Baraza loses bid to block tribunal

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Deputy Chief Justice Nancy Baraza has failed to block a tribunal from investigating her conduct.

The High Court ruled Thursday that her request for interim orders against the team has been overtaken by events after President Kibaki announced the tribunal lineup on Wednesday.

Deputy Chief Justice Nancy Baraza

“We must treat our own with profound respect [and] in the same breath treat judicial officers just like ordinary citizens seeking protection from an alleged infringement or isolation suffered as a result of the conduct, action or omission,” the judge said.

Justice Mohammed Warsame ordered her to serve the Judicial Service Commission (JSC) and Attorney General Githu Muigai with the suit papers, so that the issues raised in her application can be discussed between the parties on Monday, next week.

“Just like ordinary citizens, the applicant can only be granted the interim orders if there is a prima facie (arguable) case and which needs urgent interim orders,” the judge ruled.

Due to the weight and fundamental issues in the petition, the High Court certified the case as urgent and ordered it be heard on Monday.

Earlier, the case was taken to Justice Isaac Lenaola, who is in charge of the Judicial Review Division of the court, but he could not hear it since he is a member of JSC. The same applied to Lady Justice Mumbi Ngugi who served in Fida-Kenya with Baraza.

The DCJ, who is alleged to have assaulted a security guard at Village Market in Nairobi, on New Year’s Eve, moved to the High Court in Nairobi Thursday, barely 24 hours after President Kibaki suspended her from office, pending investigations into her professional conduct.

The President formed a tribunal of seven to investigate claims that she confronted a security, guard, Rebecca Kerubo. This followed a petition to Kibaki from the JSC, as the Constitution requires.

In the tribunal are Augustino Ramadhan, Judith Behemuka, Justice (Rtd) Philip Ransley, Surinder Kapila, Beauttah Alukhava Siganga, Grace Barbara Ngele Madoka, and Mugambi Jesse Ndwiga Kanyua.

The High Court was told Baraza had not received a letter from Kibaki or a gazette notice suspending her from office, and was working in her chambers at the Supreme Court in Nairobi.

Punched holes

Baraza, through her lawyer John Khaminwa, punched holes in the JSC petition, saying it was based on a CID officer’s statement, which cannot be relied on as evidence.

“When you put police officers in a witness box, they contradict themselves and start making confessions. You will be extremely blinded to make a finding using a police statement,” he said.

“All we are told is a misunderstanding between two women at a market place and you ask His Excellency to appoint a tribunal? JSC has no proof of misbehavior,” Khaminwa argued.

The court was told JSC had no powers under the new Constitution to form a sub-committee to investigate her, and what it did was erroneous.

It is Baraza’s testimony that JSC did not give her any documents touching on the allegations against her.

In the application, she wanted the judge to issue a conservatory order restraining any State officer or institution from publishing in the Kenya Gazette notice a tribunal as requested by JSC in its petition to the President.

She wanted the court to temporarily stop the swearing-in of the tribunal members, and that it be stopped from executing its mandate.

In her affidavit, Baraza stated that she had an encounter at the Village Market Mall on December 31, last year, and thereafter, a series of events followed. She claimed there was extensive media coverage which tailor-made the episodes to “achieve character assassination”.

She added: “My reputation has been severely damaged by the intense media coverage.”

In the petition forwarded to the President by Chief Justice Willy Mutunga, the findings of the sub-committee stated that as per the statement of a witness who appeared before it, it was clear Baraza breached the Constitution.

The sub-committee stated that she breached the Article that requires a State officer to behave, whether in public and official life, in private or in association with other persons, in a manner that avoids demeaning the office he or she holds.

The committee found that her actions breached the Judicial Service Code of Conduct and Ethics.

The security guard, Ms Kerubo alleged that Baraza brandished a pistol at her.

She also claimed the DCJ pinched her nose and threatened to shoot her when she pursued her to demand she undergo a routine security check.

Meanwhile, a remand prisoner in Malindi prison has moved to court seeking orders to set aside the JSC report that recommended Baraza’s suspension.

Right to privacy

Emmanuel Boki Kibagendi, who is facing a capital offence in Kilifi, has filed five grounds why he feels the rights of Baraza were overlooked by the JSC, which recommended her suspension to President Kibaki.

