the orange newsletter, volume 1, number 10, 20th december 2012

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NEWSLETTER OF THE ORANGE DEMOCRATIC MOVEMENT PARTY OF KENYA

Volume 1 Number 10 Thursday 13 December 2012

ODM Party Leader Raila Odinga with Morgan Tsvangirai during the ODM NDC at Kasarani

Kenya: Leviticus 25:10Larry Gumbe

The Rt. Hon. Raila Odinga, our partyleader, has been recently quoting from thebook of Leviticus in the holy Bible.Leviticus 25:10 states, "This fiftieth year is

sacred-it is a time of freedom and of celebration when everyone will receiveback their original property, and slaves willreturn home to their families.” This

message is very important to Kenya in light

of our recent history. It is generally agreedthat the immediate cause of the 2007/ 2008crisis was the contentious presidentialelection results announced on 30th Dec

2007.

It is also generally agreed that some of theissues are of a historical nature. They

include: Land issue; Negative ethnicity;

Economic underdevelopment; Inequitabledistribution of public resources; Inequitableeconomic development of the country;Marginalization of regions, social classes,

ethnic groups, gender and religious groups;Centralization, concentration, misuse andabuse of political power in a few hands forprivate gain; Use of supremacist ethnic

ideologies for domination; and poverty and



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unemployment.

Our desire to resolve the political crisisfacing our country needs to be grounded ina clear understanding of the nature of the

internal and external forces whose struggleshave historically shaped the content anddirection of our politics. We need a new

politics that advances the interests of the

broad masses of Kenyans.

An analysis of Kenya today shows a nationof boundless potentials yearning forchange. A nation of plenty whose people

are wallowing in abject poverty while ahandful enjoys obscene wealth siphonedout of public coffers. A nation repeatedlybetrayed by a cabal of predatory dictators

entrusted with the solemn duty to lead andtransform. They have privatised the state.They seek to dismember the nation using

tribe at the altar of personalaggrandisement. Perhaps for them, Kenyais but a carcass for hounds.

We are a people who continue to strugglefor justice, equity and prosperity. We standon the threshold of momentous changes.Whereas this crisis portends danger of

disintegration for the nation, it alsoprovides an opportunity for transformingKenya into a powerful and vibrant nationwith a compelling national identity and

strong core- values and principles. Aprosperous nation in which those born intodifferent circumstances enjoy equality of opportunity and hope and live dignifiedlives; a nation in which all Kenyans feel at

home. Yet even as the nation totters on thebrink of collapse, the reactionary forces of backwardness are re-grouping. They aremarshalled against the people of Kenya.

They seek to hold us in bondage. Theywant to perpetuate their hold over the stateto protect their ill-gotten wealth.

In this situation we need to retrace our

steps. Where did the rain begin beating us?The political turmoil that we now face is aconsequence of leadership failure. It wasnot inevitable. It could have been averted

by a committed visionary leadership. Suchleadership would have been able totransform the inherited colonial state,

politics and economic structures to create a

just strong and prosperous nation capableof meeting the needs of the broad masses of

her people.

However, those who have been in charge

have never had an alternative vision forKenya. They sought to use the state tosubjugate and exploit in a manner similar tothe colonialists. They therefore cling to

state power at all costs while the masses aremired in squalor. There is high poverty andunemployment; the masses of young people

witnessed on the streets in the past fewweeks are a consequence of our failedleadership and policies.

Our economy continues to be externallyoriented and is basically meant to serve thenarrow interests of elite and their foreignallies. The people are generally viewed as

labourers for big business. Only a smallpart of the country is developed. The statecontinues to be discriminatory as itpromotes inequity by taxing all equally and

distributing the bulk of resources to areaswith „high potential, to the detriment of „low potential areas‟ which aresubsequently marginalised and under-developed.

After 49 years of independence andcorrupt, selfish and elitist governance, thefrustration and anger of the Kenyan people

had gone full circle and the anger withwhich they had fought for independencewas reborn

Essentially, the post-colonial Kenyan statehas been a vassal state; authoritarian,repressive, exploitative and predatory.Where one would expect a ruling class to

seek to control its territory as a nationalmarket, ours is happy to marginalise twothirds of the country. Where one would

expect them to exert national hegemony,

they promote narrow ethnic chauvinism.They do not appear to have their own best

interests at heart. While all these werehappening, western powers supportedregimes in Kenya as long as their interests

were protected.

We are saddled with a ruling group whichbehaves as if tomorrow never comes. They

do not seem keen to build a nation nordevelop a national economy. They arecontent to be an appendage to international

interests of one ilk or another. They carenot that the economy is bleeding; that thecountry is falling apart. The infrastructureis in tatters. The very foreign interests they

represent are voting with their feet. Thepeople are in the throes of a rebellion.

