Human Rights

The BBC reports:

A US-based Nigerian news blogger is being held without charge by Nigeria’s secret service.

Jonathan Elendu was taken into custody on Saturday when he arrived in the capital, Abuja, on a family visit.

The State Security Service (SSS) has refused to allow his lawyers access to him and denied him a medical visit.

Jonathan writes Elendureports.com.

This is ridiculous. You do not hold people without charge, you do not refuse access to lawyers and you do not withhold medical treatment. Regardless of what you think about Jonathan or Elendureports.com you cannot and should not do that. Especially if you call yourself a leader and want us to treat you as such.

What is it with these heads of states or “big” politicians who act all tough but cannot stand some criticism or dissent? Sending the secret service to round up critics is not tough; it is sad, pathetic and sign of very poor leadership.

Via Afromusing – thanks.

Now That Amos Kimunya Has Resigned -Release Our Civil Society Colleagues

To the Commissioner of Police and the Government of Kenya:

We demand the unconditional release of our patriotic colleagues in the civil society who were brutally manhandled and arrested this morning as they exercised their constitutional rights to demand the resignation of Amos Kimunya as Finance Minister.

Their right to freedom of peaceable assembly was brutally violated by members of the Kenya Police. We demand their unconditional release for they have committed no crime. The Police officers who directed the assault on Ann Njogu and her colleagues must be subjected to appropriate discipline by the Commissioner of Police.

Kenya is not a Police State and Kenyans will not surrender their constitutional freedoms or their right to complain against wrongdoing, or to speak against grand corruption and impunity.

The arrested members of the civil society must be released.

In any event the man they were protesting against, former Finance Minister Amos Kimunya has resigned his office and stepped aside to facilitate investigations into the subject matter of the protest of civil society. In the spirit of a transparent enquiry into the role played by numerous public officers and institutions in the grand corruption saga that is the Grand Regency Hotel ‘handover’ and sale, it is morally and legally right that no one should be punished for speaking out for the Kenyan people in their time of need.

July 8th 2008 Mwalimu Mati www.marsgroupkenya.org

The world did not come to a crashing halt at the beginning of March 2008. This would not be significant if it were not that in January and February 2008 many people in Kenya wrote, spoke and acted so irresponsibly that I could only conclude that they expected the world to come to a halt or at least to go through some great cosmic ctrl-alt-del sequence which would result in collective memory loss leading us all to forget what they said, wrote, did. But the world did not come to an end at the beginning of March 2008 and as I said at the beginning of the year, many people would look back at their words and actions and wish that the world would forget. Not so.

I have just driven down Ngong Road, in the heart of Nairobi, at noon on a Thursday and the road is practically empty. You may remember that this is not the first time this year that roads in Nairobi are clear of traffic, and perhaps more significantly, clear of any public transport, in the middle of the day. We have been here before. But this time it is different and this difference is what highlights the hypocrisy in Kenya today, which will make many people wish that Kenyans would forget their irresponsible words and actions.

This week Kenya is suffering (again) under the actions of the barbaric Mungiki militia. An illegal group whose preferred modus operandi includes, but is not restricted, to beheadings, forced female circumcision, public transport and rent extortion.

Mungiki has been around for a while (for some background information please read Kenyan Pundit’s post which links articles on Mungiki) and the group has been influential for a while. For example you could ask anybody who was student at JKUAT during the time of the 2002 Kenyan general election about the role played by Mungiki in Uhuru Kenyatta’s presidential campaign and you will hear some interesting stories. (JKUAT lies on the road between Nairobi and Uhuru’s constituency).

I remember driving up to JKUAT in August 2002 when election fever was rising to pick a friend who was studying there and driving into the heart of one of Uhuru’s roadside campaign rallies where Mungiki provided the “security”. They had completely taken over the whole road from Githurai to Thika and to say they were intimidating is to say the least.

What I like about Mungiki (and this is perhaps their only positive characteristic) is that in the reaction to their latest activities Mungiki helps expose the hypocrisy in Kenyan society today.

Take as a first example the reaction of the Kenyan police. In the past three months we have seen first hand and up close the brutality of the Kenya Police towards Kenya citizens who were trying to march peacefully and legally towards Uhuru Park in protest against having their votes stolen. Even non partisan groups were unable to march. A women’s peace group which had organised authorization from the Minister of Internal Security, from the Provincial Administration and had informed the police, were greeted with a ring of police officers telling them their peace match had been cancelled at the last minute when they were just about to set off.

Time and time again Kibera would be ringed by heavily armed police and you would be lucky to make it on to Ngong Road leave alone get anywhere near town. I recorded a show down between the police and ODM supporters in Hurlingham where an army of police officers was deployed to ensure that ODM supporters get nowhere near the city centre. Similar shows of force by the police were deployed on Thika Road and Jogoo Road as the police moved swiftly to ensure that all major roads into the city were in their control. The same occurred in cities and towns across Kenya.

How time changes things. Two months ago Ngong Road was empty because of a heavy police presence and their indiscriminate use of force (including live bullets). Today Ngong Road is empty as Public Service Vehicle owners withdraw their vehicles from the streets because the police cannot stop the Mungiki thugs who demand over 90% of each vehicles earning and burn your matatu/bus if you refuse to comply. You could say that in both cases the police are responsible for empty streets.

In a sentence: two months ago Ngong Road was empty due to a large police presence, this week Ngong Road is empty because the police is conspicuously absent.