He wants the court to stop the proceedings against Justice Baraza until his application is heard and determined.

He claims Chief Justice Willy Mutunga rushed in interpreting the law, which was not fair, and wants the contents of the report declared null and void. Justice Edward Muchiri ordered prison officers in Malindi to produce Kibagendi in court on Monday to make his application.

Kibagendi, who will argue the application on his own, says the decision of JSC was unconstitutional because the committee failed to consider that every citizen had a right to privacy.

He says JSC erred in recommending the suspension of Baraza, without documentary evidence that the metal detector raised an alarm, which warranted Kerubo to use her hands to search the DCJ’s handbag.

He claims that by using her hands instead of the detector, Kerubo breached Baraza’s right to privacy, which the ad hoc sub-committee failed to include in the report. “The security guard could have used a sensor, which if used limits intrusion into one’s privacy,” said Kibagendi.

By Evelyn Kwamboka and Willis Oketch, The Standard

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The “Bridesmaids” Cast – Rose Byrne, Ellie Kemper, Melissa McCarthy, Wendi McLendon-Covey, Maya Rudolph and Kristen Wiig – to Present at 84th Academy Awards®

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Beverly Hills, CA – Six actresses – Rose Byrne, Ellie Kemper, Melissa McCarthy, Wendi McLendon-Covey, Maya Rudolph and Kristen Wiig – from the hit comedy “Bridesmaids” will be presenters at the 84th Academy Awards, telecast producers Brian Grazer and Don Mischer announced today.  McCarthy received her first Oscar® nomination this year for her supporting role in the film, and Wiig also became a first-time nominee for the film’s original screenplay.   All six will be making their first Oscar show appearances.

Academy Awards for outstanding film achievements of 2011 will be presented on Sunday, February 26, at the Kodak Theatre at Hollywood & Highland Center®, and televised live by the ABC Television Network. The Oscar presentation also will be televised live in more than 225 countries worldwide.

# # #

ABOUT THE ACADEMY
The Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences is the world’s preeminent movie-related organization, with a membership of more than 6,000 of the most accomplished men and women working in cinema. In addition to the annual Academy Awards – in which the members vote to select the nominees and winners – the Academy presents a diverse year-round slate of public programs, exhibitions and events; provides financial support to a wide range of other movie-related organizations and endeavors; acts as a neutral advocate in the advancement of motion picture technology; and, through its Margaret Herrick Library and Academy Film Archive, collects, preserves, restores and provides access to movies and items related to their history. Through these and other activities the Academy serves students, historians, the entertainment industry and people everywhere who love movies.

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Stressed rhino sends minister Scampering

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A rhino ran amok at Ruma National Park in Homa Bay during the relocation of the beasts.

Wildlife Minister Noah Wekesa scampered for safety when the rhino tried to overturn the cage where they had taken cover.

Forestry and Wildlife Minister Noah Wekesa

Experts said the stressed beast had felt the presence of human beings and acted to protect itself.

One KWS official held the minister to stop him from falling off the cage.

Interestingly, 20 minutes later the rhino stopped pushing the cage and joined others in the grazing field.

A local journalist, Habil Onyango jumped on to a vehicle parked nearby to avoid being mauled.

Twenty-one black rhinos were relocated to Ruma Park from Mugie Rhino Sanctuary and Solio Ranch in a move expected boost tourism in the area.

The minister called upon the provincial administration to help combat poaching and appealed to residents to invest in the tourism industry instead of killing the animals.

“Let me encourage the local people to refrain from killing wild animals for food,” he said.

By James Omoro, The Standard

Melodious voices guide young people to take right steps

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Teenage is an explosive time that needs lots of sobriety to pass through. Because of the sensitivity of the period, many people shy away from advising these energetic, enthusiastic and moody teens, leaving them to navigate their way through that phase of their life. Parents usually cross their fingers and pray that their children will turn out just right.

The Glory Voices group encourages young people to make wise choices in life. PHOTOS: COURTESY/STANDARD

But a group of women has decided to break this cycle — by targeting high school students and talking about issues that worry them.

Glory Voices, an organisation founded by three women in 2003 to work with teenagers, has grown and is effectively touching lives of many young people every year.

