I am one Kikuyu who is fed up with Uhuru Kenyatta. He does not represent me, my political views or my interests as a citizen of Kenya. Who is Uhuru Kenyatta? What do Kenyans relate him with? Is he a “status quo politician” or can he bring change if elected president of Kenya in 2012? This piece walks the reader through available material to determine Uhuru’s character. There are many who currently link him with the 2008 post election violence (PEV), especially the massacre of the Luo and other non-Kikuyus in Naivasha and Nakuru. Such people feel that he has thick red blood oozing through his fingers because of the victims who were beheaded, burnt alive or chopped to death by the Mungiki gangs he allegedly sponsored, according to the ICC Prosecutor Moreno-Ocampo’s charge sheet. Some also say he must be so mean for not giving the internally displaced persons (IDPs) mostly from his Kikuyu tribe, portions of the huge tracts of land (the size of Nyanza province), that his father stole mostly from the Kikuyu, whom he then drove into the Rift Valley.
Former US Ambassador to Kenya Micheal Ranneberger, noted the following about Uhuru’s ambition for the 2012 presidency in a WikiLeaks cable dated June 26th 2009: “Alternatively, the potential for Kenyatta to foment violence to achieve political ends cannot be ruled out (he is reportedly a key figure on the list of suspected perpetrators of post-election violence).” This is a man linked with violence for personal benefit; to be president by all means.
Ranneberger further described Uhuru as follows: “Although his wealth is the inheritance from his father’s corruption, the Kenyatta family still holds a special status. Kenyatta’s liabilities are at least as important as his strengths. He drinks too much and is not a hard worker. Perhaps most importantly, Kenyatta has been closely linked to the Mungiki (which is a well-organized mafia-style criminal organization). The reason that Kenyatta is on the list of suspected perpetrators of post-election violence is his fund-raising to support Mungiki violent actions against Kalenjins during the post-election violence.”
Veteran Kenyan journalist and lecturer Joe Kadhi, wrote on his blog “Msemakweli”, the following about Uhuru: “Among the haves, Uhuru represents the pinnacle of cornucopia. He has wealth he hardly worked for. Wealth that was acquired by his father through the use of despotic powers. All this, when children of true freedom fighters are languishing in indescribable poverty, caused by the exploitation by the very people who opposed the fight for independence. Indeed this social, economic and political dichotomy is said to be the genesis of the dreaded Mungiki terrorism.”
Kenyans recall that as the current Finance Minister, Uhuru Kenyatta encountered a “computer error” during the 2009/10 Fiscal Year, which may have cost the taxpayer Ksh 9.67 billion. Although he was later cleared of any wrongdoing, more doubt now shadows the Treasury with over KES 700 billion remaining unaccounted for on his watch. During a parliamentary discussion on the infamous computer error, MP Jakoyo Midiwo said that: “We cannot have 16 top officials in these two departments from one community. It causes conflict of interest and denies the offices public confidence. This is a challenge the Grand Coalition Government and Uhuru’s tenure must address.” The 16 officials come from the GEMA community, thus the ongoing rumours and suspicions of mega theft at the Treasury, done in collaboration with the Kenya Revenue Authority (KRA). All is in preparation for Kenyatta’s presidential campaign in 2012. Most of the senior KRA officials are also from GEMA, and WikiLeaks revealed that their boss is connected to illegal drug-dealings and money laundering.
So far, Uhuru has dodged Parliament thrice where MPs are demanding a Ministerial statement about the unaccounted for money. Meanwhile, the new Constitution states that the Finance Minister must submit to Parliament national budgetary estimates two months before the official Budget Day, a fact that Uhuru has defied, claiming that there are teething problems in implementing the new policy. Talk about a sworn King of Impunity. No wonder he is now being sued by a Kenyan civil society group. Why should the Constitution be implemented in bits by some, yet it was promulgated last year?
If it is true that Uhuru is an astute businessman, why don’t we see that applied in running the Treasury? There have been more discrepancies than signs of competence ever since he became the Finance Minister. What about the so-called replacing of fuel-guzzlers with his car of choice the “Passat”, for Ministers and their deputies? It was a good initiative but didn’t the rumour mills claim it was a ploy to refund Kibaki’s presidential campaign money? The company that delivered the vehicles has GEMA members as key shareholders and some of them were recently named as the new billionaires that have emerged during Kibaki’s leadership. It was recently mentioned in the media that Uhuru is now paying “cowboy contractors”, who are a bunch of frauds that send fake bills to government for no work done. Most of these contractors are GEMA members and it’s their time to eat before Kibaki quits. Kibaki’s first government had promised to deal with them one and for all, but almost 10 years later, they are still getting free money from their GEMA man at the Treasury.
Joe Kadhi wrote this about Uhuru’s computer error: “The only trouble is that at the Treasury all the top jobs are held by the Gema people. The Permanent Secretary, Joseph Kinyua, is from the “Big House”, so are the Director of Budget, Paul Ngugi, and the Accountant General Michael Gatimu. The only non- Gema top official is the head of the ICT department Jerome Ochieng. All fingers will be pointing at this man now and many wonder whether he will be made the sacrificial lamb as he does not belong to the “Big House” and, worse still, has a name that sounds like that of an ODM sympathizer
No link with the Mwananchi
Uhuru has never been associated with charitable deeds, philanthropy or other humanitarian acts that reach out to Wanjiku (the ordinary Kenyan/Mwananchi). For instance, Dr. Susan Mboya, daughter of the assassinated political giant Tom Mboya, runs the Zawadi Foundation which “airlifts” academically gifted girls to respectable institutions of higher learning within Africa and the USA, to be trained as future leaders. She keeps her father’s legacy alive by doing what he did many years ago, when he airlifted the likes of Obama Senior and Prof Wangari Maathai, to acquire higher education in the USA. On the other hand, Mama Ngina Children’s Home, an orphanage that was initially sponsored by Mama Ngina (Uhuru’s mother and then First Lady), is today in a shambles, after years of corruption and mismanagement. Why can’t another younger Kenyatta overhaul it to keep their mother’s legacy alive?
When convenient, Uhuru talks about the youth taking over from the political old guard, yet he has not done anything significant to this poverty-stricken group. For example, there is no mention of a youth project sponsored by Uhuru in his Gatundu south constituency. The young MPs he has poached from Martha Karua’s Narc-Kenya Party namely, Kabogo and Mbuvi, alias Sonko, are alleged drug-dealers and public inciters, especially Sonko who recently vandalized private property without apology. Karua has chided Uhuru for poaching other MPs into PNU, an act that he blamed Kibaki for during his dubious Government of National Unity, when he kicked out Raila and his then LDP in 2005.
In 2009, Uhuru sold one of his family farms in Rongai to the Government towards resettling some IDPs. Why couldn’t he just donate it? Well, he is a ruthless capitalist who does not believe in dishing out anything for free. He wants the Kikuyu vote, yet has no room for charity to uplift them from their refugee status. A clip on YouTube shows Mama Ngina literally going silent when asked to donate part of her family land to the IDPs. That’s how sensitive the matter is to the Kenyatta family. When Uhuru was interviewed on BBC’s HARDtalk in 2008 during the PEV, he was at pains to explain the massive pieces of land owned by his family. Interestingly, the Internet is rife with rumors about the late Jomo Kenyatta selling all his farms before he died in 1978. However, when Moi got into power, it is claimed that Mama Ngina went to him and cried that the family had no property and faced financial hardship. He therefore gave her back all their farms. What about the recent rumor that Uhuru had lost a bag with $10 million cash at the JKIA after arriving from The Hague trip? Of course if you pursue these issues further, Uhuru will sue you. The saying still remains that: “where there is smoke, there is fire”.
Uhuru recently attempted a half-hearted damage control when he appeared on “Churchill Live” with his wife (rumored to be estranged because of his battering and heavy alcohol consumption), sister and some friends. He showed family photos and talked of having been a regular guy who could drink “Tusker” with people before contesting the presidency in 2002. It’s now wishful thinking, but if only the Churchill Live Kenyatta was the one Kenyans knew, and not the one alleged to sponsor Mungiki or the gorilla chest-thumping, foul-mouthed Kikuyu speaking, table banging Uhuru insulting Raila, he could have won many hearts.
Raila bashing and Kikuyu “Kingship”
Before visiting the ICC, Uhuru traversed Central province and repeatedly said he had no problem with the Luo, except Raila whom he felt was the greatest stumbling block in Kenya. Why? Because at that time, Raila vehemently opposed the nomination by President Kibaki of Professor Githu Muigai (Uhuru’s cousin), as the next Attorney General, without consulting him as per the Grand Coalition Government agreement. As the new AG, Muigai would have exonerated Uhuru from all the PEV accusations he has been charged with, given that Kibaki and his allies were rooting for a local tribunal instead of the ICC. Muigai was rejected and now the ICC has ruled that the Ocampo Six must be tried at The Hague.
Uhuru was also vexed by Raila’s metaphor about some young men who wake up to drink alcohol everyday. Raila never mentioned his name, yet he took it as an insult directed at him. WikiLeaks had documented former US Ambassador Ranneberger’s thoughts about Uhuru’s heavy drinking but he never challenged him. As a potential statesman, Uhuru needs to stop using the Kikuyu language while insulting his perceived political enemies. No Luo can tell the Kikuyus that they have no problem with them except Uhuru Kenyatta. Uhuru must therefore be mad to think that the Luo will forgive him for claiming such against Raila. Is history repeating itself? Jomo Kenyatta used to insult Raila’s father Jaramogi Odinga, in public.
After all the Kikuyu-laden insults that he embarked upon against Raila Odinga before his April trip to The Hague, Uhuru has toned down except for one silly meeting with the so-called “Luo professionals”, presented by the rogue yesteryear Luo politician, Raphael Tuju, where he insisted he could not be quiet while being insulted. Seriously, is Tuju the right person to present Kenyatta to the Luo? Those in the know claimed the professionals were paid KES 10,000 each to meet Uhuru. Some of them were jobless and were there simply for the cash. If Uhuru wants to meet Luo in the corporate world, then he should talk to the likes of Mark Matunga, the Microsoft boss or Evans Kidero, the Mumias Sugar Company CEO. But would they give him a moment? Not likely. A reject like Tuju befits Uhuru’s shallow ambition of reaching out for the Luo vote.
Uhuru has been imposed upon the Kikuyu as their “King” and very few are against it, at least in public. Michuki, the Minister for Environment, had already warned in 2009 that whoever wanted to approach the Kikuyu had to do it through Uhuru Kenyatta. But some are not amused by Uhuru’s kingship like former MP Koigi Wamwere who wrote that Uhuru is not his “Muthamaki” (Kikuyu for King). Martin Ngatia of Stockholm also continues to challenge bitterly the Kikuyu elite who have amassed wealth at their expense. Ngatia is totally opposed to another Kikuyu presidency, especially through Uhuru. Another brave and encouraging voice is the online forum “KikuyusForChange” that analyzes Kikuyu matters and how they can integrate harmoniously with other Kenyans.
Although some people yap about the Luo being under the Odingas’ spell, there is no moment in history that the “political Odingas” (Jaramogi, Raila and Oburu), have ever pushed the Luo publicly to parade behind them, as is being done by Uhuru and his sycophants. Where is that voice of reason among the Kikuyu? Why can’t Uhuru’s handlers let potential Kikuyu presidential aspirants like the moderate Peter Kenneth and “Iron Lady” Martha Karua meet their people peacefully in Central province without the ongoing harassments? Why did Uhuru declare that whoever opposes Kikuyu leadership in Central (read Kibaki), should be hunted and dealt with? Uhuru is a frustrated and angry man who has never told the Kikuyu why he wants to be president. To make it worse, he has not even told the wider Kenyan community what he will offer if elected.
Former president Moi made a huge mistake by fishing Uhuru out of his private business and into political limelight in 1997, where the Gatundu people resoundingly refused to vote him as their local MP. Was that not a sign of the bad things politics has now thrown him into? No, because Kenyan politics is like a drug; with all its tax-free trappings, corruption and immense power to buy parliamentarians to vote your way, as former MP turned writer Joe Khamisi wrote in his recently published book. Uhuru has so much money and holding a public office to boss Kenyans around is more prestigious than managing his business empire.
Another Kikuyu presidency is loathed by non-Kikuyus, including the Kalenjin that are being led into the political “slaughterhouse” by their new leader and Kenyatta’s ICC friend William Ruto. Deep down, the Kalenjin loathe the Kikuyu and they proved it during the PEV. There is an imminent split between Uhuru and Ruto, with a group hoping that Moi’s sons (through KANU) shall make a comeback to fight Ruto’s dominance. But Kenyans should not be worried about the “Uhuruto” alliance because The Hague is beckoning and 2012 promises a totally different political playground.