Why is it then that the same police force that cracked down on the peaceful protests in the past couple of months are reluctant to take on a group that has openly challenged them to armed warfare?

I do not buy the popular opinion of the day that Mungiki caught the police napping, that the police had no idea what was about to happen. Come on now. Security analysts reveal on TV that the police received calls as early as 5am from members of the public who had seen Mungiki members begin their activities of destruction, 10am the police were yet to respond. This is the same police force that sent lorries packed with police in riot gear into Kibera on Saturday when a rumor went around that perhaps some people were considering starting a demonstration to protest at the lack of a power sharing agreement.

Internal Security Permanent Secretary, Mr Cyrus Gituai, told The Standard that the police had expected Mungiki to strike on Monday at 6am, but instead went on the rampage at 3am, three hours earlier.

So the police decided to stay in bed until 5am or what? Come on now.

These double standards are by no means restricted to the police.

For instance, why is it that some bloggers/commentators who were complaining about the post election violence in general and the inconvenience of disrupted public transport in particular, were largely silent on the violence Mungiki perpetrated BEFORE the elections and are silent on the violence and disruption perpetrated by the same thugs this week? Why is it that those same people who were cursing Raila for not controlling the thugs in Rift Valley are now silent? Have you noticed how the responsibility for the violence two months ago was laid squarely in Raila’s lap individually, “Kenya is burning”, we were told, “because Raila is power hungry”. I wait to hear where they will appropriate blame this time round but I suspect they will remain silent or those who do speak out will blame, “the entire political class” which of course includes Raila. That is the duplicity that Mungiki exposes.

That is not to say that the political class is not implicated as well.

Why are politicians who have been screaming (rightly) that the police should get to the bottom of the post election violence are now screaming that the police should “negotiate” with Mungiki? Why not extend this call for negotiations to include other militia groups such as the Saboti Land Defence Force for example?

Why is that politicians who were quick to call for the annihilation of any protestors in Rift Valley and Nyanza are now going to great lengths to explain that Mungiki rises out of a disadvantage upbringing. Aren’t many of the youth who rampaged against the government in Rift Valley disadvantaged as well? If Mungiki revolts because it is up against the wall with nothing to lose doesn’t this extend to youth from other communities? Why call for the arrest of youth in Rift Valley with no mention of their grievances yet call for negotiations with Mungiki and demand that the police investigate their grievances?

Lastly, why are those who cheered when the army moved against the Saboti Land Defence Force not calling for the army to deployed against Mungiki? If indiscriminate killing is seen as viable method to bring about peace in the Mt. Elgon region why is not also being practised in Kibaki’s hometown which has been under attack by Mungiki?

I will let you draw your own conclusions to these questions. The duplicity and hypocrisy displayed on this would be laughable if it was not so serious. What we do know is that when Mungiki falls there will be tremors all the way to the top of Kibaki’s administration according to the BBC. (To be fair I should mention that Kibaki’s Court Jester issued a statement in response to the BBC report.

A while ago the East African blogosphere was rocked with controversy that began when a Kenyan blogger called the Tanzania president, Jakaya Kikwete, a “dumb-ass bitch”. Some Tanzanian bloggers took exception to this insult and stated so in their blogs. In return some Kenyan bloggers took exception to the Tanzanian bloggers taking exception and the KenyaUnlimited aggregator was full of posts quoting Voltaire (which was bizarre in itself as surely someone who complains about your insult has as much right to be heard as you do with your original insult).

Throughout the year as I continued to interact with Tanzanian bloggers I came to learn that a significant number of them (Tanzanian bloggers) do not have much confidence in Kikwete and many of them view his presidency, to put it politely, as a disaster, especially when they reflected on his economic policies.

This raised a number of questions in my mind.

Firstly, if these Tanzanian bloggers are not at all impressed with Kikwete’s presidency why did they take such strong exception to an insult lobbed his way by an insignificant and inarticulate Kenyan blogger?

Secondly, why did the Kenyan blogosphere find it so hard to understand why the Tanzanian bloggers were outraged by an insult to their president?

Is it because Kenyans have thicker skin, are mentally stronger and are used to verbal sparing and thus can roll with the punches?

Perhaps.

Is it because Tanzanians are more eloquent, more mature and civilised and thus will not stand for insults?

Perhaps.

My understanding of why these two siblings, Kenyans and Tanzanians, could disagree so fundamentally on this issue can be summed up in one word.

Statesmanship.

In a sentence: the history and tradition of statesmanship within the Tanzanian ruling elite, and the complete lack of statesmanship within the Kenyan ruling elite.

At the risk of launching a Platonic argument of gigantic dimensions let me define it thus (quoting Wikipedia);

To rule or have political power called for a specialized knowledge. The statesman was one who possesses this special knowledge of how to rule justly and well and to have the best interests of the citizens at heart.

As Kenyans I believe we find it hard to understand the notion of statesmanship, as it implies that those in the political elite in Kenya should be driven to implement policies that have the best interests of the citizens of Kenya at heart.

How can we understand this when the Kibaki government claimed it did not have enough money to build the 500,000 homes it promised in its election manifesto of 2002 yet somehow managed to find USD 12m to spend on new cars (enough to send 25,000 children to school for eight years)?

How can we understand this when the Moi regime fleeced the country of at least US $600 million in less than three years in what we now call the Goldenberg Scandal?

