Is money worship at the root of Kenya’s problems?

The issues that severely ail our country have been deeply analysed, debated and documented since Independence in 1963. Tribalism, corruption, unemployment, institutional weaknesses, political mediocrity and a myriad of other leadership failures have been adequately explored by many competent minds. For instance, Michela Wrong’s recent book “It’s Our Turn to Eat: The Story of a Kenyan Whistleblower”, offers a particularly riveting look into the architecture of corruption in Kenya since Independence. I’ll therefore not bother to rehash what is already in the public domain.

Kenyans who genuinely want the best for their country have been yearning for answers as to why the nationalistic hopes of 1963, and again in 2002 failed to become a reality. My take is that the answers so far have not gone far enough in drilling down to the core problem. As we race towards another uncertain general election, perhaps its time to explore further afield beyond the conventional, as to why we never seem to get our act together.

After years of reading and listening to various descriptions regarding our national problems, it finally hit me what has been going on in our country over the last five decades. The intriguing answer has been undeniably staring at us for quite a long time. I would like to suggest boldly that our core problem as Kenyans is really quite simple – it’s the worship of money!

Am talking about the unabashed, brazen veneration and aspiration for everything that money represents, and particularly the open admiration shown to those who have lots of it irrespective of how they acquired it. This is the shameful reality despite the oft-repeated claim that 80% of Kenya’s citizens are regular churchgoers, and who’s creed would never countenance worshiping anything other than God.

I assert that this kind of idolatry is at the heart of our social-economic problems and the mismanagement of this country’s human and natural resources by our ravenous leadership. This is the reason our kleptomaniac ruling class finds solid and enthusiastic support from the poverty stricken masses unable or unwilling to connect the dots between their pitiful existence and their leaders’ lavish lifestyles (which the poor folks envy, admire and will do anything to have). Indeed, all our major problems since 1963 can be traced back to this single vile phenomenon.

What are our values as a nation?

I would like to submit that the tragic narrative of our nation can be adequately traced back to the way we founded our Kenyan state at Independence. What core values were put forth to guide the young nation by our founding fathers? The beautiful words of our national anthem certainly contain strong and noble values that if instilled could have seen the transformation of our nascent nation into an economic giant at par with the so-called Asian tigers such as Singapore, South Korea and Taiwan.

Unfortunately, our founding fathers woefully failed to lead by personal integrity and selfless sacrifice. Instead, they laid the foundation for the shameless accumulation of wealth mentality that today permeates our leadership and society. No nation on earth can pull itself out of poverty under that kind of leadership.

Interestingly, Kenyan professionals have over the years remained highly sought across the globe due to their good qualifications, hard work and the ability to learn or adapt fast. Sometime back, a World Bank labour productivity report on East Africa described Kenyans as having aggressive go-getter attitudes which make them very suitable for jobs such as marketing, salesmanship and business intermediation. Our world-renowned athletes also display these noble virtues through their resilience and hard work.

Strangely, these values have hardly been reflected in our country’s top leadership. Over the last decade, the late Hon John Michuki is probably the only government Minister who can be remembered by ordinary citizens for achieving transformational impact under the Ministries he led. Indeed among his cabinet peers, Michuki stood out as a rare gem in a sea of avarice and astonishing incompetence.

Liberation from the worship of money

Land grabbing, mismanagement of public resources, drug deals, pyramid schemes – these are just the manifestations of the underlying get-rich quick mentality in our society. Which probably explains the ease by which perpetrators of these scams have found favour with voters and remarkably, even churches. Kenyan weekend dailies often carry photos of elated church leaders hosting and endorsing wealthy politicians mentioned in various financial scandals.

This moral tragedy can only be understood if one accepts that perhaps a great number of our people don’t really see anything wrong with those crimes. Truth be told, many love to hobnob with these thugs masquerading as leaders hoping they could share part of their loot. More shameful, many admire these politicians as their role models and heroes. It’s therefore not surprising that they listen and take to heart every bit of their dangerous tribal drivel. No wonder most of our voters lack interest in issue-based campaigns.

Now, that is what the Bible describes as the “love of money which leads to all kinds of evil.” Kenyans are today living this reality with the embrace of all kinds of immoralities including recently, the overt agitation for so-called homosexual “rights” in the country. Astute biblical scholars will tell you that when nations start manifesting the deviant lifestyles detailed under Romans chapter 1, it’s the ultimate proof of their rejection of God and consequently their own destruction.

Is it any wonder then that we find ourselves grappling with the same basic issues 50 years after independence? Should we be amazed that voters enthusiastically support politicians whose track records would consign them to very long jail terms in other nations that observe the rule of law? When a certain Prophet David Owuor came on the scene a few years ago proclaiming that Kenyans needed to repent and turn back to God, a number of church leaders dismissed and scoffed at his dooms day predictions. Without validating Owuor’s predictions or his work here, I would like to say that the church leaders seemed to have missed the critical warning stated by Jesus in Luke 13:1-5 regarding the importance of personal repentance.

At a personal level, I’ve come to the inescapable conclusion that unless as a people we sincerely repent of our idolatry to our God and creator, our country will continue sliding deeper into the murk as we watch. Lets not be deluded that the new constitution can change our hearts or morals. Only a healthy fear of God can liberate our people from the worship of money and those who wield it, and appear hell-bent on destroying our nation through their empty politics. Otherwise, there’s little Kenyans of goodwill can do to stop the national conflagration that is sure to follow.

Time is now ripe for ‘None of the above’ ballot option in Kenyan general elections

Kenya's general elections planned for August 2012 according to our new constitution, provide an excellent opportunity to introduce a novel voting concept known as ‘None of the above’ (NOTA). This is a ballot option in some jurisdictions designed to allow the voter to indicate disapproval of all the candidates for a particular elective position. It is based on the principle that voter consent in any election requires the ability to say “No”, similar to what happens during referendums. Going by the chaotic, disorganized and quite often violent political nominations that pass for our political parties primaries, its imperative that this proposal be adopted into law as soon as possible by the relevant authorities mandated to oversee the 2012 elections. Allow me to explain.

Unbeknown to most voters, party nominations is actually the place where the integrity of our general elections is most often compromised and not the general elections themselves. A close scrutiny of previous general elections indicates that the disorderly conduct of the nominations is really just a gimmick for the party leadership to impose their preferred candidates on voters irrespective of their popularity.

