Nov. 7
KENYA: 5 Death-Row Inmates Among the 666,000 KCPE Candidates 5 death-row convicts are among 666,434 candidates who begin their Kenya Certificate of Primary Education (KCPE) examination this morning. They are among 12 inmates expected to take the exam at a centre at the Lang'ata women's prison in Nairobi. But the prison officer, Mrs Grace Odhiambo, said six of them might not be available as they had benefited from a presidential pardon. By midday yesterday, they had not turned up for the rehearsals, and Mrs Odhiambo said: "We were happy they were given an amnesty. But we also think it is prudent if they come back to sit the exams for their own future benefit." The inmates had a chance to be taught by two qualified staff, one of them, Eunice Odhiambo, who is a graduate teacher from Kenyatta university. She is currently working as an officer in the prisons. Their headteacher, Grace Akinyi, is herself an inmate who has a year to serve from a 10-year term for drug trafficking. Christine Mwende, 30, was upbeat that she would excel in the exam even if she is sentenced to death for robbery with violence. "Though I know I am condemned (to death), getting good education can help me to live well, I believe," she said. Another death-row convict, Emily Chepkirui, 23, said she hoped to reach Form Four after realising the prison plans to start a secondary school. At Kodiaga in Kisumu, 47 inmates are expected to sit the exam. Headteacher and inmate Erastus Opondo said this year's class is well prepared and he said he expected they would beat the 2004 highest score of 357 marks. "We are fully prepared now, unlike last year when there was not enough time for us, which made the candidates drop from the previous year's performance," Mr Opondo said during the rehearsals. Mr Isaiah Nyaribo, who represented the commissioner of prisons, Mr Gilbert Omondi, at the function, urged the candidates to work hard to boost their chances of joining the prison's secondary school at the Naivasha Maximum prison. Last year, the prison produced the top inmate student in the country who scored 327 out of the total 500 marks. The candidates, who include 6 female inmates, are drawn from the Kodiaga GK and Kibos prisons. Mr Nyaribo was accompanied by the Nyanza Provincial Prisons commander, Mr Benjamin Njoga and officer in charge of the prison, Mr Joshua Yuma. In Nairobi's Kibera slum, rehearsals went on well. At Ayany primary, senior teacher Eve Galgalo said all the school's 166 candidates had been prepared well for the 1st exam of the new syllabus. "We hope that our school will improve its mean from 53 % last year," she said. The school was ranked 9th in Langat Division, where its fiercest competitors include neighbouring Olympic. In Nakuru, security was tight in all the schools in Kuresoi division in Nakuru ahead of the exam. A contingent of regular and administration police officers have been dispatched to the area to ensure the exams proceeded without a hitch. District Education Officer Mrs Elizabeth Karani said, however, that no schools had been affected and that the examinations would go on as scheduled. The division has 32 primary schools. Skirmishes in the area were allegedly instigated by the defilement of a 13 year old primary school girl on Saturday evening. One person was hacked to death on Sunday after he bumped into a group of armed men who were on a revenge attack mission on the alleged rapist. Yesterday, Assistant Education minister Beth Mugo asked the Provincial Administration to restore peace in Kuresoi division of Nakuru District ahead of today's exams. She urged the District Security Committees to ensure that Kenya Certificate of Primary Education papers arrive at the 19,000 centres punctually. (source: The Nation) IRAQ: MEDIA RELEASE-----FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE-----NOVEMBER 7, 2006-----Contact: Katie Maslanka-----katie at pfadp.org Southern US Anti-Death Penalty Group Applauds Vatican's, Blair's Stances Against Executing Saddam; Calls on Religious Community to Condemn Death Sentence In Carrboro, North Carolina, People of Faith Against the Death Penalty applauds the statements by Vatican officials, British Prime Minister Tony Blair, Italian Premier Romano Prodi, and other world leaders in opposing the execution of Saddam Hussein. "PFADP appeals to religious leaders throughout the United States and the world to call for an end to executions and to use the death sentence of this terrible criminal as a moment to stand for life and for creation," said Stephen Dear, executive director of PFADP, a national advocacy group. "God made Saddam; God can take him away. Human beings have no God-given right to execute others, whether by their own hands or through their governments. This applies even to those who have committed crimes against humanity." "For the good of humanity, it is time to stop executions worldwide," Dear said. "Most countries have abolished the death penalty, making it a relic of a bygone era, the era of lynchings and the American Wild West. The people of Iraq need neither. "The people of Iraq, like victims of violence everywhere, need healing and restoration. This execution would continue the downward spiral of violence Saddam propelled and that continues to devastate the Iraqi people," Dear said. PFADP encourages pastors, rabbis, and faith community leaders throughout the United States to educate their members on the immorality of the death penalty, even for someone who has caused as much suffering as Saddam. (source: PFADP is an interfaith organization founded in 1994 whose mission is to educate and mobilize faith communities to act to abolish the death penalty in the United States. PFADP is a member of the World Coalition Against the Death Penalty and the National Coalition to Abolish the Death Penalty)
