After welcoming the new year, ODM-K Scandinavia takes this opportunity to thank all Kenyans and supporters who contributed greatly towards ensuring that the Party sets up a firm foundation upon which members can continue waging struggle against the dictatorship of Mwai Kibaki and his Narc-Kenya Mafia members.
AlthoughODM-K Scandinavia has been in existence for barely three months following its formation on 14th October last year, Kenyans in Scandinavia, at home and around the world have understood that ODM-KS has a clear role to play in our country’s liberation process.
Throughout 2007, the Party’s leadership intends to focus on how it can assist its mother branch in Kenya to seize power in December following the great betrayal of the Kenyan people by the corrupt regime of President Mwai Kibaki.
RECLAIMING GRABBED LAND AY AMABASSADOR’S RESIDENCE
Back in Scandinavia, the Party has a tall order. The most urgent task for the leadership is to ensure that land that was grabbed at the residence of the Kenyan Ambassador to Scandinavia Mrs Purity Muhindi is returned. After the Christmas and New year holidays, the Party is in the process of establishing the latest state of the grabbed land – whether or not it has been returned. If the Embassy has not taken any action, the Party will report the crime to police as contacts continue with other State authorities to establish the best method of repossessing the land. There is no logic in fighting against land grabbing in Kenya and keeping quiet about land grabbing by government officials in Sweden.
As the land scandal unfolded, the case of Mr. Njenga Muirani (the whistle blower on the land grabbing scandal) was also being examined by ODM-KS. Mr. Njenga has not been paid for work he performed at the residence of the late diplomat James Kiboi while certain questions regarding his sacking have also not been answered. In the next few days, the Party intends to pursue the Njenga issue with the Embassy.
ISSUES AT KENYAN EMBASSY IN STOCKHOLM
Since her posting at the Kenyan Embassy, the Kenyan Ambassador to Scandinavia Mrs Purity Muhindi has not yet met the Kenyan community officially so that she can introduce herself together with new Embassy staff. One of the tasks of ODM-KS during the first quarter of 2007 will be to approach the Embassy to become more civilized by arranging a working link with Kenyans.
The view of the Party is that Kenya Embassy staff are public officials maintained by tax payer’s money to serve Kenyans in Scandinavia. The Party believes that under the circumstances, there is no reason why Embassy staff (led by the Ambassador) should continue to remain at large. After the unfortunate death of Mr. James Kiboi, the only staff member many Kenyans have come into contact with is Mr. Cheruiyot who is in charge of Finance at the Embassy.
There are a handful of white Swedes who work at the Embassy but whose real responsibilities are also not known by many Kenyans. We hear that they are employed as translators, tourist specialists, economic advisors, consultants on the Swedish political system and an assortment of positions. It is the Ambition of ODM-KS that these Embassy workers interact with members of the community instead of living behind closed doors. Many Kenyans will remember visiting the Embassy and seeing white people crisscrossing the corridors without a clear understanding as to what they do at the Embassy. Strangely, some of these staff members have been working at the Embassy for almost a decade and paid by the Kenyan tax payer’s money.
Apart from meeting Kenyans, ODM-KS would also like to begin questioning why white Swedes are employed at the Embassy, probably to do jobs that can be done by Kenyans. Aren’t there qualified Kenyans who can translate documents from Swedish to English or is this kind of job the preserve of Swedes? How is the security and confidentiality of government business at the Embassy compromised by employing Swedish or other nationals to handle potentially sensitive documents in the name of “translations”? Diplomatic staff at the Embassy is currently down to six because the government cannot afford to hire more staff. The Embassy does not have a Press attaché, a military attaché or an internal Intelligence Network that can help the government gather relevant intelligence that can be helpful in dealing with the Swedish State especially on political, economic, scientific or technological issues. What it has is a single security official who operates under cover and whose responsibility is to spy on fellow Kenyans struggling for the democratization of Kenya.
We need to make something abundantly clear. Staff at the Kenyan Embassy have nothing to do with the crisis in Kenya. They are just civil servants. But, if they begin to avoid Wakenya for unknown reasons when they are actually employed to serve the community, this kind of behavior has to be questioned. At the moment 95% of Embassy staff are basically unavailable or unknown to many Wakenya in Scandinavia, party because they are scared.
