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Poll violence: Kibaki hints at amnesty
President Mwai Kibaki acknowledges greetings from wananchi on arrival at the Nyayo National Stadium where he led the nation in celebrating Kenyatta day. Photo/PPS
By BERNARD NAMUNANEPosted Monday, October 20 2008 at 21:56
President Kibaki gave a strong hint on the way forward in implementing recommendations of the Justice Waki and Johann Kriegler reports on Monday when he said that “justice must be tempered with forgiveness for reconciliation to take root”.
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The President urged Kenyans to consider restitution to give the nation a fresh start after the bloody violence that threatened to tear the country apart early this year.
But in London, former UN secretary-general Kofi Annan said the masterminds of post-election violence should be taken to a tribunal “even if it would harm the Coalition Government”.
Social status
He said Kenyans should not allow impunity by protecting the perpetrators of violence, irrespective of their social status.
Addressing the nation from the Nyayo National Stadium during celebrations to mark the 44th Kenyatta Day, President Kibaki said that while Kenyans desired justice for past injustices, they should keep in mind that although the truth would set the country free, justice must be tempered with forgiveness.
Prime Minister Raila Odinga, who attended the Kenyatta Day celebrations alongside Vice-President Kalonzo Musyoka, said that the Waki and Kriegler reports should be implemented without breaking down the fabric that holds the nation together.
President Kibaki urged the public to start preparing to forgive those who wronged them early this year as the Government compensates the victims.
“Let us prepare as a nation to consider restitution and forgiveness as complementing truth and justice in order to give our nation a fresh start. I want to call upon all Kenyans to forgive one another,” he said.
Past crimes
He said that even as he was aware that majority of the people wanted justice for past crimes, he cautioned that punitive action against those named should not be allowed to blind the need for national unity, political stability and reconciling the country.
In a BBC interview in London, Mr Annan, who brokered peace after violence sparked by disputed presidential election results left more than 1,000 people dead, maintained that perpetrators of the election violence should face the tribunal as recommended in a report by the Waki Commission.
Mr Annan said the victims of the violence also wanted to see justice meted out on the suspects.
Let’s move on
“The tendency sometimes to protect the perpetrators for the sake of peace, to forgive and say let’s move on, does not help society. Impunity should not be allowed to stand,” he said during an interview with BBC’s Network Africa programme.
On the issue of tempering justice with forgiveness, President Kibaki was referring to the Waki report, which has recommended that key politicians and business people who were adversely named by the public as having organised and funded political violence should either be taken before the International Criminal Court (ICC) at The Hague, the Netherlands or face a special tribunal in Kenya.
The secret list of names, which includes those of six Cabinet ministers, five MPs and a number of business people was last Friday handed to Mr Annan by Mr Justice Philip Waki, who led the commission that investigated the violence.
The Kriegler Commission recommended that the Electoral Commission of Kenya should be overhauled and possibly given a new name, its commissioners sent home and the entire anatomy of electoral laws overturned.
The President said: “My Government will use the recommendations of the Kriegler Commission to strengthen our electoral system, and those from the Waki Commission to build a stable, cohesive and integrated society whose institutions protect the freedom and liberty of every citizen wherever they chose to live.”
On Monday Mr Odinga challenged leaders to handle the delicate situation of holding accountable those named on the secret list while seizing the opportunity to give the country a fresh start.
“It is not going to be easy. We have to do this without tearing our nation apart, which nobody wants, and it will require first and foremost strong commitment by leaders to the national reform agenda,” he said, adding however that the Government would implement the two reports in full.
Held accountable
“The Government is committed to implementing both Kriegler and Waki reports in full. We have to ensure that those accountable are held accountable, and that reparation is made. Kenyans will not stop demanding justice that will end decades of impunity, where powerful cliques have been at liberty to use the country as their plaything,” he added.
There have been fears that full implementation of the two reports could lead to dire consequences on national unity and political stability.
Deputy Prime Minister Musalia Mudavadi and Cabinet ministers William Ruto, Mutula Kilonzo and James Orengo have warned that implementation of the two reports constitutes the biggest test to the eight-month Grand Coalition Government.
No impunity
Germany’s envoy Walter Lindner concurred with Mr Annan on the need to weed out impunity but added that reconciliation must be given a chance.
“Forgiveness is very important but there should be no impunity for those who committed the crimes,” he said on Monday as he praised the President’s pledge on the two reports.
Mr Musyoka, who welcomed the President to address the nation at 1.06pm, said Kenyans were against another round of bloodshed. “Kenyans do not want bloodshed 45 years after independence,” he said.
Speaking after the celebrations, Energy minister Kiraitu Murungi said that the Waki report should be implemented in a manner that balances political stability, reconciliation and justice.
Mr Murungi warned that the country could easily slide back into political violence if the report is not implemented carefully.
“Whatever the report says, we should be careful in the manner in which it is implemented. We are dealing with a very delicate moment of our national politics and we should not implement it (the report) in a manner that can cause bloodshed,” he said and added that the Cabinet would discuss the Waki report this week.
Tourism minister Najib Balala also spoke of the need to cushion the country against the negative costs in implementing the two reports.
Mr Balala said leaders should seek to unite and reconcile the nation as they implement the recommendations.
“We should handle the report very carefully to bring unity. We should unify the country against the costs of divisions,” he said and praised the President for giving chance to forgiveness.
Justice and Constitutional Affairs minister Martha Karua said the Government was studying the report with a view of implementing its recommendations. “As soon as we have exhaustively perused the report, appropriate action will be taken,” she said.
However, Foreign Affairs assistant minister Richard Onyonka said that people who committed crimes should face the law and warned that impunity would not end unless harsh punishments are meted out. He said that Kenyans were yearning to know the names of the prominent people who organised the killings.
