At the outset, let me say congratulations and happy birthday to the management and staff of the Kenyatta International Convention Center (KICC).

Thumbs-up for successfully hosting the first African Summit on Climate Change last week. And happy birthday because Sunday was the 50th anniversary since KICC building was opened by President Jomo Kenyatta on September 10, 1973. The building was constructed at a cost of Sh80 million. It would be interesting to find the cost of putting up a similar building today.

In hosting the climate summit, Nairobi lived up to its historic billing as the green city in the sun. For where else do you find a city lying on the Equator and sandwiched between a natural forest (Karura) and a game park (Nairobi National Park)?

At the same time, hats off to President William Ruto. Watching President Ruto deliver his keynote address at the summit, I was proud that he is my president. His speech was rich in content and powerful in delivery. He demonstrated superb mastery of the subject, passion on the issues he spoke on, and great tact in carrying his audience with him.

So moving were President Ruto’s opening remarks that when John Kerry, a former US Secretary of State who was President Joe Biden’s special envoy at the summit, rose to speak, he said he felt there was no need to give his speech since the Ruto had said all there was to be said. It is not every day a top American diplomat gives a bow to a leader from the global South!

President Ruto spoke of the great irony of Africa as a continent hugely endowed with natural resources yet deprived of amenities that make for a decent living. The expansive Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC) best illustrates the contrast of a continent so rich yet so poor! Goma Province, an enclave in the eastern region of the DRC, is home to Virunga National Park, which is the largest and richest biodiversity hub in the globe, with centuries-old flora and fauna. It is also richest in deposits of rare minerals, including uranium, cobalt, coltan, gold – name them! The Congo rain forest is also the second largest in the world. Yet Goma remains one of the most miserable and dangerous places to live on earth. 

One word sums up the source of misery in Goma region - exploitation. Data available is that over one million hectares of natural forest were destroyed in eastern DRC in the past one decade. And in the deadly scramble for its mineral wealth, the region is literally a killing field where survival depends on who pulls the trigger quickest. Carting away harvested timber and minerals from Goma goes on hand in hand with removing rotting corpses from the streets.

The insane decimation of Congo Forest - the original home of Kenya’s Bantu communities - has irreversible consequences on climate change in the region, Africa and the globe, with the attendant armageddon consequences on human and wildlife. President Ruto, however, was swift in advising that Africa better move from the grieving zone and make hard bargains. Foremost, he said, going forward, Africa must talk and make demands in one voice.

At the closing session of the summit, Ruto eloquently read out what is now Africa’s position on the issue of climate change and which is what the continent will table at the November/December Global Climate Summit to be held in Dubai. Secondly, and most important, Africa resolved to demand compensation for what it puts on the table in terms of natural resources, and in tackling climate change. The highlight of it is that Africa be appropriately compensated for being the global dumping ground of dangerous carbon emissions.

Lastly, for Kenya, hosting the continental climate summit had a sense of déjà vu. Right on the heels of independence, Kenya demonstrated readiness to be Africa’s anchor State when it hosted major regional, continental and global meetings. Check the calendar of gatherings that came to Nairobi in quick succession within the first decade of independence.

Nevertheless, how does Ruto reconcile his passionate remarks at the summit with his decision to allow resumption of logging? He can say we will plant 15 million more trees in their place, but that is easier said than done. 

It takes a chainsaw only three minutes to fell a grown tree. For another tree to mature it takes 10 years or more. Is the president preaching water abroad but gobbling wine at home? By Kamau Ngotho, The Standard

President William Ruto and his deputy Rigathi Gachagua campaigned on a horse carrying bags of hope promised to the hustler nation.

Day after day, the duo toured across the country with a pledge to uplift the lives of lowly Kenyans. Their campaign strategy was clear; blame every misfortune on President Uhuru Kenyatta and his handshake with opposition leader Raila Odinga.

Dr Ruto and Mr Gachagua rode to State House on a ruthless propaganda machine, pitting poor Kenyans against alleged dynasties along the way. 

They cried for power, they begged for it, and when they were zealous enough, they beat their chests vowing no one could steal their votes because they were assured of victory.

The victory came. And in between celebrating their victory and officially taking the highest office in the country, Ruto, Gachagua and the Kenya Kwanza brigade both thanked God and insulted at their rivals with the same mouth. 

It has been one year since President Ruto took power but nothing much has changed to better the lives of ‘Wanjiku.’ If anything, ‘mambo yamechemka’ (things have gotten worse).

• 
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  Split in UDA as Khalwale castigates Malala over calls to dissolve ANC, Ford-Kenya
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  It's been a grand disaster, says Raila on Ruto's first year
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  Scorecard: Hustler government all over but falls short where it matters

They campaigned with big mouths, but their preferred remedies have become bitter pills to swallow by the citizens who voted them in. They are not only bitter pills but like poison in a honey jar that Kenyans from across the political divide are being forced to drink.

