The Debate on Amnesty highlights the political hubris of Kibaki, Mt. Kenya Mafia and its PNU hawks:

Let me put a twist in this tired partisan “No Amnesty of All Kinds” argument. Lets go back about 50 years ago. During the peasant militia revolution christened the MAUMAU, 150,000 African natives lost their lives alongside 30 British Caucasian Citizens. In the ensuing episodes, what took place is as follows:

The British Colonial Government CORRECTLY adjudicated the uprising as related to LAND (Resource) but fuelled by the emerging global political climate of anti-imperialism.

The peasant militia MAUMAU was equipped with hundreds of PANGAS, SLASHERS, WOODEN GUNS, GUNPOWDER, JEMBES, FORKS and STICKS.

Hundreds of youths and MAUMAU adherents and its leaders were captured and imprisoned indefinitely amongst them Colonel CHINA and KIMATHI who were ceremoniously hanged.

Very few, if any, of the captured MAUMAU thousands of youths did any jail time as within a short time, majority were let go under UK Program of Civilian Reintegration. The political deal on independence freed the remaining ones.

Similar practices, processes and programs have taken place in other parts of the world:

South Africa, with end of Apartheid, where a Truth Justice and Reconciliation Commission presided over the matters over a 3-5 year period.

Ex-failed states in West Africa like Sierra Leone, Togo and Liberia where rampant wars brought about bloodshed

Mutual civilian prisoner exchanges between Israel and Palestine (and other Arab Neighbors) that exists to this day

Finally, in almost all places there has been a tradition of the agents of the catalytic effects to own up, seek forgiveness and atone for their negative-leadership legacy:

In South Africa, the architects of the apartheid system stood down from office and publicly atoned for their former sins
In East Africa, during the MAUMAU period, the British Colonial forces atoned for their uprisings mistakes and publicly apologized and kept inventory of some form of reparation in the form of skills, land, etc

In India, the departing Colonial forces did the similar land transfer, skills transfers and promised technical cooperation.

The principle of these are usually the same: Sustaining peaceful initiatives after a spontaneous or planned civilian conflict using reconciliation and civic-awareness and counseling sessions are more important than seeking empty hollowed and kangaroo type justice programs. This does not mean abhorring or abetting crimes committed like murder or property destruction as those found directly guilty will have to do time. .

Those caught with evidence of any criminalities should be prosecuted and tried in court and if found guilty, jailed. In doing so, utmost care must be taken to prevent trumped charges, improper persecution and faulty investigations by a police force that was a perpetrator of the same violence itself. What is even strange from the political grandstanding is that the National Accord and Political Deal on Feb-28 provided for an independent, quick and proper mechanism to try any suspect arrested. This mechanism recognized the police as part of the accused given that more than 50% of the 1200 deaths were from police gun shots in the back especially on women and children.

Those, where evidence exists and a case can be put for excessive criminalities, have to follow the due process and if convicted, the perpetrators need to serve their time. So the question is: If these could happen elsewhere, why is Kenya an exception? And why do we see the misleaders on both sides of the Kenyan chaos, totally oblivious to their roles. Holding people indefinately so as to prove a political partisan point is adding more fire to the silent conflict in Kenya.

Let those in power not be as myopic and hollow as their voices seem to have become. Especially when the justice they seem to seek is partisan, retributive and selective. It surprises me that they have arrested thousands of youths from the ex-opposition zones and barely hundreds, if any, from the pro-government-parties bastions. Even more abominable is that hundreds of culpable police officers (who engaged in wanton ethnic killings) and catalyst ECK officials are walking scot-free. What fair, impartial and sustainable justice are these PNU hawks talking about?

Do they realize power and the current power alignment do not last forever? Ask the KIAMBU mafia of the 1960’s who at the apex of their power dome rode rough shod on other communities while egged on with clueless Mt. Kenya electorates. When the change happened in 1978, it took 25 years to convince the others to forget.

My prediction is that history is about to repeat itself. Those in power today will be in opposition tomorrow and will rue all their actions and verbose. Just ask the ex-KANU people today and you will learn of self-regrets and hubris.

I end with a phrase: One mans freedom fighter is another man’s terrorist. There was a time Kenyatta, Mahatma Gandhi, Martin Luther King, Nelson Mandela and others were branded terrorists. With foresight, their respective colonial powers changed in time and engaged in some honest political transfer of powers or power sharing that eventually averted major loss of bloodshed.

Kaka Mwambao

I came across this post (below) in KUMEKUCHA which somehow partly shares my position

Scenario:

(A) Murungaru, Kiraitu, Mwiraria and others connive to steal more than 50 Billion in Anglo Leasing trial. KACC says those are SUSPECTS and until proven to have stolen in a court of law, they are free and innocent.

(B) Mungiki in revenge attacks descends on Naivasha, Limuru and other environs and circumcises and hacks anything in its way that does not speak Kikuyu. A secret report and video obtained by BBC televised globally confirms State House organized the Mungiki reprisals and few if any have been caught

(C) AP’s and Special Police Forces, majority ethnically chosen, are sent to opposition hot beds in Kisumu, Kericho, Kakamega, Eldoret, Nairobi and Mombasa where they engage in illigetimate and wanton massacres of people (majority of them fleeing children and women) The Police commissioner confirms that only one police man is in court to answer charges of murdering 600 people in 6 provinces. He is deemed innocent and out on bail

(D) Thousands of Youths are captured, most of them attending political meetings, from six provinces in Kenya and being held (against the law of 14 days). The Mt. Kenya mafia has been partisanly labeling these youths as GUILTY even before tried in a court of law. Little evidence exists for many of them

So whats the real conclusion:

When a Kikuyu Man steals Anglo Leasing monies; When a Kikuyu Trained Police Force is accused of wanton massacres of demonstrators; when a Kikuyu Militia Group is suspected to have committed acts against humanity; (AND OF WHICH LOTS OF EVIDENCE EXISTS TO CONFIRM THE OBVIOUS), what did the Kikuyu Mafia and its common men/women supporters do? they declared them INNOCENT until proven GUILTY.

But when its thousands of none-kikuyu youths held on flimsy grounds such as demonstations and exercising freedom to agitate against stolen elections, what do the same Kikuyu Hypocrites do? They label them as ACCCUSED MURDERERS, RAPISTS, etc. How can 15,000 youths spread out in 6 provinces have murdered 1200 people (60% of whom died under police bullets)?

Dr. Masinde is right when asks this improtant question: Of what gain is the Kikuyu mafia and its people going to gain from this hypocrisy? If the kikuyu mafia has evidence of criminalities, let them take people to court and follow the due process. Otherwise, this amnesty thing is going to boomerang into a new freedom swan song which once lit, will be so hard to contain as it gets a new political life which this time no Anan group will stop.

What I find interesting is that MOI and KANU in its 25 year grip in power (apart from the 82 coup and 86 Mwakenya) never arbitralily arrested thousands of kikuyu youths for more than 6 months without taking them to court. Why? Coz MOI knew that was a recipe for a social and political armed revolution against his Govt. MOI was 100 times smarter in Leading people (not economics) than the entire Mt. Kenya Mafia and Kibaki combined.

As the Kikuyu Mafia plays around with amnesty and arrested youths thing, they will realize too late, its no longer amnesty but armed struggle that they will deal with.

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Date: Tue, 3 Jun 2008 06:28:37 -0700 (PDT)
From: Kaka Mwambao
Subject: Hypocrisy on Amnesty highlights the political hubris of Kibaki and Mt. Kenya PNU Mafia …