Anecdotal evidence from the last four general elections strongly suggests that many promising candidates with strong records of integrity have been pushed out of the large parties by their better connected but corrupt rivals, who are often helped along by the party bosses during nominations. These undeserving individuals subsequently go on to win parliamentary or civic seats during the general elections under the infamous but euphoric ‘three-piece’ voting style. That is, electing your MP and Councillor based on the party of your favourite presidential candidate without any consideration to individual merit.

May I add at this point that overall voter scrutiny of candidates is bound to get worse in 2012 with the introduction of five elective positions at the ballot (Constitution of Kenya, 2010: cap 7-9). In addition to the President and Members of Parliament, voters will be expected to elect a Governor, a Senator, and County assembly representatives. These are five elections in a single day! Tragically, this is likely to result in a new ‘five-piece’ voting style.

Most voters will simply not care to check the individual profiles of the many candidates in their counties but are likely to choose based on their preference for national president and his or her party. Many undeserving candidates will therefore find their way into leadership positions by simply hiding behind a popular presidential ‘wave’ in their counties. I don’t have to provide details of the massive looting of county resources and stagnation that is likely to become the legacy of these ‘leaders’.

However, there’s one trump card the uncompromising Commission for the Implementation of the Constitution (CIC) led by Charles Nyachae can still do to earn their place in our history books – the introduction of a slot in the ballot paper for ‘none of the above’ or NOTA. This is for voters who feel dissatisfied with the quality of candidates on offer at the general elections and do not want to abstain from voting. Quite often, and this is really pathetic, many voters are compelled to choose the ‘lesser of the devils’ on offer - in short, candidates they dislike. If we had this option in the 2007 elections, I would certainly have voted for NOTA at the presidential level rather than abstaining.

In countries where this novel idea has been implemented (such as Greece, the United States of America and Spain), if the NOTA option obtains a winning majority, the election in that particular locality is nullified and another election must take place. All previous candidates are subsequently disqualified from participating. And really why not? Most voters would have sent a clear message that the candidates on offer were flawed. Despite the apparent additional costs arising from a subsequent by-election, the benefits are simply incalculable.

Besides encouraging voter turnout, this mechanism would offer voters a second golden chance to elect a more deserving leader, and for political parties to style up and nominate individuals with credible leadership records. Most important, the country would save billions that would otherwise be lost through future financial scams engineered by corrupt ‘leaders’, and the expensive investigations and litigation processes that are sure to follow such incidents. The introduction of NOTA into our ballot papers is long overdue.

Integrity and local government leadership in Kenya

Local Authorities in Kenya have continued to suffer due to poor leadership over the years. Various schools of thought have put forward different theories to explain the phenomenon of lowly qualified people, some barely literate, being elected to manage our County, Municipal and City Councils. Whether the problem is due to voter ignorance, an archaic Local Government Act 265 or simply an arbitrary chance occurrence unique to Kenya, the long and the short of it is that residents of these local authorities have ended up receiving a raw deal from leaders whose only motive seemed to have been to enrich themselves at the expense of their voters.

Nearly 50 years since Independence, as many as 75% of our local authorities have been declared financially insolvent due to mismanagement and gross corruption. Speaking at an Association of Local Government Authorities of Kenya (ALGAK) event in November 2009, the Deputy Prime Minister and Local Government Minister Hon Musalia Mudavadi admitted that out of the 175 Councils in the country, less than 45 could sustain themselves financially. The Minister said most of the Councils were in the red and were a liability to the Exchequer, adding that they were formed for political expediency and not economic viability. He added that the government was planning to reduce these Councils to 46 by the 2012 general elections (Source - Daily Nation, Tuesday, November 25, 2009).

This tragic state of affairs is clearly illustrated by scandals at City Hall such as the cemetery saga that took down Mayor Geoffrey Majiwa. He resigned in disgraceful fashion after his arrest and subsequent indictment by KACC officials on October 25th 2010. According to KACC spokesman Nicholas Simani the Mayor was charged with conspiracy to defraud the public and willful neglect to perform official duty as stipulated in the Penal Code. The Nairobi City Council stood to lose nearly Ksh 300M from the irregular purchase of the highly inflated cemetery land. The land was said to be worth less than 10% of that amount. The Local Government PS Sammy Kirui (now suspended), former Nairobi Town Clerk John Gakuo and other senior Ministry officials were also implicated in the deal. (Click to see news video).


Former Nairobi Mayor Geoffrey Majiwa at the Nairobi Law Courts on Tuesday 26th October 2010. Photo credit: Evans Habil/Standard newspaper.

The foregoing is just the tip of the iceberg for similar shady operations in our local authorities documented over the years. Remember the case of the Nairobi Mayor who was said to have stolen the Mayoral golden chain back in the late 90s, and sold the same in Paris for Ksh 150M? Last time I checked, he was running for the Embakasi Parliamentary seat during the 2007 elections. Remarkably shameful I might say.

It’s inevitable to ask at this point whether local government leadership in Kenya has ever recognized integrity as a critical value that all Councillors are required to have. The same can be asked of Kenyans voters. Seriously, it’s high time that people aspiring to be Councillors or County representatives for that matter be evaluated on their record of integrity come next year. Moreover, chapter 6 of our new constitution focuses on integrity as a requirement for all aspiring political leaders and public officials. We really don't have a choice on this issue if we are to move the country forward in the right direction.

A simple reading of the dictionary defines integrity as the quality of being honest and having strong moral principles. In my opinion, this value in our leaders is perhaps more important and profound than educational qualifications or managerial competence. The moral uprightness of our local government leaders needs to be put under a microscope if we are to exorcise the demon of corruption from our local authorities. As KACC has belatedly discovered, education and technical competence will simply not do unless we examine the moral standing of aspiring candidates in 2012.

In the United States for example, voters established ages ago that a known philanderer can never be entrusted with taxpayers money. That’s why their leaders are publicly asked to resign when their extra-marital love affairs are exposed. The logic from the public is simple - if you can cheat on your wife, you will certainly rip-off the taxpayers without any hesitation. With the culture of mpango wa kando deeply entrenched in Kenya, it would be very interesting to see how this particular moral criterion would play out in our country.

New Kenyan constitution: What will happen to local authorities?

The dramatic arrest of Kitisuru Ward Councillor John Njenga Kinuthia by the Kenya Anti-Corruption Commission (KACC) investigators earlier this week (Tuesday 5th October 2010) on charges of soliciting Ksh 650,000 from a Mr John Mbau Irad allegedly to release the renewal of a land leasehold right, has once again cast an ugly spotlight upon the Nairobi City Council and its infamous “Kanjoras”.

