We don’t want to go into the details of election rigging because the fact that Mr. Mwai Kibaki stole the Presidency is now a proven fact both at home and Internationally. Apart from bandit Yoweri Museveni who has been rigging elections repeatedly as he presides over a dictatorial government, no government in the world has recognized Kibaki’s regime. After rigging elections, Kibaki is in power illegally, presiding over a fake government which will have to be brought down by Kenyans and the International community if the democratic process which has taken Kenyans more than 44 years to harness is to be saved.
The rigging of elections has taken Kenya back to the days of Dictator Daniel arap Moi who used to walk away with rigged elections under his one Party dictatorship due to lack of political competition, authoritarianism and blatant use of brutal force through security forces.
In 1992 and 1997, Moi rigged elections because he took advantage of a divided opposition. He has been rigging elections throughout the 80s. Millions of Kenyans believed that when Moi was defeated in the December 2002 elections, the days of election rigging also ended.
The Orange Democratic Movement in Scandinavia (ODM-S) wishes to alert your illegal government that the struggle against the Kibaki dictatorship and the murderous home guards surrounding him has just began . Kenyans voted for change and this is why 19 Cabinet Ministers in Kibaki’s government (including the octogenarian Vice president Moody Awori) were all voted out of Office.
The violence and bloody ethnic cleansing being witnessed in Kenya today is a direct consequence of rigged elections by Kibaki and his cronies. The killing of innocent members of the Kikuyu and other communities by fellow Kenyans is an expression of a misplaced desire for revenge against injustice, oppression and stealing of the vote by a thieving cabal around Kibaki.
ODM-Scandinavia appeals to Kenyans who believe that they have to be violent to direct the violence against symbols of State power and authority, not against innocent civilians who are being victimized because of their ethnic origin. We wish to condemn the distortion of the crisis in Kenya by sections of the Western media which has reduced it to “ethnic cleansing” of one ethnic group.
The open rigging of elections by Septuagenarian Kibaki is linked to the raping of the “democratic process” in Kenya. The anger poured in the streets through violence and unspeakable destruction of property by marginalized youth who voted for change must be seen within the context of deprivation of Kenyans of the right to change their government through elections.
The struggle that was set in motion after Kibaki stole the vote is a struggle against a corrupt and rotten Kikuyu ruling class and home guards, not against the masses of Kikuyu people who have been living and suffering side by side with other communities for many years.
The summery executions of unarmed civilians by Paramilitary General Service Unit (GSU) is a crime against humanity which Kibaki and members of his government will have to answer for in future regardless of how long it takes. So far, more than 600 Kenyans have lost their lives after thieving Kibaki stole the vote while more than quarter million Kenyans have been internally displaced following Kibaki’s illegal installation as President of Kenya.
Crude attempts to blame ODM or Raila Odinga is myopic because both the Party and the President elect have no control over sporadic violence across the country. If Kibaki did not rig elections, Kenya could have been engulfed in celebration as happened when Kibaki took power, not anarchy and chaos Kenyans are witnessing today.
ODM Scandinavia demands that both British and American Imperialism speak a clear language in the situation by telling Kibaki to step down. Although Britain has been moving cautiously along the lines of calling for a re-run of the Presidential vote after a lot of foot dragging, the United States is on the verge of becoming irrelevant in the situation with its line that Raila “talk to Kibaki” for some “power sharing deal”.
This is after the US quickly withdrew its congratulations to Kibaki after it noticed that it had adopted an isolated position. We take note that Jendayi Frazer, the American special envoy to Africa who was rushed to Kenya to “resolve the crisis”, has already lost influence in the eyes of many Kenyans because the American position of “talk to Kibaki” is not selling.
We wish to inform the US government that telling Raila to talk to Kibaki is like telling a person who has been robbed to talk to the robber for a sharing of stolen property. It is like “scratching a place that does not itch”! In the real world, business is not transacted like that and ODM Scandinavia wishes to alert the US government that it needs to change tact by putting pressure on Kibaki to resign if the Bush administration wants to retain respect among Kenyans who voted for change and transformation.
The US government is not on the side of the people and millions of Kenyans feel let down. US government should stop using opportunist language and impose a visa ban on Kibaki and all government officials as part of the struggle to bring Kibaki down. Kenyans voted for change and to tell them that Kibaki should be part of government is to deny them the change they voted for.
We are demonstrating outside the Kenyan embassy today to condemn the lives that have been lost since Kibaki stole the vote and to demand that Kibaki step down so that peace can return to Kenya. After the collapse of negotiations due to Kibaki’s intransigence, the only way open for ODM is Mass action, not just to make Kenya ungovernable but also to bring the regime down.
Kibaki and those surrounding him might think that he has the GSU, police and the army which it will unleash on the people of Kenya during mass action. Our answer is that you can beat an army but you can never beat a determined people.
Kibaki and his cronies have been warned. The National Democratic Revolution in our country continues and it will not be stopped by security forces.
Mr Martin Ngatia
Vice Chairperson
ODM-Scandinavia
About the Author