Uhuru probably remains the first ever Opposition Leader in the world to cross over to the Kibaki’s ruling Government side, thus killing the spirit of Opposition that we still don’t have, given the current Grand Coalition. So far, his political actions don’t seem to tailor him for the big seat.
Moving beyond the tribe
More objective and reasonable Kikuyu voices should be heard beyond tribal emotions to present serious issues concerning their expectations (or none) on Uhuru, who has proven that he is the King of Impunity. Uhuru is now tech-savvy and is on Twitter “meeting” the youth, etc., but that is a very small section which can access new technologies. How about the masses that he is so detached from, languishing in perpetual poverty due to policies that he is a part of? What agenda does he have for Kenyans beyond whipping up tribal emotions in Central Kenya? Kenyans need worthy leaders come 2012 and Uhuru Kenyatta is not one of them.
David Kariuki
Bunge La Mwananchi
Nairobi – Kenya
About the Author
Back Uhuru or else…..warns Murugi
Special Programs Minister Esther Murugi has warned leaders from central Kenya of dare consequences if they fail to support Uhuru Kenyatta in the next general election. In a rare meeting with over 80 councillors from Nyeri in preparation of a prayer meeting for Uhuru Kenyatta, the Minister warned those opposed to Uhuru’s bid that they will be jailed if they failed to support the Deputy Prime Minister.
Esther Murugi is one Minister used to controversy. Recently to the utter amazement of several leaders, she appealed to the government to round-up and lock up all those infected with the HIV virus. Her remarks did not go well with the First Lady Lucy Kibaki who condemned her remarks. Over 74 churches called for her dismissal from the cabinet.
When it comes to Central, the arithmetic starts to get complicated. There is the the little spoken and flamboyant man who haters refer to as “mzungu from central“. Peter Kenneth though has not openly declared, is well known to be in the race. Mr. Kenneth is the only candidate from Central who enjoys support from all over the country. His efforts in reaching out to all parts of the country are remarkable. One time he is holding a funds-drive in Nyanza, the next time he is in Garissa. Mr. Kenyatta is yet to set foot in Nyanza. In one of his speeches, Peter Kenneth openly said that leadership of the country does not belong to the Kenyatta family only.
Then comes Narc-K party leader Martha Karua, the fearless and no-nonsense MP for Gichugu who happens to be Uhuru’s nightmare. Even threats from Uhuru’s camp have not scared Karua. She says that it is time for women to take leadership of the country. Her fight for the resettlement of IDPs wins her lots of support and her constant critique of the government shows how courageous she is.
All will be left for the Kenyan people to decide who amongst the above mentioned is fit to take leadership of the country. For Uhuru Kenyatta there are two battles, one, the battle in Central and two the battle for Kenya.
Uhuru doesnt represent me too he is so corrupt and does not have our interest in heart. Ashindwe kabisa
PAC to Question Passat Price
David Okwembah 7 November 2009
Nairobi — Questions on the actual cost of the new official government vehicle the Volkswagen Passat are expected to feature on Monday when Finance minister Uhuru Kenyatta and Permanent Secretary Joseph Kinyua appear before the Public Accounts Committee (PAC).
While PAC says the vehicle should not cost more than Sh2 million without duty, CMC Motors, who are the suppliers, say the lowest it can charge for the Passat duty-free is Sh2.55 million.
The real owners of the motor company are also expected to feature prominently at Monday’s meeting. The company is chaired by a former chief secretary during President Moi’s tenure, Mr Jeremiah Kiereini, and its directors include former Attorney-General Charles Njonjo.
Also to feature prominently is why the vehicles’ supplier paid duty for the 130 vehicles when it was clearly known they belong to the government.
Sources close to PAC indicate the committee has a document showing that a middle range Volkswagen Passat, slightly superior to the one supplied to the Kenya Government, was sold to the United States for US$26,500 (about Sh2 million).
On the other hand, Kenya is paying almost double the amount US$50,200 (Sh3,765,000) for the Passat 1.8 TSi automatic. Mr Kenyatta and the PS are also expected to answer questions regarding a policy by his predecessor, Mr Amos Kimunya, who recalled fuel guzzlers two years ago.
On Friday, PAC, chaired by Ikolomani MP Boni Khalwale, met with officials of Mars Group led by its executive director Mwalimu Mati to get their views on the Passat contract. Dr Khalwale confirmed that the top officials of Treasury will appear before the parliamentary watchdog committee on Monday at 2.30 pm.
At Treasury, both Kenyatta and Kinyua were tight-lipped on what defence they will offer to the Dr Khalwale committee. The PS is reported to be out of the country on official business while the minister did not respond to our queries.
A procurement officer at Treasury, a Mr Nyamwange, declined to comment on the matter saying it may pre-empt what Mr Kenyatta will tell PAC at Parliament Buildings on Monday. But the chief executive of CMC Motors, Mr Martin Forster, termed the hullaballoo about the Passat tender as political.
He said the tender was advertised last year in September by the Ministry of Works and many companies, including CMC Motors, D.T. Dobie, Simba Colt Motors, General Motors and Toyota Kenya, participated in the tender. “We received a letter saying that the government would buy the Passat and Land-Rover from us,” Mr Forster said.
He said the price his company was quoting to the government was for last year, noting that the company had been able to maintain this because of the negligible rise of the Euro as compared to other currencies in the world.
Despite putting in a strong defence for his company, the Sunday Nation established that the government was determined to get out of the Mercedes Benz deal at whatever cost. According to one Treasury official who sat on the committee that was sourcing for a model 1800 cc vehicle for the government, Mercedes Benz was not one of their options.
But in Parliament, Mr Kenyatta is expected to face a hostile committee that believes the Passat deal was over-priced. The committee will be seeking answers on what happened to the cars that the government repossessed after Mr Kimunya’s order two years ago. Many MPs have criticised the manner in which the vehicles repossessed during Mr Kimunya’s tenure were handled by the government.
Car dealer gave OP Sh1.8bn, says lobby
By CAROLINE WAFULA
Posted Friday, November 6 2009 at 21:07
A lobby group has linked the controversial purchase of 120 Passat cars to a government debt dating way back in 2003. The Mars Group told the Parliamentary Accounts Committee on Friday that CMC Holdings lent the government Sh1.8 billion in 2003.
The money was to be used to buy Land Rover vehicles for the Office of the President. According to the group, the company was to also supply the Land Rovers. Six months ago, the NGO put Finance minister Uhuru Kenyatta on the spot over Budget estimates, forcing the Treasury to admit to a ‘typing error’ in the Budget.
Now, the group claims CMC Holdings loaned the Government Sh1.8 billion in June 2003 to buy 522 Land Rovers. Mars Group claims Treasury afterwards issued 25 promissory notes in the transaction and later the debt was held and collected on by an international bank in London.
The group presented to extracts from the Government’s statement of public debt where CMC and an international bank are listed as creditors to the Government of Kenya and repayments indicated.
Investigate
Activists Mwalimu Mati, Jayne Mati and Cyprian Nyamwamu of the movement for Partnership for Change through Mars Group asked the Public Accounts Committee to investigate the matter further. The committee is scheduled to meet the Finance minister on Monday to question him on the procurement process which resulted in the purchase.
The committee is interested in finding out why the Minister decided to single source the vehicles from CMC Holdings. The Mars Group team argued that the fact that the contract is not listed on the Public Procurement Oversight Authority web site should raise eyebrows.
The chief executive office of CMC is on record having said the firm is yet to be paid for the vehicles, and Mars group wants PAC to question the Minister on the terms of the purchase. Meanwhile, Baringo Central MP Sammy Mwaita said his colleagues and ministers criticising Mr Kenyatta’s directive on fuel guzzlers are being hypocritical.
He said the leaders had cheered Mr Kenyatta when he announced the cost-cutting measures in the Budget last June but were now criticising him for implementing it. “We glorified him in and outside Parliament and now that he has moved with speed to implement it, some of us now read sinister motives,” said the ODM MP.
Uhuru is allegedly linked to Mungiki which is a pro-government, primitive gang of goons who sniff snuff, behead their victims, forcefully and crudely circumcise men, perform female genital mutilation, drink the blood of their victims and kill-for-cash.
Electing Uhuru for president would be the worst mistake for Kenya. Uhuru should be jailed at The Hague.
Kenyans are now aware of the ruling style of people of central region where killing an opponent is not a big deal.Since Kibaki took over as the president of the country,many people have been killed innocently without explanation.To Kibaki,the death of a poor person does not matter. Many poor people have been killed as MUNGIKI without being taken to court.We all know that Uhuru will take the same path if he becomes president.
Mzee Jomo Kenyatta bequeathed Kenya some major problems which continue to bedevil the country to date, hindering his development, and threatening her existence as a peaceful unitary multi-ethnic state.
He failed to mould Kenya, being its founding father, into a homogeneous multi-ethnic state. Instead, the country became and remains a de-facto confederation of competing tribes. Also, his resettlement of many Kikuyu tribesmen in the country’s Rift Valley province is widely considered to have been done unfairly.
His authoritarian style, with elements of patronage, favouritism, tribalism and/or nepotism drew criticism and dissent, and set a bad example followed by his successors. He had the Constitution radically amended to expand his powers, consolidating executive power.
He has also been criticised for ruling through a post colonial clique consisting largely of his relatives, other Kikuyus, mostly from his native Kiambu district, and African Kikuyu colonial collaborators and their offspring, while giving scant reward to those whom most consider the real fighters for Kenya’s independence. This clique became and remains the wealthiest, most powerful and most influential class in Kenya to date, and has held the country back, blocking reform and change, and the emergence of fresh progressive leadership, in its manoeuvres to maintain its power and wealth.
Kenyatta has further been criticised for encouraging the culture of wealth accumulation by public officials using the power and influence of their offices, thereby deeply entrenching corruption in Kenya.
His policies are also criticised for leading to a large income and development inequality gap in the country. Development and resource allocation in the country during his reign was seen to have favoured some regions of the country, mainly Nairobi and the Country’s Central Highlands, over others.
Uhuru’s political friend William Ruto’s Range Rover has been impounded by the Interpol because it was stolen somewhere in Europe before he bought it. Now sample out our future young presidential candidates who are full of dirty activities.
INTERPOL has impounded a car registered in the name of a company associated with Eldoret North MP William Ruto in Eldoret. The Range Rover House is among several vehicles netted by the International Police Organisation a probe into an international car theft ring.
The vehicle’s engine number was traced by Interpol with the assistance of the Kenya Revenue Authority. The vehicle chassis and other identification numbers tally with those of a vehicle which had been reported stolen in the UK in 2005.
The vehicle was registered under Amaco Insurance Company, one of the biggest underwriters for public service vehicles in which Ruto has interests. “Amaco bought the car for Ruto a few years back after Ruto requested a car. He has been using it until it was impounded.He does not seem bothered by the development because he has several cars,” said a Ruto confidant. The vehicle is now parked outside Kiptagich House which has offices for the KRA and the Central Bank in Eldoret.
The KRA officials on the lookout for the vehicle impounded it as it was being driven by one of Ruto’s drivers. They removed the number plate — KBL 001H — before driving the dark blue car valued at slightly more than Sh8 million to their yard. “We have all the documents for the car showing its origin, who sold it to us, at how much and the bill of lading that came with the car and KRA receipts showing the duty paid. The lawyers have been dealing with the matter and we hope it can be resolved soon so that Mheshimiwa (Ruto) can get back his car,” said a senior manager at Amaco who cannot be identified as he had not been authorised to comment on the matter.
Four other cars with foreign registration numbers are being held within the same parking as police investigate how they were brought into the country.
Interpol has in the last few weeks been sweeping Kenyan roads in search of stolen cars following reports that Kenya is becoming an important market for four-wheel-drive vehicles brought in by an international criminal ring operating in the UK and other parts of Europe. Agents from Interpol have carried out an operation in which dozens of expensive cars stolen in Europe were recovered. The operation ended last Thursday.
I can jus imagine how Rao followers r feelin right now knowing their chosen one will have a very hard tym next year,UK has all the potential to be the next prezzo,yu can bring all the porojo’s yu cant move UK coz sisi tuko pamoja.
Stop bashing UK pple he jus about to drop a 1.55 trillion budget,never heard of in Kenyas history b4 well crafted too,take it easy pple.UK is the one who will give Raila a run for his money yu’all know that n thats why yu dont hv anything positive to say bout him.
peter kenneth is no match for Uhuru.wacheni siasa ya peni nane,yu wish he was Rao’s opponent coz then yu would have guts to question his track record n say he’s a first timer,Uhuru has asked Karua n peter to run for PNU nominations for presidential candidate but thy both know it would be suicidal…Uhuru is big in Kenya n he’s the best candidate in 2012,tuko pamoja.
Gatangastarr: the focus is on the negative sides of Uhuru that are questionable as a potential president. Nowhere in the article is there a mention of contesting with RAO except Uhuru’s dictatorial antics of suppressing Karua and Kenneth. Also, Uhuru’s handling of the Finance docket so far, leaves a lot to be disired.