The KTN coverage of the Councillor's arest and his rather candid remarks on camera alluding to the deeply entrenched cancer of corruption afflicting City Hall, astonished and equally amused many viewers. He confidently told the KACC officials that: “You are only trying but you cannot eliminate corruption here.”Click here to see the video.

This incident raises a very profound question on the future of the colourless Nairobi City Council and many other local authorities, especially in light of the new constitution that now establishes County governments as the third-tire of governance and primary units of devolution. With many Kenyans excited about the prospects of improved resource management under the County governments, its important to ask ourselves whether these high expectations can realistically be achieved under the new governance structures.

In all likelihood, the County governments are expected to replace the grossly mismanaged and corrupt 175 local authorities. For the first time, local governments will be headed by a Governor directly elected by County voters after the next general elections. Voters will also elect Ward representatives to sit in the County assembly with an oversight mandate over the County government.

As things stand today, Municipal Mayors and Town Council Chairpersons are elected by their fellow Councillors during what can only be described as cloak and dagger affairs, frequently inundated by claims of bribery and chaotic scenes during the actual voting process. This will now change somewhat with Governor candidates appealing directly to the voters. The winning Governors are expected to nominate their executive committee or ‘cabinet’ from outside the assembly representatives.

On the face of it, this appears to be a very positive development. Unfortunately, I foresee a situation in the 2012 general elections where the current low calibre of Civic leaders simply mutate into the new County assembly men or women. Going by what we’ve seen in the past, the hapless voter will thereafter continue to be fleeced by these pretenders to leadership.

Misplaced voter expectations

I’ll be the first to admit that there’s been lots of optimism carried in the mainstream media and popular discourse that Kenyans will now enjoy greater accountability at the grassroots as a result of the new constitutional structures. But am afraid these lofty hopes are seriously misplaced.

One of the biggest phenomenon standing in the way of these aspirations is the difficulty of electing well-educated, informed and professionally experienced assembly men and women to oversee the County governments. The low-quality leadership witnessed over many years in our local authorities has often been the result of the “three-piece” voting patterns that occur during the general elections. This is where voters elect without any scrutiny, the civic and parliamentary candidates who happen to be in the same political party as their favourite presidential candidate.

With the media completely ambivalent to going-ons at the civic level during election campaigns, I predict that the same phenomena will recur again in August 2012. And this time it will be more difficult for the voters to scrutinise aspiring candidates due to the high number of elective positions that will have to be filled in a single day. In addition to the President and Members of Parliament, voters will be expected to elect a Governor, Senator, a Woman Senator representative and County assembly representatives. These are 6 elections in a single day!

Clearly, I expect to see a scenario where most voters will default to electing ALL their candidates based on their choice of President – and then we shall have for the first time, “6-piece voting patterns” or whatever lexicon will be invented at that time to describe this electoral tragedy.

Solutions to Kenya's electoral tragedy

I call it a tragedy because we shall end up saddled with the same cast of cartoons who have completely messed up our local authorities in the past, now disguised and re-packaged under brand new titles of Assembly representatives. The only solution that can avert this looming electoral disaster is to segregate or delink the various elections so that voters can adequately scrutinise aspiring candidates at all levels.

For example, delinking the County level elections to a separate year from the general elections would have a remarkable and far reaching impact on the way voters make choices at the grassroots level of governance. Many Countries including our next door neighbour Tanzania, have been doing this for years.

This separation will encourage the media to focus on aspiring County leaders and hence enlighten voters to make informed choices. Under this scenario, it will be even possible to hold open debates and media interviews to gauge the competence of aspiring County Assembly men or women.

More important, this approach would ensure that hooligans and goons who have nothing credible to offer voters at the Assembly, don’t get a chance to hide behind a Kibaki, Raila or Kalonzo election euphoria as happened in the 2007 elections. They would have to face the voters on their own merit.

Voters would also be compelled to scrutinise carefully whom they vote for in such an election. After all, you are only voting for your County government representatives and no one else!

Opponents of this proposal have often cited the high cost of holding separate elections as an obstacle to the implementation of this idea. However, I’ve always maintained that not doing so will prove to be far more costlier to the taxpayers.

With a convoluted, multi-level type general election as formulated in our constitution, the tragic consequences are:
• A low-calibre, unaccountable leadership that mismanages limited resources;
• A leadership lacking progressive ideas and policies for their counties;
• A leadership that engages in rowdy fights to resolve differences; and,
• A morally bankrupt leadership that unapologetically engages in corruption (see video link above).

Any apparent monetary savings made from holding one major general election every five years will be wiped out many times over by the above factors, even before the next general elections. If anyone doubts me, I would recommend an honest look at the performance history of our local authorities over the last 40 years.

A case for the delinking of local authority elections in Kenya

Nairobi's Mayor Geoffrey Majiwa, being sworn in.
Photo credit: www.butterfly.co.ke

The Kenyan parliament is set to start deliberations later this year on critical reforms in the management of local authorities.
The Minister for Local Government, Hon Musalia Mudavadi is expected to present a raft of proposals aimed at amending the archaic Local Government Act cap 265, to reflect modern realities. As citizens, we hope that these reforms will be far-reaching and beneficial in terms of service delivery and competence in our city, municipal and county councils.

There has been overwhelming popularity with the idea of amending the Local Government Act to allow direct elections of Mayors in our local authorities by voters. Although this marks a wonderful start to the reform efforts, I fear it may not go far enough if positions of ordinary Councillors are left unreformed in the process.

The reputation of Councillors in many of our local authorities continues to suffer due to their infamous fights, widespread allegations of corruption, lack of managerial competence and low levels of education. This is hardly the stuff that befits policy makers in modern urban management. We need a thorough reform of these positions to make them more responsive to voters needs in a 21st century Kenya.

Besides having direct elections of Mayors and Council Chairmen, it's high time we delinked civic elections from the general elections. I have in mind the holding of civic elections one year before parliamentary and presidential polls.

My submission is that we can find credible people to elect, if we de-link completely the civic elections from the Parliamentary and Presidential elections. What I have in mind is a system where for example, we elect Councillors in 2011, while MPs and the President are elected in 2012. We could repeat this again in 2016 and 2017 respectively.

Benefits of de-linking elections

This separation will encourage the media to focus on aspiring civic leaders and hence enlighten voters to make informed choices. Under this scenario, it will be possible to hold debates to gauge the competence of aspiring Councillors.

