from Judy Miriga
Folks,
Kenya is now not safe at all….It is because of Kibaki and PM Raila incompetency…..
Many people suspect the Police force, the Mungiki recruit may put Kenya into another quagmire…..since the Police Overhaul Reform according to National Reform Agenda Agreement was not done as required.
With Wetangula outspoken of continuous collaboration and working with Gadaffi is possing more danger specifically so that Gadaffi has declared total guerilla war with the Transitional National Council of Libya……..We are worried Gadaffi’s wealth in Kenya could be used for assault since Wetangula’s outburst that Gadaffi’s wealth are safely Kept for Gadaffi………We are worried because of many roumers that was out before stating that Kenya, Uganda and North Sudan sent Marcinaries to help Gadaffi……..two plus two is equal to four……..could these funds be used to pay off the Mungiki’s, Al-Shabaab and the Somali Pirates working in cohort…….???
If Wetangula is not thoroughly investigated, we are all in for a rude shock and more surprises…..Wetangula’s Foreign Special Interests connection on behalf of the Coalition Govenment could be having business ties with Gadaffi and could have agreed to keep safe Gadaffi’s wealth in the prospect of sharing in the loot……If so, it is very very sad state-of-affair in deed….Their Mission are basically to maintain Power and Control..
These and many others are reasons why Kenya Administration Police had Mungiki infliltrated with Al-shabaab and other Somali Pirates. It is extremely important that The Kenya Police must be dismantled now…….We demand that the Kenya Army in Baracks, Airforce and Navy be released to protect Kenya’s boarders urgently……and also be put on the Streets to safeguard Kenyans security before an overhaul of the Kenya Administration Police is transparently completed…..Kenya is at present not safe…..and Kibaki and Raila must step down and vacate office now………..
The two Principles in the Coalition Government have their priorities upside down…..They must vacate Public Office now…….
Kibaki and Raila have cases to answer at the ICC Hague for misuse, abuse and neglect of Public Office with violation and crimes against Human Rights, as well as exposing the country to security risk in a very dangerous situation. This they did while serving private self with those of Special Interest against the Public Mandate………as opposed to their Oath in Office………
Judy Miriga
Diaspora Spokesperson
Executive Director
Confederation Council Foundation for Africa Inc.,
USA
http://socioeconomicforum50.blogspot.com
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Police Reforms Are Now Urgent
Thursday, 01 September 2011 00:07 BY HASSAN OLE NAADO
A near death experience few weeks ago on the Nairobi-Garissa highway has re-enforced my belief in why the police force should be reformed as a matter of urgency.
And as I join other Kenyans in calling for urgent and genuine reforms in the police, I wish to pass my most prayerful get-well message to Mr Gabriel Kuya, the police boss of Tana North police division, who sustained serious injuries when he led a small team of police officers to quell riots between feuding operators of matatus plying between Madogo in Tana River district and Garissa town. Mr. Kuya in his capacity as the OCPD has been working closely with KMYA field officers in Tana North district on peace building and reconciliation efforts.
On the fateful day, I was travelling to Garissa town to attend one of the many workshops that our organisation, the Kenya Muslim Youth Alliance (KMYA), has been conducting across the country to preach peace among Kenyan youths by urging them to seek peaceful means to the socio-economic problems that they encounter. KMYA is also in the forefront of seeking inter-religious dialogue as a way to encourage peaceful co-existence between Muslims and their fellow countrymen of other faiths.
Ironically, I ended up being the victim of the violence from the very youth I seek to educate when I ran into a mob of rioting matatu operators who were fighting over the control of the route between Madogo and Garissa. Two of my colleagues and I had to abandon the car we were travelling in and run for our dear lives when the car landed on a ditch after losing control as I reversed it in high speed.
But the most unfortunate thing about the whole encounter is the fact that a number of police officers were injured and the OCPD almost lost his life, not because the police were not able contain the situation, but because bureaucratic red tape would not allow police officers on the Garissa side, who were just a stone-throw away, to intervene and assist their outnumbered colleagues from Tana River.
