As the land grabbing scandal at the residence of the Kenyan Ambassador to Scandinavia continues to unfold in Stockholm, a new storm is gathering at the Embassy’s back yard.
A group of Kenyans have buzzed Kenya Stockholm blog attacking Ambassador Purity Muhindi for selective invitation of Kenyans to the Jamhuri day celebrations scheduled for Tuesday December 12th at Scandic Hotel located at Sergels Torg in Stockholm.
Speaking to KSB, Pastor Beatrice Kamau accused the Ambassador of trying to divide Kenyans through her selective invitation to the function.
“We thought that former Ambassador Kinyanjui had already ended this menace of inviting Kenyans to Jamhuri days selectively. Kenyans should not allow the Ambassador to drag us backwards because Jamhuri day should be celebrated by everybody”, she told KSB.
Pastor Beatrice wondered who was advising the Ambassador, saying that whoever gave her the idea of selective invitations was actually creating more problems to the Embassy.
According to a survey by KSB, a cross section of Kenyans loyal to the Ambassador have already received invitation cards to attend the function while a vast majority have been kept out. Almost all members of ODM-K Scandinavia have been kept out while members of Narc Stockholm have been invited.
SERIOUS CONSEQUENCES
Speaking to KSB, Mr. Dancan Munala, Secretary of ODM-K Scandinavia, said that the Chairperson, Vice chairperson, Secretary, Vice secretary and other ODM-K Scandinavia top brass have all not been invited to the function.
“I believe that the Ambassador is not happy about the land grabbing scandal that our Party unearthed a few days ago and this could explain why top members of the Party have not been invited”, Mr. Munala said.
“If this is the case, the Embassy is using the wrong tactics because Jamhuri day is a national day which should be celebrated by all Kenyans across the world if they so wish”, he added.
Mr. Munala said that the short-sightedness of the Ambassador on the question of Jamhuri invitations carried serious consequences which will later come back to haunt the Embassy.
Mr. Gerry Midenyo, Treasurer of ODM-K Scandinavia, said that the Ambassador was using Jamhuri day to promote tribalism in Stockholm.
“I called the Embassy over this issue last week and they said that they would get back to me. Up to now, I haven’t heard anything”, Mr. Gerry said.
Mr. Gerry, who is also the head of “Wazee Hukumbuka Group” told KSB that almost every Kenyan who has been invited to the function “comes from the Ambassador’s tribe”.
“This is unacceptable and I am appealing to all Kenyans who have been kept out of the function to co-ordinate and decide on a strategy on how to address the issue”, he said. Mr. Gerry said that one option is for those who have been kept out to plan an action outside Scandic Hotel to expose the Ambassador’s dirty tactics and to shame her.
“Since I came to Stockholm more than two decades ago, the Embassy has never failed to invite me to Jamhuri and this is the first time that I have failed to get an invitation card”, he said. Mr. Gerry has worked at the Embassy before and he told KSB that the Embassy was committing a big mistake by taking other Kenyans for granted.
JAMHURI DAY NOT ABOUT SPENDING TAX PAYER’S MONEY
KSB has contacted the Embassy on several occasions to get a comment from the Ambassador but failed. She has either been out of Office or in a meeting. In the past, when KSB managed to track her down, she said that questions should first be written on a piece of paper then mailed to her so that she could respond.
The Embassy has, in the past, argued that the institution has no resources to entertain all Kenyans in Stockholm and that it was for this reason that not all Kenyans could be invited. This argument was however disputed by Mr. Martin Ngatia, a leading politician in Stockholm.
“Kenyans in Sweden are not poor and they can afford to buy their own food and drinks at the function. The truth is that the Ambassador is a hand picked representative of the corrupt Kibaki government and what she is doing now is that she is practicing the same tribalism and discrimination we are witnessing within the Kibaki government”, Mr. Ngatia told KSB.
Mr. Ngatia said that each year, Kenyans normally organize a huge grill feast during the summer where Kenyans and friends from Denmark, Norway, Finland, Kenya, UK and United States have attended in the past.
“Kenyans are capable of feeding themselves at the function and the question of money should not arise because Jamhuri day is not about spending tax payer’s money”, he said.
“We in Stockholm are democratic and we admire democracy in this country. Dividing Kenyans because of their membership in ODM-K Scandinavia or trying to create enmity between ODM-K Scandinavia and Narc-K Scandinavia will fail because Kenyans in Stockholm are politically mature”, he said, adding that the main difference between the two Parties was ideological.
“We are all Kenyans. The Ambassador is proving that she is primitive and uncivilized. As an Ambassador representing a great country like Kenya, she should seek to be a role model. If Narc-K Stockholm has not told the Ambassador that she is making a big mistake, then members of the Party might have been brain washed by the Embassy”, charged Mr. Ngatia.
Mr. Ngatia said that the Ambassador has never organized any function to meet Kenyans in Stockholm and pointed out that it was disturbing that her first meeting with Kenyans is at Jamhuri day where majority of Kenyans have been side lined.
“While my Party welcomes the Ambassador to Stockholm, awache fitina. She should not practice politics of division if she doesn’t want to get into unnecessary trouble”, he said.
“Kenyans in Stockholm should stop taking things for granted. They should tell this Ambassador on her face that she is Kibaki’s boot-licker who is being used by the Mount Kenya Mafia to divide Kenyans in Stockholm because this is what she is doing”, he added.
“We are talking about an Embassy which has already grabbed land at the Ambassador’s residence and transferred it to a neighbor. After committing this crime, the Ambassador has now invited former colonial masters together with her lap dogs to squander tax payer’s money on Jamhuri day while Kenyans have been left out. The Ambassador should be told that there are people who are not going to accept her divisive tactics”, Mr. Ngatia told KSB.
Several Kenyans who did not get invitations and who were contacted by KSB were equally outraged although they did not want to be quoted.
“I hope that at the end of next year, we will have a new government which will recall this Ambassador immediately. She has started on the wrong foot”, a Kenyan DJ told KSB.
Okoth Osewe makosewe@gmail.com
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