Principal Harun Wins

Court defers transfer of teacher honoured by Kibaki

Published on 29/05/2011

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By David Ochami

The High Court in Nairobi has extended orders barring the Teachers Service Commission (TSC) from transferring a secondary school principal to teach at a primary teacher training college by three weeks.

On Friday, Justice Daniel Musinga extended the orders he gave on May 13 to July 21 to enable the lawyer for the principal, Mohamed Harun Yusuf to respond to an affidavit filed by the TSC justifying the transfer from Garissa Secondary School to Mosoriot Teachers Training College in Nandi Country. Ironically, last December Yusuf received a Head of State Commendation for exemplary contribution to excellent academic performance in North Eastern Province and Garissa County.

Through his lawyer Evans Ondieki, the principal has gone to court to overturn what he considers to be a politically motivated transfer engineered by local PC James ole Serian. Yusuf said the transfer followed political pressure from a powerful political elite opposed to his efforts to stop land grabbing at the school.

Staff balancing

The principal argued in an affidavit that TSC as an independent commission should not be arm-twisted.

Ondieki said the premise of the transfer was a letter by ole Serian to the TSC on April 13, this year alleging the principal was at loggerheads with a powerful minister in the province and, therefore, had to be transferred. He told Justice Musinga on May 13 that the coincidence of the transfer by TSC on April 29 this year and the letter by the PC cannot be separated.

This caused the judge to suspend the transfer until May 26 when TSC was to reply to Yusuf’s claims that the movement to Mosoriot was a demotion and not a normal transfer.

But on Friday, TSC through Nancy Macharia, its director in-charge of staffing opposed the petitioner’s claim, arguing that as an independent commission created by article 237 (1) of the Constitution, it could not have succumbed to external pressure to make the transfer.

She alleged in a sworn affidavit that the petitioner was deployed and not demoted to Mosoriot "owing to his exemplary performance and mastery" of Islamic Religious Education and history, adding that the Commission was "motivated solely by its guidelines and the need to ensure correct staff balancing."

KNUT Elelctions, Garissa Branch

 Good Evening Faithful readers.I assume many of you were not aware of the KNUT Election that was held today in Garissa.

Thanks to tips from readers, we learnt that Atosh was elected KNUT Secretary  in a tense election where emotions threatened to boil over. Runner up Nur aka Noorkey has alleged that the election was neither free nor fair.

As ever, allegation of irregularities are commonly thrown around by losers without any substantiation. We here at Garissa City Blog wish Mr. Atosh all the best as he takes the helm here in Gsa.

Quick Hits: Youths Storm Municipal Council Offices & Nurses Assaulted in Sakuri

 This morning, my inbox was stuffed with e-mails from readers informing me about what some of them termed 'a revolutionary fervor' bubbling in our city.

Yesterday, about 8-10 youths from the Northern forum for Democracy(?) were arrested and arraigned in court after they  stormed the Garissa Municipal Council offices. All of the accused youths were released on free bail and will have allegation against them heard by a judge at a later date.

Does this represent a break with our passive past? No one can conclusively say so but we hope this heralds a  change in the fear pyramid where citizens move to the top of the hierarchy.


                                  ****

In an eerily similar circumstance, a bunch of youth were arrested in Sankuri and are now facing charges of aggravated assault causing bodily harm and forcible confinement after they severely beat up two nurses at a dispensary in the village and locked up a third in a room.

The nurses have been brought to Garissa General Hospital for treatment. Its not clear what led to this act of random violence. Sources I've spoken to claim that some one who was claiming to be sick played a major a role.

In any case this was highly unnecessary and avoidable. Attacking healthcare workers for no reason is not part our culture.
We wish both ladies a quick recovery.

Nairobi Star: Garissa Boasts of the biggest Livestock market in East & Central Africa

According to Interpol, Garissa town is reportedly the safest town in East and Central Africa. The pastoralist town added yet another feather in its cap for having the biggest livestock market in East and Central Africa.
The 5.38-hectare market which is as old as Garissa town started off as a meeting point for barter traders before gradually developing into the renowned livestock market. The market receives livestock from Kenya and other neighbouring countries like Somalia and Djibouti.


Among the animals paraded for sale include cattle, camels, goats and donkeys. Of these, the cattle are the fastest moving commodity thus the huge market is generally referred to as 'Soko la Ng'ombe'.
Wednesday is the official market day of the week. By eight o'clock in the morning, the market is fully packed and is a buzz of activity with people from all walks of life trying to haggle for a fair price.


Osman Dubat, 70, from Mogadishu is one of them. His greatest intent this particular Wednesday is to buy more cattle for his ranches. When we meet, he is in deep negotiations with Nkaiseri Ole Tipis from Kajiado Central. "I have been doing this for the last 20 years, I always come and buy the cows at a lower price before selling them at higher one. I am a butcher so after I buy them, I fatten them at my ranches then slaughter them for sale."


