It is not clear to me whether the Minister for Internal Security, George Saitoti is aware that 2,000 innocent Kenyans lost their lives while thousands were serverely injured during the post election violence that also displaced another 350,000 people on his watch. The majority of the worst affected in this whole confusion were women, children, the old and persons with disabilities.

Police chose to use excessive force by breaking into houses, shooting and killing innocent peasants. This included babies in certain ethnic communities, especially in Nairobi, Nyanza and Rift Valley, under the “shoot-to-kill” order from Saitoti’s Internal Security Ministry.

People have to be most active in their youth. Of course, Kenyan youths, just like others elsewhere in the world, were excited to be among the voters for what was to become the most hotly disputed Presidential elections ever in Kenya’s political history, last December. Unfortunately, this did not go down well with police, who responded with the strongest force ever, therefore, making this cadre of Kenya’s population the heaviest casualty with many young men and women losing their precious lives.

As a result of continuing and escalating land clashes in the Mount Elgon district in Western province and in other parts of the country, including parts of Laikipia in Rift Valley, the government has since decided to also include members of the armed forces in the troubled region to work with police in restoring order. However, what is happening on the ground is completely different.

Instead of keeping vigilance on the tribal gangs, the real perpertrators of these skirmishes, the Paramilitary squad has instead turned against the worried innocent residents who rely heavily on the government to bring normalcy to the region. As a matter of fact, it is now illegal to be a man in Mount Elgon district especially at night, according to reports. Men are hunted by police, shot at or beaten thoroughly and left for dead. People are being killed and even women are being shot dead by these soldiers.

Members of the media have not been spared by the forces either. There are reports of members of the media being arrested, detained and their cameras being ruthlessly confiscated. The latest reports indicate that the media fraternity has officially been barred from the so-called “operation zone”. By barring the media houses from covering what is happenning in the clash-torn region, it is easy to say that perhaps the whole operation could be just another farce. The public is depending on the media for the update of everything that is going on all over the country.

The Kibaki government failed completely to bring order to the troubled Mount Elgon district for the entire five years of his tenure. The situation got even worse with Kibaki’s desperate attempt to create a district at almost every election campaign last year and climaxed in the wake of aftermath riots of the election. One would recall that the newly-elected ODM MP representing the area, Hon. Fred Kapondi, was arrested just when campaigns were in top gear. He was not able to conduct his campaigns because he was being held by the police. He however, managed to win easily because of the trust that the people of Mt. Elgon bestowed on him.

Police should honorably apply the proper and logical methods of restoring order when dealing with people in troubled regions. Among other approaches, area politicians, clergy and community leaders should be fully involved in dialogue and peace-making processes.

I have never heard about whether civic leaders of the areas have been contacted or not, including the area MP. In the new power-sharing arrangement, the current police spokesman Kiraithe should immediately be relieved of his duties and charged for persistent lies in front of the public. It is time for civil servants to work as agents charged with the responsibility of implementing policies, not politiking. Kiraithe has lied enough since election time. We need credible individuals who are able to show leadership especially at this time when Kenya is desperately in need of a clear and lasting healing process.

Julius Musandu
Toronto