More important, this approach would ensure that hooligans and goons who have nothing credible to offer voters at the council level, don’t get a chance to hide behind a Kibaki, Raila or Kalonzo election euphoria as happened in the 2007 elections. They would have to face the voters on their own merit.

Voters would also be compelled to scrutinize whom they vote for in such an election. After all, you are only voting for a Councillor and no one else!

De-linking civic elections will also help combat apathy in the election process at this level and encourage voter participation and interaction with their candidates. This way, the chances of electing more credible civic leaders increases dramatically. I have faith that voters can make the right choices given an open and enabling environment.

Despite the extra costs of holding two separate elections within two years, the benefits in terms of quality leadership and service delivery to Kenyans would simply be mind-boggling. I submit that the impact would not only be felt at the grass root level, but ultimately at the national level.

As things are today, many voters simply elect the fellow who happens to be in the party where their favourite presidential candidate belongs, without any consideration to merit or ability. This is done using the “3-piece” voting formula where voters elect a President, MP and Councillor from the same party without much scrutiny. Indeed, this is the reason many Nairobi voters cannot tell you the name of the Councillor they elected in December 2007!

Conclusion

Experiences from other established democracies shows that staggered elections could indeed be successful in strengthening local authorities. For example in the United Kingdom, local government elections follow a four-year cycle, while the parliamentary cycle is five years.

The United States of America conducts its local elections every two years, and during the Presidential mid-term cycle. In France, municipal elections to elect city Mayors and Councillors are held every six years while legislative and presidential elections are held every five years.

Closer home in Tanzania, civic elections will be held countrywide next month while the parliamentary ones will be held next year. In South Africa, municipal elections are held every five years, in a separate year from the general elections. The last elections to elect the members of the district, metropolitan and local municipal councils were held in 2006 with the next ones slotted for 2011. This year, Jacob Zuma was elected the country’s President in the parliamentary elections that have taken place every five years since 1994.

For real grassroots leadership to emerge firmly in Kenya, its imperative that we get the foundation right - we must reform our local authorities as a matter of urgency. The current reform initiative offers a wonderful opportunity to do this.

Dancan Muhindi
- Professionals for City Hall initiative -

Nairobi City Councillors Versus Gakuo: And the circus goes on

I've been pondering what to write here since this nasty, shameful and deplorable fight rocked City Hall last month (Thursday 26th February 2009).

I believe an earlier post last year on the subject of fighting councillors captures my thoughts very well on the way forward. If nothing is done to seriously reform the local government structures that deal with the election of Councillors in Kenya, we shall continue to witness these tragi-comedies at the City Hall for years to come.

Dancan Muhindi
- Professionals for City Hall initiative -

State of the Kenyan Nation: What is the way forward?

Fellow Kenyans, as I write this post I feel tired. Very tired.

In fact am down right mentally exhausted by what I see and read about our country almost daily since the beginning of this year.

Everyday, I listen to the news or read with despair about a parliament that refuses to be taxed, the high cost of basic foodstuffs, a hungry population and leaders who want to escape justice from the Waki report. Sometimes it can get really annoying. And when you listen to other Kenyans talk about these issues, all you get is complaints after complaints summed up in pure frustration.

Something is going to give. Soon. And we may not like the consequences.

I’m not going to repeat here what has been discussed a great deal in other forums, but Kenyans must now draw a line on where they want the country to go. Without a shadow of a doubt, we do not have any leaders worth talking about at the helm of this nation.

It’s quite clear that the leadership philosophy in Kenya is still based on the personal accumulation of wealth and nothing else. There is no visible commitment to a higher vision (despite the launch of vision 2030), no dream, no nationalistic desire to improve citizens’ welfare, but just a primitive accumulation of personal wealth by all means possible.

We can count well-documented corruption scams in this country for hours. I’m not about to do it here. The site www.marsgroupkenya.org provides well-documented corruption reports for any Kenyan who needs to read about the big political names that always get away scot free.

The big question now for all of us who care about the future of our families in Kenya remains – What are we going to do about this state of affairs?

Complaining and verbally ventilating our anger regarding the Kenyan leadership does not help one bit to change the country for the better. People simply need to take charge of their destiny through actions.

When I ran for a civic seat in my residential ward of Kileleshwa last year, I was trying to make a profound statement that one can actually effect positive change in Kenya right from the grassroots level. It wasn’t easy. In fact it was one of the most challenging and frustrating undertakings I’ve ever done in my life. Some of my peers and relatives thought I was crazy.

Though I lost the elections to an ODM nominee, I was happy to have introduced a fresh approach to local politics and shared with voters a glimpse of what is possible with a committed leadership at the grass roots level (see my campaign posts of 2007). I still meet lots of people in the ward who tell me they respect what I did last year.

What do we do now?

My challenge to fellow Kenyans who are increasingly frustrated by the state of the Nation is not to sit there and moan, but to start doing something about it. We are fond of ranting and raving about the leaders, especially in our homes during the evening news or in our favourite local pubs. This just raises our blood pressure but changes nothing on the ground.

Lets not send or forward angry emails that don’t change our lives. We need to get out of our office chairs and do something to change the situation. This is the point where many Kenyans often ask: “Surely, what can I do? I’m just an ordinary Kenyan trying to survive.”

As I saw for myself last year, there’s a lot one can do if they apply their minds to it, even in a small way. For instance, one can even organise neighbourhood meetings, reach out to like-minded peers - begin a culture of holding meetings in small halls or rooms to discuss and implement a way forward for our Nation. It is these little things that eventually build up into something big. This is far much better than doing nothing.

The guys who participate in forums such as ‘Bunge La Mwanachi’ or peaceful street demonstrations are admirable Kenyans who have decided to do something for their country, rather than complain endlessly waiting for an ‘Obama’ to emerge. I really respect their courage against great odds.

The intriguing question for all of us remains: Why must we always wait for someone else to emerge and take the lead, someone else to demonstrate, someone else to speak up, someone else to sacrifice by putting his career or family on the line?

I submit that perhaps we don’t want to rock our comfort zones or our safety cocoons. Or perhaps we just don’t care that much.

Allow me to pose one more question: Do many working professionals hold the attitude - “Let someone else, with ‘little’ to lose do it for me?” I definitely think so and I will explain this very briefly.

