The Week in Review is Compiled by Maurice Ndole and Steve Mokaya, because there’s so much more news than we can cover.
Democracy survives in the US, for now.
Democrats maintain control of the US Senate after Nevada declares Catherine Cortez Masto, winner of the drawn-out senate race against election denier Republican Adam Laxalt.
Masto’s win gives Democrats 50 seats in the Senate, making the run-off in Georgia an opportunity to increase their margin in the upper chamber of Congress.
Masto’s win concludes a surprise ending in the US midterm elections, where voters came out in large numbers to support the democrats.
The predicted Red Wave never came to shore. Republicans failed to capture the US senate, with Democrats winning the remaining seats in Arizona and Nevada and gaining the upper hand in the Georgia run-off between Sen. Raphael Warnock and former Heisman Trophy winner Hershel Walker.
The results are a major defeat for former President Donald Trump, who endorsed most of the losing candidates who parroted Trump’s Big Lie that the 2020 election was stolen from him.
Youth and women turned out to give Democrats the big win. The women were mainly motivated to punish Republicans for supporting the Supreme Court overturning Roe v Wade, a ruling providing women with abortion rights.
Trump-endorsed Election deniers lose their races.
American voters also rejected 8 out of 12 election deniers running for the Secretary of State Positions. Arizona and Nevada, the last two states to be determined, were both won by Democrats.
In the governors’ races, out of 22 election deniers, twelve have already lost their races. Two races involving Arizona’s Kari Lake, a fiery Trump loyalist, who mocked Speaker Nancy Pelosi’s husband after he was assaulted in his home, and Mike Dunleavy in Alaska are yet to be determined.
Republican Civil War Breaks Out
Republicans have their fall guy–Trump.
They’re blaming Trump for pushing extreme and unelectable candidates, such as Dr. Mehmet Oz, who cost them a Senate seat in Pennsylvania.
Before the elections, who endorsed more than 300 candidates sounded like his usual self, wanting to associate only with winners.
“Well, I think if they win, I should get all the credit. If they lose, I should not be blamed at all,” Trump said.
Former Pennslyvania senator Pat Toomey, who voted to impeach Trump, and whose seat flipped to democrats after John Fetterman defeated Oz, blamed Trump for the loss.
“President Trump had to insert himself, and that changed the nature of the race, and that created just too much of an obstacle,” Toomey said on CNN’s “Erin Burnett OutFront.”
Former speaker Paul Ryan also blamed Trump for the losses saying the GOP is suffering from a “Trump Hangover,” according to The Hill.
“I think Trump’s kind of a drag on our ticket. I think Donald Trump gives us problems politically,” Ryan said, according to The Hill. “We lost the House, the Senate, and the White House in two years when Trump was on the ballot or in office.”
Others questioned Trump’s decision to hold a rally with Oz and Doug Mastriano on the Saturday before the election. Mastriano, who lost his Pennsylvania gubernatorial race to Democrat Josh Shapiro by more than 13 percentage points, is an election denier who attended Trump’s Jan 6th rally. He is also an outspoken abortion rights opponent.
The conservative media has also turned on Trump. In a scathing oped published in Rupert Murdoch’s New York Post, John Podhoretz declared Trump Toxic for the GOP brand in an article that depicted him as an all-round failure.
“The surest way to lose in these midterms was to be a politician endorsed by Trump. This is not hyperbole,” Podhoretz said.
“Except for deep-red states where a Republican corpse would have beaten a Democrat, voters choosing in actually competitive races — who everyone expected would behave like midterm voters usually do and lean toward the out party — took one look at Trump’s handpicked acolytes and gagged.”
Another New York Post Columnist, Michael Goodwin, said Trump has become boring and predictable.
Despite the otherwise glowing tribute to Trump’s virtues, Goodwin, without using the word, cannot escape concluding Trump is toxic to the GOP brand.
Trump is lashing out.
After Florida Governor Ron Desantis defeated his democratic opponent by 20 percentage points while his candidates floundered, it appears Trump has seen the writing on the wall that he’s no longer the chief.
He has attacked Desantis and nicknamed him Ron De-Sanctimonious, a move seen as an effort to undermine the rising star days before the election. It didn’t matter; Desantis still won big.
Things are worse for Trump this time around. Unlike the past, where Trump toppled his Republican opponents with catchy nicknames and relentless mean words, Desantis has seen the Trump act, and people seem to like him better than Trump.
A YouGov Poll found 42 percent of GOP voters preferred Desantis while 35 percent preferred Trump.
After the elections, Trump took the war a notch higher and attacked DeSantis on Truth Social, his social media platform.
The Trump-DeSantis saga is just getting warmed up. It’ll be interesting to see how DeSantis will react.
DPP begins the process of withdrawing corruption charges against DP Gachagua
Deputy President Rigathi Gachagua is the latest member of President William Ruto’s administration to be relieved of criminal charges without going to court, under unclear circumstances.
Reuters reported Director of Public Prosecutions Noordin Haji asked the court earlier this month to allow the withdrawal of the graft charges against Gachagua citing a lack of evidence. There was no challenge to the prosecutor’s request to drop the case.
