Sham ICC prosecutions may lead to a bigger problem

As the ICC prosecutor continues his investigations into the Kenyan Genocide, he should be aware that he has the power to plunge Kenya back into violence or end impunity. Only a true quest for justice guided by at most good faith will help put a dent on impunity and avert violence.

In the past few weeks, politicians have embarked on taking Kenyans as human shields to frustrate their impending prosecution. Individuals that have a hint that ICC may be coming after them have started to rope in their ethnic kin setting a stage for the next big explosion. In Rift Valley, politicians are making an argument that the Kalenjin politicians were only minor players in the planning of the violence and heaping the blame on ODM leader Raila Odinga (and his Luo ethnic group).

To vindicate himself, Raila Odinga has totally removed himself from the violence and delinked it from the elections leaving the Kalenjin leaders holding the can. He has presented the Luo tribe as victims of carefully planned ethnic cleansing carried out by Kenyan and Ugandan security officers. He has blamed the same forces for the sacking and burning of Kisumu. Raila claims that he called for mass action and not mass killings.

In Central Province, Kikuyu leaders are talking about attempts to victimize the Kikuyu tribe for its role in self defense. They have accused the UN and ICC of demonizing the Kikuyu tribe resulting into double victimization.

In the media, facts on the violence are being altered and public opinion is consciously being reshaped. The effect on this effort is very clear in Ocampo’s pre-trial presentation at the ICC. Ocampo ignored very crucial facts in the case in what looks like an attempt to shelter President Kibaki and Prime Minister Odinga from any prosecution. Through out the investigations, Ocampo has regarded the President and the PM as his partners and not suspects when it is clear that the two politicians were the reason we had bloodshed in Kenya.

Ocampo should withdraw the cases if his plan is for a semblance of justice. He will only be handing a keg of gunpowder to the masters of impunity and asking them to blow Kenya into smithereens.