“They must be taken to court so that Kenyans can know who these people are. For us to have peace, those who commit crimes must be brought to book,” Mr Onyonka said.
He proposed that the report should be taken to Parliament for debate.
On the new constitution, both President Kibaki and Prime Minister Odinga asked Parliament to speed up the process.
Sound and durable
“This (agreeing on constitution) is an opportunity for the Grand Coalition Government to seal its place in our nation’s history by providing future generations with a legacy of a sound and durable constitutional and legal framework,” he said.
Mr Odinga proposed that MPs should pass the two Bills on the law review before they break for Christmas.
President Kibaki had arrived at the venue of the celebrations at 11.15am and inspected a guard of honour mounted by the Armed Forces before being entertained by different choirs.
[Govt. rejects part of Waki recommendations]
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Govt. rejects part of Waki recommendations
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Waki team partly blames Kibaki for post-poll chaos
Updated 23 hr(s) 53 min(s) ago
By Joseph Murimi
Justice Phillip Waki’s Commission investigating post-election violence poked holes into President Kibaki’s style of leadership and partly blamed him for the chaos.
The commission, in its report released yesterday, concluded that post-election violence was in part a consequence of the failure of President Kibaki’s and his first Government to exert political control.
“The post-election violence, therefore, is, in part, a consequence of the failure of President Kibaki and his first Government to exert political control over the country or to maintain sufficient legitimacy as would have allowed a civilised contest with him at the polls to be possible,” says the Commission of Inquiry into the Post-Election Violence (Cipev).
It says Kibaki’s regime failed to unite the country, and allowed feelings of marginalisation to fester into violence.
“He and his then Government were complacent in the support they considered they would receive in any election from the majority Kikuyu community, and failed to heed the views of the legitimate leaders of other communities,” the report states.
2002 MoU
The report revisited the infamous MoU that gave birth to Narc, which went on to win the 2002 General Election, saying it sowed the seeds of suspicion and contributed to this year’s violence.
He said even though the MoU was not a legal agreement, the fact that Kibaki’s government turned away from it and removed from administration the group of ministers associated with Raila Odinga had the effect of increasing the polarisation of politics along ethnic lines.
It claims Kibaki’s Government was perceived as being unwilling to abide by its pre-election agreement with its partners and as retreating into an ethnic enclave.
This was criticised by the public and was seen as an attempt by the so-called “Mount Kenya Mafia” to keep power to itself rather than share it.
“Failure to trim the powers of the president through devolution has created the impression that the Presidency is the preserve of those in power,” it says.
The Cipev report traces how tension began mounting from the 2005 Constitutional Referendum period.
The report says even though the referendum was peaceful and the results accepted rather than contested, the parameters were nevertheless drawn.
It traces the causes of tension and blames the immense powers of the Presidency as a big contributor to the violence.
Naivasha killings planned in State House, says report
By NATION Team Posted Tuesday, October 21 2008 at 20:48
The Commission received credible evidence to the effect that the violence in Naivasha between January 27 -30, 2008 was pre-planned and executed by Mungiki members who received the support of Naivasha political and business leaders.
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The Commission has also evidence that government and political leaders in Nairobi, including key office holders at the highest level of government may have directly participated in the preparation of the attacks.
Central to that planning were two meetings held in State House and Nairobi Safari Club in the run up to the election with the involvement senior members of the Government and other prominent Kikuyu personalities.
Evidence produced by NSIS suggests that this agency was collecting information on the planning of violence in Naivasha by Mungiki members and politicians, at both local and national level.
As early as January 3, 2008, NSIS had information that two former MPs of the Kikuyu community were “said to be negotiating with the outlawed Mungiki with a view to have sect members assist the community to counter their attackers” and that Mungiki members were meeting “in an undisclosed location in Nairobi with a view to carrying revenge attacks on Luos/Kalenjins travelling along Nairobi-Naivasha highway on undisclosed date.”
On January 15, NSIS was informed that Mungiki members were planning to discredit the Government by instigating chaos in Nairobi and Nakuru “while others would raid Kamiti and Naivasha Prisons to rescue their colleagues held there among them (Maina) Njenga.”
This supported information presented to us in camera by a senior police officer in Naivasha who had learned on January 9 that “there was a likelihood of the so-called Mungiki making way into prison with the intention of whisking away the chairman (Mr Maina Njenga) who is currently held in that particular prison.”
Following up on this information, the Naivasha District Security and Intelligence Committee (DSIC), chaired by the district commissioner, decided on January 9, 2008 to increase patrols within the town and additional officers were sought from the Naivasha Prisons to assist the police.
The Naivasha Prisons commandant, Duncan Ogore, confirmed having received such request for assistance and having furnished some prison warders to the OCPD Naivasha to help in patrolling the town up to January 27, 2008.
On January 21, NSIS received precise information on part of the planned operation of violence in Naivasha, to the effect that Kikuyu youth in Naivasha “plan to block Nakuru-Naivasha and Gilgil-Mai Mahiu roads, to block/intercept vehicles from Western and Nyanza regions to fish out the targeted communities,” which is exactly what happened on January 27.
According to evidence presented by the KNCHR, local politicians received support from Kikuyu elite from outside Naivasha to mobilise local jobless youth who were bolstered by Mungiki followers from Nairobi and Central Province.
KNCHR had evidence of two planning meetings held on January 23 and 26 that a local hotel where influential Naivasha business people plotted the violence and paid between Sh100 and Sh200 to the youth, who would participate in the attacks targeting mainly members of the Luo community.
Political activist
Information of these planning meetings and participants was corroborated by individual witnesses, including two Naivasha social workers and activists.