About the upcoming biggest budget ever, there’s an interesting piece today in the ‘Standard’ titled: Where will Uhuru get Sh1.2 trillion? Read it then you will know Uhuru thinks with a clouded mind.
You remember his last “Poor-friendly” budget? Why don’t we now have UNGA and why did he not factor for such eventualities that cause hunger?
Discuss why in Central province the likes of cartoon Esther Murugi and homeguard Michuki are against any other Kikuyu contesting independently against Uhuru? Why should Martha contest via PNU while she has her own political party? Where’s democracy?
Uhuru is a clear dictator, totally detached from the realities of the poor masses. His abundant money stolen by his father through complete suppression of the Kikuyu, is what he uses to threaten or buy the Mungiki boys to harass his Kikuyu opponents.
Tell me one good thing about Uhuru and I will list 1000 rotten things on him, including the killing of Luos for nothing. Ask Ocampo. He is Hague bound and is no more threat politically. Ruto, his fellow killer and thief, is joining him there too. They are both evil.
Kikuyus demanded Ruto’s head during the PEV. Now they love him just because he should deliver the Kalenjin vote.
How do you think the suffering Kikuyu IDPs felt when Mama Ngina held Ruto’s head to bless him before traveling to The Hague? A man who was behind the roasting and eventual death of women and children at the Kiambaa church. Disgusting!
The general Kikuyu community needs to stand and ask what Uhuru will offer them as the next president. As noted in the article, very few Kikuyus have stood to question Uhuru, and to shout about the suffering of fellow Kikuyus in IDP camps.
The continuous brutal force used by Kinuthia Saitoti’s security forces to beat women who protest against the inhumanity offered by Kibaki’s government is quite shocking. While this is the bitter truth, very few Kikuyus have spoken in the media about the hoplessness faced by IDPs. Why can’t they be resettled in Central province if the Kalenjin don’t want them back in the Rift Valley? Because the kikuyu elite will never surrender land that they stole and drove their own Kikuyu away.
Martin Ngatia is on record about such ill-treatment of Kikuyus in the hands of the few rich ones, and also that Kikuyus should not expect any better leadership from Uhuru. He has a lot of dirty money and a dictatorship tendency that will be applied to keep him in power.
In Kenya you see no evil, hear no evil. That is why thieves like Mwau, Sonko, Kabogo, Ruto, Uhuru through his blood money from daddy Jomo, etc., are all hero-worshipped instead of being rejected.
ICC WANTS TO CONDUCT HEARINGS IN KENYA .
Friday, 03 June 2011 19:04 Macharia Wamugo . The International Criminal Court is considering holding its confirmation of charges hearings on the post election violence case in Kenya. ICC judges have now asked all interested parties to submit their opinion on the issue before the 13th of this month. A confirmation of charges hearing is held to determine whether there is sufficient evidence to determined whether suspects committed the crimes as alleged or not.
ODM campaigns were funded by Mwau,dont forget that.Clean your closet first b4 yu attack others..Kalenjins n kikuyus r lookin for ways to make peace n if this means joining hands to form the next gova so be it coz its a positive move than killin each other.Its not Kibakis government alone coz Raila is the other half of it so its betta to let him join Kibaki on his way out next year,surely yu must have other pple who can even do a betta job from luo Nyanza..say Tuju,we admire him.Why should we hv another term wit Raila?tell mi one good thing bout him n i will tell yu 5000 rotten things bout Kibera.Hague? even a fool knows whats its all about….BTW where is ONYANGO OLOO?
Gantangastarr: you missed the thread; off track completely. Keep it up!
Tribalism Is Only Rife in Our Politics
BY NGUNJIRI WAMBUGU
I have been carrying out a little experiment with friends and colleagues. The experiment is in the form of a set of questions that look at how we make decisions. I usually start from work, where I ask: ‘If you were the owner of a successful business and had a job opening, would you consider giving it to a close relative?’ The answer I get is nearly always the question ‘what is the job?’ and my answer, ‘Accountant’. The next answer is always another question, ‘Is my relative qualified?’ and I answer ‘No, though she is a quick study and can learn on the job’. Without fail the answer has been ‘I would not employ her’.
This would not change even if the close relative was a widowed sister with small children because the job of an accountant is crucial to the success of the business and none of my friends would want to risk this success on an untried person, whoever he or she was.
On domestic staff, most of my ‘monied’ friends and acquaintances have employed drivers and gardeners from their tribes but most have their watchmen and house help being members of other communities. The reason for this, they tell me, is that most are not comfortable with their tribesmen knowing too much about their personal affairs. One answer was that one has to be extra careful with those you entrust with the care of your children and your home: it has to be someone you know well, rather than just someone you share a common language with.
I have several friends and acquaintances who drive very decent and well-maintained, but pretty old European cars: Mercedes, BMWs, Range Rovers, Land Rovers, etc. These guys (all men) love their vehicles and in most cases, spend twice as much on their old-number-plate cars as they would on a brand new Japanese models. When l try to find out from this group of people who is maintaining their cars they tell me its ‘Onyango’, or ‘Karis’, or of ‘Mike’, etc. In those instances where the mechanic’s tribe is not obvious from the name, there is always some hesitation when I ask about the tribe … they usually are not sure and are uncertain about it. When I enquire whether tribe is a factor here a Kikuyu friend put it best when he told me that ‘Onyango is such a terrific mechanic I wouldn’t care if he was from Mars!’.
I also found out something quite interesting: most of us do not think too much about going to an Italian’s, Chinese’s or an Indian’s restaurant for original and authentic cuisine: we also have no problem whatsoever, whatever community we come from, going to K’osewes for traditional Luo meat, to Njuguna’s (or Ole Polos) for ‘nyama choma’ or to Amica for luhya dishes.
We buy fuel without asking about the tribe or nationality of the owner of the gas station because we are more interested in price (especially these days) and the after sales service (checking under the hood, cleaning my windscreens, etc). We buy meat from hygienic butcheries where the produce is fresh and the price friendly, without asking about the ethnicity of the owner, my children’s friends make a rainbow of race and ethnicity, I do not know the owner of my favorite restaurant, and though our local ‘mama mboga’ speaks Kikuyu with my wife, I have also heard her speak Luo and Kamba with other people (I think she speaks different languages depending on the client): where is she from? … eeeh … Eastern province, I think.
What all these means that in making our day-to-day decisions we do not care which tribe one comes from if they deliver to our satisfaction. Most of us are willing to leave our children, the most important parts of our lives, to someone who is not necessarily from our community for as much as 12 hours each day. And in those instances where tribe or race applies, it becomes a factor only in as much as it adds value to the authenticity of what we want.
So what happens with our political choices? Why are we willing to employ (i.e. vote in) someone purely on the basis that they are from our tribe? Could it be that we do not understand the ‘job’ we employ them to do such that we do not care whether they qualify for it? Or is it more likely that we believe politics does not affect our personal lives?
The writer is the convenor, Kikuyus for Change.
Trials
Mr Moreno-Ocampo filed two separate cases, with different charges and it is therefore envisaged that two separate trials be organised.
– Prosecutor vs. Uhuru Kenyatta, Hussein Ali, and Francis Muthaura.
The first trial would involve three officials of the then government: Uhuru Kenyatta, Hussein Ali, and Francis Muthaura.
The prosecution alleges that Muthaura, Kenyatta and Ali “committed or contributed to” the killings of supporters of the opposition Orange Democratic Movement, the deportation or forcible transfer of ODM supporters, the rape and other forms of sexual violence against ODM supporters, the persecution of civilians based on their political affiliation and other inhumane acts.
The Pre-Trial Chamber said that evidence presented to the Court showed that prior to the attacks in the cities of Nakuru and Naivasha in January 2008, planning meetings were held.
The Chamber found reasonable grounds to believe that Muthaura and Kenyatta were criminally responsible as indirect co-perpetrators (committed crimes through another person(s)) in accordance with article 25(3)(a) of the Rome Statute for the crimes against humanity of murder, forcible transfer, rape, persecution and other inhumane acts.
The Chamber did not, however, find reasonable grounds to believe that Ali was an indirect co-perpetrator, as his contribution to the commission of the crimes was not essential, but that he did otherwise contribute to the commission of the crimes in accordance with article 25(3)(d) of the Rome Statute.
The first appearance of the three men took place on Friday 8 April 2011 and the Confirmation of Charges hearing is scheduled for 21 September 2011.
“Mr Kenyatta is a famously social animal without the pretensions one would expect from his parentage — but he has to find a way to communicate that to the masses.”
By Murithi Mutigwa
The real reason for Kenya’s violence:
Contrary to popular belief, it isn’t simply ‘tribal’ or ‘spontaneous.’
By Jacqueline M. Klopp
NEW YORK
Hundreds have been killed and hundreds of thousands displaced in the three weeks since Kenya’s hotly disputed presidential elections. Once considered an island of stability in Africa, the country is suffering what the media has called a “shocking outbreak of violence” and “tribal clashes.”
The key questions we should be asking are: Who is responsible for this violence? How is it happening? But we will not ask these questions if we continue to see the current violence as simply a spontaneous outburst of anger at the election rigging or “tribal warfare.”
The international community must realize that Kenya’s violence today is fueled by strongmen on both sides of the political divide. They are exploiting ethnic identity, pitting one community against another, as a means to gain power. It is a practice with a long history in Kenyan politics.
The fury of the violence may look like “tribal warfare” linked to election anger, especially in the worst instances of ethnic cleansing – as in Eldoret, where women and children were burned alive in a church. A common explanation is that members of the Kikuyu community are facing retaliation from others for their longtime “dominance.” Like Kenya’s first president, Jomo Kenyatta, President Mwai Kibaki is Kikuyu; opposition leader Raila Odinga is Luo.
Part of the violence is not directly organized and is instead linked to confrontations between protesters and police, who have a history of brutality. Many understandably feel rage at the election fraud carried out on behalf of Mr. Kibaki. But much of the ethnicized violence is linked to organized efforts by political strongmen who have experience playing divide-and-rule.
Remember Daniel arap Moi? He was Kenya’s president from 1978 to 2002. He and most of his cohorts during this time were Kalenjin. In the 1990s, they faced the probable loss of power in multiparty elections to an opposition that included many Kikuyu. In response, Mr. Moi’s men filled their campaigns with hate against all Kikuyu and convinced many that any member of that group, from a child to a poor farmer, represented “Kikuyu domination.”
This ploy conveniently shifted blame from Moi and his mostly non-Kikuyu crowd who had been in power for years. It shifted attention away from the massive land grabbing and corruption they continued from the previous government that helped put the poor, including the numerous Kikuyu poor, in slums or sent them across the country in search of a small patch of land to eke out a living.
Sadly, this anti-Kikuyu campaign gained supporters among unemployed youth who learned to project their problems onto a Kikuyu face. Poor men were given weapons and paid to kill and displace. In return, they were promised or sold vacated land. Ultimately, in the 1990s, thousands of people died and almost half a million were displaced. This violence helped Moi’s small group of corrupt “big men” stay in power for a decade. In the deeply flawed elections of 1992 and 1997, displacement became a form of gerrymandering.
Not one person has been tried, let alone convicted, for these killings and displacements. The international community at the time seemed quite ready to forget as well.
Since his election in 2002, Kibaki has collaborated in this deliberate forgetting. Part of the reason was that he had brought into his ruling coalition many of the worst perpetrators of violence. They could deliver votes in key areas and were willing to drop their anti-Kikuyu rhetoric once in power.
Mr. Odinga, the opposition leader, has also brought notorious ethnic cleansers into his coalition. Their anti-Kikuyu rhetoric is a useful political tool against the Kikuyu incumbent.
All these advocates of violence have lived with complete impunity. They have learned that they could preach hate, organize youth to kill and displace, and be rewarded with a cabinet post. They could get rid of voters who were unlikely to support them. They could use violence for bargaining power at the national level, something that appears to be happening today. The current project of “ethnic cleansing” in the Rift Valley suggests that some politicians, this time allied mostly with the opposition, have learned these lessons well.
The key lesson for the international community to learn from past violence is that a new government alone, especially if it welcomes perpetrators of violence into its core, cannot fix this deep problem of strongmen politics.
This time we must demand a thorough and independent investigation into all forms of violence. We should demand that those guilty of organizing, funding, or authorizing killings from any ethnic community be, at a minimum, excluded from high office. Let us not forget that this violence has a history and perpetrators and that there are responsibilities to be assigned. This time let us demand justice and not repeat the mistakes of the past. Otherwise, we set more roadblocks on Kenya’s path toward a just, democratic, and truly civil society.
Jacqueline M. Klopp is a professor at the School of International and Public Affairs at Columbia University.