How can we understand this when the extended Kenyatta family alone owns an estimated 500,000 acres — approximately the size of Nyanza Province — according to estimates by independent surveyors and Ministry of Lands officials, making them the senior members of what Michael Mundia Kamau, inspirationally, calls the KenMoiKib Farm?

Our three presidents to date have failed the statesmanship test and failed it badly. Even Jomo Kenyatta, whom increasingly seems to be loved more by non-Kenyans than Kenyans in much the same way that love for THE Emperor seems to grow the further you get away from Ethiopia, is no longer spared. I can even go as far as stating that if you stand on any street corner in central Nairobi and shouted in a loud voice, “Kibaki/Moi/Kenyatta is a dumb-ass bitch” you would be ignored at the worst but probably be applauded by one or two people. Now imagine standing at the corner of a street in Dar-es-salaam and shouting “Nyerere is a dumb-ass bitch”. If you managed to get out alive and made it to Nairobi I would probably finish you off myself and I am Kenyan. Why?

Nyerere was a Statesman.

True his economic policies may not have been the best but here was a man who was big enough to know that the presidency in itself did not make him who he was. Here was a man big enough to walk away into retirement to sit under his tree in his shamba and enjoy his family. Here was a man who understood that the most powerful thing he could do was to give up power.

The greatest disservice Kenyatta did to Kenya was dying in office, during the election of 1975 when it was clear he was no longer the force he used to be he could have choose to step aside and step into greatness. He did not, 3 years later he was dead, and this in turn gave birth to the president-for-life syndrome which manifests itself today in Moi still aching for power after 25 years in StateHouse and which made Kibaki think he would be failure if he had lost his presidency in the general election 3 months ago despite a career in politics of over 40 years.

How can you be a megalomaniac in Tanzania when Nyerere was not? How can you claim the presidency as your birth right in Tanzania when the father of the nation walked away for it to give room to others?

This is what the Kenyan blogosphere failed to understand at the time. That while Tanzanians may not be too impressed with their current president, they are VERY proud of their institution of Presidency.

Of course statesmanship is not restricted to men. One of the most enduring images of the Kenyan post-election crisis was of Grace Machel during a tour of Internal Displaced People camps hugging a woman closely, whispering words of comfort as the woman wept and wept. Here was Grace Machel, the freedom fighter, former minister, and campaigner for children and for human rights, reaching out and bringing some humanity to IDP camps. Where was Kenya’s grossly overpaid First Lady at the time? Busy slapping Members of Parliament who had the audacity to suggest that her husband should get serious about sharing power. There are many things you can call Lucy Kibaki but not even the most rabid Kibaki supporter would call her a statesman. On the other side of the coin, you just try calling Graca Machel a dumb-ass bitch and see where that leaves you.

While the eyes of the nation were focused to Kofi Annan who lead the team of Eminent Person conducting the mediation in Kenya following the post election violence, the rest of team of eminent persons was often over looked, Graca Machel and Benjamin Mkapa. Mkapa is a Tanzanian diplomat and like Nyerere a former Tanzanian president. You see people; there IS life after Statehouse. Here is man who was President for 10 years, handed over at the end of his term and is now a Statesman who helped us resolve our election disputes, happy to sit in the background and immerse himself in the nitty gritty while the world’s media focused on Annan. That is an example that our political elite should be following. How many countries do you think would welcome Kibaki or Moi to help mediate their election disputes? Not many, unless they were planning on, “doing a Kibaki”.

On Sunday before Kibaki read out the list of his new bloated and grossly immoral cabinet he had the audacity, the AUDACITY, to stand there and brag to Kenyans about the “statesmanship and sacrifice” the political elite had displayed. Kibaki seriously needs to be reconnected with reality. Shuttling between Statehouse and State Lodges, hiding behind his security detail, and pushing Kenya to the edge is NOT statesmanship leave alone sacrifice. He also said the new cabinet, “underscores our nation’s leadership to put the collective needs of the country above everything else.” Is there anyone who thinks a bloated government and expensive cabinet is what our country needs? Mwalimu Mati writes on exactly why this is a disaster.

As Kenyans we have to address this issues quickly. Statesmanship is not an option. Statesmanship is vital for a healthy African society. Statesmanship is African to its very core. Without Statesmen we will not progress.

White African and Afromusing have informative posts on how you can vote for the Ushahidi project on the Netsquared mash up challenge. If you had voted before, please go and vote again. This project really is ground breaking. Let me tell you a little bit why.

Report Acts Of Violence In Kenya

At the end of January I attended a media forum organised by Internews Network. The forum was for the media to examine the way local and international media covered the post election violence. A self-assessment session. It was a fascinating way to spend a morning. The room was filled with hacks. Newspaper journalists, TV reporters, radio presenters, from the broad spectrum of media houses in Kenya. The big national broadcasters, the vernacular radio stations, the religious radio stations, and yes even the bloggers. I was invited to attend and to speak as a blogger and I gave a presentation on the way the blogosphere had covered the election and the post election violence.

In a session towards the end of the forum the discussion moved on to what we all could have done better in terms of our coverage. One statement that stood out for me was a comment that a lot of the reporting of the violence by Kenyan reporters/bloggers read like it was done by strangers. Kenyan reporters/bloggers were writing about things in their own country like strangers. For example, we all talked about Rift Valley militias like they are some kind of abstract phenomenon. Who are these militias? Who is funding them? Where do they live? What were the doing the day before the election? What do they call themselves? What are the names of the members? As Kenyans journalists they felt that these are the things they should have covered from the beginning.