According to witnesses, evidence that Mungiki were involved in violence in Naivasha includes a high level of coordination of the attackers, many of whom were not Naivasha residents, as well as inside intelligence obtained from Mungiki members involved in the violence.
A Kikuyu political activist who testified in camera told us that she learned from an aide to Ndura Waruinge, Mungiki national coordinator, that Mungiki was not responsible for all the violence in Naivasha, and that one “could differentiate the Mungiki from the locals, because where Mungiki went, they were not looting, they were just destroying properties. But with the locals, they were looting.”
She further testified that the attacks happened at the same time, around 9am, in the estates of Kayole, Kabati, Kihooto and Karagita, and so she thought the attackers “were dropped at those areas and they had orders (to) start at 9am”, which she characterised “as having the Mungiki type of organisation.”
A former MP
Acting either on NSIS or on its own intelligence, the Naivasha DSIC gathered similar information with regard to a number of politicians and businessmen whom it suspected of financing and organising the gangs they believed to be Mungiki, which were responsible for the Naivasha violence.
Those who the DSIC recommended for arrest for financing and organising the violence included a former MP of the Kikuyu community and other prominent Kikuyu personalities, whose names were provided to the Commission.
Further information in possession of the DSIC was that prior to the attacks, a number of meetings were held at a hotel in Naivasha whose owner was allegedly also involved in the planning and that a former MP from the area was the master mind.
The names of the individuals, who not only purchased the pangas (machetes) from a local supermarket for use by the attackers who had been transported from outside Naivasha, but also directed the attacks on the ground were also made available to the Commission.
The Commission established that response to the PEV in Naivasha by security agencies and district administration reflected the same poor planning and lack of professionalism and independence as was evident in other parts of the Rift Valley Province.
The police were obviously overwhelmed by the magnitude of the violence, but breaks in the chain of command and parallel ethnic command structures within the police meant that even with the best of planning, the police were too weak as an institution adequately to respond to the violence in Naivasha.
Persons in danger
The Commission also received ample evidence to the effect that police and administration authorities were overwhelmed by the magnitude of the violence.
The Naivasha DC and OCPD testified that in the morning of January 27 they had to deal with 2 to 3 groups of demonstrators each and that they spent too much time and energy in addressing each group at a time while trying to disperse the crowds and clear road blocks, before moving to the next group of demonstrators.
A community leader who appeared before us in camera and had been personally involved with the police in helping rescue persons in danger, testified as follows:
“Q: Now, may be you need to go back to the date of 27th. What can you recall about that date that is significant for Commissioners?
Witness: There was a lot of violence and I can say, it is like the police were overwhelmed and there was no law in Naivasha on that day and also on 29th.
“The Police were just overwhelmed. Like when I went to the police station trying to get any police officer even to talk, when I got there I talked to the OCPD and then he started getting calls.
“I tried to organise the people somehow and we tried to call others. I told them to call their friends to know if they were all safe. So we started making calls and we found people who were trapped in their houses.
“They couldn’t come to the police station or go to the GK Prison. I started coordinating with the police on how to go and evacuate those people who were trapped and sometimes it was just difficult because the police vehicles were not enough. It was just chaotic. Sometimes we were getting very desperate.”
Among the causes of police failure to adequately respond to the violence was the breach in the chain of command within the force.
The Commission was provided with abundant examples of junior officers refusing to take orders from their superiors and placing ethnic loyalty before professional ethical conduct.
The community leader involved in the police operations at the time testified as follows:
“Q: Did you get the sense the police who were doing the best they could but were overwhelmed or was there incompetence amongst the police officers or other security agencies?
Witness: On the first day, that was on 27th, I thought that the police were being overwhelmed. But during that week when we stayed at the police station camp, because the last person we evacuated was on Thursday and I could tell that there was some defiance.
“The junior officers, particularly from the Kikuyu tribe, were not ready to take instructions from their superiors; and I can say, for example, there is a time we went to evacuate a terminally ill lady who was trapped inside an estate and getting the officers to come, they were just defiant, they were just running and saying that it is the deputy OCPD, because it was the deputy OCPD, Grace Kakai, who was giving them those instructions. They were saying that she is just being bossy.”
We were presented with ample evidence suggesting that the same ethnic fault line that divided the community in Naivasha also affected security agencies.
State officials, businessmen sponsored chaos
Published on 16/10/2008
By Beauttah Omanga
The main perpetrators of post-election chaos were Government officials and other influential individuals, Justice Philip Waki said.
Waki said the financiers included senior police officers and top businessmen. He said names of the perpetrators would be presented to the Panel of African Eminent Persons in a sealed envelope.
Waki said State officials and police implicated should be relieved of their duties pending the outcome of a proposed special tribunal to investigate them.
“Those found guilty should eventually be banned from holding any public office, while the businessmen should be fined heavily,” said Waki.
At a news conference at KICC after releasing his report on post-election violence, Waki said: “We can not release the names at the moment. The law demands that all those implicated be given an opportunity to defend themselves through the tribunal.”
He also found police guilty, saying findings established that at least 405 victims of the violence succumbed to bullets.
“There were over 900 bullet-related victims. But we discovered that 405 died as a results of police gun shots,” he said.
Stiffer penalties
He said though there was no evidence of a ‘shoot to kill order’ by police chiefs, the wanton killings were worse. The commission recommended that for proper co-ordination, regular and Administration Police units be merged.
“There is need for measures to improve performance and accountability of State security agencies, including strengthening joint operational preparedness, arrangements and developing comprehensive operational review processes, merging the two agencies and establishing an independent police complainants authority,” said Waki.
He took issue with police investigation into sexual violence, saying his commission recommended stiffer penalties on those implicated.
“We came up with shocking revelations of sexual violence, but we have made adequate recommendations on how best to save women and girls,” said the chairman.