Earlier in the week, Milimani Anti-Corruption Court Magistrate Victor Wakumile Wednesday allowed the Directorate of Public Prosecutions to postpone the Ksh 7.5 billion fraud case hearing against Deputy President Rigathi Gachagua.
The case’s hearing was slated for Monday and Tuesday so that the prosecutors could review the case before giving directions on whether or not the trial will proceed.
The DPP was granted until November 21 to return to court with directions regarding the trial.
The DPP told the court he had received letters from some of the accused persons in the case seeking to have him reexamine the charges against them.
Azimio Presidential flag bearer criticized the move to withdraw from the cases.
“Recent developments in which the Director of Public Prosecutions has moved fast to drop cases against government officials and the willingness of the Judiciary to dance to the tunes of the Executive, point to the fact that as a country, we are flirting with lawlessness,” Odinga said.
Kenyans to enter SA visa-free agreement.
Kenyans will now enter South Africa visa-free beginning January 2023 for a maximum of 90 days annually. South Africa President Cyril Ramaphosa announced during a State visit to Nairobi on Wednesday.
“We are building an enduring partnership between Kenya and South Africa that will benefit all our people, and that will make an important contribution to the development of our continent,” Ramaphosa said.
“On behalf of Kenyans, I express appreciation on the progress that we have made in the long-awaited visa-free regime between Kenya and South Africa,” said President William Ruto of Kenya.
EALA Nominations draw controversy
Azimio and Kenya Kwanza Wednesday submitted the names of their nominees for the East Africa Legislative Assembly (EALA). The ODM party, the largest party in the Azimio coalition, has submitted six.
They include Mombasa-based tycoon Suleiman Shahbal and Winnie Odinga, the daughter of the Azimio leader Raila Odinga. Others are Mohamed Diriye, ODM treasurer Timothy Bosire, Beatrice Askul, and Justus Kizito.
But Winnie Odinga’s nomination has drawn a backlash and charges of nepotism as some have charged the Odinga’s are rewarding themselves with political positions. Two of Raila Odinga’s siblings are already serving in the Kenyan parliament.
Kanu party leader Gideon Moi withdrew his candidature from the EALA race to “give other candidates a chance.”
Kenya should send nine EALA MPs; five from Kenya Kwanza and four from Azimio la Umoja.
Kenya Airways pilots go on strike and call off strike after a court order
Saturday, more than 400 pilots flying Kenya Airways went on strike in accordance with their union, Kenya Airline Pilots Association (KALPA).
The strike paralyzed air transport into and out of the country as the pilots defied the KQ chief officer’s threats of getting sacked. Over 10 000 passengers were left stranded in JKIA and other airports in and outside the country. Transport CS Kipchumba Murkomen termed the strike an economic sabotage, as a section of Kenyans said the pilots were testing the limits of President Ruto’s administration.
However, on Tuesday, KALPA called off the strike after a ruling by the Employment and Labour Relations Court ordered the pilots to resume work.
Murkomen said the pilots’ grievances would be looked into, and plans were underway to make the airline self-sustaining.
Fafi MP suggests scrapping presidential term limits.
Fafi MP Salah Yakub Tuesday said UDA was in talks to scrap Presidential term limits to allow President Ruto to rule for at least 20 years. The reports, which went viral after publication in the Daily Nation, elicited mixed reactions, with UDA distancing itself from the MP’s remarks.
Johnson Muthama, the National Chairman of Ruto’s United Democratic Alliance (UDA) party, said the sentiments were the MP’s alone and not the party’s position.
“The statement by Fafi MP, Hon. Salah Yakub on scrapping of the presidential term limit and cap it on the age limit has made many Kenyans to get concerned, and many have called me asking the position of UDA.
“Please take note of this; as the National Party Chairman, I wish to categorically state that Hon. Yakub made a personal statement which has nothing to do with UDA Kenya. As a Party, we stand for open Democracy and remain supportive of the two-term presidential limit and no ongoing discussions to scrap it,” said Muthama via Twitter.
Tanzania’s Precision Airline accident
The Precision Air plane Sunday plummeted into Lake Victoria when landing at Bukoba Airport in Tanzania.
Nineteen people died, while 26 survived.
The plane was traveling from Mwanza to Bukoba and had 49 passengers. According to the BBC, the pilot and the co-pilot survived the crash and managed to speak to local officials from the cockpit but later died.
The flight, PW494, plummeted into the lake during storms and heavy rain as it attempted to land at Bukoba Airport. It had flown well from Dar es Salaam city. It plunged into the lake, about half a kilometer from the runway.
Kenya sends military troops to DRC
Kenya, Wednesday 2nd, November, sent 903 military troops to eastern DRC to fight against the M23 militia and other rebels that are wreaking havoc in the newest EAC entrant.
Presidents of the East African Community agreed in April to establish a joint force to help restore security in the region.
Kenya will command the force, which will also include soldiers from Burundi, Uganda, and South Sudan. Ruto said the military would be on a mission to protect humanity. The Kenyan troops will be based in Goma, eastern DRC’s largest city.
The mission will cost the Kenyan taxpayer Ksh 4.4 billion.