Anybody who has been to Garissa knows that the boundary between Tana River and Garissa districts is the famous Tana Bridge. The fighting among matatu operators that almost cost Mr Kuya’s life occurred about 500 meters from the Tana Bridge inside Tana River (Bura) district, which is in Coast province—yet there was a contingent of police officers on the Garissa side, which is in North Eastern province. Why didn’t the police officers on the Garissa side intervene to assist their outnumbered colleagues on the Tana River side?
The reason the officers on the Garissa side did not intervene is because they were in a different administrative district, and bureaucracy demands that reinforcement for the Madogo operation could only have come from as far as Hola, which is very far away from the scene. So, the police officers on the Garissa side just watched helplessly as their colleagues suffered on the Tana River side.
It is view of this that all Kenyans, including police officers themselves, should demand fast-tracking of reforms in the force so that such nonsensical bureaucracies can be scrapped and ensure efficiency in the chain of command.
My take is that, had the officers on the Garissa side intervened, the skirmishes around Madogo area would not have escalated as they did—officer Kuya would not have sustained serious injuries and his officers injured by stone and spears throwing youth.
This kind of red-tape calls to mind the report of the commission of inquiry into the April 1994 Mtongwe Ferry disaster, where a passenger ferry sank killing hundreds of commuters right in front of the Kenya Navy headquarters.
Justice Msagha Mbogoli who chaired the commission of inquiry castigated the bureaucracy in the disciplined forces when the commission was told that navy officers at the Mtongwe barracks had the equipment, personnel and capacity to rescue almost all the victims before the ferry got submerged in the ocean, but they would not act without command from their superiors.
The question then is; what is the use of having a police force or army that cannot even assist one of their own, let alone the ordinary Kenyan?
It is this kind of bureaucracy, which has bred institutional inefficiency that makes police reforms urgent and mandatory. A new chain of command should be able to ensure that police officers respond to situations without too much red tape, just the way a fire brigade or ambulance crew can respond to emergencies with minimal constraints in the chain of command.
The writer is the CEO of the Kenya Muslim Youth Alliance and Deputy Secretary General of the Supreme Council of Kenya Muslims.
The Fundamental Rights Of All Kenyans As Guaranteed By The Constitution Of Kenya And The National Accord Must Be Respected By The Grand Coalition Government!
Fundamental Human Rights of all Kenyans must be Respected by the Kenyan Police Commissioner
Where There’s A Will…: Extrajudicial Executions And Police Reform In Kenya
Posted on 26 June 2009
Louise Edwards
Programme Officer – Access to Justice (East Africa)
Commonwealth Human Rights Initiative, New Delhi
The United Nations Special Rapporteur on extrajudicial, summary or arbitrary executions, Professor Philip Alston, presented his detailed report on Kenya at the recent 11th Session of the UN Human Rights Council. In an extraordinary week of political maneuvering, reinforcing the internal tension that plagues Kenya’s Grand Coalition Government, the Kenyan delegation responded with an oral statement to the Council that contradicted their earlier written response. Having initially denied Professor Alston’s accusations of the widespread and systematic use of extrajudicial killings by the Kenya Police Force, the delegation conceded that there is a problem, but stopped short of acknowledging Government complicity.
The proceedings and outcomes at the 11th Session have received much local and international press. Now, two weeks later, the focus must shift to action taken by the Kenyan Government to address the issues raised by Professor Alston and the fall out from the publication of his report, which included the killing of two human rights defenders that had previously cooperated with his mandate. Despite the eventually positive response from the Kenyan delegation in Geneva, early signs of action are not necessarily promising.
Professor Alston’s report articulated what concerned local and international organisations have been saying about the Kenya Police Force for many years and which the Government failed to acknowledge until their oral statement to the Council – that extrajudicial killings are part of the policing landscape in Kenya. The oral statement also contained a public acknowledgement of Kenya’s weak police oversight mechanisms, the need to establish a local independent police commission and assurances that no human rights defenders would be intimidated or harassed as a result of their cooperation with the UN Special Procedures mandate-holders.