He said despite claims that some youths were being held illegally in connection with the violence, they never came across evidence on the same.
Sh1.4 billion exposure… Police on guard as investors with accounts at Discount Securities Ltd invade the broker’s offices at International Life House last week demanding the refund of their money. Now it appears that hapless workers’ savings are also at risk, with outstanding share certificates worth $20 million not having been transferred to NSSF. Photo/JOSEPH MATHENGE
By JAINDI KISERO
How NSSF allowed stockbroker to gamble with workers’ savings
Posted Sunday, October 19 2008 at 09:33
The fine details of the dodgy dealings between the National Social Security Fund and the troubled Discount Securities Ltd that have left the worker’s body exposed to a potential loss of a whopping Ksh1.4 billion can now be revealed.
Documents seen by The EastAfrican show that the two parties were transacting through an opaque arrangement where monies and shares bought on NSSF’s behalf would be deposited in multiple numbered accounts that were only infrequently reconciled.
What emerges from scrutinising the paper trail is an arrangement that would start by the NSSF writing an open cheque to Discount Securities Ltd with instructions to buy shares on its behalf.
Why the NSSF agreed to give the broker an open cheque – and the leeway to keep the shares in its own name for protracted periods – is one of the biggest riddles in this complex game of deception.
All large investment funds of the NSSF’s standing and size transact through custodians – mainly large and reputable commercial banks who are the ones that keep the money. Stockbrokers don’t touch the money they handle on behalf large fund managers.
Yet in the case of Discount Securities Ltd, shares purchased on behalf of the NSSF would be deposited in the names of some 82 specially created nominee accounts belonging to Discount Securities Ltd.
Apparently, the NSSF was not aware that these 82 nominee accounts existed until investigations were mounted early this year.
Also puzzling is the reason why Discount Securities Ltd opened such a large number of accounts specifically to deal with orders from NSSF.
On paper, the arrangement of dealing through nominee accounts can be justified on the grounds that it gives the broker the time and latitude to process certificates. Several brokers will agree that the practice is common.
However, it is difficult to defend why the NSSF, which deals in large volumes all the time, has continued to resist migrating to the more transparent transactions conducted through the Central Depository System.
By continuing to deal with the stockbroker through paper certificates, the NSSF – perhaps unwittingly – had created a perfect environment for dodgy dealings.
This arrangement is what made it possible for the stockbroker to hold share certificates belonging to the NSSF for as long as it wanted.
The risk the NSSF faces right now is that if it turns out the broker lost some of the money in speculative activity, the workers’ body is unlikely to recover it.
Just how widespread this type of dealing was in NSSF’s relations with other brokers is difficult to say at this stage.
But internal documents and correspondence from the NSSF seen by The EastAfrican show that Discount Securities was just one of seven brokers who were authorised to buy and sell shares on behalf of the Fund.
The others were Dyer & Blair Investment Bank Ltd, CFC Financial Services Ltd, Apex Investment Bank Ltd, Kestrel Capital East Africa Ltd, Suntra Investment Bank Ltd, and Standard Investment Ltd.
According to records, Discount started purchasing shares on the NSSF’s behalf in August 2004.
The agreement was that it would furnish the Fund with regular account statements with details of the shares purchased and dividends received.
Discount was also supposed to produce regular information and statements on the number of shares it had registered at every point in time.
Under the arrangement, such statements would be sent to the NSSF on a monthly basis for auditing.
It is not clear when problems started. But the correspondence shows that the NSSF only came to learn about the 82 nominee accounts much later in the day.
In May and after months of exchanges, the management of NSSF was shocked to learn that contrary to what had been agreed, the 82 nominee accounts did not reflect ownership of the said shares by the NSSF.
Apparently, the arrangement was that the nominee accounts would be in the names of both Discount and NSSF, with the broker being given the power of attorney to sign cheques on behalf of the client.
It was at this point that it became clear to the NSSF’s management that the institution was thoroughly exposed.
Since the 82 nominee accounts did not reflect ownership of the shares by the NSSF, there was nothing to stop Discount from selling the shares to a third party.
Early last year, the management of NSSF started smelling a rat when they realised that Discount was taking too long to remit share certificates purchased on their behalf.
It is after they started exerting pressure on the broker that they realised that something had gone terribly wrong.
On May 22, 2007, under sustained pressure, Discount produced the statements for the 82 nominee accounts.
The revelations were shocking. First, it emerged that certificates for shares bought on behalf of the NSSF as far back as 2005 had not been transferred to the NSSF.
At a meeting held between NSSF and Discount on July 18 this year, chaired by former managing director Rachel Lumbasyo, three important decisions were arrived at:
First, that Discount Securities transfer all shares bought for the Fund in the year 2006/07 to new nominee accounts in the names of both the NSSF and the broker.
Second, that all shares bought between 2003 and 2005 be immediately surrendered to the relevant registrars for issuance of share certificates.
Third, that for the purposes of monitoring the progress of transferring the shares, monthly reports and statements be released to the NSSF.
Two weeks ago, when the Capital Markets Authority moved to appoint new managers for Discount Securities Ltd, citing “governance problems,” the NSSF board and management realised that they were out on a limb.
An investigation was hurriedly set in motion to determine the depth of the exposure to Discount Securities.
It emerged that as at October 1 this year, Discount owed the NSSF Ksh13.5 million ($192,857)in unpaid dividends. Moreover, the outstanding share certificates amount to Ksh1.4 billion ($20 million) – all of which the Fund could lose.
On Wednesday last week, the chair of the NSSF, Jane Mwangi, put out a statement saying the board had “observed with concern” the happenings at Discount Securities Ltd.
