From: People For Peace
Colleagues Home & Abroad Regional News
BY FR JOACHIM OMOLO OUKO, AJ
NAIROBI-KENYA
WEDNESDAY, JULY 2O, 2011
In history, religion and political science, a purge is the removal of people who are considered undesirable by those in power from a government, from another organization, or from society as a whole. Yet, as Dr John Esibi, a renowned and veteran journalist with catholic background expresses in his book, it needs courage to stand for what you believe in.
He hails then Thika based Mary Hill School Chaplain cum journalist Rev Fr Dominic Wamugunda Wakimani for lashing out at former dictator President Daniel arap Moi, couragiously suggesting to him to step aside and allow new leadership to spearhead the genuine democratic changes.
Fr Wamugunda used his journalistic power to challenge old leaders as well to quit political scene, saying their idea have become irrelevant and obsolete. Fr Wamugunda further noted that projects initiated by Moi such as Nyayo Bus Corporation and Nyayo Wards, had all flopped.
Lake Basin Authority Development had been pushed to near collapse- the Central Bank of Kenya had been used to provide liquidity to politically well connected financial institutions such as Trade Bank, Pan African Bank and Exchange Bank.
Such banks were being used to launder the residential campaign money into convertible currencies abroad. In 1992 alone, the Central Bank printed and released for circulation more than 12 billion Kenya shillings. 7 billion shillings was used by Kanu as slush fund to manipulate the electoral process (Finance, March 31, 1993).
Another courageous journalist who used his writings to liberate Kenya was Otieno Mak’Onyango of the East African Standard Newspaper. He was arrested by Moi regime and charged with treason, accused of being behind the August 1, 1982 coup attempt. He was detained and tortured.
He was arrested from his place of work – The Standard Newspaper, Likoni Road Office, Nairobi – on August 17, 1982 at about 6.30 pm by one Patrick Shaw of CID Headquarters in the company of an Asian police officer. He was told he was required at the CID Headquarters to answer some questions in connection with one Prof. Otieno Osanya and what he had gone to do in his house situated on Ngong Road sometimes in July, the previous month.
At the CID headquarters, he was left in a room where he waited until about 10 pm when he was taken to and booked at Eastleigh Police Station for the night by some officers. The next day he was collected from the police station and taken back to CID Headquarters where he was questioned on how he knew Prof. Otieno Osanya and what he had gone to do at his Ngong Road House.
Later in the day, he was taken before one Inspector Charles Mwangi who told him he had been instructed to charge him with the offence of treason in connection with the events of the August 1, 1982, which charge he denied. At about 7 pm, he was taken and detained at the GSU Headquarters on Thika Road. Here he found Prof. Otieno Osanya and one Raila Odinga. From then on, the three of them were to remain together.
The charges against them were, subsequently, consolidated into one case – both he and Raila were jointly charged with Treason and Osanya, Misprison of Treason. The charge against Raila and himself alleged that on diverse days prior to July 31, 1982 within the Republic of Kenya, the two, jointly and with others not before the court, imagined, conspired and attempted to overthrow the Government of Kenya through unlawful means contrary to section 40 (i) (a) (iii) and (b) of the Penal Code Cap 63 Laws of Kenya.
In his statement to the police, he clearly spelt out how he knew Prof. Otieno Osanya and what he had gone to do at his Ngong Road House on a material day. He had gone to check the suitability of the House, then vacant and under repair, for rental by a staff of the German Embassy, Mr. Alvenslaiven who had just arrived in the country. His information was that the Police (Mr.Patrick Shaw) did in fact confirm with Mr Alvenslaiven the reason for him having gone to the said House.
They were subjected to all manner of torture throughout the period they were being held in custody. The torture was physical, mental and psychological. This was not limited to them as the suspects but their families as well. For the two or so weeks they were being held at the GSU headquarters, they spent days on end without food. This had to, if at all, be supplied by relatives who had to deposit the same at the CID Headquarters. Once in a while, the CID officers remembered to bring the food over, often times when this had gone bad.
One eventful night – August 20, 1982 or thereabouts – at the GSU Headquarters, a group of senior Police/GSU officials, led by the then Commissioner of Police, Ben Gethi, invaded the cells where they were being held at about midnight. They pretended they were investigating the events of the August 1, 1982. Later on, however, they learnt the Commissioner had been at the camp for a totally different mission – to mobilize the GSU personnel to attack a contingent of the Armed Forces said to have been sent to flash him (Gethi) out of the camp where he had gone hiding.
In his cell, Gethi demanded to know his role in the August 1 coup attempt. The last thing he wanted to hear is his claim that he was not involved in the crime. He maintained he played a leading role and he must state so.