Kenyan Genocide Perpetrators

ALLEGED PERPETRATOR	BACKGROUND	ALLEGATION/S	SUPPORTING INFORMATION ON THE ALLEGATIONS
The late Hon. Lorna Laboso	M.P, Sotik Constituency	Planning and incitement to violence	On the thrid week of January 2008, she attended a purpoted peace meeting at Manaret Society, and incited the local community after which a vicious attack against the Kisii was instead intesified. together with Frankline Bett, they talked to and incited about 700 youths at Sotik Tea Estate and immediately they left, the youths began to burn houses belonging to the Kisiis.
Hon. Franklin Bett	M.P, Bureti Constituency	Planning, incitement, and financing the violence	During a public meeting in Kiptororo in Kuresoi in December 2007, he reportedly urged the Kalenjins to fight Kikuyu until they leave Molo area. Before the elections, he and other prominent politicians attended a meeting in the interior Ndoinet forest. After the said meeting, the group that attended attacked and destroyed properties belonging to the non-Kalenjins. It is believed that they incited the locals to attack non-Kalenjins. He brought young men (boys) in groups of more than 300 from Bomet who worked with Luo locals to attack the Kikuyu. Together with the late Kipkalia Kones and the late Kimtai Too they financed the Kalenjin youth who attacked the Kikuyu and Kisii in Kericho. He organized youths to attack the Kikuyu and Kisiis in Kericho. He gave them transportation, fuel and food and held meetings at Kericho Tea Hotel and other places. He told supporters that "all the investors in Kericho and in the estates will be either Kalenjins or Indians." This statement is said to have given the youths motivation to attack all other tribes especially the Kisiis and Kikuyus. He is said to have been explaining to the people who attended a meeting in Kipkatet that no one can take what belongs to the Kalenjins, especially land. In a meeting held in Chopkiobet in Bomet, he is quoted to have said that he "will beat up Kikuyus till they leave Molo. Together with the late Kipkalia Kones and the late David Too, they organized and facilitated the youths to be transported from Transmara and Bomet in Lorries through Silibwet and go to chase Kikuyus from Kuresoi. He intimidated people at the Kericho Police Station and told them that those that give information to the investigators on the post election violence will be lynched. Eye Witnesses have reported that on the 30th of December 2007 at around 10.00 am, at the Caltex Petrol Station in Kericho town, he gave unspecified amount of money to some Kalenjin and Luo men who immediately after the said payment started stoning anf burning kiosks perceived to be owned by Kikuyus but were in actual fact owned by the Kipsigis and Kisii people.
The late Hon. David Kimutai Too	MP, Ainamoi Constituency	Planning, incitement, and financing the violence	On the 23rd November 2007 went to Stagemart in Kericho and addressed a crowd asking residents to remove all stains/spots (Madoadoa) from the region. In January 2008 he asked that all the stains/spots (Madoadoa) be removed from the region. Together with Kipkalia Kones and Frankline Bett they financed the Kalenjin youths who attacked the Kikuyu and Kisii in Kericho.
The Late Hon. Kipkalia Kones	Former MP, Bomet Constituency and Minister	Planning, incitement, and finacing the violence.	In January 2008 while addression youths he is reported to have tolf the youths: "When we tell you to block, make sure you block the roads, and when we tell you to remove, make sure you remove them." Kalenjin raiders were hosted at his residence in Sirikwa from where they launched attacks against the Kikuyu and Kisii. Together with Frankline Bett and the late Kimutain Too they financed the Kalenjin youths who attacked Kisiis in Kericho.
Hon. William Ruto	MP, Eldoret North Constituency, Minister	Planning, incitement, and financing the violence	In August 2007 he held a meeting with the other senior ODM leaders in Kipkelion near Kericho including Sotik MP the late Lorna Labodo, the late Kipkalia K. Kones (Bomet), Kiprono L. J. Magerer (Kipkelion), and Franklin Bett (Bureti) where the leaders resolved to carry out mass evictions of non-Kalenjins from 'their' Rift Valley areas, particularlly the Kikuyu and Abagusii. During the oppening ceremony for the Seventh Day Adventist Church in a place called Mailing, he is alleged to have said that they would uproot the "sangari", 'shake off the soil,' 'gather it together' and 'burn it', in reference to 'outside' communities. He is alleged to have addressed the public at Bisabil shopping center in Turbo near Burnt Forest and incited the local Kalenjin and Luhya communities against the Kikuyu. At a meeting on 22/12/2007 at his home in Sugoi he said that his headache was Mr. Jonathan Bii, his opponent, who supported Kikuyu on the land issue and directed that they should be attacked if they dared campaign in the areas.
Hon. Boaz Kaino	MP, Marakwet West Constituency	Inciting violence	At a meeting he said that he would remove Kikuyu and Kisii from the area after the elections.
Hon. Dr. Sally Kosgey	MP, Aldai Constituency and Cabinet Minister	Planning, incitement, and financing the violence	With Hon. Henry Kosgey, they attended meetings to aorganise violence. They are alleged also to have funded violence.
Hon. Fred Kapondi	MP, Mt. Elgon Constituency	inciting violence	He attended and addressed a rally at Ziwa where violence was planned. Alleged to have said that Luhyas should be expelled from Trans Nzoia.
Hon. Henry Kosgey	MP, Tinderet constituency and Cabinet Minister	Planning, incitement, and financing the violence	He held several meetings with the Nandi Hills area councillors and other opinion leaders at Septon Guest House within Septon Eastate. The meeting, it is believed, was for planning and organization of violence.

For the full list download this PDF

Impunity cannot be allowed to stand

My greatest fear is that the people involved in the mass murder that Kenya has witnessed will go scot-free. It has happened in the past and it is bound to happen again. To this day, not a single person has been held accountable for the 1992 and 1997 ethnic cleansing. Yes we have had commissions of inquiry where victims –that were lucky to be alive- named the criminals.

Raila Odinga inspecting a guard of honor mounted by a militia in Nakuru. Is this militia responsible for the murders in Rift Valley?
(Photo by the Daily Nation, Kenya)

What is shocking is that those who masterminded the ethnic cleansing have morphed into what we now call ‘eminent leaders’. What has not changed is their lust for blood. The same ‘eminent leaders’ are back to what they know best; remove the madoadoa (spots; a term that is widely used in RV to identify people who bought land in the region). They have succeeded to do so. Today, over 300,000 Kenyans no longer occupy their houses. Their farms in Rift Valley are now littered with corpses. We have conveniently justified this as ‘post-election violence’. We have justified these atrocities as a ‘valid’ way of protesting the election outcome!

Human Rights Watch recently released a statement saying that the opposition planned the ethnic cleansing. Koffi Annan has called this ethnic cleansing a "gross and systematic" form of human rights abuses.