She announced the decision of the board to interdict several top managers of the fund. The following day, Labour Minister John Munyes announced that he had fired the whole board over the Discount saga.
He said external auditors would be called in to determine the full extent of the exposure and determine culpability of both the management and the board.
Neither the scope of the investigations nor the terms of reference had been announced as we went to press.
But it is clear that one of the areas for investigations will be the reasons why the NSSF management was for so long content with an arrangement under which they could not even insist on rudimentary monitoring of the shares which Discount was purchasing on their behalf.
Discount Securities was established in 1995. It has three branches in Nairobi and about 20 branches throughout the country.
CMA’s move to take over its management came eight months after it placed the broker on the watch list.
Last week, the CMA said in a statement that it had intervened in order to strenghen the corporate governance of the company and to ensure business continuity.
The regulator explained that it had to move on Discount Securities to protect the interests of capital markets and the investing public in Kenya.
The CMA said a representative of audit firm KPMG would be incorporated as the new executive director.
Police and militia groups blamed for post-poll chaos
Published on 16/10/2008
By Alex Kiprotich and Steve Mkawale
Police laxity fuelled post-election violence in South and Central Rift Valley.
The Waki Commission of Inquiry into Post-Election Violence said the security forces concentrated on clearing roads and dispersing crowds instead of responding to people under attack.
Allegations were made to the commission that an officer in charge of special operations at the provincial police headquarters was the secretary of Mungiki in Nakuru.
In their findings, released yesterday by Justice Philip Waki, the commission blamed security forces in the region for failing to act on intelligence reports.
Kikuyu militia
In Nakuru, the commission blamed the violence on Kikuyu militia, who were allegedly supported by members of the Mungiki sect.
The same group, the commission noted, spread terror in the neighbouring district killing members of the Kalenjin, Luo, Luhya and other groups perceived to have been against PNU.
The report also blames businessmen for allegedly financed the violence
“Influential Kikuyu business people allegedly held meetings to raise funds for attacks against the Luo, Luhya and Kalenjin,” reads part of the report.
It said angry displaced Kikuyu youth armed with pangas, knives and petrol bombs were assembled and deployed to various estates in Nakuru to flush out non-Kikuyu members.
Paid to fight
The report also said the Kalenjin in Nakuru were mobilised and paid to fight the Kikuyu at Kaptembwa, Mwariki and Githima.
According to witnesses, the estates of Kaptembwa, Free Area, Kiti and Githima were the hardest hit by the violence, which lasted from January 24 to 27. But Kiamunyi and other middle and upper income neighbourhoods were unaffected.
The report said there was evidence that post-election violence in Nakuru was well planned and organised by Kikuyu, Kalenjin and Luo gangs.
Planned attacks
The report says the security agencies knew in advance about the planning and organisers of the attacks, but did not take action.
The commission also received evidence that police and other security personnel were involved with the criminal gangs behind the violence in Nakuru.
“Some police officers actively sided with Kikuyu gangs, while other officers aided and abetted Kalenjin attackers,” reads the report.
It adds: “Administration Police were moving from house to house in Nakuru in search of members of non-Kikuyu.”
ECK official absolves devil, says his boss altered results
Published on 03/10/2008
By Robert Nyasato
A returning officer, who had earlier claimed the devil had tampered with election results in Bomachoge constituency, has shifted the blame to his senior.
On Thursday, Bomachoge returning officer Tobias Gitahi Macharia claimed Gucha District Elections Co-ordinator Astariko Atika doctored records.
He said alleged alterations by his boss led to discrepancies in the vote tally.
Macharia told judge Justice Daniel Musinga at Kisii High Court that the documents were tampered with when he left Forms 16A with Atika for safe custody. He was testifying in a petition against Bomachoge MP and National Heritage Assistant Minister Joel Onyancha.
Macharia was being re-examined by lawyers Thomas Nyakeno and David Osoro during his third day in the witness box.
Mr Simon Ogari and Mr Zephaniah Nyang’wara, who are challenging Onyancha’s win in last year’s General Elections, jointly filed the petition.
Macharia had, earlier on, testified that the devil might have interfered with his records.
This was after Katwa Kigen, lawyer for the petitioners, asked him to tell the court whom he suspected altered entries in Forms16A and 17A.
Manipulated figures
He said that after he failed to travel to Nairobi last December 28 due to violence, he left his documents at the co-ordinator’s strong room.
“I was surprised the following day when I came to the office and found Mr Atika had photocopied the forms and issued them to the petitioners,” he told the packed court.
Mr Kigen took Macharia to task to explain why he did not keep the records for at least three months as required.
“My lord, I would have not carried all the materials to Nyahururu and the only option was to keep them at the co-ordinator’s office,” Macharia said.
He had admitted there was a discrepancy of about 8,000 votes.
But during re-examination, he said that this was because Atika had manipulated the figures.
Nyakeno cited Getare polling station, where Onyancha had garnered 10 votes but the original record in Form 16A showed 1,000 votes.
What is in ECK chairman’s head when he wags the tongue?
Updated 18 hr(s) 33 min(s) ago
By Athman Amran
Besieged Electoral Commission chairman Samuel Mutua Kivuitu, under attack over the bungled General Election, is a man of many faces. He is also the master of contradictions.
But his carefree and sometimes ‘insensitive’ and ‘wreckless’ statements, especially during moments of political crises, have baffled many.
Behaviourists would not want to comment on him as an individual. But Nairobi psychiatrist Dr Frank Njenga argues in general that such contradictory behaviour is normal and cuts across cultures and professions.
Njenga, however, says such traits are common among politicians who are not only insensitive, but sometimes do not think or care about the consequences of their statements or actions.