Just recently on October 6th, I attended a City Council public meeting to discuss LATF funds for Kileleshwa Ward at St. Marks Church Westlands. These Ward meetings had been advertised severally in the newspapers and through posters (see image). Apparently this didn’t work very well. Besides myself, my two pals, and Councillor Otieno, no one else from the Ward turned up for this crucial meeting.


The meeting was organised to discuss the LATF allocation of nearly Ksh. 4M and determine priority projects for the ward next year. Our deliberations with the Councillor saw the funds getting earmarked to begin the construction of the Waruku Health Clinic (one of my key campaign pledges).

It was a big shame that the Kilimani Councillor, Linnet Mirehane, had no single voter from her Ward to discuss the use of these funds.

I’ve provided this episode to illustrate my point – an overwhelming majority are waiting for someone else to take charge of the country’s destiny and will not bother to step in, even at the most basic level. And we still complain loudly when things don’t work in Kenya.

Perhaps, we are just cowards, content to complain from a distance rather than face our visionless leaders. And if we are a people who lack the courage to confront our corrupt and inept leadership, a leadership that is very likely to destroy our future, then surely we deserve everything we are experiencing now.

If we are not going to do something about it, lets just shut up and get on with our difficult lives.

What shall we do with our juvenile City Fathers?

If you’ve been wondering what has been ailing our troubled teenagers in high schools across the country, look no further than our elected representatives at the Nairobi City Council.

Two days ago, in a clear demonstration that quality leadership has yet to be embraced in our local authorities, our so-called ‘City Fathers’ went physically for each other during the Nairobi City Council departmental committee elections. Chaos and pandemonium broke out when the rival PNU and ODM Councillors could not agree on the mode of electing the committee chairmen.

This is reminiscent of another shameful fight witnessed during the 2006 mayoral elections. Elected Councillors resorted to throwing chairs and fists at each other to emphasise their arguments.

Mayor Godfrey Majiwa was compelled to flee the Council Chambers under tight security with Town Clerk John Gakuo close on his heels. Read the full story in yesterday's Standard Newspaper.

City Council Askaris actually threw tear gas canisters at the fighting Councillors to restore some semblance of order in the chambers (see photo). What’s intriguing about this incidence is the fact that these security guards are very junior employees of the same Councillors.


But what choices do they have when Councillors refuse to conduct their committee deliberations with decorum and civility befitting their status? It now appears that violence has been entrenched as an acceptable method for conducting council business at the Nairobi City Council.

Photo credit: Saidi Hamisi/Standard Newspaper.

Mincing no words to describe this culture among civic leaders, a lady Councillor from Karen put it bluntly on Kiss FM radio this morning: “This is very normal at City Hall. You have to fight to get what you want!”

Well, the ODM Councillors managed to get all the committee chairs at the end of the chaotic elections. Their PNU counterparts had taken off from the chambers, perhaps to nurse their wounds.

What a beautiful example for our growing teenagers in high school. No wonder they can't wait to burn down their dormitories when they fail to get a hearing from their school heads.

Who takes the blame for this state of affairs?

It’s very easy to condemn the Councillors for this deplorable behaviour, but as we point one finger at them, the proverbial four other fingers are pointing directly back at ourselves. I would like to submit that we the voters are the ones to blame for this appalling state of affairs in our local authorities. Allow me to explain.

Barely 9 months ago, we all went gleefully into the general elections and a majority of us voted for Councillors we hardly knew based purely on party choice. Very few took the time or effort to scrutinize their civic candidates before casting their votes, relying instead on party euphoria and the “3-piece” voting method to determine their choices. Indeed, how many Nairobians today can point out their local Councillor in a crowd?

This blind formula (yes, blind because we just guessed and hoped for the best) has been tried every time since the 1992 multi-party elections and it always falls short in delivering quality leaders into our local authorities.

In last year’s elections for example, the fact that a voter preferred PNU’s Kibaki to ODM’s Raila for President, did not automatically make the PNU council candidate a good choice for his/her ward, and vice versa. But that’s how the warped logic behind the 3-piece voting method works.

As demonstrated by the recent fight, we have yet again saddled ourselves for the next five years with low-calibre civic leaders who are not likely to deliver any credible services to city dwellers.

When we see them fighting each other at City Hall, they are certainly not fighting for better services for us. The chances are that some of those committee seats (especially Finance) hold the key to very lucrative deals at the council for these pretenders.

How do we get out of this mess?

This debate has come up every time these fights recur at our local authorities. Many people have suggested reforms to the local government act that would impose a minimum educational qualification for civic candidates, perhaps at O level, diploma or degree level. But wouldn’t that also compel a similar law for Parliamentary candidates?

This raises another interesting question of whether literacy levels are indeed to blame for this disgraceful behaviour by civic leaders. I’m open to reader’s views on this subject.

My submission is that we can find credible people to elect, if we de-link completely the civic elections from the Parliamentary and Presidential elections. What I have in mind is a system where for example, we elect Councillors in 2011, while MPs and the President are elected in 2012. We could repeat this again in 2016 and 2017 respectively.

This would ensure that hooligans and goons who have nothing credible to offer voters at the council level, don’t get a chance to hide behind a Kibaki, Raila or Kalonzo election euphoria. They would have to face the voters on their own merit.

Voters would also be compelled to scrutinize whom they vote for in such an election. After all, you are only voting for a councillor and no one else. This way, the chances of electing more credible civic leaders increases dramatically. I have faith that voters can make the right choices given an open and enabling environment.

Despite the extra costs of holding two separate elections in two years, the benefits in terms of quality leadership and service delivery to Kenyans would simply be mind-boggling. I submit that the impact would not only be felt at the grass root level, but ultimately at the national level when we elect our MPs.

However, there is one thing Town Clerk John Gakuo can do as we lobby for these ambitious reforms to be enacted by Parliament. As a matter of priority, he could start by bolting down all chairs at City Hall to prevent Councillors from using them as weapons whenever they fail to agree on anything.

By all means, let us protect the furniture at city hall from these marauding Councillors.

Local Authorities 9.2 Billion Shillings Payout: Who will account for our money?

In April 2008, a routine yet significant event went unremarked at the Local Government Ministry. The first 2008 allocation of the Local Authority Transfer Funds (LATF) totaling Ksh. 3.2 billion was paid out to the 175 local authorities in the country. A further Ksh. 1.32 billion was due by April 30th 2008.

