February 21, 2015 · 5:23 PM

Yet Another Round of Unresolved Political Deaths In Kenya – RIP George Muchai & Philip Godana.

The list of Kenyans who have disappeared, died under mysterious circumstances or assassinated is endless. It also contains some of the country’s most prominent and promising names and spans the country’s post-independence existence:

Pio Gama Pinto (1965), Argwings Kodhek (1969), Tom Mboya (1969), Ronald Ngala (1972), JM Kariuki (1975), Kungu Karumba (1975?), Jean-Marie Seroney (1982), Bishop Alexander Kipsang Muge (1990), Robert Ouko (1990), Mugabe Were (2008), George Saitoi and Orwa Ojode (2012), Mutula Kalonzo (2013), George Thuo (2013), Albert Muriuki (2013), Dickson Bogonko Bosire (2013).

We can now add Mr. George Muchai, the MP for Kabete cut down by a hail of bullets, to that macabre list. And like they did in the past, the country’s leaders, this time President Uhuru Kenyatta, vowed “to leave no stone unturned” in bringing the perpetrators “of this heinous crime to justice”. Mr. Kenyatta went on to claim even before any arrests were made, that George Muchai was killed because of his war against corruption:

“(W)e cannot allow a few people to continue with corruption and impunity. Even if we will leave all to God to do his will, there are times when anger overwhelms you.”

Taking their cue from their party boss, Mr. Kazungu Kambi, the Cabinet Secretary of Labor, Gatundu South MP Moses Kuria and his Thika Town counterpart Alice Ng’ang’a all echoed the president’s very sentiment that they know “…the people who plotted the killing of.…George Muchai….” even as investigations were still on-going!

Less than one week after the professional hit on Mr. Muchai, “robbers” broke into the Syokimau resident of former Moyale MP Philip Godana and shot him dead as well. In a more measured and less speculative reaction to Mr. Godana’s death, Tuka Jirmo, the late MP’s cousin cautioned that the family “will not speculate the reason for the killing but ask the police to be thorough with the investigations.”

It was a reaction more measured and reflective than the one that followed Mr. Muchai’s death: reactions from Mr. Kenyatta, his CS for Labor and other politicians in the ruling coalition that prompted the leader of the National Assembly Justin Muturi to ask “leaders to use caution” when making statements on Mr. Muchai’s untimely death.

Line up the presidential, ministerial and lawmakers’ claims, all unsubstantiated, alongside the reality on the ground: That of the rather speedy and seemingly convenient arrest of “all the suspects…in the killing of Kabete MP George Muchai and his three aides…” including “recovery of the weapons used in the incident…” and I hope readers can forgive my cynicism and skepticism, my well-documented incessant criticism of the Kenyatta government notwithstanding.

What is happening in Kenya as illustrated by the rampant violence and unresolved killings not to mention corruption at the highest level of the government is downright scary. The fact that government officials and prominent personalities continue to die under mysterious circumstances or through assassination on a regular basis is extremely disturbing.

Equally terrifying is the impunity with which the country’s leaders have used the very organs of national security and law enforcement as tools against their political opponents!  That the subsequent investigations on these deaths and murders are led by the same institutions and people – CID’s Ndegwa Muhoro in the case of Mr. Muchai – controlled by those with a near-diabolical desire to stay in power should send chills through the collective spines of all Kenyans.

Maybe it is my “shallow and naïve diasporan lens” or sadness at the lack of justice for the families of the afflicted, myself included, but doesn’t it bother WanaKenya Halisi that it now appears that the country has embraced murder as the one sure way of (a) settling differences and (b) maintaining their preferred candidate’s hold on power?

In a narrative that has become as Kenyan as “eating chicken”, the country has continued to rationalize, indeed accept the inept investigations, abrupt and summarily disbanding of blue, red, white or other hued ribbonned commissions and/or the subsequent mothballing of their finding apres presentation of the reports to the president(s). Kenyans routinely point out that “all is well because the country has not fallen into a state of anarchy just as the US did not devolve into chaos after the assassinations of JFK, MLK or the attempt on Ronald Reagan’s life!” They are equally hasty in urging one another to “accept (fill in the blank) and move on” after every national tragedy.

Given the rash of unresolved deaths and extra-judicial killings laying siege on the country, could Kenya, a country that wears its many religions on its collective sleeves be bearing witness to the (religious) teachings that “those who live by the sword also perish by the sword?”

Finally, is the country inching closer to a failed state where the regular killings of people — big and small — is greeted with the ho-hum of a society that has multiple centers of power – hence multiple proprietors of the basic instruments of power – weapons of death?