Among Kivuitu’s recent controversial statements was his comment that he was ready to burn with the country. He made the remark just before the country actually plunged into an unprecedented orgy of violence, killings and destruction. This was just before he announced President Kibaki had been re-elected last December 30. Kivuitu was reacting to protests from Orange Democratic Movement members at the tallying centre who claimed there was rigging. When ODM announced in protest it had won the elections Kivuitu cynically, asked: “How many times have we met mad people on the road saying ‘I own this shop,’ and the man has no trousers? I can announce that I am President of Kenya. Will that make me president of Kenya?”
After announcing Kibaki winner in last year’s presidential election he was later captured live on TV at State House, Nairobi, commenting he should hurry to sign the certificate to confirm Kibaki president lest the “fake” one appeared.
STATE HOUSE
Much later he was quoted as saying he had gone to the State House swearing-in ceremony unwillingly. Kivuitu said he took the presidential election winner’s certificate to State House, Nairobi after, “some people threatened to collect it while I am the one mandated by the law to do so”.
On who actually between Raila and President Kibaki won the presidential elections Kivuitu said: “I do not know whether Kibaki won the election.”
And why had he to go through all this instead of resigning: “I had thought of resigning, but thought against it because I don’t want people to say I am a coward.”
Appearing not to have been aware of what had happened with the vote counting and tallying exercise at the Kenyatta International Conference Centre, Kivuitu later said: “We are culprits as a commission. We have to leave it to an independent group to investigate what actually went wrong.” This was when he was backing independent investigations on the poll fiasco.
For Kivuitu ironically it is these contradictions coupled with mistrust among the political elite that has made him survive three hotly contested General Elections at ECK. Retired President Moi appointed Kivuitu a member of the ECK in 1992. He became vice chairman in 1996 and took over as chairman on December 3, 1997.
Njenga says alleged reckless behaviour of people might be a trait, which cuts across board. “Such people who seem to be disinterested in what people think of them even when they talk or act recklessly are not fools,” Njenga says.
I did not disrespect the President, former CBK Deputy Governor says
Updated 20 hr(s) 46 min(s) ago
By Renson Mnyamwezi
Former Central Bank Deputy Governor Jacinta Mwatela has denied claims that she disrespected President Kibaki by refusing to take up her appointment as a Permanent Secretary.
She also said there would be no handing over ceremony where she would welcome her successor to the office.
When she refused to take up her new post as PS of Ministry of Northern Kenya and other Arid Lands, senior officials, including the Head of Civil Service Francis Muthaura, said Mrs Mwatela’s action amounted to disrespect.
Mwatela, who spoke to The Standard in Mwatate town yesterday, said her rejection of the appointment should not be misconstrued to mean that she was lacking in courtesy.
“When the President made the new changes that affected me, I wrote a letter to Muthaura to explain to me my roles as PS, but he did not respond. I wanted him to clearly state what I will be doing in my new appointment,” said Mwatela.
demotion
She said she was not ready to take up a job that was lower than her previous one at the CBK.
“My successor, Dr Hezron Nyangito, was PS in the Ministry of Health and posted to CBK to replace me. Nyangito was promoted and I was demoted,” she stated.
She said the proof of her demotion was how quickly Nyangito accepted to replace her at CBK.
Mwatela was accompanied by her husband Calist Mwatela (Mwatate MP).
“I’m now at peace. I have gone through a lot of tribulations at the hands of some Government operatives,” she explained.
On his part, Mr Mwatela, who is also the Assistant Minister for Education, said his wife was removed because of her tough stand against corruption at CBK.
“Kenyans are aware that my wife was kicked out of office because she was opposed to the De La Rue currency printing contract,” he claimed.
Team summons former ministers over De La Rue
Updated 20 hr(s) 16 min(s) ago
By Beuttah Omanga
Former Finance Ministers Amos Kimunya and David Mwiraria will next week appear before a Parliamentary watchdog to shed light on the controversial De La Rue money-printing contract.
Also to appear before the parliamentary Finance Committee are acting Finance Minister John Michuki, former Central Bank Governor Andrew Mullei, former deputy Governor Jacinta Mwatela and a former CBK secretary, a Mr Gikonyo.
The Finance Committee chairman, Mr Chris Okemo, said they had also summoned CBK Governor Njuguna Ndungu. He said those summoned would help the committee establish facts about the deal, which has remained a public concern.
Reservations Over Tender
“We want to know what the deal entailed and why the Government went ahead to approve it despite reservations by the Central Bank,” said Okemo.
Ms Mwatela, who posted to the Northern Kenya ministry as PS two weeks ago, a post she declined, blew the whistle over the Del La Rue deal.
As the chairman of the bank’s tender committee, Mwatela rejected a proposal from the Treasury to approve the deal handed to Del La Rue to continue printing the country’s currency.
At a news conference at County Hall, Okemo said his committee would today grill the CBK Governor and officials of Cooperative Bank over the planned initial public offer. Others lined up today over the IPO include officials from the Capital Markets Authority and those from the Nairobi Stock Exchange.
“Those expected to appear tomorrow (today) will explain the bank’s preparedness for the IPO. All we want to know is how ready they to avoid a similar situation to the Safaricom offer,” said Okemo.
The Nambale MP said the parliamentary committee would insist that all shares be offered strictly to Kenyans when the exercise commences. “We don’t want to hear foreigners have been given a share. Kenyans are capable of buying all the shares and they should exclusively be accorded that opportunity,” said Okemo.
Commission traces origin of deadly gangs
Published on 16/10/2008
By James Ratemo
Many of the deadly gangs consisting mainly of unemployed youth are a product of displacement by ethnic violence.
They have been mobilised into gangs along tribal lines.
In its report, the Waki Commission says the violent gangs’ power has risen to the point of shadow governments in many areas. It stems from the aim of Government in the 1990s to mobilise political support and to gain and maintain power.