"Let us not kid ourselves and think that this is an electoral problem. It is much broader and much deeper," Koffi Anan added.

The world has opted to ignore Human Rights Watch and Koffi Annan and instead focused of negotiating for the inclusion of the opposition in the government. Will this stop the ethnic cleansing? I bet not.

As Koffi Annan pointed out, what we have in Kenya are 2 independent issues that need to be treated as such. First, we have the election issue where there is clear evidence that both sides were involved in irregularities. Then we have the issue of rights to own property. The later issue is what has lead to the deaths and displacement. We can solve the election problem by creating seats to accommodate the opposition but that will not make Kenyans respect their fellow citizens’ right to own property.

There is only a small relationship between the elections and the ethic cleansing. Some opposition leaders –who may not necessarily support the ethnic cleansing- are counting on the anarchy in Rift Valley as a bargaining chip. On the same note, those sanctioning the genocide in RV are counting on their fellow opposition leaders to divert the attention of security organs. Raila Odinga’s “peaceful protests” in Nairobi and Kisumu are a tool to stretch thin the police force so that the murders of RV can have uninterrupted time to execute their mission. Giving Raila Odinga the power he desperately wants will not necessarily mean that William Ruto and his cohorts will call off the killings.

One thing that Raila Odinga and his supporters must remember is that you cannot ride on the ethnic hate dragon and tame it when you vanquish your political enemy. The outcome of such a mission has unpredictable results and will always spiral out of the control of those thinking the hold the reigns. In the end, neither Raila nor Kibaki will be able to govern what we currently call Kenya.

For once we need to bring the murders to book and tell their followers that Kenyans have rights. William Ruto, William Ole Ntimama, Alexander Sitienei, Musa Sirma, Frankline Bett, Zackayo Cheruiyot and others need to be brought to account. Let them not hide behind the “stolen election”. "Impunity cannot be allowed to stand."

Read this report:

Akuwumi Report on tribal clashes (pdf)

Raila Odinga defends the Eldoret Massacre

In an interview on the BBC's Hardtalk, Raila Odinga said, "the father … the catholic father who is in charge has given an explanation and the explanation is that these people who were attacking people from another community were being chased and when they were being chased they went to take refuge in a church and the pursuers then pursued them to the church … they did not know that in the church were children which were being kept there as refugees so in the process of cause they set the church on fire…"

Click on image to watch video

Raila goes on to say that his is not a defense of the massacre but his statement is doing just that. His statement that, "they (the Kalenjin militia) did not know that in the church were children which were being kept there as refugees so in the process of cause they set the church on fire" shows how hard Raila is working to take blame from the militia and allocate it to the victims.

Raila Odinga did not offer us the name of the 'CATHOLIC FATHER' who gave him that story. The facts are that the massacre was executed in an Assemblies of God church and there was not catholic father in charge of the church. Raila's lies show how far he can go to fabricate a story to justify the massacre of innocent women, children and disabled citizens who were taking refuge in the church.

The murderers who spoke to the press said,

"The men and women had babies and small children, but they carried pangas to defend themselves. Is someone with a panga innocent? It is not our custom to kill women and children. We told them to come out of the church, but they locked the door and refused to come out. So we burned them."

A third youth spoke. "They were not worshipping in the church. They were hiding. That makes it a cave not a church. Let Kibaki send a plane for the Kikuyus. They can go ... or they will be killed."

Several more men confirmed that youths from this village had helped carry out the attack.

Source: The Guardian, Jan 2, 2008
Similar reports as above have been filed by several media houses. Contrary to what Raila said, the murderers knew that there were women and children in the church. I am sure they heard cries of little children as the fires raged.
"As she climbed through the window, the attackers were on the other side - they grabbed her baby and threw it back in. The child died in the inferno," said a BBC correspondent

All in the name of democracy

The justification that the tribal cleansing in Kenya has been given is, those carrying out the killings are defending democracy against a president who ‘stole’ an election. The opposition’s targets are members of tribes that were thought to have given President Mwai Kibaki a significant vote.

“This is not a tribal war”, a man scavenging through the rubble hastens to explain.
“This is a fight for democracy. We believe Kibaki rigged the elections and Raila Odinga is the true president.”
When asked why, then, people turned against their neighbours, who were not in any way involved in the rigging, he says: “But they voted for Kibaki! They condoned the rigging!”
New Vision, Kampala, Jan 9, 2008

We have heard the above statement several times until we now believe that anybody who did not vote for Raila Odinga is guilty of some crime.