The International Criminal Court and the Post-Election Violence in Kenya
By David W. Throup
Luis Moreno-Ocampo, chief prosecutor of the International Criminal Court(ICC) in the Hague, on December 15 requested the court to issue summonses to appear against six prominent Kenyans, including cabinet ministers Uhuru Kenyatta, William Ruto and Henry Kosgey, and Secretary to the Cabinet Francis Muthaura, former Police Commissioner Mohamed Hussein Ali , and radiobroadcaster Joshua arap Sang. Ocampo alleges that the six named individuals directed the violence that erupted in the immediate aftermath of the declaration of President Mwai Kibaki’s disputed re-election on December 30, 2007. The violence left over 1,100 people dead, 3,500 injured, and up to 600,000 forced to flee their homes. The worst hit areas were around Molo in Nakuru District and Eldoret, Kaptagat and Burnt Forest in Uasin Gishu District, and in Kibera, one of Nairobi’s main slum quarters. These are all areas where Kikuyu and Kalenjin settlers intermingle or, in the case of Kibera, where Kikuyu and Luo live close to one another.
The post-election violence of 2008 was not an isolated event and had as much to do with historical factors as with the dispute over the election outcome. The danger of ethnic clashes has increased over the past 50 years as Kenyans have become more economically integrated and as competition over land and economic access has intensified with the dramatic growth of population. Moreno-Ocampo’s allegations and summonses are an important first step in ending the era of impunity for those who foment ethnic conflict and violence. But they also raise the risk of a political backlash that might intensify ethnic identities and unite the Kalenjin and Kikuyu communities behind William Ruto and Uhuru Kenyatta in the run-up to the next election in August 2012.
The 2008 violence had deep historical roots. The central Rift Valley for the last 100 years has been one of the most ethnically mixed parts of Kenya, drawing Kikuyu, Kalenjin and Abaluhya to work on European settler-owned farms. Ethnic violence erupts regularly in Kenya in the border zones between different ethnic communities, normally over land and water rights. For the past 20 years, however, the Kikuyu-Kalenjin zones have been particularly prone to politically inspired violence. Before independence in 1963, these areas in the central Rift Valley were part of the “White Highlands,” a farming zone reserved exclusively for European settler farmers. European farmers as early as World War I brought in large numbers of Kikuyu from Central Province as farm laborers, while others became share-croppers inside the European zone. By 1940 one in four Kikuyu lived and worked in the so-called “White Highlands”. Many of the Kikuyu families in the disputed zone have lived there for the past 100 years. At independence in 1963, President Jomo Kenyatta, himself a Kikuyu, opened up the White Highlands to African settlement. He sought to reconcile the conflicting interests of the Kikuyu and Kalenjin, (who occupied land to the immediate west and north of the European enclave), working closely with local Kalenjin political leader Daniel arap Moi. Indeed, it was arap Moi’s successful mediation efforts over these issues that led to his selection as Vice-President in 1967 and to his eventual succession to the Presidency in 1978. Kenyatta sought to heal socio-economic divisions within his own Kikuyu community in Central Province by encouraging wealthy Kikuyu to buy farms in the Rift and the landless and poor to become members of cooperatives, such as the “Million Acres” scheme, financed by the World Bank. More Kikuyu moved into the area during President arap Moi’s rule, as prominent Kalenjins illegally transferred land in the forest reserve to a new generation of Kikuyu settlers.
Over the 50 years since independence, many parts of Kenya have become more ethnically-mixed, often inflaming tensions between communities. In 1963, most of the country’s then 43 Districts were mono-ethnic. The major exceptions were those areas in the former European farming zone in the Rift Valley. This has changed. Kenya’s population today is seven-times what it was at independence. People have moved around the country in search of economic opportunities, land and jobs. In Narok District, for example, which is now Kenya’s granary, local Maasai have sold 40 percent of the land over the past 30 years to Kalenjin businessmen, who have established large-scale commercial wheat and maize farms, which they work with mainly Kikuyu laborers. At the Coast, the local Mijikenda people have been displaced by commercial sisal plantations owned by both Kikuyu and Kalenjin big men, which are cultivated by Kikuyu, Kamba and Luo workers. The number of potential centers of violence is increasing rather than diminishing.
The ICC prosecutor has identified six alleged ring-leaders of the January 2008 violence, namely Minister of Education William Ruto, Industry Minister Henry Kosgey, and Joshua arap Sang (a popular broadcaster on Kass FM radio) who are all members of the Nandi sub-group of the Kalenjin, on the Orange Democratic Movement (ODM) side. Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of Finance Uhuru Kenyatta (the son of the former president), Francis Muthaura (the Secretary to the Cabinet, Head of the Civil Service, and chair of the National Security Advisory Committee), and former Police Commissioner Mohamed Hussein Ali, are associated with President Mwai Kibaki’s first-term administration. Two of whom are Kikuyu and one a Somali. The cases against Muthaura and Hussein Ali clearly stem from their institutional positions and it may prove difficult for Ocampo to establish their direct control over what took place. The others are alleged to have recruited the perpetrators of the violence.
Ocampo alleges that from mid-August 2007, the Kalenjin-language Kass FM radio station began to mobilize the community against the Kikuyu in their midst. The December 2007 election, following the splitting of NARC into what had become by 2007 Kibaki’s Party of National Unity (PNU) and the ODM, was always likely to be more violent than in 2002. Ocampo claims that under the leadership of Ruto, who had emerged as the dominant new force in Kalenjin politics in 2002, and Kosgey who was the ODM chairman, with support from local broadcaster Joshua arap Sang, the Kalenjin community in Uasin Gishu and Kueresoi on the western Mau escarpment reactivated what was known as “The NETWORK”. This drew on a substantial group of Nandi and Keiyo elders, and councilors, who according to earlier investigations by a Parliamentary Select Committee and a state commission of enquiry, had directed attacks in the 1990s, including former members of the police, the army and the prison service which recruit heavily in this area. Ocampo’s allegations state that they devised plans to attack local Kikuyu with the intention of driving them out of the area for good.
The proposed attacks had little to do with the result of the election and whether or not the Kibaki government rigged it. Kibaki’s much disputed re-election by the narrow margin of 230,000 votes, however, became the justification for the Network’s gangs to attack Kikuyu settlements and shops. Most of the initial inter-ethnic violence, Ocampo alleges, was carefully planned and well organized, with trucks carrying armed bands of young Kalenjin to their prepared points for attack. By contrast, in Kisumu, the main town of defeated ODM presidential candidate Raila Odinga’s Luo community, and other parts of Luoland, the violence seems to have been spontaneous. It was directed more at the institutions of the Kenyan state rather than against local Kikuyu of whom there were few.
The initial violence did not come from the Kikuyu side. Rather the PNU forces responded in kind. Police deployment was problematic, especially in Nairobi where half the police are Luos whose loyalty could not be relied upon. The government had, in fact, carefully marshaled the security forces, drawing recruits from the Native Authority Police in Kikuyu areas. The army was kept in its barracks as many of its officers and men are Kalenjin. Facing violent protests in the Kibera slum, an area of large-scale Luo and Kikuyu settlement to the southeast of the city center, and unable to deploy the police, Muthaura, as head of the National Security Advisory Council, and Police Commissioner Mohammed Hussein Ali, Ocampo states, turned to Uhuru Kenyatta. Ocampo alleges in his application that “on or about 3 January 2008, Kenyatta, as the focal point between the PNU and the Muingiki criminal organization, facilitated a meeting with Muthaura, to organize retaliatory attacks against civilian supporters of the ODM.” Muthaura then allegedly ordered Police Commissioner Hussein Ali not to intervene or to obstruct Muingiki.
During the last years of the arap Moi regime, Kenyatta is widely believed to have become a conduit for funds and communication with the traditionalist Muingiki movement, drawn from unemployed young men and criminal thugs in Nairobi’s slums and the neighboring Kikuyu areas. Ocampo alleges that he again played this role in January 2008, organizing a second meeting with Muingiki leaders to discuss logistical and financial requirements. The Muingiki had already acquired a well deserved reputation for violence, operating protection rackets in the capital’s slum quarters and controlling the matatu or transport routes into Central Province and to Nakuru in the Rift Valley. Relations between the police and the Muingiki leaders were bad. The two were reported to be locked in battle to control protection rackets in Nairobi and Central Province, and the police are alleged to have liquidated hundreds, possibly a thousand or more, Muingiki members in conflicts over the proceeds of crimes and protection. Unable to deploy the Nairobi police to contain the Luo protests in Kibera, Muthaura and Hussein Ali allegedly turned to Kenyatta to mobilize the Muingiki.
Kenya unfortunately has a long established tradition of impunity for violent crimes and for other forms of wrong-doing, dating back to the murders of Pio da Gama Pinto in 1965, Tom Mboya in 1969, J.M. Kariuki in 1975 and Robert Ouko in 1990, to name only the most infamous cases. President Kibaki has already declared that the individuals need not resign from their positions in the government as this is only a preparatory stage in the investigation. He pointed out that the three-member ICC panel of judges will not decide whether to prosecute until next year and the cases won’t be tried for another year or longer. Most Kenyans, according to opinion polls by the local press, however, believe that the six named individuals should be prosecuted. They are right–the era of impunity must be ended. Most of those displaced in 2008 still remain in encampments, too frightened to return to their homes. The next election may well be even more closely contested and violent unless a clear message is sent that the era of impunity is over and that perpetrators of violence will either be tried in Kenya’s courts or appear before the International Criminal Court. Both Kalenjin and Kikuyu as Kenyans have the right to live and farm in the Rift Valley and in other parts of the country. As Kenya becomes more ethnically intermixed, ideas of ethnic hegemony and arguably the era of ethnic-politics can no longer be tolerated.
There is, however, one danger. William Ruto and Uhuru Kenyatta are “big men”. Along with Raila Odinga, their names are among those most frequently mentioned as front-runners for the Presidency when President Kibaki retires in August 2012. Even though they were on different sides in 2007 and the violence of 2008, a political alliance between them is not inconceivable. After all, Ruto ran Kenyatta’s 2002 election campaign when Kenyatta, a Kikuyu, won a majority of Kalenjin votes. A Kikuyu-Kalenjin alliance would almost certainly triumph at the polls in 2012. It is to be hoped that the ICC’s allegations don’t bring that about. Already, Members of Parliament are talking about introducing legislation to withdraw Kenya from the Rome Statute that established the International Criminal Court. Some 20 ODM MPs appeared with Mr. Kosgey in order to demonstrate their support when he held a press conference in Nairobi. Kenyatta and Ruto, along with the others, as a result of these allegations may be seen as martyrs by their ethnic communities. The ICC preliminary charges may possibly intensify ethnic identities, uniting the Kikuyu and Kalenjin communities in a joint sense of persecution. Uhuru Kenyatta and William Ruto are highly regarded in their communities and would constitute a formidable alliance at the next election. The ICC and the international community should proceed with caution and encourage moderate voices which urge compliance in the hope of a better Kenya.
David W. Throup is an adjunct professor at George Washington University and the Johns Hopkins School of Advanced International Studies in Washington, DC. He is a senior associate of the CSIS Africa Program.
Sunday, January 6, 2008
Rift Valley is for Kalenjins?
Everybody is talking about the elections as people are losing their heads (literally) in Rift Valley. In recent times we have seen attacks that reminds us about the Rwanda genocide.
We had the Eldoret Massacre where women and children -mainly from the Kikuyu community- who were taking refuge in a church were burned to ashes by Raila Odinga supporters from the Kalenjin community. That was unprecedented in the history of Kenya.
We had the siege of Baraton University by the Kalenjin militia that demanded the ejection of Kikuyu, Kisii, Meru, Kamba and Embu students and faculty so that they could be slaughtered.
At the Kaptein tea estate, 40 workers from the Kisii community were killed by Kalenjin raiders. Today there is news that Kisiis have left the Chebown tea estate in fear of being exterminated. I have received a number of emails from people who are reporting missing relatives. (I am compiling a list of the dead and missing that I will post here shortly.)
Kass FM (a radio station that broadcasts in the Kalenjin languages) has been on the fore in creating the notion that Rift Valley is a homeland for the Kalenjins. Other tribes were portrayed as foreigners.
Late last year, Kass FM organized an open Marathon in conjunction with Safaricom (a government venture with Vodafone) and the National Social Security Fund (NSSF). The station imposed a rule that only Kalenjins would win prizes in the race. This proved controversial since government funds were to be used in the race. This was the first time in independent Kenyan that that ethnicity was officially used to segregate athletes.
Grace Githuthwa heard the attackers before she saw them. They were singing war songs, running from two sides towards the church compound where she and 200 others were sheltering from the violence. She grabbed her four children and ran inside the Kenya Assemblies of God Pentecostal church.
The hundreds of youths from the Kalenjin tribe armed with bows and arrows and machetes easily overpowered the few Kikuyu men and turned on the women and children.
