KENYAN POLITICIANS ON FACEBOOK

With 2012 around the corner, politicians have now taken their battle to social media. By their numbers, they are taking facebook by storm and are most probably competing for the largest fan base. Perhaps they learnt a lesson or two from Obama's 2008 presidential campaign or they have realised the number of votes laying idle in facebook and twitter.

Martha Karua is probably one of the first politicians in the country to realize the potential in facebook. She is also known to be one of the most active politician in the social media. She will be remembered for facebooking while she was on the podium during the promulgation of the new constitution. At the time of posting this article, she has 133,541 likes on facebook and most probably the most liked. She is also lucky to have acquired her real name as the facebook user name before an impersonator did it. Her link is http://facebook.com/MarthaKarua


Raila Odinga is another politician who has taken politics to facebook.  The only problem with the |Railas in facebook is the fact that it is not clear who is in fact the real Raila Odinga. One of calls himself public figure and is actually the one with the most likes standing at 66,049. The other who is the most active and ranks higher than the 'public figure' calls himself politician and has 34,002 likes at the time of posting this. Here are the links to the two.
http://www.facebook.com/pages/Raila-Odinga/15869533101
http://www.facebook.com/OdingaRaila

Uhuru Kenyatta is also on facebook and has a very substantial fan base standing at 71,908. He recently used the platform to ask for budget suggestion and also to mourn the death of Samuel Wanjiru. He also posts photos of his rallies and of late campaigns in Kamukunji. Here is his link.
http://www.facebook.com/myuhurukenyatta


Kalonzo musyoka has not been left behind and has of late been very active on facebook. He has also given a very comprehensive bio on his info page and has provided numerous links to his many websites and blogs.He has 12,996 likes at the time of posting this. Here is his link.
http://www.facebook.com/kalonzomusyoka

Peter Kenneth's page on facebook is very well maintained and customized with his twitter account. His info page is also well fed and that's where you find out that he 'likes' churchill. He currently has 35,456 likes. His link is.
http://www.facebook.com/honpeterkenneth

William Ruto may pass as the most inactive politician on facebook. His wall is actually filled by fans comments and he rarely posts anything. But the kkk could not pass him without him asking his fans their opinion and over 2000 came by. His inactiveness hasn't  prevented him from bagging 45,249 likes. His link.
http://www.facebook.com/pages/WILLIAM-SAMOEI-RUTO/52338561294
Other politicians on facebook include:

Najib Balala: 16,007 likes..
http://www.facebook.com/najibbalala?ref=ts

 Mike Sonko: 46,911 likes..
http://www.facebook.com/pages/Mike-Sonko/148950081810015

William Kabogo: 2,217 likes..
http://www.facebook.com/pages/Hon-William-Kabogo-Gitau/104077116321957

Ali Hassan Joho: 4,716 friends..
http://www.facebook.com/profile.php?id=1436155580

Some of the politicians might have opened normal facebook accounts where your number of friends is limited and thus not featured here. Overall this is the list of the politicians in the order of the most followed first.

1. Martha Karua          133,541  likes
2. Uhuru Kenyatta           71,908  likes
3. Raila  Odinga               66,049 likes
4. Mike Sonko                 46,911 likes
5. William Ruto                 45,259 likes
6. Peter Kenneth               35,456 likes
7. Najib Balala                  16,007 likes
8. Kalonzo Musyoka         12,996 likes
9. Musalia Mudavadi           4,951  friends *
10.Ali Hassan Joho              4,716 friends  *

* Unconfirmed identity.

KENYAN POLITICIANS WHO OWN MEDIA STATIONS

2012 is calling and politicians are getting ready. With no exceptions, any mp with plans of been in parliament post 2012 is clearing the way for himself or herself. As with any country, Kenyans are influenced so much by the media that the media now literally thinks for Kenyans. A case example is Citizen TV which has a religious following upcountry. Anything appearing on the station is law and if you doubt it, just ask anybody and the response will be, it was on TV. Mind you TV is Citizen. A different station with a conflicting side of the story will not be given a chance to complete it without the dial been invoked. By the way, by upcountry, I meant Central Kenya.

With politicians fully understanding the power wielded by the media especially TV and radio, it is no doubt that some of them have positioned themselves strategically to utilize this avenue. The 'positioning' comes in different ways, either by acquiring established stations, creating new ones or even befriending top managers and editors in certain media houses. The 'positioning' has spared no side of the political divide. Here is a list of media stations some of our mps control.

UHURU KENYATTA :- K24, People, Kameme, STV

        Through TV Africa Holdings, the DPM acquired Matiba's People newspaper and Rose Kimotho's media max. Back in 2007, TV Africa had bought STV from veteran Hilary Ng'weno. STV airs foreign news but speculations that it can be rebranded into a local stations are rife. It is not clear the percentage ownership in K24 and Kameme, but it clear the % is enough to give him live coverage, or to even fire Luis Otieno if he fails to tow the line.

MOI'S FAMILY :- Mzee Moi and his son Gideon are the largest shareholder in Standard group,owning KTN, Standard newspaper and lately Radio Maisha. The other shareholders are Joshua Kulei and some very minor shareholders. Whoever gets Gideons favour is expected to leap the benefits but the likelyhood of Raila been the one are very minimal considering his history with the old Moi.