ODM Scandinavia released a statement in which they said, “ODM Scandinavia believes that the millions of poor and deprived Kikuyus who supported Kibaki are victims of ‘ethnic brainwashing’ by home guards using them as pawns in a political chess game.”

What ODM Scandinavia is trying to do is suggest that Kibaki received votes only people affiliated to the Kikuyu tribe. This is a line that has been used to justify the killing of Kikuyus. I wonder what ODM Scandinavia makes of the near 100% vote that Raila received from the Luo Nyanza.

Assuming that it is justified to kill the Kikuyus because they voted overwhelmingly for Kibaki; what justification is there to kill people from the Kisii community? A close look at the voting patterns in Kisii reveals that voters in the region were very generous to Raila Odinga. The region elected MPs from diverse parties including ODM.

I was not shocked reading William Ruto’s justification for the tribal cleansing.

‘William Ruto is a senior adviser to Odinga, the opposition candidate. He is a Kalenjin who represents Eldoret North. He says that many of Kenya's ethnic groups have been angry that the country's wealth is believed to have been put in the hands of only a few.
Ruto and his fellow leaders with the Orange Democratic Movement have repeatedly called for their followers to be calm. Yet he has been singled out by the Kenya National Commission on Human Rights as a leader who should be prosecuted for allegedly promulgating hate speech prior to the election. He vehemently denies the claim.’

Voice of America, Jan 14, 2008

A number of victims have pointed fingers at William Ruto accusing him of promoting and funding the genocide. His links to the genocide go back to the time when he was a leader in the “Youth for Kanu 92”. The group was accused of raising funds to cause violence.
Late last year Ruto supplied gumboots and spotlights to his supporters in the Sondu area. Leaders who accompanied him accused “foreigners” of buying all land making the natives landless. Ruto’s tour to the region was immediately followed by the eviction and killing of members of the Kisii tribe. (Nation, October 30, 2007)

Leaders in ODM claiming to be proponents of democracy are yet to come out and defend the right of Kenyans to vote as they wish. Instead they are using fear and making Kenyans who did not vote for Raila Odinga blame themselves for exercising their democratic right.

Today in parliament, ODM leaders tried to force ODM members of parliament to display their ballots before casting them. The sole purpose of doing this was to intimidate and scare MPs into electing Raila Odinga’s choice for speaker.

Murder and death threats should not be used as tools to protect democracy.

Campaign based on ethnicity

The Raila Odinga campaign was heavily dependant on portraying President Mwai Kibaki as a kikuyu president and rallying other tribes to “rebel” against the Kikuyu president. It took 5 years of carefully planning and executing the plan to the letter.

In Nov. 2007, I came across a document that was said to be an ODM Strategy Paper that was circulating on the internet. At first is looked like propaganda until I started analyzing the content in respect to current affairs. Raila Odinga and his team followed the script to the letter. It is impossible that their game coincided with the paper by mere chance.

Excerpts

RECOMMENDED ACTION PLAN

II Kikuyu Alienation

Owing to this strategy’s success during the 2005 referendum, it is the party’s position it should be utilized once more for the General Election. There is an overwhelming feeling among non-Gema communities that the Kikuyu are selfish bigots dedicated to tribal hegemony who will never share the spoils of government with other communities. Underpinning this strategy is the blessing that the ODM campaign has able regional pointmen in Mudavadi, Ruto, Balala and Ntimama who can efficiently galvanize their respective communities around the anti-kikuyu initiative. Concurrently, every effort must be made to undermine Kalonzo in order to prevent him from emerging as an alternative for anti-Kikuyu sentiment. In regard, particular caution should be placed in regions such as RVP where Kalonzo has the potential of attracting some of our votes. Anti-Kikuyuism must be reinforced with promises of jobs and economic gain to key players from every community supporting this initiative.