Another determined trader Ibrahim Farah from Djibouti admits that he had been camping in Garissa four days prior the market day to offload his 300 head of cattle. "With the ongoing drought which is being experienced in some parts our country, I saw no need to continue keeping this number of animals only to lose them through drought. I decided to bring them to this market because in Djibouti we don't have a big livestock market like this one."


During the high season, over 2,000 head of cattle gets traded off at the market. This number makes the city council Sh350, 000 in market fees. "For each donkey and every head of cattle we charge Sh160, while for camels its Sh300 and Sh40 per goat and sheep. This money we collect helps us run our business as a council thus we are able to improve our services to the people of Garissa," revealed Garissa Town Clerk Erastus Karani.



The town clerk however says that the council still faces its fair share of challenges including neighbouring communities trying to encroach the market land. Through the Kenya Municipal Programme, the council is now making plans to put up a perimeter wall around the market to remedy this problem. "We also intend to put up a shed for the traders and extra toilets to cater for the thousand plus people we admit. The water troughs also need to be replaced as they are worn out."


According to another government official David Cheruiyot who serves as the Garissa District Livestock officer, an abattoir needs to be set up. "We have a big number of weak animals that die in the market. The construction of this abattoir will go a long way to help create another source of income for these animal owners because currently when the animals die, they get disposed off."


                                             Post taken verbatim from Nairobi Star

Dualle Endorses Mutunga

 National man of idiocy, Aden Dualle, had a rare moment of clarity and coherence when he came out in support of the newly nominated chief justice to be, Dr. Mutunga, infront of cameras of course.

This represents the first time our poodle-boy has a major break with his Kalenjin over-lord, Ruto, on a matter of policy and national significance.

You know what they say, even a broken clock is right twice day.

Here is the video:

Garissa High Upgraded to a National School

Hey Garissans! Can I have everyone's attention? I've got a big announcement to make here. Call in Caliyow and halima, I don't want them to miss this.

In Garissa, you may have heard, we are big fans of hand-outs and undeserved upgrades. So understandably we are over-joyed by the news that our most famous school is getting upgraded to "national" status. And that's not the end of this great piece of news. The cherry on top of the awesomeness that is this cake : the school gets Sh. 25M to help in upgrading its facilities.

Financially, this has been a windfall year for Garissa High. The school has amassed about Sh. 30 million from the Government and Unicef. Remember, the school was also designated as a sports talent nurturing academy. That designation came with close to Sh. 5 million in backing!

Reality


Lets all remember that Garissa High does not deserve this promotion. Its academically inferior to most schools in other parts of the country and that has nothing to do with marginalization or socio-economic disparities.

Majority of students in the school are either self entitled brats or fatalistic stoners who do not work hard for anything. The Principle is a perpetual absentee administrator with political ambitions and a self-aggrandizing persona. The parents do not give a rat's ass about how the school is run. Clearly thats not a national school culture.

If Garissa high wants to be welcomed into a league that includes Starehe Boys & Alliance High, the schools laissez faire attitude toward failure and mediocrity has to be shed. In its place should come selectivity and rigorous curriculum. 

Profiles in Modern Discrimination {Citizen TV}

 Citizen TV profiled Mohamud Hussein, a 21-year old Garissa resident whose efforts in trying to acquire national Identity card have been rendered futile due to discriminatory policies put in place by a modern day fascist government.

Every time we belly up to the filthy inarticulate explanations offered by authorities, their dishonesty embarrassingly bares itself out.The way the buffoonish D.C contemptuously addresses an issue that riles up emotions in NEP, as though it were sideshow clearly shows how little regard he has for the complaints of the public. He kept referring to us "These people" and "Hawa Watu" as though we are some alien population.

The very same man who has enriched himself [through bribe solicitations] by lording this document over genuine Kenyans is condescendingly pointing fingers at us. What a sham!




I am glad that Citizen TV has brought light to an issue that we Somali Kenyans are passionate about.

Martha Karua turns to Ageism to disparage Yussuf Hassan

The Kamkunji by-election is turning out to be a crash course in all the vile things Kenya's politics is capable of. We've seen everything from racism to religious discrimination to tribal politics to violent intimidation and now comes the only other form of discrimination xenophobes could think of: Ageism.

In a much  publicized confrontation, Martha Karua turned to her natural talent of discriminating against non-kikuyus/sycophants to drum support for her minion (Brian weke), but this time round her excuse was the age of Yussuf Hassan.