SK. MACHARIA :- Definitely the most recognized media owner in Kenya. He owns The Royal Media family that does not need any introduction. One TV station and over ten radio stations. All this are expected to be for Uhuru to use as the elections approach. This is guided by the open secret of SK's support for the old man Kibaki.

WILLIAM RUTO :- Surprisingly, many Kenyans are unaware that Kass fm is firmly in Ruto's arms. According to sources, Ruto's stake in the stations is said to be in the 40's %. This will definitely come in handy as we progress.

CHIRAU MWAKWERE :- Kaya fm

NAJIB BALALA :- Sheki fm

HENRY KOSGEY :- One fm

JOHN MUTUTHO :- Unconfirmed reports say that he has a stake in Countryside fm, formerly Bahasha fm .

RAILA ODINGA :- Has not invested much in the airwaves and that may cost him dearly. He however owns a not so popular Radio Umoja and Namlolwe fm.  He is however said to enjoy close contacts at the nation centre and whether that will translate to favourable print and airtime is yet to be seen.

CHARITY NGILU :- Said to own a Kamba station, Mbaitu fm. She is also said to have a stake in Syokimau fm

                         

JAKOYO MIDIWO :- Lake Victoria fm

It is widely believed that several undocumented mps own slices of other small stations or are members of the board. This influx of politicians in the media industry is alarming and may transform the Kenyan media to be for the politicians, of the politicians and by the politicians.

RUTO AFRAID OF WILLY MUTUNGA

The remarks by Eldoret north member of parliament William Ruto concerning the appointment of Willy Mutunga shows some form of phobia for this man. Ruto commented that Mutunga's wearing of an earing shows a rotten society that can only be saved by prayers. True to his tradition, the mp also added 'salt' to the wound by claiming that Mutunga communicates with some evil spirits with the earing. This was in response to Mutunga's remarks that it represents his spirituality rather than his sexuality.

Those remarks by some one who has eyes for high office shows some form of fear. Whether Ruto fears that his many cases will be reopened or concluded in a fair system is very possible. Ruto may also be afraid of been on the same side with his sworn enemy Raila Odinga who is expected to approve the nominations. However Ruto is expected to face opposition even from his close confidants some of whom have already taken positions behind the Mutunga and Baraza.

SAMUEL WANJIRU DEAD

The world, on 16/5/11,  woke up to the news of the death of olympics gold medalist Samuel  Kamau Wanjiru. Various accounts of his death are already in circulation but the most credible one is actually the wikipedia version which claims that his wife came home from an undisclosed location only to find his husband with in the bedroom with another woman. She apparently locked them in and ran out again to an undisclosed location. Out of rage, Samuel Wanjiru jumped out of the balcony reportedly to catch up with her wife. That is the moment the 24 year old Wanjiru met his death.

The official statement from the commissioner of police however claims that he committed suicide. However many agree that it is highly unlikely that he actually planned his death.

It will be remembered that the marriage between Samuel Wanjiru and his wife has been in the rocks for quite some time now and although they had seemed to make up, that will come to doubt now that the circumstances leading to his death prove otherwise.

Among his personal achievements are the Chicago and London marathon of 2009 where he was first and of course the Beijing Olympics marathon where he also won a gold. Been only 24, a lot remained for him to achieve but fate took over. May God rest his soul in peace.

THE KENYA FUEL MONEY CONSPIRACY FOR 2012

That fuel money is been raised in anticipation for a hot race come 2012 is obvious. No matter how rich this greedy politicians are, they still don't want to use their money for campaigns. So what do they do, they raise the price of fuel by about ten shillings in a month and make sure it remains there till 2012. Assuming one million litres are consumed daily, that's 10 million shillings daily. Till election time that will have accumulated to almost 5 billion shillings. That is a lot of money to run any campaign by whatever standards.

The 2012 elections are ridden with a lot of uncertainty and speculation and thus need a lot of reserve just to be on the safe side. Offices that will be vied for include the governorship and senate and of course the head of state. For any one to rule this country comfortably in future, control in all this aspects has to be ascertained, and what better way to control them than having your people in them. Now, getting your people in them is the hard part and of course a lot of money will be used. No president would want to have a situation where senate orders him to hand over the ICC suspects to the Hague. None of the top contenders would desire a situation where the houses establish an independent system to try all the other suspects.

Back to the oil money, that two ministries are involved is no secret. The first and most important ministry in this arrangement is the ministry of energy. This is the one responsible with the implementation. It announces price hikes and working behind the scenes are very brilliant minds with the mandate of coming up with reasons to fool everybody every time. As with every conspiracy, the reasons have to be very technical to avoid the scrutiny of the 'ignorant' public. At times they blame the energy regulatory commission for not doing its work. With that they are just making us believe  that the ERC is a very distant entity to the ministry of energy which in reality is not true.

Ministry of finance is the other ministry in this fuel conspiracy. Its function revolve around handling the money and other logistical matters. At its helm is the man who we believe the fuel conspiracy of 2011 for 2012 revolves around.

Just a few days ago, the president convened a meeting with the minister of finance and his energy counterpart. It was widely expected that the prices would go down considerably after that meeting and also after the taxes were reduced. Several days down the line the prices went up again. What exactly was discussed in that meeting will remain a mystery but for sure nothing to do with reduction of prices was discussed. Perhaps the significance of the shillings added to every litre in relation to 2012 was explained to the president and perhaps he blessed the good thinking of his people. Don't take that seriously but maybe you should.