The same applies to the victims. We always complain about how Africans are reduced to statistics. Remember when Al Qaeda bombed the US Embassy in Nairobi and western media reports named the foreigners who died and left out the Kenyans, or when flight KQ507 went down and we heard international media reports which named a list of nationalities and ended with “the rest were Africans”? Well here we are in the middle of the greatest crisis our country has ever faced and we couldn’t even name our own victims.

A few reporters spoke out against this criticism. One reporter said that as a Kikuyu woman she would have to be mad to approach the family of a victim of “stray” police bullet to ask his name as the public felt the police were working to protect the Kikuyu, and would have to be completely bananas to try and interview members of any Rift Valley militia who were busy running around rounding up Kikuyus. Valid points perhaps but they were quickly knocked down. After all, the moderator remarked, as professional reporters you must have more than one way to find information. Just because you can not approach the family directly is no excuse not to be able to identify the victim of violence or to do a story on the identities behind the militias.

A couple of people raised another concern, that it was completely unrealistic for us to think that it is possible to name all or even most of those victims of violence. They felt that it was nice in theory but in reality it was unworkable. An Indian journalist who has been based in Kenya for the last few years as a foreigner correspondent told us about the example of Calcutta.

After riots in Calcutta left over 3000 people dead one of the newspapers, I think it was the Calcutta Daily Telegraph, launched a project to name each of those victims and it succeeded. 3000 people and they wrote all their stories. If they can, we can too.

It is unacceptable that people, our people, remain numbers. It is unacceptable that as Kenyans we can feel comfortable in the continuing anonymity of the ultimate victims of the post election violence. And let us be honest, we are cowards if we continue in this way.

It takes guts to look death in the face, to find out whom this person was, where they worked, where they went to school, to hold their children, to speak to their partners. To find out what their dreams were. It takes guts but it is necessary.

Take the example of James Odhiambo:

1. James is 24 years old.
2. James is the sole breadwinner for his family.
3. James works at a petrol station as an attendant.
4. One of his colleagues at the petrol station is called Brian Oluoch.
5. James was killed in Lurambi at the junction on the way to Shikoti, Kakamega in Western province, Kenya.
6. According to eyewitnesses he was shot by the GSU.
7. The police were unable to pick James’ body, as they did not have enough fuel for their vehicle.
8. James Odhiambo was buried on Sunday 13th January 2008.
9. James was buried in Homa Bay, Nyanza province.
10. Brian and other friends from the area travelled to Homa Bay to comfort the family.
11. If you would like to help the family directly you can contact Brian on +254.724.912.015

The national media declined to run James’ story so how do I know about it? I know because Mr.Michael Arunga, who works for World Vision in Darfur, was on holiday in the area at the time and took pictures, which he allowed Afromusing to post on her flickr account. Afromusing then wrote a blog post with all the information above she put on her personal blog and on Ushahidi.

Report Acts Of Violence In Kenya

In one blog post of 399 words James went from being just another number. James went from being just another dead body in the “over 1000 causalities” of the post election violence in Kenya to being James. Afromusing’s post is disturbing and saddening. It is also powerful and necessary. Afromusing’s blogpost and Michael’s pictures humanised the death of a young man, personalised it, and made it real and relevant.

This is why the Ushahidi project is so relevant and so necessary. We as Kenyans are guilty of having short-term memories. Yesterday’s villains are today’s heroes. We sweep bad news and difficult decisions under the carpet; we do not confront the issues in our society and get shocked when the country erupts as it did two months ago. Ushahidi gives everybody, anybody, the opportunity to get his or her experience recorded. Through SMS, through email, through the internet, through meeting an NGO worker who will write down what happened and share it with us. Ushahidi is a project that has to be owned by those who use it; they have to believe in it. They have to trust it; they have to feel a part of it. Ushahidi is not the end but the beginning. We have the information, we share it, and people will run with it. Hopefully we will get the stories behind the numbers. Just as with James we can inject a little humanity back into the lives of these people who were killed because they were in the wrong place at the wrong time.

The project is recording not just incidents of deaths, but of all the violence. The project is not recording just the negative stories but highlighting the doves who are working for peace in our communities as well. And the project needs all your help to survive. Ushahidi needs your help, needs your votes. Please vote for this project on the Netsquared challenge. You can find full details on how to do this here. After you vote, please get involved by submitting your experiences and those of the people around you to the database. Instructions on how to register to vote are here and here.

Thank you.

Report Acts Of Violence In Kenya

The tsunami that promises to sweep through the Kenyan political landscape and usher in a new breed of leaders continues to pick up pace as the Wanainchi use all methods available at their disposal to ensure that they are not excluded from the national debate. Many are turning to the internet to get their voices heard.

One example of this is the music track Tumechoka by Ill Phil Artists. Tumechoka is a Swahili word which translates into English as we are tired/we have had enough. Ill Phil Artists released the song and video online via the MARS Group Kenya website. You can listen to the track and read the lyrics below (largely in Kiswahili with loose English translations). Please share and distribute it widely. It’s free and the artists have waived their royalty rights for internet download and radio play.

More information on the MARS Group website where you can also download the file in its original Real Media player format.