The three founders — Florence Ambayo, Tabitha Ogango and Margaret Lubaale — started off informally by inviting each other to official functions any of them was invited to.

Immense feelings

Ambayo could be invited to sing and she would invite Ogango to play the piano for her, or Lubaale, a teacher, would be called to preach and invited the others to join her. Within no time, they had learnt many things and they needed to do something to help students struggling with immense feelings of uncertainty and peer pressure.

In their time, the women went through school without much ado as they were staunch Christians. Current pressures, however, are different from those of their days — and that is how they come in; to encourage the growing and equip them with skills to overcome pressure and temptations.

Ambayo points to the things they have to deal with as diverse; ranging from academics and career choices to errant behaviours such as drug use and prostitution.

They started by attracting busy career women to join them because they wanted these women to give back and at the same time dispel the notion that busy career women cannot find time for such activities. Indeed most members are extremely busy but they find time for Glory Voices, which can take them anywhere in the country on short notice.

Members join as volunteers, driven by a passion to nurture the young. These members sign up for a year. “After one year, they have the option of going on or leaving the group,” explains Ambayo.

This, she says, is basically to gauge the members. At the same time, although some have stayed with Glory Voices for even up to three years, she says members are encouraged to take a break.

Although principally brought together by their love for the gospel, the group uses this interaction with teenagers to reach out to them in different ways.

Thus when invited to secondary schools, Ambayo will also speak on careers while another member, a motivational speaker, would also take the students through the same.

“We use the opportunity to counsel and allow them to talk about issues they would not talk to teachers or parental figures,” explains Ambayo.

Working with schools, she says, is both challenging and fulfilling. “We have had some students come to us and express gratitude,” she says, adding that it is moments like this that make them carry on.

Admirable professions

Social constructions make certain professions admirable and as such children end up pursuing professions they have no interest in except being perceived as prestigious.

Ambayo points out that there is one important thing parents and guardians miss when dealing with children; they ignore the individual passions of a child and hence are unable to aid them in pursuing the same.

Getting knowledge about careers enables students to go into something they understand.

For example, Ambayo says she found herself in accounting by default and stayed in the profession for about 15 years before realising it was not the thing for her. Something she attributes both to failure to recognise her own passion early enough and social constructions, which presented accounting as a prestigious career with people urging her on.

Ambayo says their focus is on secondary schools because they are driven by a desire to help this age deal with the many pressures facing them.

Although the members are attached to their individual churches, they do not work with any particular church, making the group open for anyone ready for this commitment.

Apart from working with schools they have also ministered in various churches.

Among the schools they have been to is Moi High School Kabarak, Ng’iya Girls in Siaya, Kapropita Girls’ and State House Girls’, among others around the country.

Despite this being a taxing endeavour, Ambayo says it is worth the effort.

“Our reach may not be big, but we touch a few, each of them is unique. It is wrong to point fingers at this generation,” she says.

Their vision is to reach as many schools as possible and form little chapters across the country. They hope their work will make an impact on individuals and their lives, and for them, this is motivation enough.

By Ferdinand Mwongela, The Standard

Calling Adwoa Safo To Order

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By: Margaret Jackson

There is this big housefly that the Fantes call ?Wansema Pobi?, which after feeding on human feaces, will stop at nothing but continue to make annoying buzzing noise until somebody decides to call it to order. In fact the noise that comes from this Wansema Pobi is so offensive that your best bet is to find something to brush it off. I have been compelled to compare Adwoa Safo, New Patriotic Party (NPP) Parliamentary Candidate for Dome-Kwabenya in this year’s election to this housefly, because ever since she won her party’s primary, she has been buzzing around just basking in insults upon insults rather than telling his constituents what she brings to the table.

Adwoa Safo, a so-called lawyer who in my estimation cannot prosecute or defend a case, has been going round heaping terrible insults upon President Mills, a man who is older and wiser than his jelly-curled and happy skin bleaching dad, Apostle Kwadwo Safo, leader of the Kristo Asafo Church.

Adwoa Safo, who as a daughter of a church leader knows very well about what the bible teaches concerning respect for the elderly, probably is thinking that heaping insults on President Mills and the National Democratic Party (NDC) is what is going to get her elected to parliament in the upcoming elections. This young lady who knows nothing about politics and how it is played has developed a sharp tongue like Frances Essiam and believes that by jumping from one podium to another and using lies to insult people is the only way to do the trick: get her elected.

