rom Salah Sheikh

The Truth Justice and Reconcilitiation Commission has now turned into an organization that depends on massive PR campaigns and strong arm tactics for its survival. The credibility crisis bedeviling Bethuel Kiplagat, the Chairman and the conflict of interest facing some of the Commissioners has convinced the public to have little faith in the commission’s work. To counteract this scenario the Commission’s PR guru, Ms Openda has organized a charming campaign on the erstwhile hostile media with luncheons, per diems and transport rebates. The commission has also contracted politicians in a bid to calm the very hostile reception awaiting them in many parts of the country. In Wajir, the scene of genocide at Wagalla, politicians from the region have been given jobs for their supporters. This was a tactic used by the Moi regime to silence the survivors of Wagalla and to get them to destroy evidence. The commission has also hired statement takers from the clans in the area; TJRC pays ksh. 2500 per day for a twenty day exercise. The TJRC has also hired hecklers in regions perceived to be hostile to its work. This hecklers drown out the voices of survivors of past crimes who may oppose the commission. The commission has also awarded plum jobs to some survivors of torture; a clear bribe to get their support. All this bulldozing will not change one fact, that this TJRC lacks credibility and is part of the past regimes’ efforts to cleanse their past. It is a perpetrator tool, it is committing impunity and causing pain to the survivors of torture and genocide. It is a fraud “in every sense of the word” being played on the people of this country. The only way to redeem the process of truth-seeking is to disband this group and constitute another more credible commission after 2012 elections. This commission is fallacious, its findings will be biased and it will cause disappointment to the survivors of torture and genocide. It must go.