 

 Tumechoka: Play Now | Play in Popup | Download

Intro

Sisi sote tumekuja pamoja kusema Na kuskika, hatunyamazi mashida zetu Kama kitambo,
(We have come to speak in one voice, we will not be silenced as before)

A voice against our leaders, ni kura itaongea, pigeni kura pigeni kura pigeni kura..
(Our vote will speak, Vote people Vote! Vote!)

Baken
Nashindwa niajee, kuishi kiwasi wasi nitaongea ki wazi wazi viongozi vikohozi
(Why are we living in fear with leaders who make us sick)

Na niajee, Mtaani tunawika nayeye anacheka straight to the bank,
(Why are we living in ghettos as our leaders laugh straight to the bank)

Mi na hustle ye ana manga bila hata kungangana, kwanini akuhonge baadaye akunyonge
(I have to hustle, he enjoys without labouring, why should he bribe us, later he hangs us)

Kamba shingoni ya kujitia mwenyewe, wanajifanya waelewi kula kuva
(A noose around his neck this time, he thinks he is better than us)

Yote C.D.F na round hi, Shida zetu tunyazmazi.
(This time let us end our problem)

Chorus
Tumechoka na sema tumechoka kufinyiliwa down tunasema tumechoka (tumechoka) x 4
(We are tired of being pressed down - We are Tired! x 4)

Leftie
Mshahara tunampa, na kazi hatuoni, pesa zetu mnakula na bunge mnalala,
(We pay you well but your work is unseen. You eat our money and sleep in Parliament)

Mnasema mko kazi Ndio sisi wenye vipaji, vitambi vinatokea ungedhania Ni kiriba,
(You claim to be hard at work)

Tunafinywa Kwa makini, laini shinda maini maazi kufanyiziwa
(We are oppressed)

Malazi kufinyiliwa, wanadai in the ghetto na nyimnaangalia nimekula huu usongo
(In our homes we are oppressed they say in the ghetto)

Ndio maana ninalia, nakaa hamtawacha kura yangu hamta pata, this time mkicheza tutampiga
(This is why I am crying. No vote for you from me this time.)

hiyo marando, taadhari tafakari Leftie akiwa nare mtakuwa kwenye hatari tunataka maendeleo, hacheni huo ukorofi,
(Watch yourself I am getting impatient. We want development not corruption.)

Chorus
Tumechoka na sema tumechoka kufinyiliwa down tunasema tumechoka (tumechoka) x 4
(We are tired of being pressed down - We are Tired! x 4)

Hawkins
Followed my heart through all the roads into the jungle, seen so much pressure
Told my body, just handle, this is nothing, Compared to what we thought,
Bad governance and leadership is what we fought, dark ages, black pages, rough ages
Men make history but this is to much, I earn all the money but you say I can’t touch, unajiongezea Mshahara nikipinga unanipiga, si protest Kwa Street Ndio maana niko Kwa beat nakuonya roundi hii nakutoa wewe shindwa
(You increase your salary when I protest you have me beaten – I am warning you now this time I will throw you out!)

Chorus (repeat)
(We are tired of being pressed down - We are Tired! x 4)

Jahfarel
Nabado wamesahau tumewapa hii works, Kulounge bila shukrani hatowi pesa zao
(They have forgotten that we are their employers, they are greedy and laze about)

Dem lying dem saying but they just destroying with false prophesies of a better tomorrow,
(They are false prophets and liars)

Na hii wakati, Ni Kura itaongea pigeni Kura pigeni Kura
(This is the time. Our vote will speak. Vote! Vote!)

Ending Chorus
(We are tired of being pressed down - We are Tired! x 4)

Margaret Thatcher was a dominating public figure for over 30 years in British and international politics. She won three general elections in a row, was a formidable Prime Minister, influenced a generation of politics and her policies still influence debate on issues as wide ranging as taxation in the UK to land reform in Zimbabwe. After her elected political career she still commanded great respect and had a lot of influence as her public speaking and book deals show.

In 2002 she suffered a series of strokes and aware of the damage a gruelling schedule would have her doctors advised her family to withdraw her from public life. There was also the question of preserving the dignity and integrity of this public colossus by protecting the effects of her illness from the public eye. Lady Thatcher retains her dignity even in ill health.

Kenneth Matiba is a colossus of the Kenya politics, a hero who put his limbs and his life on the line fighting the brutal dictatorship of Moi. He was instrumental in the democratization of Kenyan politics as a leader of the “2nd liberation” which forced Moi to accept multiparty politics and political freedom for all Kenyans.

In 1990 Matiba was detained, in solitary confinement, without charge or trial in the Kamiti Maximum Security prison and tortured at the torture chambers of infamous Nyayo House in central Nairobi. As a result of the torture Matiba suffered a stroke that nearly killed him. He survived to vie for the presidency in 1992. It is generally accepted that Matiba won the 1992 Kenyan general election although the massive rigging machinery employed by Moi regime doctored the result.

It is now clear that the effects of the stroke Matiba suffered under Moi’s goons are advanced. He can not read and he can not sign documents, his speech is slurred and his mobility is impaired. Matiba turned up at the Electoral Commission of Kenya session held at the Kenyatta International Conference Centre Thursday last week to present his papers as he intends to vie for the presidency in this years general election. It was painful to watch and left me shaking my head at the TV saddened at what I was seeing. I was not alone.