Nevertheless, it remains to be seen whether the promising outcomes in Geneva will translate into credible action in Nairobi. Successive promises of reform articulated in a number of strategies and processes over the past 10 years have not been completed or sustained by the Kenya Government. Kenyans continue to be policed by an organisation that lacks sufficient accountability structures, fails to protect or uphold basic human rights and is continually subject to illegitimate political interference. Millions of dollars have been invested in the development and publication of commission reports, task force findings and reform strategies without any genuine steps by the Government to implement systemic reform.
The concerning state of policing in Kenya has received significant national and international attention over the past 18 months. The police response to the 2007 post-election violence brought the issue of political partisanship, impunity and brutality to the fore. The Waki Commission report into the violence strongly recommended comprehensive reform of the Kenya Police Force and Administration Police and Professor Alston’s report reinforced the brutal and corrupt practices that have been permitted to flourish by the unreformed, colonial policing model.
Police reform is a daunting and long term process. It requires substantial law reform, a radical shift in policing culture from one of impunity to accountability and the restoration of trust between police and the community. None of these urgent reforms will happen in Kenya without the political and financial commitment of the Government to undertake reforms of this scope. The recent establishment by the President of a special Police Reform Task Force represents a positive step towards delivering credible advances. However, the Government must translate the Task Force’s recommendations into actual reform that goes beyond improving operational capacity to address governance, accountability and legal structures. Otherwise the Task Force, for all its good intention, will become another failed reform vehicle.
Drawing on the previous recommendations and those foreshadowed to appear in the current Task Force findings, the Government should implement the following minimum reforms:
Constitutional and legislative amendments that clearly separate the operational control of the police from the direct control from the political Executive and provide for transparency in monitoring police performance and conduct,
Strengthening internal and external oversight mechanisms, including the enactment of legislation and budgetary allocation to give full effect to the Police Oversight Board plus the establishment of an independent complaints mechanisms,
Establish a clear demarcation between the role of the Kenya Police Force and the Administration Police,
Improve police human rights training and resourcing to strengthen human rights compliance and operational effectiveness in the prevention, detection and investigation of crime, and
Establish clear legislative guidelines on the use of force, torture and adherence to basic due process that accord with Kenya’s existing obligations under international law.
If the Government is serious about reforming the police, a commitment to implementing past and current recommendations is not enough. It must also take immediate steps that both demonstrate its firm commitment to reform and restore public confidence in the reform process. A positive first action should be the investigation, prosecution and punishment of those police officers who commit or acquiesce to illegal acts including, but not limited to, those responsible for the 2007 post-election violence and the perpetrators of extrajudicial killings.
Other immediate steps must include measures to implement the Government’s guarantee of protection to individuals who have been intimidated or subject to retribution for their cooperation with the UN Special Procedures mandate-holders. Human rights defenders, including members of the Kenya National Commission on Human Rights have been subject to threats and some have been forced to flee Kenya. The high profile execution of two prominent human rights defenders, who cooperated with Professor Alston, and the failure by the police and Government to identify those responsible, highlights the inadequacy of protection and security for human rights defenders. While Kenya has a witness protection programme, reform is urgently required to ensure the integrity of its internal processes (including accountability, Executive control and information storage and sharing) before those who are most in need of protection will have confidence in the systems that are designed to deliver it.
The 2007 post-election violence, followed by the findings in Professor Alston’s report, and the tragic consequences for human rights defenders who cooperated with his mandate, have kept the problems with Kenyan policing firmly in the international spotlight. Whether the political will to commit to genuine reform is present in the Grand Coalition Government remains to be seen, but what is clear to the international community is that the need for police reform is more crucial than ever.
