GOVERNORS PLEDGE TO ESTABLISH A LOCAL BANK

Governor Wyclif Oparanya

Governors from five counties in the western region have launched an initiative to raise one billion shillings for establishment of a local bank.
Governor Wycliff Oparanya, Moses Akaranga, ken Lusaka, Sospeter Ojamong said each of them will contribute 200million towardthe kitty as shares
Oparanya, Akaranga and Lusaka, said the investment bank will assist the local residents in strengthening the financial base.
The governors were speaking to the press at kakamega golf hotel after holding a share holders meeting.
At the same time Kakamega county governor, Wycliff oparanya has refuted media reports indicating that his government hasreturned 1.2 billion to the national treasury.
He said the county money will not be returned to the treasury as it will be used for establishment of projects to the county
Oparanya said he had received 700million this week which he said will be put into plans as per the budget requirement.
Speaking about the sameVihinga county governor, Moses Akaranga has challenged the controller of budget Agnes odhiambo to make public the funds returned to the national government.
Akaranga said it was unfair for the controller of budgets office to focus on county governments whereas the national governments gets the highest allocation from the revenue allocation.
Akaranga faulted the treasury of delays in disbursing funds to counties. A matter he said was affecting implementation of projects framework.

DESTINY IS NOT A MATTER OF CHANCE; IT’S A MATTER OF CHOICE

BY: MWAMBUI TSUMA AND  FRANCIS WACHIRA

Many ask what life is. It is a sum total of the choices we make every day. We are faced with issues to decide upon on a daily basis. We either make a good choice or a bad one but one thing is certain, we are the first beneficiaries of the choices we make.

The Macmillan English dictionary defines a choice as the opportunity or right to choose between different things.

Based on the same we can conclusively say every day is an exam. We either pass or fail the test of life. The question to ask ourselves therefore is, if we are to be graded at the end of the day, what grade will we get? It is this question that forces us to think of what our priorities really are. The same goes for what we value most.

Not everything that counts can be counted and not everything that counts can be counted. Meaning, not everything that looks good is going to be beneficial to us. We must focus ourselves on what really matters most.

Am reminded of a poem by Robert Frost - “The Road Not Taken” There is one particular line where he says, “Two roads diverged in the woods, and I took the one less traveled by, and that has made all the difference.” It gets to a time that we have to make a congruent decision. It might not be pleasing to many but it has to be taken any way. We must dare ourselves to be different.

 Make a choice to rise up and challenge the norm by not to conforming to the status quo. William Bryan summarizes this by saying “destiny is not a matter of chance; it’s a matter of choice.”

If there’s something we should aspire to do, is make the right choices.

It is a race that we must run. Victory or defeat it’s up to us to decide. We cannot expect to win if we don’t run. What we are today is a matter of the choice we made in the past. Therefore it is never too late because we can make good choices today and influence tomorrow. Remember it’s your journey, people may walk with you but no one will walk for you.

You will choose to make the right choices, won’t you?

Esther Arunga, Quincy Timberlake probed over son's death in Australia

A former Kenyan TV presenter and her husband were questioned by police after their 3-year-old son died at their home in Australia.

During a phone interview on Thursday, Channel 7 News confirmed that Esther Adongo Arunga and Quincy Timberlake were taken into police custody.

Kenya's High Commissioner to Australia also told Nation.co.ke: "We have a situation of a family who lost their child and police are investigating."

The parents said he was playing with his brother when he fell down the stairs, Australia's Channel 7 News reported.

They allegedly gave him a painkiller and put him to sleep, but his condition worsened.

A video posted on YouTube shows police cordoning off the couple's home in Kallangur, north of Brisbane on June 18.

Paramedics were called to the scene, but the boy was pronounced dead.

Police conducted forensic examinations and were awaiting the results of a post-mortem to determine the cause of death.

Petroline Arunga, Esther's mother, said she had heard about the death but could not confirm it as she had not been in contact with her daughter.

Two years ago, Esther sued her parents, accusing them of subjecting her to a check-up at a psychiatric institution and keeping her at their house against her will.

She had been in the spotlight after Kenyan police arrested her over controversial activities of the Finger of God church.

Ja Rule hits out at 50 Cent in new book

Ja Rule has slammed 50 Cent in his new book and claims the rapper was out to "destroy" him.