President Ruto seemed very passionate about creating opportunities for the common mwananchi during campaigns. He accused Mr Kenyatta of creating positions for his friends during Jubilee’s second term. He promised to undo this when he got power; his would be a government of hustlers. 

Speaking to Nyaturago and Nyaribari Chache residents during one of his rallies in Kisii County, the former deputy president advocated for a bottom-up economic approach, “Tumekuwa tukipanga uchumi tukianzia kule juu mahali kampuni kubwa, wale wanaojulikana, ati pengine itafika huku chini. Mumengojea miaka hamsini haijafika chini.” He said. (The trickle down economic model employed by the government for the past fifty years has never gotten down to the ordinary citizen).

“Mnataka tuendelee kupanga na huko juu mngojee hapa chini ama mnasema tubadilishe tuanze na hapa chini safari hii? Tuanze na hapa chini? Ndio tupange ajira ya hawa vijana? Yaani hapa bottom, halafu twende up? Yaani bottom up?” He said with applause from the crowd. (Do you want us to continue with this model or start from the bottom going up?” By Killiad Sinide, The Standard

Senior Tories warn the flagship policy to deter people crossing the Channel in small boats must not be derailed again.

A landmark Supreme Court verdict on the legality of the scheme is now not expected until at least December, and Conservatives are demanding radical action to ensure the flights go ahead even if judges rule against the Government. 

They want Britain to work with other European countries battling people smuggling to secure changes to the European Convention on Human Rights so states are not blocked from protecting their borders. Rishi Sunak will also come under intense pressure to change UK law so Britain can press ahead with the Rwanda programme.

Immigration Minister Robert Jenrick, writing in the Sunday Express, insists the Rwanda scheme will "remove the incentive for illegal migrants to leave the safety of France in the first place".

"Labour would do away with all that and fling open our doors to hundreds of thousands of illegal migrants from the safety of Europe."

Tory MPs insist flights must start before the election expected in 2024. Former Brexit minister David Jones said illegal migration is the "single biggest national issue that is raised" by his constituents.

Demanding that planes take off as soon as the Supreme Court gives the thumbs-up, he said: "The flights should go on the very same day. It's extremely important.

"If people know they will not be allowed to remain in the UK but will be taken somewhere else for their application to be processed that will certainly put a lot of people off."  Story by David Williamson , Jonathon Walker, Daily Express

JUBA, SEPTEMBER 16, 2023 (SUDANS POST) – South Sudan journalist and former news presenter at SSBC Garang John has accused Vice-President Hussein Abdelbagi of South Sudan Opposition Alliance (SSOA) of owning a torture cell or chamber that he uses to torture SSOA opponents. 

Garang was arrested alongside six other SSBC journalists in January this year over a viral video in which President Salva Kiir could be seen wetting on himself in public during inauguration of a major road project last December. 

He fled South Sudan after he was released from detention in March, where he had been held without charges. It is not yet clear as to where he is currently hiding, but it is being speculated that he is seeking asylum in the United States. 

In a brief social media statement, Garang claimed that Vice-President Hussein Abdelbagi owns a torture cell at the NSS detention facility in Jebel which is used for torture of opponents within the South Sudan Opposition Alliance (SSOA). 

“Vice President Hussein Abdelbagi Ayii has a private holding cell inside the National Security Detention facility allocated to him by the NSS authorities for use against his SSOA political enemies,” the former SSBC journalist wrote.

“When I arrived at the detention facility, my jailers disagreed over whether to hold me briefly in this cell so that my family and friends who might have wanted to come wouldn’t find me. It was also intended to hide me within the holding facility so that officers perceived sympathetic to me wouldn’t easily locate me,” he added. 

The South Sudan National Security Service and Vice-President Hussein’s office have both not yet commented on Garang allegations.

John’s story is just one example of the many ways in which the South Sudanese government is cracking down on its critics.

In recent years, there has been a surge in arbitrary arrests, detention, and torture of journalists, human rights activists, and opposition politicians.

The United States, one of South Sudan’s western friends who have funded peace efforts in the war-torn country, has condemned the government’s crackdown on dissent and has called for the release of all political prisoners to pave way for reconciliation. 

The US has also imposed sanctions on several senior South Sudanese government officials, including Vice President Taban Deng Gai, information minister Michael Makuei and cabinet minister Martin Elia Lomuro, for peace obstruction.

Garang said that his claims is not yet “comprehensive because sensitive parts have been withheld for my future publication.”  Sudans Post