Where is this hero’s family? Why are they not protecting him like Thatcher’s family are protecting her? Matiba should not be making public statements leave alone vying for the presidency. Where are those who have his interests at heart? Why subject him to this? LET THE MAN KEEP HIS DIGINTY. My goodness has it come to this? Matiba deserves better, a whole lot better.

If any good can come out this terrible situation it is this, Matiba’s condition remember is a direct consequence of the torture he suffered under Moi’s orders. Remember the brutality of the Moi dictatorship directed towards anyone who did not agree with him. Remember how Moi, Kibaki’s “Envoy of peace”, trampled over and tried to destroy ALL our independence heroes and heroines (and then turns up at their funerals full of crocodile tears). Remember also that while, “Matiba was fighting Moi, Kibaki was saying in parliament that proponents of change were trying to fell a Mugumo tree with a razor blade” to illustrate his argument that one party rule was here to stay. Remember this also before you approach me and insult my intelligence telling me that I should not vote for this or that presidential candidate because they would be dictator yet you do not provide a single evidence of intellectual proof to support that ridiculous claim, remember that we, the Kenyan electorate, kicked out a dictator in 2002 and we all know who welcomed him back.

Kroll Associates is amongst the world’s leading private investigation agencies. They appeared on my radar when I read fascinating accounts of how the tracked down money stolen and hidden by the Nigerian dictator Sami Abacha, found former Philippines president Ferdinand Marcos secret fortune, they found the money stolen by Haitian dictator Jean-Claude “Baby Doc” Duvalier, they found Saddam Hussein’s secret bank accounts, they found Osama bin Laden’s secret bank accounts which are being used to fund the Al-Qaida network. In short, they know how to do what they do pretty well.

In December 2003 I wrote that by hiring Kroll Associates to trace the money looted by Moi and his cronies the Kibaki government was showing that it was taking the fight against corruption seriously. These noble anti-corruption efforts were lead from within the Kibaki team by a guy you might have heard about, John Githongo, who was at the time the Permanent Secretary for Governance and Ethics in the Office of the President.

In February 2005 John Githongo travelled to the UK to receive a report from Kroll. Shortly after receiving that report Githongo resigned his position as Permanent Secretary giving no reason and stayed in the UK stating concerns about fears for his safety if he returned back to Kenya. At the time I wrote that whatever Kroll told Githongo must have been explosive, explosive enough to make him resign. In February 2006 Githongo released his report, a copy of which you can download on Mentalacrobatics here.

Earlier today part of the Kroll report on corruption in Kenya was leaked to the whistler blowers’ site WikiLeaks.

Some of the information in the report focusing on Moi:

• Assets accumulated included multimillion pound properties in London, New York and South Africa, as well as a 10,000-hectare ranch in Australia and bank accounts containing hundreds of millions of pounds.
• Mr Moi’s sons - Philip and Gideon - were reported to be worth £384m and £550m respectively
• Moi’s associates colluded with Italian drug barons and printed counterfeit money
• Moi’s clique owned a bank in Belgium
• £4m was used to buy a home in Surrey and £2m to buy a flat in Knightsbridge.

The Kibaki government never acted on the report. The Kenyan government official spokesman, Alfred Mutaa, dismissed the report stating, “We did not find that the report was credible. It was based a lot on hearsay.” He said the leaking of the report was politically motivated and insisted Kenya was working with foreign governments to recover the stolen money. “Some of the money is in UK bank accounts. We have asked the British government to help us recover the funds, but so far they have refused.”

Well he would say that now wouldn’t he. Earlier this week Moi endorsed Kibaki for a second term in statehouse.

You can download the Kroll report from WikiLeaks. You can also download it from Mentalacrobatics here (PDF doc 3.8 MB)

Hat tip Mshairi!

(Disclaimer for the conspiracy theorists amongst us: This is my analysis of the situation. I do not have any inside information on why Githongo resigned and he has not shared his reasons with me.)

There have been many bad ideas during this phoney war stage of the political battle in the race to Statehouse, many. Kalonzo trying to pull a fast one on the other ODM-K presidential aspirants, Jirongo believing Moi would back him for the presidency; young NARC-K politicians thinking the Wazees would let them run the show; Kibaki returning ministers tainted with corruption back into office; Martha Karua and everything she does; ODM going to a delegates convention without proper delegates etc.

However, the worst, absolutely worst idea ever, is this KSH 1 Million (USD 15,000.00) per plate lunch affair that Kibaki’s re-election team is planning for Saturday which is expected to attract 1,000 people. What were they drinking the day they came up with that idea? It is hard to think of a more stupid idea at this time in Kenyan politics? If that wasn’t enough, reports have also emerged of the purchase of nearly 200 four-wheel-drives, the formation of a 300-member team of co-ordinators each earning more than $1,000 a month, and the existence of an ICT team that will see the president’s re-election message flood mobile phones. The only conclusion I can come up with is that there is someone at the heart of the Kibaki camp deliberately sabotaging his re-election efforts and they are very good at it. It serves absolutely no purposes.

What about the money? Kibaki needs the money! Of course Kibaki needs the money. This is going to be the first campaign in Kenyan history where each serious presidential candidate (sit down Dr. Ojiambo) will spend at least KSH 1 billion in the run up to the election. No clever politician campaigns with his own money. So they have to raise money. But anybody who is willing to turn up to a KSH 1 million a plate lunch in support of Kibaki would have given him the money away. It is not like there are hundreds of undecided millionaires in Kenya who were swayed by the quality of warus on the Statehouse menu. So why have the lunch and make a public show of such gluttony? Why deliberately antagonise the 30+ million Kenyans who will never ever see KSH 1 million?