Adwoa Safo, who joined the Muslim community to worship at Dome Pillar Two Mosque and also to formally introduce herself, minced no words in describing President Mills ?as the most deadly hypocrite of our time.? Does Safo knows what the word hypocrite means? According to the dictionary, a hypocrite, is a person who pretends to have virtues, moral or religious beliefs and principles among others, that he or she does not actually possess, especially a person whose actions belie stated beliefs. So does this cup rather fits Adwoa Safo, the pastor’s daughter, who does not have what it takes to become a lawmaker?

It is true that elections are about winning and that there is no price for coming second or last, but in selling your qualities and strengths to constituents, one must rather tell the people what you can do and do differently from your opponent. You must be able to let the electorate know that if you are given the mandate you will perform better than the servant (The parable of the talents) who was given one bag of gold but decided to dig a hole in the ground and hid his master’s money.

I am giving Adwoa Safo free coaching. As a candidate it’s about what you can do to lift people up from their current despondency. It is about programmes you can develop to help move your area forward. It is definitely not about verbal abuse. It is definitely not about lies. It is equally good to say that it is not about disrespecting people. Because if Adwoa Safo’s party, the NPP did a lot in their eight years in power, Safo will not be jumping from podium to podium today canvassing for votes. She would be sleeping throughout the electioneering campaigns because her work would have been done already.

Adwoa Safo was also reported to have advised Ghanaians to be wise as snakes during the 2012 elections. It is good for this lady to have pointed this thing out. Indeed, we Ghanaians who can read through the lines will take her advice to the bank. But what Safo must know is that by being wise as snakes, we Ghanaians will never bring the looting task force (NPP) to continue from where they left off.

Also, I will advice Safo to do well to desist from insulting the elderly who are older enough to become her parents. Politics should never give Safo the license to slight people. She is just young and in her effort to become a parliamentarian she should not cut corners but bring out a programme that makes sense to develop her area.

Safo also stated during the visit to the mosque that Nana Akufo-Addo has carefully developed a programme of action that will move Ghana from a raw material producing country, to an industrialized country. What programme? If Akufo-Addo has such a programme why did he not release it during the 2008 electioneering campaign or at best why did he not release such a programme when he was serving in the Kufour administration? Does it mean that if Akufo-Addo has anything better to offer Ghanaians he can only do it only and only if Ghanaians elect him to become president of the land.

The NPP gang including Safo have been going round lambasting President Mills of doing nothing. They have been comparing their eight (8) years in power to Mills’ three (3). This is a travesty of comparison. In life we compare apples to apples and not apples to oranges. If NPP wants a better gauge they should rather compare Kufour’s first three (3) years to that of President Mills first three years. But this looting crew is forcing Ghanaians to compare President Mills three (3) to that of Kufour’s eight (8) years. It this possible? It that reasonable? It that the honourable thing to do?

One thing Safo should know is that development is not about sharing money among the few. It goes far beyond that. If you live in your area where there are no gutters and people suffer from perennial rains, if you do not have electricity, if the main road to your area is impassable and water is a big problem, and a certain government comes to power and addresses some of these problems, you must thank God and conclude that, these actions are more than putting money in your pocket.

Adwoa, just think through this and reframe your campaign message otherwise you will fall flat in the hole you are digging. A word to the wise?..

[email protected]

Nation of Immigrants

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America is nothing if not a nation of immigrants. They are out lifeblood, our essential energy. We have a perfect right, nay an obligation to secure our border. However we have an equal and opposite obligation to keep our country open for needed immigrants, as does Canada; just as much as for our engineering enterprises and silicon valleys as for our agriculture and construction. Every new wave of immigrants has been initially reviled, then accepted, and then admired. Hereafter follows, by example, a fascinating list of some of the Jews (by birth to a Jewish mother*) who ended up in America, primarily as first or second generation immigrants. They were at first the “kikes”, the great unwashed, whose immigration we limited at the time; then when refugee boats arrived from Nazi Germany, we banned them from our shores – most were sent back to Germany to almost certain death. Yet is not America today enriched beyond compare by all our diverse immigrants?