The Commonwealth Human Rights Initiative (CHRI) is an independent, non-partisan, international NGO working for the practical realisation of human rights in the countries of the Commonwealth.
www.humanrightsinitiative.org
KENYA
Police Reform? Return To Sender, Say Rights Groups
George Kebaso
NAIROBI, Sep 9 (IPS) – The top policeman accused of supporting Kenya’s post-election violence, in which thousands were killed or raped because of their ethnicity, has been given a cushy job as head of the country’s postal service.
President Mwai Kibaki’s announcement this week that the country’s former Police Commissioner Major General Hussein Ali would be replaced at the helm of the force and re-deployed to the Postal Corporation of Kenya has not been welcomed. (Ali’s former deputy, Lawrence Mwadime, has been given a post in the ministry of livestock development.)
Ali, a retired army general, headed the Kenya Police, responsible for such general police matters as criminal investigations and traffic control; the Administration Police takes charge of security for ministers, members of parliament and other top government officials.
Their public roles often overlap, and both branches stand accused of involvement in the violence that followed elections in December in 2007, the Administration Police playing a part in rigging votes and sowing confusion at polling stations and the Kenya Police directly participating in violence.
Despite the good riddance atmosphere around the country as a man largely seen as a ruling party militant is shuffled away from the top police post, Kenyans are cautious. Many feel that the changes that saw Ali replaced at the helm of the force on Tuesday are as shoddy as the general reform process itself.
For many Kenyans still recovering from the violence that saw as many as 1,300 people murdered, over 3,000 women raped and over 300,000 people displaced, the move is being seen as an evasion of justice.
The changes have largely been dismissed as a way to avoid prosecutions rather than a ‘departure from the culture of impunity rule’ in Kenya.
“We have been calling for reforms in this country’s police force for a while now,” said a shop owner in a popular street Nairobi.
“And this country has yearned for a total change that can usher in police leadership that is responsive; leadership that implements punitive ways of dealing with society needs.” He asked for his name to be withheld because he feared repercussions and claimed he is a victim of police harassment and extortion.
Post-election violence survivor Peter Kariuki says he suffered police brutality while in an IDP camp in Nakuru Show Ground, 200 kilometres west of Nairobi. He has accused police of kidnapping and torturing him while in the camp. His only crime was that he belonged to the outlawed Mungiki sect, which has clashed with government repeatedly since since it emerged in the 1980s.
He dismissed the notion that the construction of additional police stations around the country was the solution to the individual safety of Kenyans.
“No way. Police stations can not be my security. My security is myself and my neighbour,” he said.
A number of lobby groups welcomed Ali’s removal, but they strongly cautioned that further changes remain urgent. Speaking to IPS, Hassan Omar, vice chairman of the official rights watchdog mandated by the constitution, the Kenya National Commission on Human Rights, said that Ali’s removal should be a starting point to comprehensive reforms in the force.
“We trust the changes will set the pace for a rebuilding of public confidence in the police and create the necessary momentum for reforms,” he said but cautioned that this must be quickly followed with implementation of the recommendations of a Police Reforms Task Force headed by retired Judge Philip Ransley which called for an overhaul of the entire police force structure.
Omar called on Kenyans to ensure that the government fulfils its promise to reform the police force in totality.
The non-government Kenya Human Rights Commission, headed by Muthoni Wanyeki, also criticised the reassignments. Wanyeki called on the president to be careful with the issue of reforms bearing in mind that the country is waiting to see all senior officers of the force sent home.
“The writing is clearly on the wall that the president should stop playing games with the reforms issue as the country has already agreed that all senior police officers should be sent home to pave way for fresh leadership in the police force,” Wanyeki said.
The Union of Kenya Civil Servants (UKCS), which includes members of the police force, also dismissed the changes as a sham and public relations exercise.
UCKS Secretary General Tom Odege castigated the president, saying that the replacement of only one person cannot convince that the government is focused on reforming the police force.
“One person cannot bring the required change in the police. Reforms in the force are not an act of performing miracles but a practical Kenyan-backed process,” he asserted.
Odege noted that by making a single high-profile change at the top, the president is more interested in preserving the status quo than answering to the desires of the whole country for deep-seated changes.
(END/2009