Secondly, because of the nature of Kenyan politics, I can confidently predict that guest list will be dominated by members of one tribe. So after this lunch Kibaki will not only look greedy and completely out of touch, he will also look like the supreme tribalist, which is sad as the vast majority of Kikuyus will never see KSH 1 million in their lifetime. Wasn’t it that patriot Josiah Mwangi (JM) Kariuki (who happened to be Kikuyu) who warned Kenyatta decades ago about creating a country of 10 millionaires and 10 million beggars?

Thirdly, just how out of touch with the man on the street do you have to be to even suggest an idea like this to the president? And how out out touch do you have to be to accept the idea as good? doThis administration’s lack of realists would be comical if it were not so serious. It is easy to see now how these guys believed the draft constitution would sail through the referendum the day before the Kenyan voters told them where to stuff their draft. Just like that arrogant, self belief undid them then, it will undo them here. They basically do not care what anyone thinks and they think that is fine. They move from Ivory Tower to Ivory Tower and never take time to stop and listen.

Meanwhile back in the real world, at the same time as Kibaki and his friends are having their KSH 1 Million lunch, a bunch of us will be at Jeevanjee Gardens, snacks will be served to about 1000 people, although feel free to bring your own, KSH 1 million is purely optional Karibu!

Press release from the indefatigable MARS Group on behalf of the Kenyan Human Rights Network:

PRESS RELEASE ON 29TH AUGUST 2007 - A MILLION FOR LUNCH?OR ONE MILLION LUNCHES?

“Those with money have access to the president … those without have the votes to elect the president”
Civil Society, Nairobi Kenya

The Kenya Human Rights Commission (KHRC) has today (29th August 2007) given the OCS Central Police Station notice, under the Public Order Act, on behalf of the Kenya Human Rights Network (K-HURINET) of a public event to be held at Jeevanjee Gardens on Saturday the 1st of September 2007. KHRC has also obtained the necessary consents from the Nairobi City Council and the Friends of Jeevanjee Gardens.

The meeting shall be held from 10.00 am to 3.00 pm. Activities will include a public forum where snacks will be offered to an approximated 1000 people.

Please note that the function shall be preceded by a procession from the Globe Cinema Roundabout to the above mentioned venue. We shall assemble at the Globe Roundabout at 8.30 am and start the procession at 9.00 am

Mars Group Kenya
Media Laison for K-HURINET
Contact Jayne/Fiona
020 3533230
info [@] marskenya [dot] org

Journalists will hold a silent demonstration on the streets of Nairobi tomorrow – Wednesday 15th August to protest the controversial Media Bill. Civil Society will also demonstrate in solidarity with the media fraternity. All Kenyans are invited and urged to come and show their support.

The following are the details from the Inter-media committee:

The Silent Demo is on!

The Silent Demonstration will take place on Wednesday August 15, with the blessings and the support from the majority of media houses and associations as well as myriads of well wishers.

We shall assemble 8:30am at Freedom Corner at Uhuru Park. We will then march to the AG’s Chambers (via Kenyatta Ave- Moi Ave- Harambee Ave) where we will present a petition to the chief legal adviser to the Government and ask him to advise the President against signing the proposed law.

We shall then proceed to march around Parliament two times before breaking the demo at Freedom corner. The whole programme should take about two hours maximum.

The demo is silent for there will be no chanting nor singing.

We will actually be quiet through out the march and our mouths gagged with black cloth or duct tape. We can also adorn black scarves, head bands or arm bands.

So please bring along a gag, dress in your organisation’s branded wear [if available], AND remember to put on some comfortable walking shoes.

We are looking forward to your participation and your organisation’s support as we SILENCE this bad law.

NB: Watch out for a spectacular media showing on that day.

Standing as one,

Inter-media committee

Forwarded by Mars Group Kenya

On Wednesday afternoon I joined civil society activist in a peaceful march to parliament to present a petition to parliament protesting against the Media Bill passed by parliament which is now awaiting presidential consent and the corrupt, immoral, illegal “gratuity” payment Kenyan legislators are attempting to award themselves.

Last week civil society activists were harassed, beaten, tear-gassed, arrested illegally and almost killed in a car crash involving the police vehicle they were being transported in (after being arrested illegally) when trying to present the petition to parliament. I am happy to say that none of those things happened yesterday as the peaceful march passed as it was meant to, peacefully! A Member of Parliament (and ODM-K presidential candidate Joseph Nyagah) accepted the petition from us to take to parliament.

Below are the pictures from a day in which the Kenyan police respected the law they ask us to upload and let Kenyan citizens exercise their constitutionally protected right to petition their parliament. The full set (103 photos) is available on my Flickr account. Click on the images below to see full size picture.

Press Release from MARS Group Kenya

Monday, August 06, 2007

A Petition to Parliament on MP’s Gratuities, the unconstitutional Media Bill 2007 and other matters of urgent national importance – invitation to a Civil Society Briefing on Tuesday August 7th 2007.

Civil Society will be holding a press briefing at the Grand Regency Hotel, Magadi Room commencing at 11am on Tuesday 7th August 2007.