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October 22, 2014 · 10:13 AM

Poetic Justice: Coming Home To Roost During His Son’s Regime: Jomo Kenyatta’s “Policies” of Land-grabbing.

Juxtaposed alongside the lengthy piece on Jomo Kenyatta’s formative years by Daily Nation’s Murithi Mutiga titled “Jomo Kenyatta’s troubled years in London that drove him to greatness” is a piece in the Standard titled “Trail of Blood, Big Money in Land Scandals in Kenya”. Taken together, these two articles underscore the negative impact the “policies” of Kenya’s founding father has had on the country’s long-term stability much like Jim Crowism has had on matters of race here in America. I put the term policies in parenthesis because one can argue that Mzee Jomo Kenyatta DID NOT have any policies for the accounting and the allocation of land after Kenya’s independence. In fact once they assumed power, Mr. Kenyatta and those around him ruled Kenya much like the “dreaded” Brits did. That opiate of the masses religion/Christianity, supposedly used by the missionaries to usurp land from Africans, was effectively replaced first by nationalism then by tribalism as Kenyans imbibed the euphoria of independence and of being in power respectively.

As much as Kenyans have sought to canonize Kenyatta Pere (and now Kenyatta Son), the inconvenient truth is that the country’s founding father bequeathed them a society of “ten billionaires and forty million beggars” as presciently opined by the late JM Kariuki. For Kenyans who have a notoriously short and selective memory, let me remind them that Josiah Mwangi Kariuki famously uttered the revised quote regarding Jomo Kenyatta’s Kenya shortly before he was assassinated in 1975. I will leave it up to those interested to research and conclude on whose order the MP for Nyandarua was murdered. Similarly poignant are the comments of one KimPP who wrote in reaction to the picture accompanying Mr. Mutiga’s piece that “jumping higher than Jomo” celebrating his (Jomo’s) release was Tom Mboya whose life came to a tragic and violent end much like JM’s. Not surprising, implicated in the assassination was the “big man” whose release from detention Mboya was celebrating!

There is no escaping the fact that the (land) policies of Jomo’s Kenya are coming home to roost in Kenya@50. The idea of blaming “the British policy of divide and rule…for what is ailing Kenya today and all its former colonies” as put forth by one Arsenal2014 is curious at best if not ridiculous and outright hypocritical. Mr. Uhuru Kenyatta himself has seemingly taken to blaming the west for what ails Kenya and Africa. Fully illustrating the hypocrisy of Kenya and her leaders is a piece titled “Home guards’ ghosts still haunting Kenya” where Mr. Maina Kiai argues that the president’s rhetoric may be anti-west but his Peponi schools are as British as they come, run by British educators and providing a British education; his public relations advisers are British, whispering propaganda against those wishing for a different Kenya; his business advisers are British; his lead lawyers at The Hague are British; and his K24 station has been funded by the British, among others.

Kenya will not have an honest discussion with the resultant real/permanent solutions to this most explosive of issues – land ownership – until it faces up to and ACTS on the reality that its leaders, including the revered Jomo Kenyatta and his son are up to their eyeballs in the corruption and greed that pervades the issue. The hypocrisy of Mr. Kenyatta’s handling of land-induced violence is underscored by the fact that the same president now warning “leaders to do their homework well before making reckless statements and naming people, linking them to (the Karen land) scandal” was the same person who accused unnamed “local political networks” and opposition politicians of being “reckless and hatemongers engaged in ‘ethnic-profiling’ of one community” during the violence in Mpeketoni and Lamu back in June 2014; violence also related to land. I am still waiting for Mr. Kenyatta to retract the rather impetuous and incorrect allegations he made back in June now that an investigation has revealed that the efforts of one of the individuals he accused of dereliction of duty were in fact stifled by his bosses and the individual relieved of duty during an on-going and active investigation.

To paraphrase a comment made by one Chiriku in response to Mr. Mutiga’s piece, Kenyans seem willing to revise the country’s history; in the process praising and absolving those implicated in the (historic) plunder of national resources. Instead, WaKenya Halisi take to blaming the colonialists who have been gone for over 50 years.

Daily Nation columnist Ms. Rasna Warah offers that Mr. Uhuru Kenyatta would have made a good president had he not relied on a coterie of advisers who are more interested in amassing personal wealth even if it means taking the country back to the days of the all-powerful presidency when the rule of law was considered a mere inconvenience. It does not bode well for Mr. Kenyatta’s fight against corruption at the highest level of his government when he chooses to transfer individuals adversely mentioned in scandals rather than suspending them pending the outcome of investigations.