In a belligerent display of ageism, Karua claimed that Yussuf Hassan's age disqualifies him from holding public office. Remember, this very woman in what is becoming characteristic, referred to Somalis as "refugees" and also refused to ask her puppet, Weke, to apologize for his outlandishly racist campaign tone.

Leave it to Yussuf to muzzle the Gichugu witch with a zany zinger that went something like this:

“If it is about age and voting for young people then may be my sister (Ms Karua) here should also drop her quest to be president because we are the same age,”

BURN!!!!



Read full story here.

Sergeant Yussuf Hassan's Murder

Senior Sergeant Yussuf Hassan Hafi was cowardly gunned down by a junior officer in Parklands Police Station. According to media reports, Constable Jacob Rop was of questionable mental health and likely suffering from severe depression. Its reported that the officers engaged in some verbal back-n-forth before the suicidal Rop opened fire on his senior and another officer who came to check out the fracas.

The Sergeant was a native of Garissa. He was a father and a grandfather. His family and relatives are in our thoughts and prayers.
 May Allah grant him Jannah.

Read full story here

NTV's Bull's Eye Lampoons Aden Dualle [Video]

Aden Barre Dualle is no stranger to self destruction or to saying really stupid things in front of crowds. If you are a self-obsessed rookie politician with the intention of getting in the news cycle as often as possible, what do you do? Go to every open Mic and say whatever stupid drivel that rolls through your head with no sense of shame or self censorship.

The flip side of this: such attention will come with a degree of (substantiated) mockery, satire, lampooning and of course a stable diet of tailored insults. Comes with the game sir!

The Garissa High School Debacle

The efforts by Garissa County's asinine political elite to transform our city into some hegemony controlled by afew exclusive families continues apace.

Their campaign to destroy Garissa's egalitarian political normativity

has claimed one more victim in Principal Harun.

Its a political conspiracy of Oedipal nature...a case of kill the baby in its cradle before it kills its papa. Just because the man had the audacity to toy around with the idea of running for the Governor's seat, he is being punished with a transfer to Mosoriot Teachers Training College.

Don't get me wrong! I don't believe Harun Mohamed is a great educator or principal for that matter. I'm also not of the persuasion that Garissa High School is a great school or even the best in NEP {That honour goes to Mandera Sec which took 35% of all position in the TOP 100 and 15 of the top 25} but his political ambitions shouldn't mean an imminent transfer from a place where he is well liked and appreciated as the demo illustrated.

This's a clear case of political paranoia meshed with unchecked ego and it goes on to show how the powers that be are full of machinations aimed at screwing the public.

That's what our exiguous choice of leaders gets us but it doesn't mean we have to put up with it.

Breaking News: Al Waqaf Ablaze

  One of the worst fires in a very long time is raging atop one of Garissa's most iconic buildings and at the heart of the city's business district. Al Waqaf Quran House is ablaze and because of the city's lack of fire engines and trucks nothing has been done about it.

The fires posses the grave risk of spreading to nearby buildings and causing much bigger damage. So far there have been no fatalities reported. The situation is very fluid hence much of what I'm reporting is based on first hand reports (from readers and fans) whose veracity I cannot vouch for.

As much as the Municipal council should be held criminally liable for negligence of duty, the business community should have had contingency plans in case this happened. Relying on an entity that has a checkered history for the safety of your business is pretty stupid. In any case, I believe the premise was insured and Mr. Kunow will probably recoup its full value.

Lets hope the winds don't spread the fire to Suuq Mugdi and its uninsured stalls.

Send me you pictures and reports @ garissacity@yahoo.com

Plans to build Tanneries in Wajir & Garissa unveiled

BUSINESS NEWS

Sh25m set aside for three tanneries

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William Oeri | NATION Mr Simon Nganga of SIMJON Shoes Ltd displays a pure leather shoe made in Thika during the launch of the Leather Development Council Strategic Plan in Nairobi last April .

By KABURU MUGAMBI akaburu@ke.nationmedia.com

Posted  Friday, May 6 2011 at 18:32

IN SUMMARY

• Factories will boost production capacity of leather and increase value addition

The Government will spend Sh25 million to build three community-managed mini-processing tanneries in Wajir, Garissa and Bungoma, which are expected to be complete by August 2011.

The project, which is fully-funded under the Economic Stimulus Programme, will increase the number of tanneries in the country to 16.

Besides the increased processing capacity, the new tanneries are expected to increase value addition of the leather.

“We will end up with 16 tanneries, which should help us process all hides and skins and increase on value addition,” said Mr Mwinyikione Mwinyihija, the chief executive officer of Leather Development Council.

“With a demand of 34 million pairs of shoes annually, we can help this country industrialise.”