Immigration is a burning quandary in today’s politics. Any reasonable moderate would agree that securing borders and selectively increasing legal immigration is advantageous to America. They would also agree that sensibly protecting jobs and providing an ethical resolution for long-term law-abiding tax-paying yet “illegal” immigrant families is long overdue. Yet extremism and political correctness ensures the left rails against secure borders while the right fights against integrating viable yet undocumented immigrant families. So nothing is done and all suffer who are connected with this insanity. Extremists call the shots while millions in and out of America are disenfranchised from the vast potential waiting for them – all to the detriment of our country.

Mexicans, Koreans and Indians all need a sensible American policy of immigration, not the irrational confusion we currently have. It should be based on our needs, on clear advantages for America, and not arbitrary family lineage, political circumstance or luck!

Paula Abdul

Isaac Asimov

Leonard Cohen

Albert Einstein

Dustin Hoffman

Michael Douglas

Harry Houdini

Cary Grant

Ralph Lauren

Estee Lauder

Liza Minnelli

Mark Rothko

Sen Penn

Elvis Presley

Paul Simon

Steven Spielberg

Barbra Streisand

Ellen Barkin

Sergey Brin

Bob Dylan

Bill Maher

Eric Schmidt

Arthur Garfunkel

Garry Kasparov

“Peggy” Guggenheim

Groucho Marx

Joe Liberman

Gwyneth Paltrow

Helena Rubinstein

Natalie Portman

Man Ray

Levi Strauss

Meryl Streep

Simon Wiesenthal

David Beckham

Charlie Chaplin

Sacha Cohen

John Stewart

Steve Ballmer

Benny Goodman

Larry King

Harvey Keitel

Stanley Kubrick

Bette Midler

Itzhak Perlman

Sarah Jessica Parker

Larry Page

Howard Stern

Vidal Sassoon

Jerry Seinfeld

Mark Zuckerberg

Click for Full Size

*Note: By Jewish law, all born to Jewish mothers are automatically considered of Jewish descent.

Wall Street Journal – How Immigrant Entrepreneurs Turbocharge US trade

Famous Jews

The following video was created by people who have an undisguised animosity and distrust for those who are simply different. It “outs” unambiguously the endemic hate and prejudice, historic canards and caricatures, lies and half-truths, that were openly prevalent in the early 20th century and still persist today; prejudices that will likely increase if resolution and balance do not evolve in our fractured immigration policy. Continuing to do nothing is not going to help the problem disappear. So borders largely remain open; hardworking, law-abiding, yet “illegal” immigrant families of 10 and 20 years remain excluded from viable options and eventual paths to citizenship; essential farmworkers, doctors, engineers, entrepreneurs, are largely excluded from successful immigration to the USA.

Rivers State: Traders and Multiple Ticketing Agents at Oil Mill Market

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In the time past, this writer wrote an article with the caption ?Nigeria: Rivers State ? the Bill on Illegal Development published in some online media sites and a few national dailies where he commented on the collection of all sorts of levy from land developers, borehole drilling companies among others. In that opinion piece I noted that ? It is no longer uncommon to see building projects such as the laying of foundation, erection of fence, sinking of borehole and molding of blocks at site of a building stopped by agents who claim to be taskforce for the collection of development fee. Work at such sites can commence only when the agents are settled?.

In the same article I also drew the attention of the appropriate authority charged with the responsibility of overseeing the activities of Ticketing Agents at the market where I wrote ?It is also important to draw the attention of the state government and the local government that oversees the collection of revenue from traders at the Oil Mill Market on Wednesdays, on the activities of agents that impose multiple levy on petty traders at the market. The manner the agents go about the collection of levy leaves one to wonder if the money collected eventually gets to the appropriate authority?.

Respite later came when the bill prohibiting of the collection of development was passed into law by the Rivers State House of Assembly. While one thought that the passage of the bill into law would put a total stop to the collection of the said levy, a few of these agents who have not turned over a new leaf as alleged by some residents in Elelenwo/Akpajo have continued to look out for people developing their land, borehole drilling companies, drilling boreholes in residential homes, labourers digging the foundation of building sites etc, with the aim of pressuring them to pay the obnoxious ?Marching Ground?.