One would grudgingly accept the angling for presidential plausible deniability offered by Ms. Warah’s article were it not for the high stakes involved: The columnist writes that the 2007 election showed that when historical grievances are not addressed and when issues of marginalization, equity and justice are left on the back-burner, aggrieved communities can rise up against the state and against each other. All it takes is manipulative and self-serving politicians (which Kenya@50 has by the boatload) to ignite the flame.

The chickens of land-grabbing are indeed coming home to roost and charged with confronting them less than half-way through his term in office is the son of the man who created the problem.

Poetic justice?

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October 5, 2014 · 1:15 AM

The Circus Is Coming to Town: Mr. Kenyatta Goes to The Hague Along with “Big Men” and Their Toadies

It now appears that President Uhuru Kenyatta will eschew the trappings of his office, even if it’s just for a few hours and appear before Ms. Fatou Bensouda and the presiding judges at The Hague not as the Commander-in-Chief of Kenya’s Armed Forces, but as a crimes-against-humanity suspect.

The symbolism of this moment is not lost on Kenyans and in keeping with the partisan divide this case has taken since it was first announced, there are those who will look at this moment as the day the one time high, mighty and untouchable of Kenyan society stood before a judge they could not cower or court system they could not manipulate to answer criminal charges against them. Conversely, there are others such as Moi University Lecturer of Media Studies Dr. Omanga who will see Mr. Kenyatta’s summons and appearance before the International Criminal Court (ICC) as classic Kabuki theater i.e. political and legal posturing by the courts ‘ere the inevitable triumph of “us” over “them”. In his article in the Daily Nation, the lecturer compares Mr. Kenyatta’s summons to The Hague as a mere show of valiancy by the world court in the face of pre-ordained defeat i.e. dismissal or indefinite suspension of the case against POK.

In keeping with the African tradition of story-telling to illustrate a point, Dr. Omanga “tanda wilis” the story about a leopard (Mr. Kenyatta) cornering a squirrel (ICC) for dinner; a showdown whose outcome is inevitable (death to the squirrel) or in this case dismissal or indefinite suspension of the case against POK.

True to the hubris and triumphalism reflected in the lecturer’s parable, Mr. Kenyatta is reportedly going to The Hague with a posse of over one hundred and twenty distinguished supporters and toadies. Included in the entourage are four heads of state, at least at last count and an assortment of hanger-ons and sycophants. There are also reports that Mr. Kenyatta will address the court. It is this combination of events that I want to see play out: Frankly I would pay top dollars (or shillings) to bear witness to the optics of (reluctant?) “big man” and budding Pan-Africanist Uhuru Kenyatta, urged on by the quintessential “big men” Presidents Pierre Nkurunziza of Burundi, Uganda’s Yoweri Museveni and Paul Kagame of Rwanda and their sycophants, going mano-a-mano with the hitherto unflappable daughter of Mali and Chief Prosecutor Fatou Bensouda.

I would advise Mr. Kenyatta to harness the collective jingoism of his supporters and caution them against making a public spectacle of themselves and by extension, of him, on the international stage no less. President Kenyatta has seemingly stabilized his presidency and has comported himself with a modicum of competence after a rather rough start. He should continue along that path and take a page from his deputy Mr. William Ruto who has conducted himself with aplomb worthy of a true Moran (tho’ mewonders whether he is actually Masai). The junior half of the digital duo his appeared before the chamber on schedule/as scheduled and for all the bluster and fury at the beginning of the trials, his supporters and their antics have avoided becoming THE news.

Mr. Kenyatta would also be ill-advised to use his chance to “address the court” as an opportunity to lay out his road-to-Jerusalem Pan-Africanist credentials. It is a message that is passé in this era of globalization not to mention information at the stroke of keys. The president should avoid getting on his soapbox and haranguing that the “ICC is a vestige of colonialism” and the other anti-western rant that are frankly hypocritical given his very western-leaning personal and business proclivities.

Indeed this Wednesday October 8th 2014 hearing may be Ms. Bensouda’s last hurrah in the case against Mr. Kenyatta. If that is the case, I would argue that the fact the process played out to its conclusion, the accusations and counter-accusations notwithstanding is something both sides can take “credit” for; as Pyrrhic a victory as it is for those who lost loved ones in the post-election violence of 2007/8.

I am glad that Mr. Uhuru Kenyatta, heir to a share of $600M fortune was compelled to use some of that money to defend himself against the “personal challenge” that somehow morphed into a national issue that brought Kenya on the verge of pulling out of the world courts, the backroom machinations and use of government resources aside.