“They started cutting the church door with a panga [machete],” Githuthwa said. “They were from around here, and even knew some of our names. We kneeled down and surrendered. It was quiet, as we were all praying. We knew this was the end.”
Mattresses soaked with paraffin were pushed through the windows and used to block the door. Matches were thrown in.
As the fire engulfed the wooden building, the women grabbed their children and jumped through the burning windows. Githuthwa pushed her two elder children out of the window, and then climbed out holding her three-year-old daughter, Miriam, in her arms.
The Kalenjin youths were waiting outside, “cutting people like firewood” as they emerged.
“They snatched Miriam from me and threw her back into the fire,” said Githuthwa, as she returned to the church, near Eldoret, hoping Miriam had survived.
Smoke was still rising from the embers. A dozen blackened bicycles were stacked neatly against what had been the wall of the church. Tin cups were strewn across the ground. There was a child’s shoe, a woman’s sandal, a bible. In the small cooking hut alongside the church, burned but not completely destroyed, lay corncobs and beans that were being prepared for lunch when the attack started.
In the far corner of the church lay three bodies. They were charred beyond recognition, all apparently children. They lay on their sides. As policemen stood guard, five Red Cross workers wearing surgical gloves and facemasks moved the bodies on to blankets. Soon there were 12 corpses lying side by side, all but one of them children, a few of them babies. One of them was probably Miriam. Her mother broke down in tears.
Two blankets, one brown, one purple, were taken from the belongings strewn across the compound and laid over the bodies.
The search continued amid the debris at the far end of the church. Another body soon emerged. Another child. On the road outside the church compound, flanked by tall cypress trees, lay two more corpses. A man in a suit was spreadeagled on his back. On the side of his head was a gaping machete wound. Next to him was a woman with grey hair. There were slash marks on her torso.
In the cornfield 50 metres away lay two more bodies, one a partly burned man with a leg disfigured by polio. There were 17 bodies in all; there could have been more nearby.
A second woman approached the church. Margaret Muthoni, 38, was looking for her six-year-old niece, Miriam Ngendo.
“I was carrying her out of the church, but she fell,” Muthoni said. “I had my six children with me and we had to run for safety. I could not go back for her.”
She walked over to the bodies and lifted one of the blankets. Then she began to scream, a terrible, grief-laden scream, and dropped to her knees.
A few miles away, the road was littered with obstructions every few hundred metres: trees, telephone poles and large rocks forced cars on to the verge, where youths with clubs and knives were sitting.
At Ngeria Junction, hundreds of angry youths and men, all Kalenjin, gathered. They said they felt cheated by the election, awarded in dubious circumstances to President Mwai Kibaki over opposition leader Raila Odinga. They wanted revenge, and it was Kibaki’s Kikuyu ethnic group, who were going to suffer.
Asked if they knew about the church massacre, all the youths nodded. “We were there,” said one man, who said his name was Patrick. “We got a message that the Kikuyus were arming near the church. So we went to give reinforcements to the Kalenjins there.”
Another man carried on: “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.
The fear and confrontation extended across much of the Rift Valley region. Baraton, a young Kikuyu student from the University of East Africa, spoke from a mobile phone. She could not leave her room, she said. Since election day, Kalenjin youths, some of them her classmates, had started threatening all the Kikiyus and Kisiis – also accused of supporting Kibaki – on campus.
A gift of a cow and then a bull had satisfied them for only a day or two. But they had started fires outside the main gate, and were demanding identification cards from anyone passing through. “We desperately need the police to come and protect us,” she said.
The fear cut across ethnic lines; most Kalenjins had nothing to do with the violence, and the fear of reprisals was growing. Moses, a Kalenjin in the Nandi Hills, sent a text message: “No transpot. Road blocked with stons. Electrisity disconnected. No car fuel. Houses still baning and robary. We r so scared.”
At the New Heuvel petrol station in Cheptiret, telephone poles were laid across the road. Dozens of men stood around, many of them holdings bows with quivers full of metal-tipped arrows slung across their backs. Suddenly they pulled back, crouching in ditches and behind walls, their bow-strings taut, only relaxing when the approaching police announced its peaceful intention.
As a few of the Kalenjin men approached the vehicle, Chief Inspector Salesiho Njiru said: “These people don’t need a harsh tone. We are just going to try to negotiate a way through.”
Rugut Brigen, an assistant university lecturer, told Njiru that the bodies of two Kikuyu men lay beside a burned-out minibus a few hundred metres on. They were killed on Monday, and Brigen wanted police to remove the bodies.
“The people stoned them when they did not slow down for our roadblock,” he said. “They could not control their anger at the election result.”
In front of the minibus, several truck trailers blocked the way. On either side of the road were more than 1,000 armed men, who occasionally broke into a war song. Keeping them in check was their leader, “Michael”, who works for an international aid agency.
At a single shouted word everyone sat down. “We are not going to have a ceasefire until the true results are announced,” he told the police. Nobody should try to stop them until then, he said.
The district officer, a Luo from Odinga’s ethnic group, had been killed by an arrow the day before after shooting a boy in the leg.
“Today, it is bows and arrows. In three days, if Kibaki has not resigned, we will have guns from Uganda,” said Michael.
Several army vehicles arrived, and after tense negotiations, it was agreed that they could escort a long line of vehicles through the town, driving slowly as the Kalenjin men, their clubs, knives and bows at their sides, looked on.
Among those fleeing by car was Moses Maina, 36, a Kikuyu. He had already sent his wife and children by air to Nairobi after chartering a plane with several other families.
“I was born in Eldoret,” said Moses, glancing nervously towards the burned-out minibus. “My father came here in 1950. This is my home, and now I am are running away from it. Where am I supposed to go.”
Michael said that was not his problem. “The Kikuyus were treated like guests in the Rift Valley, but Kibaki let them down. It is over. We can never trust them again. We will never let them come back,” he said.
http://www.guardian.co.uk/world/2008/jan/02/kenya1
Seriously, why would a sensible Kenyan commentator (if at all) dismiss such weighty matters on Uhuru and go cheap by discussing Kibera? The article is about Uhuru Kenyatta’s character that might give leads to his expected presidency if he is lucky to escape The Hague prison.
The so-called politics of Kibera used against Raila as the MP of the largest slum in Africa or exaggerated to include the whole world, is pure hogwash tribalism. History is clear about the mushrooming of slums globally.
An analysis on Kenya’s informal settlements by Mutisya and Yarime (2011) explores their emergence and negligence during the leadership of Kenyatta, Moi and Kibaki. Here’s a citation from the authors: “Informal settlements in Nairobi are the consequence of both explicit government policy and decades of official indifference. In particular, informal settlements were excluded from city authority planning and budgeting processes. The governments in power have ignored their existence until recently when national authorities and international bodies outlined the dangers of slums to humanity. Complexities surrounding slums in the city have made it difficult for the government to pass workable policies which if enacted and applied in the right way could help Kenya improve slums life. In Nairobi therefore, the lack of recognition of slums and settlements as residential areas denies residents a range of essential services provided by the government to other residents of the city. These essential services include improved water supply, improved sanitation, electricity, garbage collection, improved health services, education, access roads and transport.”
Raila did not create the Kibera slum and cannot do much about it because it is upon the government to negotiate for its improvement with the UN-HABITAT. Kibaki began this process in 2003.
While a commentator has dwelt on Kibera, other slums are growing in Nairobi which are not within Raila’s constituency. Again, Mutisya and Yarime (2011) give examples: “Kibera informal settlements (began in 1912) have an estimated population of 950,000 people, while Mathare slums (started in 1963) houses more than 500,000 people, Korogocho slums (started in 1980s) has an estimated population of 150,000 people and Mukuru Kwa Njenga (began in 1958) has an estimated population of 100,000 people (Umande Trust, 2007).”
The authors also confirm the ownership of the land upon which Kibera exists: “The Kenyan government owns all the land upon which Kibera stands, though it continuesto not officially acknowledge the settlement; no basic services, schools, clinics, running water or lavatories are publicly provided, and the services that do exist are privately owned. Kibera settlement is located on two Nairobi divisional administrative areas; Dagorett and Lang’ata divisions. The slum is divided into 14 villages with varying populations – Kianda, Kikuyu 20%; Luo 30%; Kalenjin 6%; Luhya 14%; Kamba 19%; Others11%”. Kibera is therefore not a Luo enclave and thus not Raila’s property, but that of the Government of Kenya which should provide for all the basic services required.
More information: “The Kenya Slum Upgrading Programme (KENSUP) is a key core poverty Programme aimed at addressing the challenge of housing problems affecting the majority of the urban population who live in slums and informal settlements.
The Government and the UN-HABITAT entered into a Memorandum of Understanding (MOU) on 15th February 2003 to upgrade slums and informal settlements in Kenya starting with selected slums within the administrative boundaries of the Nairobi, Mavoko, Mombasa and Kisumu.
The Programme aims at improving the lives of people living and working in the slums and informal settlements in all urban areas of Kenya and to contribute to poverty reduction and fulfillment of the Millennium Development Goals, specifically Goal No 7 target 11- of improving the lives of 100 million slum dwellers by the year 2020.”
Kenyans, especially the Kikuyu, need to have a more sober look at Uhuru Kenyatta’s character since his alleged contribution to retaliatory attacks during the PEV. How can we be so blind to the extent of accepting without protest his imposition on our community as the sole presidential candidate for 2012? Why can’t he respect the democratic space offered by the Constitution to allow Martha Karua and Peter Kenneth to contest freely and independently for the 2012 presidency?
It’s time more Kikuyus raised their voices against Uhuru because certain tendencies he exhibits are reminiscent of his father Jomo Kenyatta, who was an absolute dictator and led with the support of the “Kiambu Mafia”, cutting out the Nyeri people. Let us not forget that he swore Kikuyu leadership would never go beyond the Chania River. Uhuru is clearly not interested in working with or seeing any “lesser” Kikuyu from Kirinyaga (like Karua), harboring presidential ambitions. He has cast his net wider to sections of Western Kenya through Eugene Wamalwa, for the Bukusu vote.
In Luo Nyanza he has singled out Tuju of the yesteryear politics as his pointman. This also reminds me of Jomo Kenyatta who drove a wedge between the charismatic Tom Mboya and the doyen of Opposition politics Jaramogi Odinga, to portray a division between the Luo of South Nyanza and those of Central Nyanza. Uhuru will have to “buy” a more prominent Luo with clout to reach the community. Whether a few Kikuyus admire Tuju (for things they can’t even explain), a majority of Luos gave him a red card by not electing him back during the current term. Losing one’s constituency is enough proof that they don’t matter politically.
Former US Ambassador Ranneberger’s citation of Uhuru’s chances of resorting to violence for his political gains is worrisome: “Alternatively, the potential for Kenyatta to foment violence to achieve political ends cannot be ruled out (he is reportedly a key figure on the list of suspected perpetrators of post-election violence).” Uhuru has money and is clearly connected to Mungiki, the dreaded killer gang. It is important for the Kikuyu to look at his character that believes money can be used to bribe, buy gangsters or coerce others.
The Mungiki openly demonstrated in support of Uhuru Kenyatta after he conceded defeat in the 2002 presidential election. Uhuru denied being linked to them, but some of their leaders publicly mentioned that he sponsors them. The Mungiki then beheaded people in sections of Nairobi to show their dismay at Kenyatta’s loss.
In 2008, Uhuru was a key player in the revenge attacks in Naivasha and Nakuru that saw the painful deaths of many Luos who were not the enemies of Kikuyus. The PEV atrocities were more concentrated among the Kikuyus and Kalenjins, so why did the Luos suffer? It is because of the old hatred created by Jomo Kenyatta, who made Kikuyus to take oaths at his Gatundu home to fight the Luos whom he perceived as his sole political enemies. According to the Kenya National Human Rights Commission report, Uhuru and key Kibaki allies planned the revenge attacks on non-Kikuyus.
“Certain individuals within PNU allegedly raised funds and organised gangs to perpetuate the post election violence in Central Province and beyond. A number of meetings were in Nairobi starting from January 2008 by some leaders from Central Province to discuss the plight of IDPs and to raise funds and plan and organise retaliatory violence.516 The meetings were held at Kenyatta International Conference Centre (KICC), Landmark Hotel and Marble Arch Hotel. Leaders who reportedly participated in these meetings included Njenga Karume, the immediate former MP of Kiambaa, Stanley Githunguri, MP for Kiambaa,; Kabando wa Kabando, MP for Mukurweini,; Uhuru Kenyatta, Deputy Prime Minister and MP for Gatundu South, and Mary Wambui, a PNU activist. It is alleged further that Kabando wa Kabando was tasked to organise the delivery of weapons.”
Uhuru is a potential leader already branded a “Warlord” and an alleged perpetrator of killings during the PEV.