In addition, the second and most important issue raised in this piece which is the selling of multiple tickets to traders who sell their wares at the Oil Mill Market every Wednesday has become a serious matter given the alleged indiscriminate method the ticketing agents or touts go about their duties. Most times petty traders who cannot bear the multiple tickets as it allegedly left them with little or no profit, gets embroiled with the ticketing agents who oftentimes confiscate their wares and at the extreme inflict indelible injury on recalcitrant ones who do not want to let go of their wares. Is it when these agents kill someone or give those concerned to checkmate this multiple ticketing a bad name, (if they have not gotten the bad name already) that something urgent and immediate should be done about them (ticketing agents)? According to a petty trader at the market who does not want her name mentioned said the multiple ticketing has led to some traders who come from Aba, in Abia State, to stop coming to the market to sell their wares while others in Rivers State have followed suit by constructing kiosks and tables where they display and sell their merchandise either in front of their homes, their landlady or landlord’s homes or any other place where they are not harassed or assaulted by the agents.

Needless to say a major share of revenue which ought to accrue to the state government is lost as a result of the so to say corrupt and greed-propelled multiple ticketing orchestrated by ticketing agents. It is not late for the Rivers State government to harmonize these different tickets into one or two to save the traders the assaults and harassment they go through in the hands of ticketing agents. It is therefore incumbent on the state government and the appropriate local government to monitor these agents and to put suitable mechanism in place; judicious levy collection devoid of any underhand dealings, proper accounting of money collected etc.

It is believed if the above is done, the unnecessary multiple ticketing that characterize the collection of levy at the market as part of the state government/local government internally generated revenue would be checked and sanity will not only return to Oil Mill Market but also traders who have been scared away from the market will come back. God bless Rivers State.

Nwaorgu Faustinus writes from Port Harcourt, Rivers State. Mobile: +2348035601312. Email [email protected] or [email protected]

Disclaimer: “The views expressed in this article are the sole responsibility of the author and do not necessarily reflect those of Modern Ghana. The contents of this article are of sole responsibility of the author(s). Modern Ghana will not be responsible or liable for any inaccurate or incorrect statements contained in this article.” ? Nwaorgu Faustinus.

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School father and School mother; a cause of homosexuality in Senior High Schools

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Homosexuality, in recent past, has engaged the attention of the public and is, undoubtedly, one of the prime heated debates in the world, Africa and indeed Ghana. It is important, however, to note that homosexuality is not the only problem facing our nation but this has, ostensibly, featured prominently in our media lately. This may be due to the weight it carries, that is involving the sexual orientation of individuals. This goes to confirm the fact that people are extremely concerned about social issues – issues affecting them.

Being a social issue that is affecting the social, cultural and religious believes, it has triggered a myriad of controversies over homosexual right among society, religious, government and non-governmental organisations.

Consequently, Ghana has not been spared either as this contentious debate rages on. While the Christian Council of Ghana, Ghana Muslim Association, Parliament of Ghana and other organisations have condemned the act and described it as ?evil,? advancing their arguments on the grounds that it does not conform to the cultural norms of the country, some Human Rights activists have constantly sprung to their defence.

Indeed, if Ghana abhors homosexuality and views it as an objectionable alien culture which does not conform to its moral standards, then there should be no room for it to thrive. This means that efforts to identify the sources, causes and find solutions to preclude it will be welcomed.

It is surprising to know that Senior High Schools (SHSs) in this country are constantly implicated as potential breeding grounds for this repugnant act.

Mr. Kwaku Adu-Gyamfi in an article which was published in Modern Ghana reveals that:

“Homosexuality is not born, but made. I believe the brainwashing process begins in schools and colleges, where many people develop the desire to experiment the act of having sex with the same sex. In the case of the Ghanaian homosexuals, it’s an acquired lifestyle which is mainly derived from boarding schools and the importation of the sexual trade by our open-door hospitality.”

Another writer, Mr. Isaac Karikari for Ghana Liberty also makes is succinct that:

“Second cycle schools have been major hubs for gay and lesbian acts. Senior high schools have been the real hot spots for gay and lesbian activities. It is in those places that gays and lesbians are really made. Underground gay and lesbian cells exist in many senior high schools.”