Finally, it is my hope that these trials were collective shots across the bow of Africa’s “big men” that the era of wanton impunity especially against their people is over.

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Aside

Insecurity in Kenya and Patriotism

Criticizing an obviously over-whelmed President Uhuru Kenyatta does not make one a “self-hating” “unpatriotic” Kenyan who is “gleeful” about the plight of the country including the on-going attacks on innocent civilians.  Likewise, questioning his administration’s inept and haphazard stewardship of the country including its endemic corruption does not make one a “Raila sycophant”.

Taken together, the fore-going reactions are cynical ploys at deflection by people who willfully overlook the elementary relationship between the leaders they elect into office and the evolution/viability of the country. Such people seem unable to sustain a substantive response to the reality that Emperor Uhuru really has no clothes!

Irish poet Oscar Wilde wrote that “patriotism is the virtue of the vicious” while Englishman Samuel Jackson argued that “patriotism is the last refuge of the scoundrel.” Anyone interested in the meanings of the foregoing quotes can google them because I won’t delve into a protracted discussion about their meaning but suffice to say, I find the quotes very instructive given the on-going discourse on the darkness and uncertainty Kenya and Kenyans are going through.

The recent terrorist attacks in Nairobi and Mombasa have confused and divided Kenyans and like clockwork, one of the fault lines has been along tribal lines. The divide has also pitted rabid flag-wavers and self-proclaimed “patriots” who hold steadfast to the dictum “Kenya: Love it or leave it!” on one side and “unpatriotic” folks who display the bumper sticker “Don’t blame me, I voted for CORD!” between moments of Schadenfreude and acceptance, on the other.

I would add a third category of people who love Kenya but want to see its leadership and people come together and do better. I would then lump the full spectrum of perspectives under the heading “Democracy At Work”; the making of sausage allusion notwithstanding.

In a piece titled “How Kenya lost billions since independence,” Dr. David Ndii of Africa Economics writes that “Uhuru is Kenyatta’s biological son. He is Moi’s political son. It is said he is Kibaki’s godson. Apples don’t fall far trees.” Much like the Anglo Leasing scheme that just cost the country KSh. 1.4Billion for security goods and services yet-to-be-delivered, it is not implausible, irresponsible or “un-patriotic” to posit that the ease and frequency with which the extremist attacks are currently occurring in Kenya has been in the making for some time.

It is disingenuous and naïve to separate Kenya’s history of corruption, nepotism, impunity and tribalism from its on-going flailing fight against extremism, corruption, tribalism and nepotism. The fore-going is the very point Alex Ndegwa makes in the piece “Anglo Leasing follows President Uhuru Kenyatta to State House”. Mr. Ndegwa writes that “…Anglo leasing deals were conceived in 2001 under similar pressure for cash and runaway insecurity, as the spate of terror attacks gripping the country today.”

At the risk of repeating myself and stating the obvious, Kenya is a society where anyone with money or connections can get anything – legally AND illegally – and in the latter scenario, without suffering any consequences in a court of law or in the court of public opinion. This perspective dovetails with Mr. John Githongo’s assertion that “corrupt individuals resort to security matters when other avenues for looting (are) tightened.” The former head of the country’s anti-corruption commission further noted that “one of the major contracts in the Anglo Leasing scam was to have tamper-proof passports as a security matter that was vital for the country”; arguably for its security.

The fact is corruption, nepotism and impunity are not unique to Kenya but to paraphrase Senator Obama during his visit to Kenya in 2006, the three isms have attained crisis-levels in Kenya, the American president’s father’s country of birth.

The world has changed since Kenya’s war with the Shiftas shortly after independence. As romantic as some would like it to be, it is highly unlikely that the tactics used by Kenyatta Pere to deal with the secessionist movement in Kenya’s Northern Frontier DIstrict would work in an era where the internet and jet travel have made possible asymmetrical warfare and attacks by one or two “lone wolves” with extremist views and/or an axe to grind against countries.

Shortly after 9/11, the US put in place systems – Department of Homeland Security – aimed at closing the loopholes that were exploited by the 19 extremists who perpetrated the dastardly acts. Even more important, the bureaucracy was staffed with competent professionals who owed their allegiance to the country, not a person or group. The story of Bernard Kerik offers a glimpse into the seriousness with which the US took the scourge of extremism. It also offers a template that Uhuru can use in structuring and staffing Kenya’s security bureaucracy. The simple version is that Mr. Kerik, a politically-connected former commissioner of NY Police Department withdrew his name from consideration as secretary of DHS because of past indiscretions – “personal challenges” if you may. That he lost out on the cabinet position was the least of his worries because the confirmation process shone a light on his unsavory and criminal past. “Bernie” was discharged from federal custody on October 15, 2013, after serving 5 months of home confinement for a past that begun to unravel during the confirmation hearings.