At last year’s Jamhuri day celebrations, the Ambassador’s secretary did not want to speak to Kenyans because, according to an insider, she had been intimidated by the Ambassador after it emerged that she had told KSB that all Kenyans were welcome at the Jamhuri reception. At the same function, the Principle councilor did not want to be photographed. She was very arrogant, rude and undiplomatic to a KSB photographer who nevertheless, took her picture which was published at the Blog site. The Ambassador has herself said that any enquiries have to be put on paper then sent to her before she can respond, a sign that she fears direct interviews.
When the Mr. George Kinyua, the First secretary, was confronted at Jamhuri reception with questions about land grabbing at the residence and the case of Mr. Njenga, he began to panic yet he is one of the most senior officials at the Embassy.
Junior Embassy staff have notoriously complained about ill treatment and lack of respect by senior staff members. An Embassy staff member (name on file) holds the tender of picking up children of Embassy staff from school in direct contravention of the rules that stipulates that such tenders have to go to external bidders.
During Ambassador Kinyanjui’s tenure, the Ambassador’s residence was renovated. Now, a new renovation is being planned at the expense of the tax payer. The agenda of ODM-KS in 2007 will be to take up issues touching on irregularities at the Embassy because the Party sees it as its responsibility to hold the Embassy to account.
DUAL CITIZENSHIP AND VOTING FROM ABROAD
During 2007, ODM-KS has an agenda of uniting Kenyans in the region. There are different Kenyan organizations in Scandinavia but majority of these organizations are non political. The crisis in Kenya is not only social or economic but also political. ODM-KS leadership believes that there is need for a strong political leadership here in Scandinavia if the Kenyan community is to influence the politics back home.
Days when politics used to be a specialty of Kenyan dissidents is over. We are living in a world where technology has made it possible for communication to occur quickly and this development has also transformed the way politics is conducted. Each and every conscious Kenyan should take contact with the Party to discuss how our country can be transformed to the better because the fact that we reside in Scandinavia does not mean that we are politically irrelevant when it comes to political events back home.
ODM-KS remains focused on the issues of dual citizenship and voting from abroad being enshrined in any new Constitution. These are central issues for millions of Kenyans abroad. We cannot win on these issues if we cannot form and develop a strong political force that can lobby effectively on issues that are of interest to us. We need a continuous campaign on these twin issues as elections also nears so that when ODM-K comes to power, the question will be implementation, not further debate.
ODM-KS is opposed to corruption, whether perpetrated by the Kibaki government or the Kenyan Embassy in Stockholm. Our view is that an audit report of the Kenyan Embassy should be a public document so that Kenyans can know how their money is being spent. For example, nobody really knows the amount of money that was spent by the Embassy during last year’s Jamhuri day celebration, not because this information is secret but because the Embassy is not used to being asked these kind of questions.
INFLUENCE FROM SCANDINAVIA
A fence at the residence of the Kenyan Ambassador was pulled down last year at the expense of a neighbor who was later paid with a piece of land. How could such a transaction have been possible? Mr. Njenga has not been paid salary for a job that has already been done. Who is responsible and how are junior staff members being treated at the Embassy. Do the work contracts of junior staff members at the Embassy conform to Swedish labor laws?
If the answer is no, then why and how has the Embassy been able to get away with serious violations of Swedish Labor laws without eyebrows being raised? How comes that workers at the Embassy are so afraid that they cannot even talk freely or mingle with Kenyans? These are questions which ODM-KS will continue to ask in 2007 as the Party engages the Embassy, not just for answers but also in pursuit of solutions.
Kenyans should support ODM-KS because if the mother Party seizes power, our local ODM-KS will be able to influence events at the Kenyan Embassy for the benefit of the Kenyan community in Scandinavia. We have to start getting ready to change things, not continue playing the role of helpless spectators in a situation where we could make a huge difference.
Once a new ODM-K government is installed, Kenyans should begin to lobby for some changes. Today, if a Kenyan dies in Scandinavia, Kenyans have to collect money to transport the body back home for burial. We in ODM-KS believe that this should stop. The government should take responsibility for its citizens especially in death. We will not be able to open such a debate if we are not organized politically. For this reason, ODM-KS has a big role to play in defining the kind of changes we want here in Scandinavia.
ODM-KS has a tall order in 2007 but we will leave it there for now. In the meantime, happy New year!
Dancan Munala
Secretary
ODM-K Scandinavia
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