He added that the council, established by the government and private sector to drive the leather sector, had facilitated the formation of Kenya Footwear Manufacturers Association, which will play a key role in buying leather products.

Ms Nalina Rupani, managing director of leather shop Adelphi, said there has been no voice for the leather industry before the recent formation of Leather Development Council, while the absence of an institutional framework that would focus on tapping the huge potential in the leather industry had contributed to the low value addition.

The sector has gradually declined in performance throughout the production chain, starting with raw materials, leather processing, footwear and leather products and marketing.

Before the marketing liberalisation in 1990s, the country had 19 established tanneries with a capital investment worth Sh3.8 billion, employing 4,000 people.

Livestock Development permanent secretary, Kenneth Lusaka, said the government is addressing hindrances and competition, which have made Kenya unable to fully exploit hides and skins as a locally available resource.

This includes initiatives such as imposition of tax on exportation of raw hides and skins from 20 per cent to 40 per cent in 2006 and exemption of importation of tax on selected chemicals and machinery used in the tanning industry.

 

Genocidaires Associated with Wagalla Massacre summoned by TJRC

Let us stop for a minute and give a deserved applause to the men and women of the TJRC. Despite court battles and significant resistance from the masterminds of the Wagalla Massacre all aimed at stopping the commission from doing its work, these guys have stuck to their guns. And now comes the good news that we all wanted to hear: the genocidaires who refused to show up before the panel in its Wajir tour have now been summoned to appear before it in Nairobi.

Those summoned to appear before the TJRC include the who is who of murderous villainy.These high profile war criminals total 27 and include, Bethuel Kiplagat, Mwiraria, Joseph Kibwana, Jospeh Kaguthi, Benson Kaaria, among others.

All of these men have been adversely implicated in the massacre of 5 000 Somalis in Wajir. In their many different capacities, these men (and they are all men) have been the prototype for a mini-hitlerian plan to decimate Somali Kenyans. Lets hope justice catches up with them in this world because surely what awaits in the here after is far worse.

Read full story here

Nairobi Star: Garissa County Teens Elect Their Governor

 The national council for children will provide an opportunity for teenagers to debate and take part in decision that affect their lives, according to a children's officer.
Garissa children's officer Bishar Abdullahi said the forum will give children a chance directly take part in issues that have an impact on their lives.
He made the statement in Garissa during the election of Garissa County governor, deputy governor and regional speaker at the weekend. Children from Fafi, Ijara and Lagdera attended the election meeting.


He said: "The Kenya Children's Assembly will enhance child participation in matters affecting them and act as a medium to articulate the various issues raised by children, especially in matters concerning education, health, protection from violence, abuse, exploitation and HIV/AIDS."


He gave the example of Northeastern province where FGM is a common practice. Children will now get a chanto the young ones saying that because they had not been given a forum to talk about it, it was becoming difficult to weed it out.


He went on:"It cannot get any better for you than this, for once you have the opportunity to interact with your colleagues from other parts of the country and share with them your experiences, not forgetting that you will have the opportunity to directly interact with your leaders and tell them your problems." He challenged the children to come up with idead that could be implemented to make society a better place for all.
Newly-elected 15-year-old governor Khadija Jibril, a Form Two student in Ummu-Salama Secondary School, said the children's council was long overdue and that it would go along way in empowering children with knowledge and skills on rights and responsibilities.


The concept of children assemblies aims at inculcating in children principles of participation critical in promotion, inclusion, equality and development of democratic values in children. Every county will have its representatives in the national assembly.

Disclaimer: Post taken verbatim from The Nairobi Star. The views expressed here in do not reflect the editorial view of GCB.

Sunday Nation & this month's latest in Anti-Somali Racism

Malignant Racists, like the Daily Nation's Editor's, don't know went to drop the old beat-up story of  how Somali refugees are a threat to Kenya's "security".

In typical xenophobic cabiid fashion, their template article for drumming up hatred, probably to influence the Kamkunji election is out.

The template always looks something like this:

HEADLINE: Somalis/Illegal immigrants pose risk to Kenya

"Kenya is grappling with the increased risk of (Insert one of the xenophobic lies they propagate e.g home grown terrorist, property price spikes, money laundering etc)

Blah blah blah...Monkey X, an expert in Security, finance, real estate said yada yada yada

Insert a definitively sweeping negative statement about all Somalis, Kenyan or otherwise,alleging the same aforementioned crap.

In this particular case, what stood out for me was the supposed security officer who said:

"Unlike the Ethiopians who use the country as a transit route, the Somalis mean no good; they are a security threat,”

Seriously? Not be a racist myself but come on, Ethiopian are better for Kenya than Somalis? HAHAHA!
Expect more of this as the normally notorious Kamkunji Politics heat up.

If you want to read the full story, here is the link