This saw a good deal of revenue spent on patronage rather than on maintaining infrastructure and providing social services leading the country to economic ruins.
“This crumbling as well as a decline in social services and security also paved the way for violent gangs, which provided them.
“This gave unemployed youth work, albeit within gangs, and made the latter extremely powerful. Over time these gangs operated as Mafioso shakedown gangs, with violence and impunity, as they continue to do,” argues the report.
Surprisingly, many politicians have used the gangs to decimate their opponents, to protect themselves from a dictatorial state in the 1990s, and to gain power then and now.
This has itself given gangs such as Mungiki, the Taliban, Chinkororo and others a life and the ability to operate without fear of being caught.
Devoid of ideology
By the time the Government was serious about banning the groups, they were large, controlled a number of areas, and continued to operate in spite of the bans.
The gangs, says the report, are devoid of ideology and operate on a willing buyer-willing seller basis.
According to the Commission, this, in itself, is a very dangerous situation, helping to explain why since the 1990s violent gangs have proliferated all over Kenya.
“Although many youth speak English, something that has raised their expectations, they have no hope of formal sector employment.
“The combination of being rootless, having survived amidst violence, plus their need for an identity and a livelihood makes them ready recruits for violent gangs, which exist all over Kenya and are tapped by politicians, particularly, but not exclusively, during elections,” says the report.
Additionally, there is also a growing problem of unemployment among the youth who are university educated. They are estimated to be around 40,000 a year, given that only 150,000 formal sector jobs have been created since 2003. This raises the spectre of whether these individuals will also be ready to engage in violence as well, if they are unable to find work.
“The fact that both the police and military are perceived historically to have been recruited along ethnic lines, to protect the particular government of the day, has increased the likelihood of their breaking down along ethnic lines in a crisis and being either unable or unwilling to maintain law and order impartially,” says the report.
Uncertain loyalties
This means that post-election violence proliferated and intensified for a number of months and that politicians and businessmen allegedly chose to hire gangs of youth to fight their attackers, rather than call in forces whose loyalties could not necessarily be counted on.
I wonder if they have any idea, a thief cannot investigate a thief.
A local tribunal may specifically be set up by a UN body after the Executive and Legislative accepts and gives green light that they are ready for it, not the President Kibaki, since Kibaki and Police are an interested party who chaired post election violence meeting at his State House residense. These people will never get it!!!!!! Wacha wayumbe yumbe, hii ni trailer tu, cinema bado……. there is no about turn. They have to face the law squarely.
Hand over Waki list to police, says Marende
Speaker Kenneth Marende PHOTO/ FILE
By CAROLINE WAFULA and MUCHEMI WACHIRA Posted Sunday, November 16 2008 at 22:51
The Speaker of the National Assembly wants names of poll chaos suspects cited by the Waki report to be handed over to police for investigation.
Mr Kenneth Marende said he was optimistic the report’s findings would be implemented fully.
“We should carry its findings further to a logical conclusion. We should hand over to police aspects of the report that require further investigation with a view to bringing to justice persons that may have been named,” he said.
Speaking at a Nairobi hotel yesterday, the speaker said the country was using the report as one of the ways of achieving national healing and reconciliation. He said the report does not condemn anyone and that the law should take its course.
The rule of law
“No one can be condemned until tried by a lawfully constituted court of law. We are a law-abiding country and so we expect the rule of law to be upheld,” he said.
Imenti Central MP Gitobu Imanyara said there was still enough time for Kenya to constitute a tribunal that will try the named suspects locally.
He said Parliament will have to wait until the Cabinet discussed the report.
“The report is currently the property of the Executive. As it is now, the hands of Parliament are tied and MPs can only debate the report outside the House as is happening now,” he said.
“It is the business of Government to bring the legislative agenda to the House. Parliament will have to wait until the President gives the Executive the go-ahead to bring the report to the House,” he added.
Elsewhere, Vice-President Kalonzo Musyoka ruled out the possibility of taking people suspected of sponsoring the post-election violence to the International Criminal Court (ICC) in The Hague, Netherlands.
“Kenya is not a failed state. We adhere to the rule of law,” said the VP, who was answering questions from journalists at Kasarani AIC church.
Mr Musyoka, who was among PNU MPs who recently called for full implementation of the Waki report during a parliamentary group meeting, said: “We should not expose ourselves to the international community by taking our people to The Hague. We have … people who are capable of spearheading national dialogue and reconciliation.”
Written on stone
The Waki Commission, which was investigating post-election violence, gave the Government up to March 1 to set up a tribunal.
If this was not done, names of the suspects, which are contained in an envelope that was given to chief mediator Kofi Annan, should be handed over to the ICC, said the commission.
The Vice-President also dismissed the time limit the Waki Commission gave the Government to start implementing recommendations of the report.
Said Mr Musyoka: “The Waki report is not written on stone. I know President Kibaki can decide to set up a local tribunal any time he wants.” He had gone to the church to preside over a ground-breaking service and to officiate at a fund-raising function.
Why we must support the Implementation of the Waki Report.
It is well over 10 months since an all out violence engulfed Kenya following a closely contested presidential election. Hundreds of Kenyans lost their lives while thousands more were displaced. To this day thousands more are still IDPs.
It is noteworthy to remember the loud cries to help Kenya. The cries were so loud across the globe that “we” were able to arrest the situation ~Kenya was potentially another Rwanda in the offing.
The two protagonists (President Mwai Kibaki and Prime Minister Raila Odinga ) agreed to share power. They signed an agreement. The agreement was enacted by parliament and entrenched in the Kenyan constitution. Among the clauses in the agreement was to establish commissions to investigate the post election violence.