Insisting he had a major hand in the crime, Gethi handed him a set of papers to write down in detail his involvement in the crime. Besides writing his role in the crime, he was to apologize and ask for mercy from the Commissioner of Police himself. He wrote on the papers he was given that he was innocent and had no role whatsoever in the crime.
On returning to his cell after visiting both Prof. Osanya and Raila in their respective cells, Gethi read his statement and tore it to pieces saying what he had written was a lot of rubbish. He gave him more papers and ordered him to, this time round, write as ordered. He again went to the other cells before returning a second time. The story was the same.
The third time Gethi read his statement declaring him innocence, he was so angered that he grabbed him by the head and bashed his head against the wall. He asked of Gethi why he was killing him? This earned him the wrath of a Mr. Mbuthia who was in Gethi’s company. “Who are you ?” he roared “to talk to the Commissioner of Police like that.” He kicked him with his boots, injuring him seriously on both legs. Just then, a Presidential Aide, then residing at the GSU camp, came by. He peeped into his cell and saw what was happening and simply walked away without uttering a word. On seeing the Aide, Gethi and his group appeared uncomfortable and walked out. They never came back.
Arising from the beatings by Gethi and his group, he spent the rest of the night in a lot of pains. He had difficulties keeping his balance as his head went round and round, even to a point of loosing memory. The following day, he reported the attack to Patrick Shaw when he came to the camp at about 4 pm. He complained of his condition. He took him to Nairobi Hospital where he was treated and later returned to the camp.
Denial of food and mistreatment was to continue through to our days in detention. Food served was not even fit for animals. For sleeping, they were given two thin blankets, one to cover with and the other spread on the cold cement floor. Little wonder he developed a perpetual Gout attack during and after his detention life.
For much of the time their case was under investigations, they were being held incommunicado. Any attempt on their part to seek legal or any form of assistance was rejected by both the police and Prison authorities. A case in point was a request he made to both a Mr Giltrap and Supt N’gan’ga to bring him his statement to the police to alter a date. This was totally rejected. It was inhuman treatment through and through.
Njuguna Mutonya’s story is the same. He was accused of being part of unlawful movement, Mwakenya. Although he had committed no crime, he felt invisible net closing around him. Mutonya’s life was just starting to show signs of bright career with his recent promotion as head of Government’s District Information Team. He loved his job.
For the next two days following his arrival at Nyayo torture chambers house-he was forced to accept that he a member of Mwakenya, a fact he vehemently denied. He woke up to find himself dragged out of his watery bed towards the bathrooms by two Special Branch officers. He was stark naked, weak and groggy with sleep. He was thrown into the showers where he collapsed on the floor. They opened the tap and cold water roused him up from his grogginess.
He was forced to remove his clothes-he removed his shirt, trousers and shoes and stood in his socks and pants. He was told to remove the pants and socks-he was stark naked. They beat him thoroughly and forced to stand in cold water until morning. He was ordered to lie on his back facing the security officers.
Mwakenya was a radical political organisation formed in 1979 in opposition to the Kenya regime of President Daniel Arap Moi. It operated underground and in exile. As a result of Mwakenya’s increased activities around 1986 there was an arrest of hundreds of journalists, teachers, students and civil servants. Few arrests were made public, following a ban in July that year on reporting by Kenyan journalists of all arrests and trials carried out on political grounds. None of those arrested and subsequently charged was allowed access to legal counsel.
Other journalists arrested included Wahome Mutahi Mutahi with his brother Njuguna Mutahi in 1986- they were detained in Nyayo House torture chambers charged with sedition and alleged association with Mwakenya movement and later transferred to Kamiti Maximum Security Prison. They were both released after fifteen months without ever being brought to trial. His imprisonment inspired him to write The Three Days on the Cross and Jailbug.
Even during Kibaki tenure things never changed. Sunday Times Senior writer David Ochami was arrested following his commentary on Sunday September 25, 2005 on which he argued that coups in Africa do not occur out of nothing.
He had argued that today, as the president’s men talk of an impending ouster of Mwai Kibaki, there are others who feel this should occur sooner or that the August 1, 1982 mutiny should have been taken to its logical conclusion.
In Africa he said, fewer governments have been ousted through the ballot box or popular uprising than through coup de tats and armed insurgency. “There are good reasons for most coups”, he said. The collapse of the Hezekiah Ochuka experiment he said denied Kenyans the opportunity to live through a military. “Maybe Kenya would be better off now without the first generation of post-independence politicians, mostly likely to have been executed. Perhaps the country could have seen a civil war”, he lamented.
People for Peace in Africa (PPA)
P O Box 14877
Nairobi
00800, Westlands
Kenya
Tel 254-20-4441372
Website: www.peopleforpeaceafrica.org