The briefing will be on a March on Parliament that will take place on Wednesday 8th August 2007 to present the first ever petition to Parliament by the people of Kenya. The right to petition Parliament is provided for under the Constitution of Kenya and the Standing Orders of Parliament.

Amongst the issues Civil Society is protesting are the proposed gratuities by parliament, the unconstitutional Media bill, police brutality on Civil society and the inhuman conditions in which the Police Force live and work.

contact:
Jayne/ Fiona
Tel: 020 - 35 33 230
Mars Group Kenya
Civil Society Media Liaison for the Petition and March on Parliament

www.marsgroupkenya.org
Watching out for You

Last month in a blog post called a “Tale of Two Kenyans” I wrote about how the Kenyan police woke up an entire slum when two suspected cop killers decided to hide amongst the residents. A couple of readers expressed doubts to put it politely. One of the emails I received even accused me of making the whole episode up claiming the Kenyan authorities did not have enough manpower to mount such an operation.

Kenyan police round up suspected Mungiki members in Nairobi’s Mathare slum. Click on the image to see the full size image.

Well, well, well. I get back from TEDGlobal in Arusha to find the world has gone mad back at home. Yesterday a combined force of 500 made up of regular police, administration police and the elite General Service Unit raided Mathare in a crackdown on the gangsters of the Mungiki Sect that is responsible for the deaths of at least 20 people included at least 12 who were beheaded in the last three months. So far the police operation, code named Operation Kosovo, has resulted in around 30 deaths and 300 arrests. Of course the police claim that they have good reasons to suspect that all those they have arrested and killed are members of Mungiki. Mathare is under siege. After months of harassment by Mungiki now they have another threat to watch out for, trigger happy police.

A policeman with a police dog rounds up suspected Mungiki members in Nairobi’s Mathare slum. Click on the image to see the full size image.

Another Kenyan blogger, Majonzi, writing on this story uses a powerful headline

Wananchi vs Mungiki vs The Police

I would change it to

Mungiki vs Wananchi vs The Police

The wananchi, the ordinary Kenyan citizen, is now caught in the middle of a battle between Mungiki and the police for the control of parts of Nairobi and parts of Kenya. Month after month, year after year this sect has grown unchecked, harassing, beating, killing and beheading ordinary wananchi going about their lives. This sect was seemed untouchable by the police. Well the authorities have woken up and as one policeman was quoted saying,

“Lala chini ung’orote. Unajua kuna serikali?”
(Lie down and sleep. Do you know there is a government in Kenya?)

Kenyan police round up suspected Mungiki members in Nairobi’s Mathare slum forcing them to lie face down. Click on the image to see the full size image.

Where has this “government” been up to now?

This is a clear example that we have to take the optimism, positive energy and empowering ideas from TEDGlobal and start making change in our society at a fundamental level. James Shikwati in his talk urged Africans to start panicking, to enter “panic mode”. We have to open our eyes to our society is breaking and in many ways in broken and perhaps if we enter panic mode we will start to deal with issues with the urgency they require.

Thanks M4 for sending me the images.

TEDGlobal2007 | TEDGlobal

From 13.30 GMT today (16.30 Kenya time) Reuters will be holding a Newsmaker Debate centred on the crisis in Darfur. There is still time for you to submit your questions and comments for the panel. Have a look at Ndesanjo’s post on Global Voices for some background information. Bloggers have played a vital role in keeping the Dafur crisis at the top of the news agenda.

The panel (Ann Curry, NBC News, Mia Farrow, Actress & UNICEF Goodwill Ambassador, Jean-Marie Guéhenno, Under-Secretary-General for Peacekeeping Operations, United Nations, Lauren Landis, Senior Representative to Sudan, U.S. Department of State, Abdalmahmood Abdalhaleem Mohamad, Sudanese Ambassador to the United Nations and John Prendergast, Senior Adviser, International Crisis Group) does not have a large African presence to say the least. Let us be heard through our blogs.

A lot of things can happen in nine months. Babies are born, a football season runs its course, and Egypt jails another blogger.

In May 2006 we rallied around Alaa Seif al-Islam Abd al-Fattah in the Free Alaa campaign after he was imprisoned by Mbaruk’s regime for speaking his mind. Alaa’s campaign was well supported by the Kenyan blogosphere perhaps because we drew comparisons between what was going on in Egypt and our Internal Security minister, John Muchuki, who had recently launched his campaign to intimidate Kenyans.

Now the Egyptian authorities are at it again.

Abdel-Karim Nabil Suleiman, 22, a former law student at Cairo’s Al-Azhar University, was sentenced to four years in prison by a court in Alexandria yesterday after being arrested last November over eight articles he posted on his blog …

Sarah Leah Whitson, Middle East director at Human Rights Watch, said: “This sets a chilling precedent in a country where blogs have opened a window for free speech. The Egyptian government should abide by its commitments to uphold free expression and release Suleiman without delay.” Amnesty International called it “yet another slap in the face of freedom for expression in Egypt”.

This is Egyptian remember. Egypt. That historical centre of intellectual debate and thought, that ancient centre of learning, that home of scientific discovery. And this current regime can’t handle one young man speaking his mind. This is ridiculous. And to think his university actually pushed for him to be given a harsher sentence. Madness.

Join the Free Karim campaign and while you’re at it have a look at his blog. OK I do not read Arabic, but a guy posting song lyrics and YouTube music videos as well as sharing his opinions on politics does not strike me as an enemy of the state. Just a university student speaking his mind.