The mandate of the Commission of Inquiry into Post-Election Violence (CIPEV) was to investigate the facts and circumstances surrounding the violence, the conduct of state security agencies in their handling of it, and to make recommendations concerning these and other matters.
No right thinking Kenyan would like to see our beloved country sink so low again. Why we found ourselves in the hole was because of impunity since independence. Impunity, corruption, discrimination based on tribe and cronyism are among the reasons we are so shameful of Kenya to this day. (President-elect Barack Obama has so dearly salvaged the image of Kenya). Those of us in the Diaspora had our own share of pain and shame of the violence.
To use Waki report’s words “we have to break the cycle of impunity which is at the heart of the post-election violence.” It is needless for me to recount the many miseries we all went through.
Since the report made its way to the public, we have seen politicians from the political divide (PNU and ODM) come out in full force to reject it! Reason? Because their names are on the list of suspects! This is not only selfish, but also another way of saying, “ come next elections and we have a re-match (including the violence)”.
Unless we prepare for “war” and confront our fears, fears that if the so and so is put in the dock Kenya will be on fire~ unless we stand firm and be a nation of laws and not mass fear, unless we hold individuals to account, we will perpetually be held captive by greed and tribalism!
This is the reason why I fully support the implementation of the Waki report. I fully support all those in positions of power with the same views including the Assistant Minister of Foreign Affairs Hon Richard Onyonka.
I am asking all Kenyans and Friends of Kenya to make known the views and particularly make known their support by calling and e-mailing MPS and Ministers including the President and Prime Minister- Support Hon Richard Onyanka who has come out as a voice of reason . To e-mail Hon Onyonka for support please use rimo16@yahoo.com
Sunday, October 05, 2008
The Standard Reveals Electoral Theft
The Standard on Sunday has today published a story that has confirmed massive irregularities, blackmail and theft that were behind Kivuitu’s astonishing declaration that Kibaki was the winner of the presidential polls.
Indeed, the story reveals a scheme that was mooted to deliberately prevent the ODM candidate Raila Odinga from ascending to the presidency through a fair, transparent and democratic means and it is not surprising no single observer group gave the election a clean bill of health.
The standard story further corroborates some truly tragic events captured in the Kriegler IREC report as well as those that were sensationally revealed by whistleblower Mr Kipkemoi arap Kirui who became a marked man as soon as he addressed an international press conference called by ODM leaders at KICC in which he said:
“I am speaking to the people of Kenya. My conscience would not allow me to see what I have seen and not speak about it. ECK is responsible for this mess. They (results) are altered here, not in the field. Form 16A is sufficient. I did it for the first time but could not proceed to the second constituency because of shameless, blatant, open alteration of documents presented by the returning officers. My conscience would not allow me to sit and keep quiet.”
The publication comes against the backdrop of sustained pressure on ECK commissioners to resign and pave way for reforming Kenya’s electoral laws and institutions. It is emerging that a certain group within government does not want ECK commissioners to resign for fear that they will spill the beans with information that will be a threat to the viability of the grand coalition government and their own individual positions with it.
Interestingly, the riggers considered all bizarre possibilities including “allowing” Raila to win the presidency but lose the Langata parliamentary seat by force, and in process create a constitutional crisis that would allow the runners up (Kibaki) to continue ruling the country.
The report puts Kalonzo Musyoka – ODM-K presidential candidate and party leader – in an awkward position. Kalonzo was appointed Vice President in mid-January, just weeks after fighting a ‘bruising bitter electoral contest’ with Kibaki and Raila. It also shows Kalonzo’s agents actively participated in denying Kenyans the constitutional and democratic rights by putting undue pressure on Kivuitu while abetting what was clearly an electoral theft through fraudulent tallying.
What is the purpose of spending huge resources and have millions of citizens vote in general elections if the winner is already predetermined?
Read the standard story here.
Posted by Phil at 4:16 AM
Labels: Obtuse Goofs
67 comments:
Anonymous said…
Thank You STANDARD!! The truth ALWAYS has a way of emerging, no matter how deep it’s burried!!!
Na Bado…Watch as the “intricate” manner in which the elections were stolen will start tumbling. (IT HAS BEGUN)
This is why PNU & ODM-K do not want to overhaul the ECK…ati people will start talking.
Poleni sana, the chickens are coming home to roost!!!!!!!!!
10/5/08 4:42 AM Anonymous said…
The greater cause of panic for PNU & ODM-K is; If the current ECK is overhauled (it is inevitable my friends)not only will the truth surrounding how the election was stolen come to light, but that they will NEVER be able to steal another election in their favour.
Pnu & it’s supporters do not realize that had they let Kenyans have their way in 2007 (perhaps) all those past injustices caused by the status quo in the last 29 yrs of Kibaki & Moi’s rule would have been forgiven. If Kriegler had just revealed the truth surrounding the election, Kenyans would have put the stolen election & the violence behind them and moved on. Kenyans would have had an opportunity to heal once & for all!!
This obviously did not happen.
Attempting to defend ECK, pnu & its partners do not realize they are stirring emotions in Kenyans, awakening a beast that would rather remain asleep. Then again, maybe Pnu & the Kikuyu mafia, know only too well what awaits them should they let go of the ECK.
ECK must go!! Covering up the truth, forcing the status quo & “move on” mentality on Kenyans just postpones the inevitable.
10/5/08 5:10 AM Msema Kweli said…
I’ve said it here before that THE TRUTH DOES NOT ROT. It always has a way of emerging.
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collection of documents;
forwarded by
Date: Mon, 17 Nov 2008 03:20:13 -0800 [05:20:13 AM CST]
From: Judy Miriga
Subject: RE: The Serious Urgency of Kriegler & Waki Report with Long Awaited Constitution
