer to the MPs from both sides who threw punches — and even used pepper spray — on Tuesday night during a tempestuous session on amending electoral laws. It was aborted and the video feed cancelled so the public could not see the scrimmage. The same could happen today in two sittings. Jubilee is pushing for changes, the opposition says weakened laws will be used to rig the election. The President commented about idiots on Tuesday night, just hours after Mbita MP Millie Odhiambo was caught on camera hurling insults at him. “On our left is the National Assembly representing democracy, but it has also…

SO IF THE JUBILEE PEOPLE WERE REALLY BEING GENUINE AND THEY WANTED TO STOP BALLOT STUFFING, THEY WOULD HAVE SOUGHT TO CREATE AN AMENDMENT SPECIFICALLY FOR RESULTS TRANSMISSION IN THOSE AREAS WITHOUT 3-G NETWORKS – AND THOSE AREAS WOULD BE GAZETTED THE need to have this law passed is clearly not urgent, that it must come tomorrow. This is something that can be addressed when we return from recess. So what is happening here is an amendment that I have christened “the Chepkonga Ballot Stuffing Amendment” (Samuel Chepkonga, MP Ainabkoi, is the Chairman of the Departmental Committee on Justice and Legal Affairs). It is an enabling statute for ballot stuffing, a proposed legal statute that would specifically enable rigging. Why, given these specific circumstances, do an amendment for the whole…