By Shem Kosse

A Kenyan escapee based in Canada, who is a renowned scholar cum human rights activist, has taken a swipe at the Kenyan government over the intermittent extrajudicial killings, atrocities, among other injustices, being visited on the innocent citizenry.

Speaking to this journalist, professor Cornel Omondi, who fled to Canada for fear of his life after providing earth-shaking information to the United Nations special Rappoteur Prof Philip Alston that saw them being, allegedly,the targets, of Kenyan police harassments and killings, said that he is amazed on the government’ laxity to curb the vice which continues to traumatize humanity.

Prof Alston’s move to investigate crimes against humanity in Kenya was prompted by the concern of the international community and a ten days investigation was carried out by the UN to ascertain the truth.

The university don, chronicled aftermath events of the Kenya’s 2007 botched elections that sparked the nationwide unrest and what took place on 21st February 2009 during the visit of Alston and his team to the lakeside city of kisumu which culminated to his escape.

Prior to his escape to Canada, Wasonga, who owns a MBA degree with emphasis in business from Lincoln University in the United States, was corporate training manager and training workshop (continuing education) facilitator with Learnex and Longsight Management Services, respectively, in Nairobi.

As a patriotic Kenyan, human rights activist, and someone against all forms of injustice and crimes against humanity, his problem with the government began way back after the Kenyan post-election upheavals of December 2007 -early 2008, which claimed many innocent lives.

The cause for these post-election skirmishes was over the disputed elections results in which ODM party alleged that elections were rigged in favour of their main rival party called PNU (Party of National Unity). PNU is the party headed by the president of Kenya, Hon. Mwai Kibaki. The declaration by the electoral commission of Kenya that PNU party had won the election, ignited violence.

“The violence found me at my home village, Kisian near Kisumu city; everyone had to vote where you had acquired your voting card and I remember on January 02, 2008 while demonstrations were still on but had declined a bit, especially around Kisumu, as I was driving my car towards the city at around 9:00 a.m. I met police patrolling at a small trading center, Bandani, near Kisumu airport on my way to the city of Kisumu. They flagged me down and ordered to get out of the car.” recalls the don.

The menacing police officers searched the car and released him to proceed on with the journey. And after covering approximately half a kilometre stretch, met another group of marauding policemen who pointed guns at him to stop.

“I obeyed and they told me to step out of the car, meanwhile talking and saying I was one of those sponsoring the violence ….. within seconds a police van came and I was bundled like a bag of beans into it. They took me to Kisumu police station, leaving my car behind.”, he says.

“I went through rigorous interview process with accusations that I am one of those sponsoring violence. I asked why do they accuse me, and they said that because the nature of my car suggests that I have lots of money and those with money are the ones sponsoring the riots and are also refusing to accept election results.I was detained for about five hours and later released. I then asked if I could be dropped back where I left my car, but I was told that there was no car, so I had to go by foot because there were still no public transports due to the fear of continuing violence.” he adds.

Continuing,: “Shockingly, when I returned to that place, I found that my car had been burnt to ashes, and onlookers told me that the police were responsible in setting my car in flames. A brand new Isuzu 4×4 double cabin that I had just acquired just vanished like that. I then returned to the police station in Kisumu, again by foot, to report the matter. It seemed like it was a crime to accuse police. They harassed me saying that, with numerous riots going on, how can I accuse the police for that act, but I told them that the nearby residents witnessed the act.”

The policemen never took a statement and told him that they will communicate to him when they are done with “investigations”. And he has since taken up the matter with the Commissioner of the police, a detrimental move that he largely attributes to his status of: narrow escape from Kenya, to Canada.

While the violence was still raging and claiming many innocent lives, a team led by Kofi Annan, former UN Secretary General, intervened. They came and held a series of meetings that ultimately culminated into amicable resolution between the two rival’s parties, ODM and PNU.

It resulted into the coalition government, which is a power sharing agreement. In this power sharing deal the two parties are expected to consult one another over key issues and or decisions. Unfortunately, this is not often the case.

Because the president hails from the PNU party, and the Prime Minister is from the ODM party, the President often makes certain decisions without consulting the Prime Minister. A group of faction from the ODM have always felt betrayed and therefore not pleased with the PNU behaviour in the coalition government.

And in the recent past, the incumbent president, unilaterally, appointed a team of Anti-Corruption Commission and judicial officials without consulting his key principal partner, the premier. This was immediately disputed by the legislature and other relevant authorities and consequently the appointments were revoked, by the president.

And due to humiliation caused to the president, he has secretly deployed the police namely, the “police death squads” to secretly hunt for those in the ODM party, alleged Wasonga who is also a staunchest supporter of ODM party.

On March 5, 2009 two prominent human right activists, namely Kamau Kingara and Paul Oulu, were brutally murdered around Nairobi. The duo was working for a famous organization called Oscar foundation. This organization provides free legal aid services to the financially crippled. The act was well planned and executed by the state agents, he further alleged.

This, he said, led to the commissioning of Prof. Philip Alston, the UN Special Rapporteur on extrajudicial, arbitrary or summary executions, to visit Kenya to investigate the grave allegations. He came to Kenya and conducted investigations from February 16 to February 25, 2009.

He held several interviews, with Wasonga being one of the participants in one of the interviews, held at the Imperial Hotel, kisumu.Noteworthy, a one a Mr. Edy Ochan’g, who was among the interviewees at the meeting with Professor Alston has since fled to the USA in fear for his life and claimed refugee assistance in the USA. Ochang is currently working for Christian Democratic Movement of Kenya (CDMK), Humanitarian and Crisis Division’ International office, Canada.

Back to the fateful and brutal murder of the two civil society activits, namely Kamau and Paul, after the news of their death, demonstration by public and college students ensued. The demonstration was actually against the president because the nature of their deaths was quickly linked to the police death squad. Contradictory statements were made from some governments officials over the death of the pair. The official president’s spokesperson and the Prime Minister had different views over the death of the two.

“Unfortunately, being a lecturer (professor) and supporter of Oscar foundation a day after the demonstration I was approached by a car after I had just alighted at the bus stage from a public transport at Dagoreti Corner where I lived, walking towards my house, a white sedan car with three people in it appeared pointed a gun at me and ordered me to get into the car, i seated between two guys as one drove the car”

“I was driven towards a nearby small town called Karen, with a gun pointed in my stomach to stay silent. We passed Karen and headed towards another town called Ngong Hills. I knew that this was the end of me because this is a well known area for executions. I was ransacked and serverely tortured saying that they were aware that I was one of the ODM supporters who is constantly criticising the government, especially the president” he says of the Kenyan police unprofessional way of extracting information, physically.

Many prominent people and politicians have been murdered at this place. The late fiery politician Hon. J. M. Kariuki, being one of the victims.

As a concerned citizen and human rights activist, Wasonga, alongside other civil society bodies, have been exerting pressure, especially through the foreign embassies, on the government to prosecute the perpetrators of the post-election chaos in the ICC and resettle those who were internally displaced during the post polls violence.

The academician whose family too has been forced to flee to Swaziland for their safety due to alleged continual harassments by the state-driven security operatives, appears undeterred on his pursuit to exert pressure on the Kenyan government: “the Kenya government must walk the talks on reforms to the letter as envisaged in the Koffi Annan’ Agendas for the reforms or else brace fully for the wind of change which is akin to the one currently sweeping across Islamic Arabic world” he hinted, sounding perturbed by continued extrajudicial killings and atrocities reportedly hitting the cross section of the media and internet, globally.