Uhuru has no track record of struggling for the liberation of Kenyans during the second wave that created multiparty politics in the 1990s that he so much enjoys now. He was then a nobody politically, until former president Moi imposed him on the Gatundu people who refused to vote him in as their next MP in 1997. Uhuru does not know anything about torture or being in detention like Raila Odinga and scores of others in order to liberate Kenyans.
Uhuru simple walked out as Leader of Official Opposition when he could not take the heat and opted to play the “House of Mumbi” politics by joining Kibaki’s Government. He should have stayed in the Opposition to hone his politics. After hiding under Kibaki, the Kenyatta who has now emerged is arrogant, dismissive of other politicians and full of impunity. He does not care about anybody who is not his sycophant. You have to sing his song and walk his talk. He is simply a self-centred man not concerned with the wider Kenyan community.
The “Generation X” Kenyans need to think twice when Uhuru is already showing that his politics is that of the Kikuyu home guard sons linked with the betrayal of Kikuyus’ cause during the colonial struggle.
It is ridiculous that a KSB commentator attempted to divert the attention of readers by showing that Peter Kenneth or Raila are no match to Uhuru Kenyatta in 2012. This is beside the point because Uhuru is not Kenya and many Kenyans are not happy with his public outbursts and show of contempt to Parliament that demands a Ministerial statement concerning the unaccounted for KES 700 billion at the Treasury.
Uhuru is ICC material, and has simply no place in Kenya’s future presidency.
Desperation and fear are dangerous things. They have turned Uhuru Kenyatta into a political rabid dog with infected fangs biting everything, particularly his short, curled tail. I don’t blame Uhuru. For a man who was born at and grew up in State House, one can understand how it feels when faced with the most serious criminal charges in the entire world.
To be accused by the ICC, following credible investigations, of having committed mass murder, mass rape, mass displacement and some of the worst inhumane and degrading acts against innocent civilians isn’t a laughing matter. If convicted, even only of one charge, Uhuru faces life in jail. So, it is understandable that he is scared, confused and desperate.
However, Uhuru isn’t Jomo Kenyatta. Those comparing his current tribulations with those of the Kapenguria Six aren’t just being unfair to history and Kenyans; they aren’t being fair to Uhuru and his late father. Uhuru grew up in extreme privilege and opulence. He has never lacked anything in life. I have done some research on this son of Jomo and discovered nothing compelling. There isn’t anything remarkable about Uhuru; no achievement worth mentioning. From nursery school to college, the son of Jomo performed below average. As far as I can gather, he was neither good in sports nor academics; he wasn’t a gifted speaker or a debater. Nor is he now. In other words, it is fully understandable that, faced with the most serious criminal charges in the history of the world, Uhuru is fumbling, flailing and crumbling.
But to try and cast Uhuru as some kind of liberator or freedom fighter who is being persecuted by his political enemies is taking the joke too far. Kenyans aren’t complete idiots. The other day, Uhuru’s cousin Beth Mugo and other PNU/KKK acolytes compared him to the Kapenguria six. Let’s get one thing right: Jomo Kenyatta, Achieng’ Oneko, Kungu Karumba, Bildad Kaggia, Paul Ngei and Fred Kubia were not sent to Kapenguria because they had butchered innocent Kenyan civilians; they were jailed by the British colonialists because they allegedly belonged to the Mau Mau movement, which was fighting for the liberation of Kenya. But Uhuru and his friend William Ruto aren’t in that league. Uhuru and Ruto belong to the league of alleged robber barons and murderers. At least that’s what Luis Moreno-Ocampo’s evidence shows.
Make no mistake: there was no freedom or liberation Uhuru was fighting for in 2007/8. The Mungiki vigilante group that the ICC Prosecutor has accused him of having used to brutalise and butcher innocent civilians isn’t a liberation movement. Uhuru and his gang of supporters know that the 2007 presidential election was massively rigged. He also knows that there was a dispute over who won the presidential elections. Unless he wants to rewrite history – and we will not allow him – there is no reasonable Kenyan who believes that Mwai Kibaki won and Raila Odinga lost. But more fundamentally, Uhuru knows that Raila Odinga and the ODM do not work for the ICC in any capacity. Raila Odinga isn’t responsible for investigating any crimes committed in Kenya. Raila isn’t in charge of the Kenya Police, the CID, the ministry of internal security or the State Law Office. Everyone knows that it was PNU and the state security agencies it controls like the NSIS that submitted evidence implicating Ruto and Henry Kosgey in post-election violence. Moreover, Uhuru must be aware that he is facing charges of crimes against humanity as an individual. The Kikuyu community hasn’t been charged. Nor has the PNU or the KKK.
Beth Mugo claims that as a mother, she holds the view that no Kenyan child should be tried on foreign soil. This is interesting. The last time I checked, Beth Mugo hadn’t stated the same thing with respect to the Kenyans who were abducted and smuggled to Uganda and the United States of America by their own government without due process. There were no charges, no bail hearings, and no extradition proceedings; no habeas corpus. Why hasn’t Beth Mugo demanded the release and return of Al Amin Kimathi who is facing trumped-up charges in Uganda?
On 16 December 2008, both the President and the PM signed an agreement for the implementation on the recommendations of the Waki Commission. The Government committed itself to the establishment of the Special Tribunal by 1 February 2009 to try the PEV perpetrators. The Waki Commission report was unanimously adopted by Parliament on 29 January 2009. However, on 29 February 2009, Uhuru and Ruto ganged up and had the Special Tribunal Bill rejected by Parliament. They demanded the ICC. Well, they got the ICC.
Why are they now crying wolf? If they are as brave as they claim, why are they panicking? If Uhuru and Ruto have credible evidence concerning the crimes against humanity committed in Kenya, why can’t they just submit it to the ICC? To Uhuru and Ruto: go ahead and implicate anybody you want. But please, save us the childish rants and threats.
By Email
Uhuru’s comments in Murang’a completely unacceptable
A Press Statement from the ‘KikuyusforChange’ Initiative
On Sunday 27th March 2011 the Deputy Prime Minister & Minister of Finance of Kenya, Hon. Uhuru Muigai Kenyatta, made the following statement before he was enthroned a Kikuyu Elder & ‘King’ of the Agikuyu:
‘We will not allow ourselves to be killed just because we do not follow our leaders. Those who fail to do this, we will follow them to their homes and expose them as the ones who are betraying us. We will say ‘See, this person is the one who is failing to work with us’.
We will not go into the issues of making him elder or King.
However, as a group that comprises members of the Agikuyu community we find the statements he made completely irresponsible, especially coming from a leader who also serves as Deputy Prime Minister and Minister for Finance. They are not only dangerous, but they are also intra-ethnically and inter-ethnically divisive as well as detrimental to the national cohesiveness most of us are working so hard for, following the 2007 PEV.
In our opinion these comments are also a direct threat to internal and national democracy as they purport to determine, without input from elsewhere, what the stand of Kenya’s largest community is, as regards issues such as the ICC or post-2012 political leadership.
We want to inform the Deputy Prime Minister that we cannot stand aside and watch him completely ignore the benefits of the new constitution as regards sovereignty of the people, be they Kikuyus or members of other communities. We hereby remind him that we, the Kenyan people, will decide who will lead us.
In addition, we find the comment that ‘we died because of not following our leaders’ callous, false and insensitive, especially to the thousands of mainly Kenyan Kikuyus who even now find themselves out of home & hearth, as IDPs, in various parts of the country. The Deputy Prime Minister seems to have forgotten that these Kikuyus are actually in their present predicament because they did exactly what he is suggesting: voted for our leaders in 2007, literally to a man!
We want to remind the deputy prime minister that Agikuyus still live in camps as IDPs, and they have received neither justice nor compensation, 3 years on. This is after they watched their loved ones burnt to death in a church, or hacked and/or shot dead with arrows, or raped, or forcefully moved out of their houses and land and their hard-earned property taken over. We also want to remind the Deputy Prime Minister that despite his new found friendship with Hon Ruto, these victims of the 2007 post-election atrocities, and even those of the 1992 & 1997 atrocities, have still been unable to go back home. We are being forced to buy them land elsewhere, against new resistance from other communities.
We also want to remind the Deputy Prime Minister that the Agikuyu have not been charged at the Hague. On the 8th of April 2012 he will be going to the Hague to represent himself, in his own capacity. He will not be going to represent the Agikuyu as Kikuyu King or Elder. This means that his defence there, and even his defence here (which now seems to be focused on fighting the Prime Minister), are his personal wars: they are not between the Agikuyu and Ocampo, and certainly not between the Agikuyu and Raila.
Hon Uhuru Kenyatta must realize that, unlike him, most Kikuyus are more interested in preventing a re-occurrence of election-related violence next year, getting justice for the victims of the last election-related violence incidences, and getting them compensated and resettled. We know that he has the capacity, by himself, to take care of himself as regards political wars with his rivals, or the cases against him at the ICC.
We also make this statement because we have deliberately and consistently taken a stand against the ethnicization of the ICC process, and we take the comments he made as a direct threat to us. We believe they are targeted to us because we have publicly stated that the ICC is not about Kikuyus, but about 6 individuals-a position that goes against his message to Kikuyus. We repeat, again, that 6 individuals are going to answer to charges at the Hague: whilst others will be tried locally, also in their own personal capacity. This is not about Kikuyus, Kalenjins, Merus, Somalis, Kisii’s, Luos, etc.
We conclude by calling out to all our independent-minded political leaders in Central Province. Leaders like Hon. Muite, Hon. Karua, Hon. Kenneth: new aspiring leadership in every county: to take heart. We ask them not to accept to be intimidated or threatened, or forced to kow-tow to a monolithic, undemocratic brand of politics.
As this generation of Kenyan voters we ask anyone who wants to lead us not to be forced to follow a tribal political idealogy out of fear. Millions of Kenyans are independent enough: what we are looking for is independent leadership that will rally us behind them through ideas and policy: not through threats or coercion. That time has passed; we have learnt our lessons well, and we will vote only for those leaders who have policies that will do the greatest good, to the greatest number of Kenyans.
Signed
NGUNJIRI WAMBUGU
Convenor, KikuyusforChange
Executive Director, Change Associates
MMMhhhh…It’s all about Uhuru and the other Ocampos.How innocent is Raila himself? He is also guilty of the killings in Kenya. Who can give evidence that he did not participate in the killings?
Reasonable #38: Uhuru’s charges are well spelt out at the ICC. It would be wonderful of you to write to Ocampo or the Kenyan government with all the evidence about Raila’s involvement in the PEV, and possible killings. Uhuru’s is clear, so there is no debate. You could be helping Kenyans by presenting what you have on Raila.At least we know Uhuru paid Mungiki to kill non-Kikuyus.
There is enough evidence that Uhuru Kenyatta and a personal aide of the justice Minister Martha Karua, traveled in one Land Cruiser vehicle to meet Mungiki at Banana Hill the day before they struck at Naivasha. They then left at around 19.00hrs local time and later after two hours, Karua’s parsonal aide returned to the venue to meet six leaders who had remained behind waiting for money to be brought to them.
It was confirmed that the money received by the six leaders led by Kamau, alias Jaky Chan, was Kshs 800,000. They then met with the Justice Minister at her home in the morning 05.40 am before heading to Naivasha traveling in a Mitsubishi lorry. They were dropped on the outskirts of Naivasha where they took an oath to begin killing Luos, Kalenjins and other non-Kikuyus.
Sunday, February 10, 2008
The truth about the Naivasha killings
By Odhiambo T. Oketch
I have been to Naivasha on two occasions to help evacuate some of my relatives who were victims of the violence that took place in Naivasha.
The first time, we did not get the gory details of what took place, and I bet, the press is afraid of bringing some of these planned murders and killings in Naivasha to the fore.
We must have the courage to face the truth and confront the same, then talk of the healing process. If we sweep this under the rug, we are doing nothing.
Politicians and administrative officers involved
The Naivasha Massacre was planned in complicity with government agencies. The police were informed, and they only brought officers who were not armed to confront the murderous Mungiki (banned militia) team.
The DC (District Commissioner) was in the picture, as some of the politicians who had lost in the recent general elections. They were well coordinated by donations from some current cabinet ministers and the pangas (machetes) that they used were bought at the Shamba Hardware store in Naivasha town.
When the Mungiki were to strike on the January 27, 2008, the prison warders came out and thwarted all their moves. They retreated so that orders could be made to bar the prison warders from coming out in support of non-Kikuyus who were the target.
When they struck the second time, they were under police escort, and they specifically killed Luos, in a systematic way. They torched their houses and chased them like rats in town.
When the Luo organized themselves to hit back, the police shot at the them instead. This went on for three days. Within this time, the Mungiki murderers were housed at LakeSide and Silver Hotels.