Save for a full-page advert (click image) in the main dailies listing the amounts per council, there’s not been a single serious commentary or analysis regarding this money from our mainstream media houses. This being one of the most opaque and least understood public funds in Kenya, it’s important that we pause for a minute and ask ourselves a few pertinent questions regarding this money.

Are members of the public aware that these big sums of their own money have been given out to their ward Councillors?

Are members of the public aware that these funds are meant to initiate and complete various projects in their wards this year?

Are the taxpayers aware that their Councillors do not have ward committees (akin to the CDF committees) to oversee the use of these funds in the ward?

Are Kenyan voters aware that these funds have consistently been paid out to civic authorities every year since 1999?

Above all, can Kenyan voters confidently point out past LATF projects in their respective residential wards?

In attempting to answer these questions, I would like to begin by castigating the mainstream media in Kenya for failing in their duty to inform us regarding the LATF funds and their use over the years. In yet another classic example of this gross abdication, no journalistic enquiry worth talking about has been conducted by leading media houses to examine these funds, even after their disbursement this year.

The result is that few people are aware that public money is available for various development projects at the ward level, besides the much talked about CDF. Even fewer are aware that their elected Councilors have been entrusted with the authority to use this money as they deem fit within the wards. Incidentally, they are expected to do this in consultation with the ward residents.

Nairobi City Councillors receive the highest LATF amounts

This may come as a shock to many Nairobi residents, but it is true that from the LATF allocations in the 175 local authorities, Nairobi Councillors receive the highest amounts based on population density compared to other councils. From the recent disbursments, Nairobi City Council has already received a whooping Ksh. 597 Million for use at the wards level.

This implies that each of the 75 elected Nairobi Councillors is currently in charge of almost Ksh 8 Million meant to initiate various projects within their electoral wards. To appreciate the seriousness of this issue, it’s worth noting that this disbursement is just the first allocation this year by the local government ministry. Two other payouts will follow by October 2008.

During the government budget speech read on 14th June 2007, Finance Minister Amos Kimunya explained: “Budgetary allocation under LATF more than doubled from KShs.3.0 billion in 2002/03 to KShs.6.5 billion in 2006/07 and is projected to rise to Kshs.9.2 billion in 2007/08.”

Indeed, this year’s budget has allocated Ksh. 9.2 billion to local authorities. Nairobi City Council will receive the biggest chunk of the fund at Ksh1.7 billion. I invite you to do the maths and see how much each of the 75 elected Nairobi Councillors will receive from this by the end of the financial year.

However, the big question for the rest of us remains: Who is going to watch over these big sums of our money?

Of great concern to the Kenyan taxpayers is the fact that these funds are not publicly supervised nor are they publicly audited. A most feeble attempt at public audit is captured on the local government full-page adverts in these words: “Citizens should demand regular progress reports from their elected local councils on the use of the funds.”

According to the LATF act of 1998, the closest the funds come to being audited is when the officer administering the Fund (PS Local government) “prepares, signs and transmits to the Controller and Auditor-General, in respect of each financial year and within four months after the end thereof, a statement of accounts relating to the Fund specifying the income to the Fund and showing the expenditure incurred out of the Fund.”

To the best of my knowledge, I’m yet to see, read or hear a government public audit report on these funds since 1999.

The urgent need for Ward Committees

During the civic election campaigns last year in Kileleshwa, my most important and consistent pledge to the voters was the immediate establishment of a ward committee if I got elected. This proposed committee would comprise residents’ association officials and other critical stakeholders, to supervise the use of LATF funds meant for Kileleshwa. This ideal remains even more valid today. (Read my contract with Kileleshwa voters).

It’s obvious that without this sort of accountability on the money and going by what we’ve seen in the past, the money will easily find ‘better’ uses for our Councillors. Indeed, stories abound of people who were financially strapped becoming overnight millionaires during their first terms as Councillors.

There’s no magic or brilliance to it. As Kenyan voters, lets not regale ourselves with these stories in 2012. It’s our money after all that’s enriching a few.

The act needs to be revised by our MPs to enable the formation of ward committees and annual public audits. LATF is at par, if not more critical than CDF when it comes to uplifting the infrastructural and economic conditions of Kenyans at the grassroots.

Used well, these funds have the potential to catalyze some serious development projects in the wards. More so if targeted at informal small-scale business people, agricultural initiatives and the time-bomb that is the ever growing number of unemployed youth.

In concluding, I submit that due to an incredible omission in the local government act, the LATF funds remain a blank cheque given to our Councillors. Its high time taxpayers woke up from their ambivalence to start demanding accountability for their money.

As usual, your views and comments on this subject are most welcome.

Email me: dmuhindi@gmail.com

Uhuru Kenyatta: A poor legacy at the Local Government Ministry

I write this with a heavy heart, but I believe the truth needs to be stated as it is. Otherwise, we Kenyans will continue fooling ourselves that we have leaders in high positions interested in our welfare yet we don’t have them. The disagreements by PNU and ODM over the naming of a huge 40-member cabinet is a case in point. But that is a topic for another day.

The subject of my post today is motivated by the recent fiasco in the form of the Muthurwa bus stage and the transport chaos that continues to affect residents of Nairobi’s Eastlands estates. The master architect of this myopic plan appears to be none other than the local Government Minister Hon. Uhuru Kenyatta.



Hon. Uhuru Kenyatta. In 2002, KANU presented him to Kenyan voters as a “young” visionary Presidential candidate. Photo credit: www.africanpress.wordpress.com

Lets just take a moment not only to look at his obviously shortsighted traffic plan for Nairobi, but critically also evaluate his background and leadership credentials. We need to do this because the two aspects have a strong bearing on the present transport crisis.

Over the last few weeks, I’ve been looking at the chaos that Uhuru unleashed on Nairobi residents in the guise of decongesting the city, and I’ve concluded that he does not have what is takes as a leader to add value to the local government Ministry.

According to various statements carried in the mainstream media, blog discussions and ordinary conversations with people affected by the traffic chaos, there’s a widespread belief that is not being said so loudly. That Hon. Uhuru has no idea the suffering Eastlands commuters are going through because he has never used public transport in his entire 47 years of existence!

Now, this might seem outrageous at first glance, but after careful consideration, I believe this to be true.

Picture this: the man is the son of the first president of Kenya the late Mzee Jomo Kenyatta. He was born in 1961 when his father was already Prime Minister. Three years later, his father became President of an independent Kenya and remained so till his demise in 1978.