It is in the light of this and other consideration that the government, Conference of Heads of Assisted Secondary Schools (CHASS), National Commission on Civic Education (NCCE), and other organisations have offered themselves to go all out to form clubs and train teachers who will intend educate and sensitise students in these second cycle schools.

Direction from the Ministry of Education to make Sex and Relationships Education (SRE) compulsory within the national educational curriculum is a call in the right direction. Make no mistake; the conversion of same sex schools into mixed schools, as argued by some people, is tangential and any attempt to do so will come to nothing.

The panacea towards arresting this anomaly in our Senior High Schools will be to call on the government, CHASS and those who matter in education to consider abolishing the system of school father and school mother, which has been identified as one of the significant causes of homosexuality, in our boarding schools.

School father and school mother is a system in Senior High Schools where seniors (second year to final year students) take on junior colleagues as their school sons and school daughters. While there is no laid down procedure for adoption in some schools (in this case the seniors ask the juniors out), other seniors in some schools have agreed that first year students who occupy their top beds automatically becomes their school sons or daughters. The vice versa is true where the seniors become the juniors’ school fathers or mothers. This is, sometimes, done against the volition of the first year students.

Like any other phenomenon, this system has two sides. School fathers or mothers encourage and advise their school sons and or daughters to learn, support them financially and with provisions and in some rear cases having a popular school father or mother saves you from being punished by other seniors.

The other side of the coin has assumed a sinister dimension which is a cause to worry. It contributes to social vices including alcoholism, drugs, indecent dressing, licentious behaviours and homosexuality (that is when their school fathers and or mothers are engaged in them). Schools sons and daughters have no option but to acquiesce and emulate these unruly behaviours exhibited by their so-called fathers or mothers because of fear of being victimised or punished. This goes to confirm a school of thought’s assertion that ?one can be addicted through being enticed to practice it.?

When this happens most of these poor and susceptible students become addicted which they intend hand it over to the next generation.

This system has also become a fertile ground for the mushrooming of unhealthy sexual and intimate relationships with their colleagues (for mixed schools). It is true that there is no child without a father or mother. The school fathers find school mothers in sexual relationships and subsequently, their sons and daughters call themselves school brothers and school sisters. They are also left to their fate to start yet another relationship. The cycle continues when the sons and daughters move to the second year to become ?fathers? and ?mothers.?

What is more worrying is the fact that some school authorities have consented to this system and have little or no knowledge about its concomitant effects.

In addition to the growing pains that all teenagers suffer, first years caught in the web of homosexuality suffer additionally at the hands of their classmates with an unpleasant school experience. This may plunge them into emotional, physical or psychological trauma not to talk about the health risks.

If Ghana frowns on homosexuality and considers it as alien to our country, we should not create the enabling environment for such a despicable western culture to flourish.

We will need all the other options on the table to make this a reality. If we do not take immediate and proactive approach to arrest this issue, the chain of succession will continue and it is not us who will face the consequences, but our children and generations to come. We must also not forget that the potential consequences are enormous and we cannot pay for them.

Bright Habita
National Service Personnel
GPHA, Corporate Planning department
[email protected]

Disclaimer: “The views expressed in this article are the sole responsibility of the author and do not necessarily reflect those of Modern Ghana. The contents of this article are of sole responsibility of the author(s). Modern Ghana will not be responsible or liable for any inaccurate or incorrect statements contained in this article.” ? Bright Habita.

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PNU Alliance will back Uhuru for top job, say MPs

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Party of National Unity (PNU) Alliance has come to the defence of the embattled Deputy Prime Minister Uhuru Kenyatta against calls that he should not contest the presidency after the International Criminal Court (ICC) committed him to trial.

Resigned Finance minister Uhuru Kenyatta

The alliance claimed that Uhuru, who is one of the presidential aspirants under the coalition, will be in the nomination for PNU Alliance’s ticket, even if he will be seeking vindication over crimes against humanity at The Hague.

“Hague or no Hague, Uhuru will be seeking his candidature for presidency. He will be in the ballot for nomination as the PNU Alliance candidate and if he wins the primaries, he will be our candidate,” said PNU Alliance convener Kiraitu Murungi.

The Energy Minister said yesterday the alliance will stand behind Uhuru, even as he battles the charges.