Download: The ODM Strategy Paper (PDF)
Schedule of events

Strategy	Rationale	How to activate	When activate	Action by:
The anti-Kikuyu crusade	1. This is an important wedge issue. It will help galvanize the rest of the country against a common enemy and set the overall tone of our campaign.	Mass media (allusion to predominance of Kikuyus in public service and business). Public rallies Leafletes Vital e-mail and SMS	Throughout the campaign period, heightened activities three weeks before the elections	All members R.O to lead the execution of this strategy.
Uhuru Kenyatta as Kibaki’s choice in 2012	Accentuate the anti Kikuyu sentiments Cause unease within PNU ranks. Attract the Luhya vote by eliminating the belief that there will be a Luhya successor. Communicate the intention to retain power within a select group of prominent political families (Kenyatta, Moi, Kibaki)	Speculative newspaper articles/op-eds Public pronouncements at campaign rallies Blogs/web forums Leaflets, with special focus on Western Kenya and RVP	Immediately, with heightened media activities end of November	Kipkoech Tanui & Okech Kendo R.O
Majimbo	Majimbo presents the promise to the electorate that they will retain their resources at the exclusion of foreigners particularly the Kikuyu, Akamba and the Indians. It is particularly important for galvanizing the Coastal vote.	Public rallies in RVP, Western and Coast OP-Ed columns in the mainstream media TV/FM radio call-in shows Public workshops with high profile personalities such as Ghai.	Immediate, heightened activities in Decemeber.	Ruto to lead the campaign.
Rigging	Prepare the ground for rejection of unfavorable results. Increase interests in monitoring activities to ensure no rigging happens. Deflect attention from ourselves should opportunities be available to manipulate voter turnout in our green areas.	Press conferences Op-Ed columns TV/FM radio call-in shows Petitions to embassies and ODM-friendly NGOs Public Rallies	Oct/Nov/Dec	All
Ethnic Tension/Violence as a Last Resort	To discourage voter participation in hostile areas.	Continue pro-Majimbo utterances Use ODM agents on the ground to engineer ethnic tension in target areas Support Kapondi’s forces in Mt. Elgon Leaflets targeting Kikuyu, Kisii etc	Mid-Dec	Brig Alexanda Sitienei

The seeds of genocide were planted during the campaigns. What we see today are the fruits of hate.

How the Media executed the plans above:


The General Election will be fought on altar of tribalism

By Barrack Muluka
September 30, 2006

...You must be wondering what will determine our voting in next year’s elections? It is only one thing, ethnicity — or if you want, you can say tribe and tribalism.

Land title deeds, free primary school education, economic growth, the fight against corruption, and all those other things we read about in newspapers and got on radio will not matter. Only what the Government has made us feel about tribes and tribalism will count.

Federalism could bridge current development gaps
By Barrack Muluka
The Standard, Saturday July 29, 2006

But the story of Central Province is the real enigma in Kenya’s political economy.

When it comes to taxation, Central Province is – as I indicated in last week’s column – third from the bottom, just managing to stay ahead of Eastern and North Eastern Provinces.
She contributes just about a third of what Nyanza contributes to KRA. Setting Nairobi apart, more taxes are collected from Nyanza, Rift Valley, Western and Coast Provinces in that order. Yet economic, social and demographic indices tell a different story altogether.

Eventually only about three per cent of Government revenue trickles down to development of any sort. Now if this paltry three per cent must go to the already privileged parts of the country, then the rest are condemned to eternal poverty.


Devolution can cure skewed distribution of nation’s wealth
By Barrack Muluka
The Standard, Saturday July 22, 2006

Why would Nyandarua District get Shillings 956 million for road construction, while the bulk of Luo Nyanza districts get less than ten million shillings each?

Why should Nyeri get Sh785 million, while Moyale, Kisii Central, Nakuru, Trans Nzoia and Bomet get much less.

ODM claims Kibaki, Uhuru signed pact on succession
By Sunday Standard Team

Sunday December 2, 2007

ODM Presidential candidate, Mr Raila Odinga and his running mate, Mr Musalia Mudavadi, have alleged that President Kibaki signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) with former President Moi, Mr Uhuru Kenyatta and Mr Kamlesh Pattni for the 2012 succession.

Kibaki speaks to the head, Raila to the nation’s heart
Published on October 12, 2007
By Kipkoech Tanui

"In his speech at an ODM congress at Kasarani stadium last month, Odinga spoke, to loud applause, about the danger of ‘economic apartheid’ as bad as that in the old South Africa, only this time with one black group dominating the others. This is code for Kikuyu domination of commerce, farming and the professions."