You can imagine the perks and comforts that go with living at the State house for most of your childhood. Am talking about things like being chauffeur-driven to school with state security in tow. Even after Daniel arap Moi took over as Head of State, I highly doubt whether this lifestyle changed much considering that Mzee Kenyatta was immensely wealthy at the time of his death and today, the Kenyattas remain one of the wealthiest families in Kenya.

Simply put, for a person who has probably never had to endure the rigors, frustrations and pains of using a Matatu, Uhuru is least qualified to be making policy for lots of Kenyans who use public transport on a daily basis. The decision to restrict matatus to Muthurwa resulting in thousands of Kenyans walking long distances to work clearly shows the lack of empathy by Hon. Uhuru Kenyatta. I believe a Matatu trip from Buru buru estate to Muthurwa, might be a very liberating and enlightening experience for the Minister. :-)

Uhuru's local governance vision

Nonetheless, I’ve been following his statements as a Minister, waiting to glean some revolutionary ideas on managing our local authorities and I’ve ended up disappointed. Sad to say, but the reality is that the man has not shared a vision, direction nor articulated a well thought-out decongestion plan for Nairobi traffic. What we are seeing is a haphazard implementation of some rookie ideas revolving around Muthurwa market.


Traffic Jam in Nairobi. Photo credit: www.mambogani.com

For a man who presented himself in the 2002 elections as a promising fresh pair of hands if elected President, there’s apparently no difference between himself and the political dinosaurs he was angling to replace. In those elections, he offered his youth as a presidential credential, a sign that he represented a new generation of leadership. Unfortunately, this has hardly been seen in the last 7 years that he has been in the national limelight.

This is not the first time Uhuru has held the local government portfolio. Former President Moi appointed him to that position back in 2001 when he was preparing the man for his unexpected presidential bid in 2002. And even then, Uhuru left no legacy worth talking about at the ministry. Why then should we be surprised when he starts off on the wrong foot at the same Ministry 6 years later?

Since 2002 when Uhuru ran for president, am yet to see anything convincing validating Uhuru’s leadership credentials or tested experience in the management of public affairs. The dwindling fortunes of the once mighty KANU party (he remains Chairman), his poor performance as Leader of opposition in the last parliament and the recent Muthurwa transport crisis lends credence to this.

The Uhuru situation captures very well the inherent leadership contradictions prevalent in Kenya. When we elevate individuals to high office awed by their pedigree names without due consideration to merit, ability or vision, we end up paying a very heavy price for the resulting incompetence. Ordinary Kenyans are today going through an extremely stressful and hurting period in our nation's history because of such poor leadership.

In conclusion, I firmly believe that Uhuru should ultimately leave the running of the City to elected officials at the City Hall. After all, why do we have Councilors drawing 85,000/= each and a Mayor earning over Ksh. 200,000 every month?

These are the people Nairobians elected to provide ideas and directions on how the city should be managed. They are not decorations to fulfill constitutional requirements. For heavens sake, they are using our money and because of this, we deserve the best service possible for every coin we pay them. Where are you Mayor Godfrey Majiwa?

As usual, am open to readers’ views and comments on this post.

Nairobi City Council: Nomination fever a shame on civic leadership

As Nairobi residents wait for the elections of a new mayor on February 25th 2008, intense campaigns are currently going on for the 25 nominated slots at the Nairobi City Council. Unbeknown to the general public, hundreds of individuals have been camping at the ODM and PNU party headquarters attempting to influence their nomination into City hall.

Hilarious reports from reliable sources indicate that PNU, which was allocated six seats for nomination, has received over 300 applicants! ODM, with 12 seats to fill, has received an even greater number of applicants, estimated at 500 plus individuals.

Clearly these guys know something the rest of the public doesn’t.

I can confidently assert on this forum that selfless public service is not the motivation driving these individuals to cajole and induce party bosses into nominating them.

Allow me to explain why these seats are so attractive.

Just imagine a monthly salary of Ksh. 85,000/= for the next five years, and no job description to talk about. In addition, voters will never ever scrutinize your performance over this time because the media will never put a spotlight on you unless you are the Mayor.

According to the Local Government Act cap 265, you can even go up to three months without attending a single council meeting. The icing on the cake could be the potential deals one is likely to come across at the City Hall. This is definitely a dream job for many people out there. Remember, no CV is required for this job.

These factors might as well apply to many of our recently elected Councillors. To add insult to injury, the caliber and competence of many of these councillors is nothing to write home about, party affiliations notwithstanding. I honestly do not expect much difference in terms of service delivery and accountability from the new councillors. LATF monies remain without oversight while Council meetings are likely to degenerate into the tragi-comedies we saw in the last Council.

Maybe we should borrow some radical ideas from other countries if we seriously want to improve the management of our local authorities. For example, Councillors in the United Kingdom are not paid a salary but rather a sitting allowance. In a way, this ensures that money is not the motivating factor in seeking a council position.

If per chance this was to be adopted here, I believe that Nairobi City Council is likely to attract more selfless and dedicated individuals to offer much needed reforms in urban management. Am open to corrections and ideas on how we can improve this critical local authority. Meanwhile, lets wait and see how the current council will perform.

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Dancan Muhindi
- A Professionals for City Hall initiative -
Email - dmuhindi@gmail.com

Aftermath of the 2007 general elections

Following the general elections held on December 27th 2007, I hereby wish to thank Kileleshwa voters and indeed all Kenyans for coming out in big numbers to make their will known through the ballot. However, 2008 started tragically for many Kenyans following the announcement of the disputed presidential elections.

My heartfelt condolences to all the families that have lost their kin through the senseless violence that has gripped our nation over the last two weeks. I’m praying for a speedy resolution to this unprecedented conflict.

The Kileleshwa civic elections were highly influenced by what was happening at the national level. The "three-piece" voting style that I’ve talked about previously in this blog, took centre stage yet again. I managed a commendable 4th place behind the three major parties ODM, PNU and ODM-K respectively. This was from a field of 10 candidates at the civic level.

The tragedy of voting three-piece

My campaign experience has clearly shown me that the tragedy of our civic elections can rightly be attributed to the 3-piece voting pattern adopted by an overwhelming majority of voters across Nairobi. Quite a number of people I’ve talked to over the last few days in Nairobi have no idea whom they voted for at civic level.

They simply voted for the Council candidate who was in the same party with their favourite presidential candidate. It was a really uphill battle for candidates like myself who had no presidential candidate in the party!