Uhuru threw in the towel and resigned yesterday as Finance minister following intense pressure, which has been mounting that he and Francis Muthaura quit office since the charges against them were confirmed.

But during a meeting with all aspirants interested to seek elective positions through the alliance, the coalition vowed to fight those claiming that Uhuru and Eldoret North MP William Ruto should not contest the presidency.

Interest to contest

“We know there are people who want to place a stumbling block on the way so that Uhuru and Ruto do not contest, but as the PNU Alliance, we will be strongly behind them, whether they are at The Hague or in Kenya,” said Kiraitu.

The minister said like Vice-President Kalonzo Musyoka and Internal Security minister George Saitoti, who have also indicated their interest to contest the presidency through the alliance, Uhuru will be in the nomination for the single presidential ticket under the coalition.

Njeru Githae, who coincidentally replaced Uhuru at the Finance docket, and Kangundo MP Johnstone Muthama said the alliance strongly believed that there was no law that would bar Uhuru from contesting.

“We know those who have been committed to trial are innocent and it is only a matter of time before they are vindicated,” said Githae.

Muthama added: “Unless other people made their own laws and start interpreting them in their own way, currently we do not have any law requiring Uhuru not to contest.”

Embakasi MP Ferdinand Waititu said those claiming that Uhuru and Ruto should not contest the presidency are only afraid of facing them at the ballot.

Others who attended the forum at the alliance’s headquarters are ministers Yusuf Haji, Esther Murugi, Assistant minister Cecily Mbarire and MPs Lenny Kivuti, Mohammed Yusuf, Ntoitha N’Mithiaru, Mohammed Affey and Maina Kamau.

By MOSES NJAGIH, The Standard

Kenyan research firm unveils fast maturing cane seed

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Kenya Sugar Research Foundation (Kesref) has launched faster maturing cane to boost production.

The new seeds will mature within 14 to 15 months, as opposed to the current ones which took more than 18 months to yield.

Sugarcane plantation. The new seeds will mature within 14 to 15 months. PHOTO: TITUS MUNALA / STANDARD

The varieties are KEN 82-121, KEN 82-493 and KEN 82-601.

On Thursday, Kenya Sugar Board (KSB) Chief Executive Offcer Rosemary Mkok disclosed the move was aimed at improving sector performance.

She was speaking while touring Kesref offices in Kisumu accompanied by Agriculture Assistant Minister Gedion Ndambuki.

Kesref principal research scientist JE Jamoza asid they had come up with the new varieties after years of intense research.

Dr Jamoza said in 2002, they developed varieties, KEN 82-216, KEN 82-219, KEN 82-247, KEN 82-401, KEN 82-808 and KEN 83-737, which still took more than 18 months to mature.

In 2007, they came up with yet new varieties KEN 82-62, KEN 82-472, EAK 73-335 and D8484, but preliminary tests found the seeds take long to germinate.

More research

Consequently, this forced them back to the research laboratories and field to dig deeper into suitable seed cane.

Kesref board chairman Simeon Mkalla, Kesref Director Chrispin Omondi, and the board were elated to unveil the new seed cane varieties to farmers.

Mkalla said since inception in 2001, the ministry has supported Kesref in achieving its mandate of generating and promoting demand driven agricultural sugar processing.

This had been made possible through technologies and innovations for enhancing productivity, value addition, and competitiveness of the sugar industry.

He disclosed that for the last 10 years, Kesref has registered remarkable growth in its human resource, physical facilities, research and development.

Mkalla expressed hope that with the construction of new Kesref laboratories and offices bound to cost Sh634 million, their services would increase for farmers good.

“My board is grateful to the Kenya sugar board which provided the initial funds of Sh250 million and the state capital of Sh177 million in the last three years,’’ he disclosed.

The expenditure on the project today stands at Sh480 million, while the new project is bound to cost Sh800 million when complete.

He, however, said they still lacked Sh320 million to ensure complete facelift of the vital sugar research station.

But it emerged that Kesref had received Sh84 million from the European Union under the sugar reform support project.

Of the amount, Sh44 million will be used to procure equipment for the new laboratories, while the balance will address seed cane initiatives and extension.

By Kepher Otieno, The Standard

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