They used to come to town at 6:00 am, reign terror until 6:00 pm when they retreated to their hotels to brief their paymasters, chief among them former and current MPs.
The Naivasha Massacre of the Luos was well planned in a meeting attended by politicians like Uhuru Kenyatta and Jayne Kihara among others, and top businessmen such as Chris Kirubi, Jimna Mbaru, and George Muhoho.
They were annoyed that it is the Luo who had made things elephant for them. They hence came up with a plan that hitting at the Luo would be the best thing. They did not look at the fact that it is the Kalenjin who removed them mostly from the Rift Valley. They thought that it was the Luo who had made the Kalenjin do that.
Biased Red Cross and Mungiki paymasters
The Kenya Red Cross Society that has been acclaimed as one of the best relief support agencies, did not come to the aid of the internally displaced persons (IDPs) at Naivasha Prisons for a whole 3 days, yet, they were in Burnt Forest and Eldoret within hours of the fracas breaking out.
It came out that the Red Cross, just like the government, was partisan in addressing the problems. In the case of Naivasha, the Red Cross and the government were looking at it as a Luo affair, not a Kenyan affair.
This partisan approach to the massacre has exposed the Red Cross as a dishonest agency.
When the Mungiki youths went to Kabati cemetery for oath-taking, the police were very much in the picture. When they ransacked Kabati Estate, the police looked helpless. When the people ran to Naivasha Prisons for safety, the police moved in on the road, armed and ready to shoot at anyone who dared come out of the prison.
I reckon they should have been engaging the Mungiki so that they could save non-Kikuyu property, but they only escorted them on the macabre mission.
The world must know the truth. And it is this truth that will set us free.
Why were Kikuyus hell bent on eliminating Luos from Naivasha, when it is a known fact that Luos never killed any kikuyu in Nyanza at the beginning of the evictions?
Why were Kikuyus in Naivasha cheering and telling Luos that they wanted Majimbo (regionalism), yet now had to be evicted?
Why were the police under instructions to safeguard Mungiki, and to shoot to kill at any show of resistance, people who stood helpless as their houses were being burnt and their people killed as they watched?
It is time to make clear distinctions; those who shout loudest about crimes against humanity, are the main paymasters of the murderous Mungiki sect.
ʺViolence started across the town on Sunday morning, January 27. One of the young men who participated in the attacks said, ʹOn Sunday morning the mob went up to kabati [an area of Naivasha town]. They split into groups.
Some of them I recognised, some of them not. They blocked all the roads, even cars were not getting in or out.ʹ He claimed he joined in to avoid discrimination, but nevertheless witnessed the burning and killing of Luo / Luo Group / residents:
ʹI went along just to pretend that I was with them. I saw a man cut, and a house burned, the one with all the people in. It was around twelve in the afternoon. The house was surrounded by a mob. You canʹt tell who lit the fire, there were too many people surrounding the place and watching. But I saw boys go in and take the kids out of the house before the place was set on fire with the man left in there. But they did not know that in the back room were hiding more people.ʹ In fact 19 people were hiding in the back room including women and children and two infants under two years old. They all burned to death.ʺ
ʺThere are many rumors that individuals close to the Kibaki / Mwai KIBAKI / government have been involved in re‐activating the MUNGIKI. But some leaders of the gang told Human Rights Watch that they remain opposed to the government and would not work with the Kibaki administration. The police / Police‐Security Forces/Ministry of Interior / apparently also believe that, ʺMUNGIKI high command are not involved,ʺ in recent attacks, but that the violence has, ʺall the hallmarks of MUNGIKI operationsʺ. The leadership claims that former MUNGIKI leader Ndura Wariunge / NDURA
WARUINGE / is recruiting ʺdefectorsʺ to a ʺfake MUNGIKIʺ and mobilizing youth to order for politicians and businessmen in the Rift Valley / Rift Valley Province /.ʺ
ʺThe attacks were targeted against mainly members of the Luo community, though Luhyas and Kalenjins were also targeted and among the forms of violence perpetrated by the mobs was forced circumcision on four members of the Luo community.ʺ
ʺTraumatic (or forced) circumcision, a particularly barbaric form of violence, was inflicted on mainly male victims who were Luo. 7 persons were admitted at the Provincial General Hospital, Nakuru, where they were treated for traumatic circumcision and penile amputation. 5 out of the 7 traumatic circumcisions occurred on 25 January 2008.ʺ
ʺThere have been many reports that the feared criminal gang, MUNGIKI, is behind the reprisal attacks and even allegations that it has infiltrated the Kenya police / Police‐Security Forces/Ministry of Interior/.ʺ
ʺIn at least one case, groups of Kikuyu / Kikuyu / men carried out brutal reprisal attacks during the initial bout of post‐election chaos. On the evening of December 31 in Langas, an Eldoret neighborhood populated primarily by Kikuyu, Kikuyu mobs killed and beheaded several ethnic Luo / Luo Group / residents and left their severed heads lying on the road.ʺ
ʺHuman Rights Watch interviewed many Kalenjin residents of affected communities who either participated in or supported the violence against local Kikuyu. Most were emphatic in declaring that they would never allow their former neighbors to return.ʺ Young men in several different communities said that they had not originally sought to kill Kikuyu residents but would do so if they tried to reclaim their land.ʺ As one Kalenjin elder near Burnt Forest / Burnt Forest / put it, ʺif they come back, it will be war again.ʺ Then he drew his index finger across his throat. Kikuyu elders in Naivasha meanwhile explained that the Luos / Luo Group / chased from there should never return.ʺ
ʺAccording to the youth, there was then another meeting on Saturday, January 26 in the afternoon. The organizers present at the meeting were well known local businessmen who had campaigned for a Party of National Unity candidate and former MP during the election. The youth who attended the meeting recalled: ʺWe were told that only Luo / Luo Group / houses should be burnt and that the mission starts in the morning. Every person was given 100 or 200 shillings.ʺ
ʺNon‐Kikuyu residents in different parts of Naivasha town were targeted in the / reprisal / attacks. According to some of the young men that took part, several who were self‐proclaimed MUNGIKI members and several who were not, there had been a meeting earlier in the week, on Wednesday, January 23, in a local hotel: This was not done by ordinary citizens, it was arranged by people with money, they bought the
jobless like me. We need something to eat each day. The big people at the [bus] stage, the ones who run the matatu [minibus] business, they called us [the jobless who hang around there] to a meeting around 2 p.m. They said there was a plan to push out the Luos / Luo Group / because they were planning to attack us. They said we should be ready on Saturday. I recognised the leaders, they are the owners of businesses in town, they did not hide their faces. We were paid 200 shillings for going to the meeting, and we were told we would get the rest after the job, it was like a business.ʺ
http://www.icc-cpi.int/iccdocs/doc/doc1083912.pdf
Marende castigates Uhuru for breaking law, directs him to read ministerial statement
By Roseleen Nzioka
Tuesday, 7th June 2011
House Speaker Kenneth Marende has directed Finance Minister Uhuru Kenyatta to read a ministerial statement in Parliament on Wednesday at 3.30pm outlining the government’s budget estimates.
This is the first time Kenyans will witness a presentation of the government’s budget estimates without the traditional funfare they are accustomed to. In the past the President would attend the session in the House; Parliament would shelve all other House business to focus on the budget speech; the traditional budget suitcase would be paraded and photographed with the minister and his assistants.
Marende’s ruling on whether or not a budget speech would be read in Parliament, came a few hours after a Nairobi court dismissed a case filed by an NGO seeking to stop Finance Minister Uhuru from reading budget the tomorrow (Wednesday).
Mr Marende at the same time castigated Uhuru for failing to abide by the provisions of the new Constitution regarding the process of presenting the budget. Marende said the new laws regarding budget estimates and specifically Article 221 are in force and operational.
Marende said the controversy over the relevance of the new law could have been avoided as the Constitution is supreme over other laws. He said at all times the Constitution must take precedence over legislation.
Marende warned Uhuru and other ministers against using other forums to address issues that should ideally be discussed and resolved by Parliament. He said it was wrong for Uhuru to use press conferences to address the budget controversy when the rightful place for such debate was the House.
Further, Marende said that Treasury was aware that Article 221 of the Constitution was in force and wondered why there was a deliberate deviation by Treasury from following the right procedures regarding the process of budget making and presentation.
He pointed out that the new Constitution had transformed Parliament from merely legislating on the budget to a budget-making stakeholder.
In his communication, Marende reminded the House that Gichugu MP Martha Karua and other MPs had requested a ruling from the chair to determine whether Chapter 12 of the new Constitution was in force; whether the Finance Minister should read the budget speech in the traditional manner and whether the correct procedure was followed in making of the budget.
Marende said the Constitution was very clear that Uhuru should have presented the budget estimates to the relevant committees at least two months before the end of the financial year and that the new laws do not have room for extension of such deadlines.
The Speaker said the new laws did not require the finance minister to read the budget on the same day and in the same format and manner as the other East African Community countries.
KENYA: The Ruby Rip-Off
Monday, Oct. 14, 1974
Kenya is a land of fabulously unspoiled game preserves, stable government and excellent trade opportunities. Taking advantage of those opportunities, as foreign businessmen have rue fully discovered, sometimes involves entering a twilight world of official corruption. Corporation executives doing business in Kenya are often asked by high government officials for “contributions” to various charities, though some doubt that the money ends up in the coffers of such worthy recipients as hospitals or orphanages. Early this year, James Skane, the American managing director of Esso Standard in Kenya, was declared a “prohibited immigrant” and summarily expelled from the country after he aggressively tried to collect some $70,000 in unpaid fuel bills. Unfortunately for Skane, it turned out that the money was owed by a series of farms reportedly owned under different names by Kenya’s lionized President Jomo Kenyatta.
The latest story about scandal in Nairobi involves two American geologists, who claim that they have been euchred out of their ownership of what may be the world’s richest ruby mine by some well-connected Kenyans. It all started about a year ago, when John M. Saul, 37, and his partner Elliot (“Tim”) Miller discovered in Kenya’s Tsavo West National Park a deposit of rubies that was later estimated to be worth at least $5 million. Saul and Miller got a fully legal permit to develop their find. Figuring local participation would ease their way, they shrewdly offered 51% of the deal to a group of high-ranking Kenyans, including Vice President Daniel Arap Moi.
Unfortunately for the two Americans, others got wind of the rich discovery. One of them was Beth Mugo, Kenyatta’s niece and unofficial lady in waiting to his vivacious wife, Mama Ngina; another was a wealthy Greek resident of Kenya, George Criticos, a friend of the President’s and Mama Ngi-na’s partner in running the Kenya Trade Development Corp. Saul and Miller charge that Beth Mugo and Criticos encouraged other leading Kenyans, including Mama Ngina, to demand a bigger share of the take. The two Americans agreed to let the Kenyans’ share go up to 72%. Still not satisfied, the Kenyans evidently decided to push the ruby discoverers out of the deal altogether.
Private Pockets. Last June Saul was abruptly declared a “prohibited immigrant” and given 2½ hours to leave the country. At first Miller went into hiding to keep the same thing from happening to him; after a month underground he left the country for London. After Saul’s expulsion, Kenyatta, in an apparent reference to the ruby mine, publicly declared that no foreigner should be allowed to exploit Kenya’s resources for his own private benefit. That is, no doubt, a valid general principle. But in this case it seems that the wealth of the mine is intended for private pockets, not the public welfare. With the Americans out of the way, the mysterious Criticos began mining rubies at Tsavo, continuing even after a Kenyan court had temporarily enjoined him from doing so. There have been allegations that the claims book at the Kenyan Ministry of Natural Resources, in which the two Americans had originally registered their find, has disappeared. In its place, supposedly, is a new claims book listing Criticos’ claim to the Tsavo mine.
U.S. Ambassador Anthony D. Marshall has protested the highhanded treatment of the two Americans. Meanwhile, Saul and Miller are suing in Kenyan courts for recovery of their ruby mine. Few, however, believe that the case will be decided in the Americans’ favor. Kenya is sticking to its claim that Saul was expelled because of gemstone and ivory smuggling.
So far, no stories about the big ruby rip-off have appeared in Kenya’s press, and the government apparently wants to keep it that way. Without directly mentioning the ruby affair, the Foreign Ministry warned at week’s end that it “will not tolerate any section of the press, whether local or overseas, which tends to discredit the image of Kenya abroad.” Kenya is a one-party state, and President Kenyatta has already been declared re-elected to another five-year term for lack of opposition. Still, in the parliamentary elections next week, publicity about high-level hanky-panky over the ruby mine could tarnish the government’s reputation in the eyes of Kenya’s 12 million people.
http://www.time.com/time/magazine/article/0,9171,908862-2,00.html
So much money has been lost by the Kenya Government since Uhuru became Finance Minister. His own cousin Beth Mugo mentioned in comment #46, cannot account for millions of Kenya shillings lost in her Public Health Ministry. Sue me, but the Kenyattas are thieves. No wonder Jaramogi Odinga said that Kenyatta was a landgrabber.