Nonetheless, I would like to take this opportunity to thank all those residents who voted for me based on my demonstrated capabilities and agenda for Kileleshwa ward. I thank you for believing in me and for what I stood for during the hotly contested campaigns. I also thank all those who supported my campaign both financially and through voluntary work.

Over the next five years, I will strive to initiate more development projects in the community where I reside and advocate strongly for an enlightened leadership at council level. I also plan to continue the lively discussions started on this blog while focusing on the performance of our City Councillors over the next five years.

God bless you all. God bless Kenya.

Dancan Muhindi – SAFINA
Email dmuhindi@gmail.com

My contract with Kileleshwa voters

With the general elections set to take place at the end of this month, the journey that I started at the beginning of the year is about to come to a climactic point. In a tough and yet remarkable year for me, I kept going against great odds driven by a deep desire to offer something different to the Kileleshwa voters – an inspired leadership that would raise the bar for our civic candidates in terms of service delivery.

To a large extent, I believe I’ve achieved that objective considering my limited time and resources. My name will be on the Kileleshwa ballot under the SAFINA party and it’s now up to the voters to decide whether my tested credentials qualify me for the job of representing Kileleshwa Ward at City Hall for the next five years.


This Saturday 8th December 2007, I will unveil my contract with Kileleshwa voters at the Waruku shopping centre during an exciting public rally. The rally will be curtain raised by local music artists led by no less - JUA CALI himself. See image advert on the right.

I have printed cards with this contract, which I prefer to call my Five-point action plans. My take is that action on pledges is what Kenyans really need, not empty promises in the form of grand “visions” and “manifestos” which are never implemented.

I have desisted from using those words because they’ve become such boring lies to Kenyan voters. I’ve been handing out my cards to Kileleshwa residents whenever I go out on the campaign trail because I believe that it’s important for a leader to have something binding on paper with his/her voters for ease of appraisal come the next elections.

It’s therefore a great honour for me to hereby present this contract on the blog for your download and objective perusal. Please click on the image to your right for a close-up of my contract cards.

I invite you to post your queries or comments on the same at this forum. You have a right as a voter and employer, to thoroughly interview me on these pledges before you cast your vote on December 27th 2007.

I’m confident that I’ll pass the interview and that Kileleshwa voters will give me the mandate to represent them as a Councillor at the Nairobi City Council. God bless.

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Get in touch through:
dmuhindi@gmail.com or call me on +254 722 781042
- A Professionals for City Hall initiative -

Free medical camp raises the leadership bar

The Waruku free medical camp took place last Saturday 27th October 2007 at the Salvation Army Church on Musa Gitau road, Lavington. The event brought together medical personnel from the Lions Sight First Eye Hospital, University of Nairobi School of dental sciences, Diabetes Management Institute (DMI) and the Kenya Society for Deaf Children. Our team of 27 volunteers was able to register over 1500 patients from Waruku, Kangemi and even Kawangware.

This day was a culmination of five months of serious planning and lots of co-ordination between the different participating institutions, the organizing committee and myself. As I walked among the patients, observing dedicated medical personnel at work; I couldn’t help but marvel at what could be achieved with resolute determination.

I frequently stopped to chat to the women, men and children, patiently waiting for their turn to be attended. Their encouraging remarks and appreciation for the community initiative completely validated all the stress we had gone through, especially in the last few days prior to the camp.

Over 30 people were diagnosed with diabetes and were provided with free insulin to last them several months. A similar number were referred to the Lions Eye Hospital in Loresho for further examination that may lead to surgery, at no cost. Over 300 dental extractions were conducted during the course of the day, bringing much needed relief to many people.

Mr. Muli, a 62 year-old man from Waruku told me in Swahili, “My son, you’ve done very well. The toothache I’ve nursed for the last few months is now gone. God will bless you.”

One lady wondered aloud why I was going for a civic seat instead of aspiring to be an MP. “Even the MPs have never done this for us,” was her emphatic statement. “Mama, huwezi kupanda mti ukianzia juu. Lazima uanze chini, kwenye mizizi,” I responded with a smile.

These sentiments reflected what had come to be accepted as gospel truth by the people of Waruku and indeed many other residents of Nairobi; that Councillors do not serve the people who elected them into office and that they were not expected to do so. So it was quite a pleasant shock for Waruku people when I came along and did two major projects within a short time, when other aspirants were doing absolutely nothing but the usual theatrics.

The feedback from the ground continues to encourage me to soldier on with the campaign. Voters are now using my name as a benchmark for all other civic aspirants in Kileleshwa. I’m happy that I’ve managed to achieve my primary objective in this civic race – to raise the bar high for aspiring City Councillors. The beneficiaries of this scenario will ultimately be the residents of Kileleshwa Ward who deserve much better than they’ve been getting.

My deepest gratitude goes out to all the volunteers from Waruku and elsewhere who made the day a success. Many thanks to my friends who put in their time and resources to making this dream a reality for the people of Waruku, Kileleshwa Ward. And finally, a big thank you to my lovely wife, for believing in this initiative even when the going got unbearably tough.

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Dancan Muhindi – Uongozi ni vitendo
- Professionals for City hall initiative -
Cellphone : 0722 781042, Email: dmuhindi@gmail.com

The Waruku Free Medical Day

From the beginning of this month, I’ve been finalizing on plans for a free medical camp set for this Saturday 27th October 2007. Over 50 medical personnel will come together at the Salvation Army Church compound on Musa Gitau road, to provide crucial medical check-ups and treatment for over 2000 people from Waruku. This is the first time such an event has ever taken place in Kileleshwa.

It’s important to note that Kileleshwa Ward does not have a single public health centre and the medical camp clearly focuses on this issue. The idea behind this community initiative is also to demonstrate that I take very seriously the health of the residents, especially those unable to access or afford medical care. The Waruku residents are especially vulnerable in this regard.

The medical providers are as follows:

1. Lions Sight First Eye Hospital, Loresho.
2. University of Nairobi school of dental sciences
3. Diabetes Management Institute (DMI)
4. Kenya Society for Deaf Children

Fantastic corporate support has come in from Davis & Shirtliff Ltd. with a donation of 2000 bottles of water for the patients. Proctor & Allan Ltd. is also donating 2000 Nutri-rich porridge packs.

Please write or call me if you would like to support in any way towards this worthy community initiative.

Sincerely,

Dancan Muhindi
- Professionals for City hall initiative -
Cellphone : 0722 781042, Email: dmuhindi@gmail.com