The star lashes out at the 'In Da Club' hitmaker in his memoir 'Unruly: The Highs and Lows of Being a Man' after a long-running feud with the star, real name Curtis Jackson, and claimed he was falsely accused by the 'Candy Shop' singer after he was hospitalised with nine gunshot wounds in 2000.

Readmore at:  http://www.nation.co.ke/lifestyle/showbiz/Ja-Rule-hits-out-at-50-Cent-in-new-book-rap-hip-hop/-/1950810/2362492/-/olauetz/-/index.html

GIVING UP IS NOT PART OF SUCCESS’ RECIPE

BY: MWAMBUI TSUMA AND FRANCIS WACHIRA

How many times do we pursue dreams yet give up along the way because a thing or two does not add up? It is from the many life experiences that we draw practical examples, prime lesson and an answer to that question. Moments which teach us giving up is not part of success’ recipe.

Drawn from my own experiences in campus, is the pain of missing marks. The year results had been released and there it was on my transcript- a missing mark for a common course. I was perplexed and didn’t know what to do. How did it happen? I asked myself. How was I going to resolve the problem? There was only one way-retrieving the results from the lecturer.

And so the long journey began.  First a visit to my faculty only to realize my results had not been computed. Then the strenuous process of retrieving them, finally the chase for my lecture which proved difficult almost making me to throw in the towel.

Days matured into weeks and weeks became months. All emails went unreplied so were the phone calls and short messages I sent. It was a test I couldn’t bear but the idea of not graduating if I didn’t get the mark, did not resonate well with me. I had no choice but to keep tracking the lecturer down until I finally had a moment with him.

This made me think outside the box about life and why many people fail to make it. The reason of not graduating because of a missing mark is a no take it easy to all students. What use will it be for one to go through a four year or five year course and not graduating?  No wonder we bear the strenuous process.

What if the same determination was applied in life? Perhaps people would achieve so much. Sounds good, isn’t it?

Probably the greatest example of persistence is Abraham Lincoln. Born into poverty, Lincoln was faced with defeat throughout his life. He lost eight elections, twice failed in business and suffered a nervous breakdown. He could have quit many times – but he didn’t and because he didn’t quit, he became one of the greatest presidents in the history of the United States of America. Lincoln was a champion and he never gave up.

In the same category is an American inventor Thomas Edison. He failed more than 10,000 times (I am still amazed at that number!) before he created the light bulb. That makes him a true example of perseverance. What helped him was understanding a few things – defining success and failure, realizing the inevitable connection between them, never giving up, working hard, believing in himself and his ideas. Of course in many situations things looked so hopeless and pointless that any other in his place would have given up on his work. But not him.  Many people told him that he is wasting his time, his faith and confidence were sometimes on the verge of being gone, but he succeeded. Not once, not twice or thrice but many times indeed.

If it were not for him and other great people in the history – leaders, scientists, businessmen, inventors and so on – we wouldn’t have electricity, running water, cars, TV, computers and all the other things that make our life comfortable and easy. Imagine what the world would be like if every one of them just gave up on his ideas to try something new, to change the world and help people. Just imagine…

However the tragedy is that human mind has been conditioned to postpone things. This is regardless of the urgency. The ultimate inspiration to do something in time is the deadline. This is true for assignments and other tasks one may have.

Now, why the increasing number of people giving up in life? Is it hard to come up with personal rules and set a discipline of doing things? If there is a school we all need to enroll in is the school of personal development. This challenges one to pursue growth. As we all know, if we stop growing then we begin to die. Slowly we may be dying but dying we are.

We only have twenty four hours in a day and we must be careful how our time is spent. If we postponed doing something good till a later date, time will always catch up with us. Remember time waits for no man even the king. Therefore we should live each day as our last.

Living each day as our last? You ask. Yes, living each day as our last.

 A saying we have all heard before but very few of us have actually given it a deep thought. Living each day like it is our last, forces us to think about our priorities, it forces us to quit the things that waste time and energy and concentrate on the most important things. If you live that way, you make better choices, you treasure each moment and suck the life out of every hour. It removes the clutter and garbage that so often chokes our lives.

 Living each day like your last is not about living in gloom and fear of death. Rather it is about: living your life so that when your time comes for you to go, someone will care and say their life is different and better because you were there.

Have a never giving up life, won’t you?