In spite of all this, the people of Kenya

have a hope. Kenya has a future. All will bewell. We will continue to work hard, smart,and focused in a principled manner. Weshall build a national coalition of patriotic

forces to liberate Kenya. Kenya shallprevail. We shall rise from the ashes. Weshall defeat all forces of backwardness thatare gathering like a dark cloud over thehorizon.

Vote for Raila and Kalonzo! Vote for Cord!Vote for a new Kenya!

Electrifying KenyaLarry Gumbe

Decent housing, with electricity andrunning water, is largely considered to be a

basic requirement to all in the 21st century.Indeed, the Constitution of Kenya, Article43(1) (b) recognizes the right to,

“Accessible and adequate housing, and toreasonable standards of sanitation”. Thecountry must, therefore, plan to generateenough electricity to meet domestic,industrial, transport and agricultural needsof the population.

Kenya Vision 2030 is the country‟sdevelopment blueprint covering the period

2008 to 2030. It aims to transform Kenya

into a newly industrializing, “middle-income country providing a high quality lift

to all its citizens by the year 2030”. Thecountry must have access to adequate and

reliable supply of electric energy to achievethis vision. The country currently hasinstalled capacity to generate 1,400 MW of electricity from hydroelectric, geothermal

and thermal sources. Kenya currentlyconsumes about 145 kWh/capita of

electricity. For Vision 2030 to be achieved,this figure needs to rise to about 5,000 to7,000 kWh/capita which would translate apeak installed capacity of 45,000 MW.

The potential to economically generateadditional electricity from environmentallyfriendly sources such as hydroelectric,geothermal and other renewable energy is

estimated as 20,000 MW. It is therefore



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necessary to generate more electricity to

cover the 25,000 MW shortfalls.

Our neighbor, Ethiopia, has shown us thatit is quite possible to develop this capacity

in a short time. Just ten years ago, Ethiopiawas generating less than 400 MW, sincethen, it has added 10,000 MW in the

following projects:

i. Tis Abay II, 2001, 75 MW

ii. Gilgel Gibe I Omo River, 2004, 184MW

iii. Tekeze High Dam Tekeze River,2009, 310 MW

iv. Gilgel Gibe II Omo River, 2009, 420MW

v. Tana Beles Belesa River, 2010, 435MW

vi. Gilgel Gibe III Omo River, 2013,1870 MW

vii. Great Millennium Dam Nile River,

2013, 6,000 MW

viii. Ashegoda Wind Farm Project(Enderta), 2011, 120 MW

There are three more huge hydroelectricdams on the pipe line; Tekeze II Gilgel

Gibe IV and Gilgel Gibe V. The Ethiopian

government has a plan to produce 10,000megawatts of electric power in the next five

years. Ethiopia has the potential to producemore than 45,000 megawatts of electricityfrom hydropower. Ethiopia is also

researching other sources of energy likewind and geothermal.

The Lesson from Ethiopia is that it is quite

possible to generate enough electricity inKenya to power Vision 2030. We need togenerate the same from a mix of

hydroelectricity, coal, geothermal nuclearand other green energy sources. Ourgeothermal potential is 7,000MW. TheGeothermal Development Corporation has

plans to exploit this. KenGen has beennegotiating with the South Korean firm,

Daewoo, to produce 300 MW from coal in

Mombasa. It is quite possible for us toconstruct a 5,000 MW coal plant in 36months. This has been done in India. Wecan construct two such plants

simultaneously

Generating additional electricity from

nuclear power is also a promising option in

achieving Vision 2030 in Kenya. Nuclearpower has great advantages:

Nuclear plants do not require a lot of

space

They do not emit greenhouse gases

and hence do not contribute to globalwarming

Nuclear energy is by far the most

concentrated form of energy

The development of power plants can

be effected rapidly

We can produce enough electricity to

power Vision 2030 and beyond. All weneed is to stop thinking small. We need tothink at the levels of Meles Zenawi!!.

ODM Party Leader Raila Odinga at a Public rally in Luanda



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Notices

1. The next volume of the Orange Newsletter will be published on 3 January 2013

The Orange is a Newsletter of the Orange Democratic Movement Party of Kenya

Readers are invited to submit their articles for publication at the address given below:

Prof. Larry GumbeEmail: [email protected]

SMS: 0713 764809

-

The Orange Democratic Movement Party of KenyaOrange House

Menelik Road, Kilimani AreaP.O. Box 2478, 00202

Nairobi.

Email: [email protected]

Check out our website at www.odm.co.ke

Opinions of contributors are not necessarily those of the ODM .

mailto:[email protected]





http://www.odm.co.ke/






the orange newsletter, volume 1, number 10, 20th december 2012

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