Controller and Auditor General’s report for last financial year was tabled in Parliament and the bombshell is auditors cannot figure out where Sh7 billion went.
According to report by Kenya National Audit Office (Kenao), the biggest culprits in the unsupported expenditures were just five ministries, which among them could not account for Sh6.4 billion.
At Sh3.6 billion, Beth Mugo’s Public Health tops the list of ministries with unaccounted for funds.[/b] Franklin Bett’s Roads follow her ministry where an expenditure of Sh889 million – almost a fourth what is untraceable in Mugo’s ministry – cannot be tracked.
http://www.standardmedia.co.ke/InsidePage.php?id=2000039260&cid=4&ttl=Ministries%20cannot%20account%20for%20Sh7b
You can propagate what you like; after all you’ve been paid to do so! We love Uhuru whether president or not. Period!
Nyanja in defence of Uhuru over ICC Friday, 26 August 2011 00:06 BY NJENGA GICHEHA
SUPPORTIVE: Former Limuru MP George Nyanja addressing a meeting in Limuru. Photo/Njenga Gicheha
Former Limuru MP George Nyanja has threatened to rally youths to whip out white people from the country. Nyanja said that if accusations levelled against Deputy Prime and Minister of Finance Uhuru Kenyatta are confirmed that he has a case to answer at the ICC, the country would turn chaotic because Kikuyu’s will not allow it to happen. He said ICC prosecutor Moreno Ocampo is acting maliciously using the letter of alleged evidence that was presented to him by the ODM through Anyang’ Nyong’o a few months ago.
The former legislator said that Uhuru’s role when chaos erupted following the 2007 disputed general election was paramount saving the country from possible genocide. “If Uhuru did not intervene to calm the situation, we would be talking of something else now. We would have had thousands of people killed and other left disabled following the chaos, so he saved the Kikuyu community and the whole country. We all have debt to pay Kenyatta for his role,” said Nyanja.
Nyanja said if Uhuru appears at The Hague confirmation hearings and fails to return and is told he has a case to answer, the country should be prepared to wipe all white settlers out of Kenya. “I said this in Murang’a sometimes back and I do not fear when I am repeating it: That if Uhuru does not return to the country after the confirmation hearings, then the whites should not be in Kenya. I have said that they will have to go back to their home,” said Nyanja.
Uhuru has been accused together with Head of Public Service Francis Muthaura and Postmaster General Hussein Ali. The evidence released by Ocampo alleges that Uhuru and Muthaura provided uniforms and weapons for the outlawed Mungiki sect to kill people in parts of Naivasha. Nyanja has pledged to campaign for Uhuru in the next general election saying he has already visited Juja, Limuru, Kikuyu, Ruiru and Githunguri districts.
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Uhuru the Butcher, murderer, rapist, and the enforcer of evictions of non-Kikuyus through his blood-thirsty Mungiki gangs, is soon a chief guest at The Hague. Things are Elephant and his Kikuyu handlers have begun to understand this reality. Also, there is a general feeling that many Kikuyus fear fresh violence in case another Kikuyu takes over from Kibaki. Therefore, there is no guarantee that Kibaki will endorse Uhuru. Things will change drastically after Uhuru’s charges are read at The Hague.
Uhuru Kenyatta has a conspiracy!!! He wants the ICC case to be delayed for 3 months so that His team will see whether Ruto/Kosgey and Sanng will be confirmed (whether they have cases) The Ic c Court should never be taken for a ride by Uhuru Kenyatta and his Impunity lords!
REQUEST: Uhuru Kenyatta
DEPUTY Prime Minister Uhuru Kenyatta now wants his confirmation of charges hearing scheduled to start on September 21 postponed for three months. But ICC Chief Prosecutor Luis Moreno has opposed the request. In an application endorsed by fellow suspect Head of Civil Service Francis Muthaura and former Police Commissioner Hussein Ali, Uhuru has requested more time to prepare in light of alleged new revelations by Ocampo.
Uhuru’s application says the evidence disclosed by Ocampo on August 19 “significantly changes the substance and direction of the case” and requires ample time to respond to. “The Kenyatta Defence team has had insufficient time to respond to both the Prosecution’s DCC (document containing charges) and the new, wide-ranging and totally unforecast evidence, upon which the DCC is based,” Uhuru says in the application. “Having considered the material disclosed, (Kenyatta) submits that a period of 3 months is required to deal with the issues arising. This period has been carefully considered as appropriate after having regard to reasons for the need for expedition, consideration of all the parties in the case including victims, as well as fairness to the suspects,” Uhuru’s lawyers Steven Kay and Gillian Higgins declared.
Ocampo has asked the court to ignore Uhuru’s pleas saying they have no merit. Ocampo said Uhuru and co-suspects “waited until the last possible moment” to file the request. If they were genuine, Ocampo said, they should have filed immediately after August 19 when he released his new evidence. “Most of the so‐called new allegations are no more than detailed explications of allegations already served on the Defence,” Ocampo informed the chamber. He says one week is enough for the “expected professionalism of counsel appearing before the court” to prepare themselves and not three months.
The alleged new evidence includes the killings of Mungiki leaders who knew of his (Uhuru’s) role in the post-election violence murders, the inclusion of a preparatory meeting on December 30, 2007 and that Muthaura intervened to secure release of Mungiki leaders. Other evidence considered as new by the three suspects are allegations that Muthaura’s subordinates provided Administration Police uniforms to the Mungiki, that money and police uniforms were distributed to the Mungiki from State House Nakuru, and that Mungiki members were driven into State House Nairobi by City Hoppa buses.
Other fresh evidence includes the role of the military (Ocampo claimed Mungiki were transported from State House in the back of military trucks containing brand new machetes and wooden clubs) and that Uhuru is a Mungiki leader. Uhuru claims Ocampo’s disclosure on the last possible day August 19 came in late because he did not leave time for uploading the evidence into the court’s system.
This led to Uhuru losing three days of the 15 that he had to respond. “This effectively gives the Defence approximately 12 days to respond to the disclosure of 19 August and the DCC. This is inconsistent with the notion of “reasonable time” as required by Article 61(3) of the Rome Statute,” Uhuru’s lawyers said.They argued that the late disclosure significantly prejudices Uhuru’s right to a fair trial.
Uhuru has since proceeded to file his evidence but asked that it be hidden from Ocampo until a decision is made on the hearing date. In requesting more time, Uhuru reminded the court of its past pronouncements that the confirmation of charges hearing can be postponed. “The defence concern is that the Pre-Trial Chamber for the sake of its court timetable will retain the date for commencement of the confirmation hearing at the expense of the fair trial rights of the suspects,” he says. Uhuru also wants to be allowed to change his live witnesses after the August 19 disclosure.
wee kariuki tiga fitina,andu a fitina matire maisha mega,uhuru ni witu uhuru ni wa Ngai na nimuitiririe maguta,ithui gikuyu tutingithwo ni nduriri
I wish your article had real facts and not rumours and conjecture. In many instances you are interprating the situations based on your own bias rather than reality. I have not seen anything concrete to show uhuru as unfit to run for presidency, tne constitution gives him the right to run even the icc case which are riddled with conflicting witness statements from witnesses who forgot their scripted statements has not been concluded so he is innocent till found guilty.
Theres a reason why uhurus popularity is rising, he is not an angel but he is the best presidential candidate and its easy to see why
It does not matter how popular Uhuru is; he belongs in The Hague. The Blood of innocent PEV victims oozes all over him. A Fugitive president is the last thing Kenyans need. Tick Tock!
Just an advice, even though you dislike someone put it in a moderate your language mind you I don’t this any comment is from the GEMA tribe, you know what I see from that ? A CONSPIRACY. When a Kikuyu reads this what’s the feeling you expect? My answer is intense hatred. You are acting as typical tribalist Kenyans, 42 against 1. Who cares when you write such some of you? Please potray yourself as nontribalist in your comments. THANK YOU
December 20, 2012
Are Uhuru Kenyatta and William Ruto really sworn enemies?
by Tom Maliti
Reading the charges the International Criminal Court (ICC) prosecutor has drawn up against Deputy Prime Minister Uhuru Muigai Kenyatta and former Cabinet Minister William Samoei Ruto, the two should be sworn enemies. How is it that this month they have formed an alliance with the goal of winning Kenya’s upcoming elections?
The short answer is they have never been enemies. Kenyatta and Ruto have been political allies for at least a decade, their separate political parties notwithstanding. Both have been members of the same party, the Kenya African National Union (KANU), for more than a decade, the longest they have stayed in one political home.
Yes, the charges against them at the ICC put them on opposite sides. The prosecutor has framed the case against Kenyatta and former Secretary to the Cabinet Francis Kirimi Muthaura as one motivated by retaliation. That is retaliation for the attacks that Ruto and radio journalist Joshua arap Sang were allegedly involved in planning and organizing.
Those attacks and counter-attacks took place in January 2008. The planning, according to the ICC prosecutor, happened months earlier. However, the political relationship between Kenyatta and Ruto dates as far back as the December 2002 general election. In the lead-up to that election, both were senior officials in the then governing Kenya African National Union party. Kenyatta was the party’s presidential candidate, Ruto was his chief campaigner. Kenyatta lost that election. When he was conceding defeat, Ruto was by his side.
Ruto had been a member of KANU since at least 1992, staying a member for 13 years or thereabouts before joining the Orange Democratic Movement (ODM) somewhere in 2005 or 2006. Then this year he switched allegiances again to join the United Republican Party. Kenyatta has been a loyal supporter and then member of KANU for longer. In 1990 when the party, which was the country’s only political party, sought ordinary citizens’ views on the country’s political future Kenyatta joined a group of sons of prominent deceased and living leaders to present a memorandum on the issue. This was his first public political act. He later became active in the party in the late 1990s and only left it this year to form The National Alliance party.
Both men made their first attempt at elective politics in 1997, while still members of KANU, which by then had lost significant public support and had governed the country for 34 years. Ruto won on his first attempt to be elected the representative of Eldoret North constituency at the National Assembly. He emerged victorious, despite then President Daniel arap Moi initially backing another candidate who had represented the constituency for several terms before 1997. Ruto has been re-elected since and still represents Eldoret North in the National Assembly.
Kenyatta, for his part, failed in his first attempt at parliamentary politics in 1997. His failure was big news because his father, who was Kenya’s first president, had represented the constituency he sought to represent. Other members of the larger Kenyatta family had represented the constituency up until 1997.
Between 1997 and the lead up of the 2002 election, Kenyatta and Ruto may have collaborated because they ended up in the Cabinet together, but their relationship at that point was not as close as it is today. Once Kenyatta, however, became the KANU presidential candidate, he and Ruto began working more closely. Their alliance became closer in 2003 as Kenyatta took over the chairmanship of KANU from Moi, who had retired from active politics, and Ruto became the party’s secretary-general.
During Kenyatta’s and Ruto’s early years with KANU, key officials of the party were alleged to have been instigators of violence in the lead up to the 1992 and 1997 elections. Both of them did not speak up against this violence, but neither were they linked with it. The violence then targeted presumed opposition party supporters, including the Kikuyu, which is Kenyatta’s ethnic group. The aim was to force them out of the Rift Valley and the Coastal area so that KANU could secure victory in those areas.
Once the ICC prosecutor named them as suspects in December 2010, Kenyatta and Ruto have sought to frame their fate as an international conspiracy to stop them running for president. This stems in part from the fact that in 2007 Kenyatta declared that as KANU leader he was setting aside his presidential ambitions in support of President Mwai Kibaki’s re-election bid. This implied he would run in the next scheduled election. Similarly, Ruto contested and lost the nomination as presidential candidate for the Orange Democratic Movement party, which Prime Minister Raila Odinga secured in 2007. Since that time, Ruto was expected to declare again his intention to run for the presidency when the next election drew close.
In the lead-up to their April 2011 initial appearance at the ICC, the two held what became known as prayer rallies around the country during which different religious leaders prayed for them. However, the rallies were more than just occasions for prayer. Kenyatta and Ruto together with their allies used the rallies to challenge the ICC cases. On return, they toned down their rhetoric but continued to work together.
When the ICC confirmed the charges against them in January this year, they both followed the same strategy. They went to their respective ethnic groups’ elites to seek their endorsement as presidential aspirants and also got them to commit to a signature campaign to pressure the ICC to schedule the trials after the elections. When in July the court scheduled the trial to a month after Kenya’s election, that subject was dropped and Kenyatta and Ruto concentrated on consolidating the support of their ethnic groups and building their new parties, culminating in a political alliance that was formally announced in Nakuru on December 2. That alliance has entered some turbulence since, but it seems Kenyatta and Ruto will be sticking together and presenting a joint ticket come voting day, March 4.