My point?

Fighting extremism is extremely difficult under the “best” of circumstances.  It is made almost impossible when security systems/measures are staffed/overseen by incompetent and unethical individuals who are seemingly “protected” thanks to their relationship with or proximity to the center of power.

While the foregoing Monday morning quarterbacking is made from the safety and comfort of a café using a laptop, a fact some have used to ridicule my opinions, it dovetails with my larger point on tribalism, nepotism, corruption and their impact on Kenya’s on-going tribulations. With that said, let me offer Kenyatta Son’s own assessment back in 2006. Said the man now leading the country:

“…Anglo-leasing related projects represented three of the most prominent characteristics of corruption in our country. They represent impunity, negligence and recklessness in the management of public resources. They also represent the regrettable feature of lack of responsibility and unaccountable conscience on the part of those charged with the management of national resources that are put under them.”

Plus ça change, plus c’est la même chose.

Kensanity indeed!

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May 29, 2014 · 5:18 AM
May 22, 2014 · 12:48 AM

Insecurity in Kenya: The “New Normal”.

Unfortunately, the twin bomb blasts in Gikomba, coming less than a month after the attacks in Thika is the “new normal” in Kenya.

Kenya “stirred a hornets’ nest” when its forces invaded Somalia in October 2011. While folks can debate the wisdom of the invasion, I can say that it, the invasion, has combined with the endemic corruption, hubris and jingoism of the ruling Jubilee party and its supporters and the utter incompetence of the Kenyatta government to exacerbated Kenya’s insecurity and instability.

With bomb blasts occurring throughout the country with alarming frequency, a look into the country’s internal security operations recently revealed that the government allocated twenty-eight million shillings to the Anti-Terrorism Police Unit (ATPU) which is tasked with fighting Kenya’s “war on terror”. The Sh.28Million is in contrast to the Sh.150Million allocated to funding the retirement of some of the country’s wealthiest persons – former presidents Moi and Kibaki. The amount allocated to the ATPU is 43% less than the KSh.40Million allocated for the First Lady’s “hospitality supplies and services”. And in a near-corollary to Kenya’s insecurity nightmare, Mr. Kenyatta just authorized payment of Sh.1.4Billion to yet-to-be named persons for yet-to-be-delivered national security goods and services!

In the midst of the last attacks about three weeks ago, Mr. Kenyatta made an “official trip” to Nigeria where he inked business deals with a Nigerian government also fighting its own battle with the extremist outfit Boko Haram. The symbolism of the Kenyan president hob-knobbing with his Nigerian counterpart even as their two countries face relentless attacks should have sent their respective PR departments running for cover out of embarrassment.

Equally curious were the pronouncements by Mr. Karanja Kibicho less than twenty-four hours before the Gikomba attacks. Speaking in response to the travel advisories issued by the US and UK, the Foreign Affairs Principal Secretary asserted that “issuance of…travel advisories only play to the whims of bad elements in the society whose aim is to spread fear and panic among otherwise peaceful people.” Mr. Kibicho went on to say that “visitors are assured to (sic) utmost security and safety when in Kenya.”

Finally, I wrote in a previous piece that corruption will continue to be a major contributing factor in the on-going spate of violence in Kenya. As an example, I cited issuance of national IDs and passports to non-Kenyans by corrupt bureaucrats. Like others have also written, I pointed out the tendency of Kenya’s police of entering vehicles that have been stopped ostensibly for traffic infractions. The officers do this to hide the exchange of “kitu kidogo” away from the public; an act that was partly responsible for the blast in Pangani that took four lives – two policemen and the two persons in the car that had been stopped.

The fight against extremism requires a big stick AND a carrot; lots of carrots!

Having executed the former with limited success, the Kenyan government needs to bring out the carrots. Included in the carrot category would be the symbolic actions of Mr. Kenyatta’s and members of his government.

To wit: leaving the country shortly after an attack may project an image of “business-as-usual”. It can also create the impression that he, the president, does not care about the afflicted or the insecurity wreaking havoc in the country he swore to serve and to protect. If I were advising the president, I would tell him to act “engaged” and “concerned” especially after any tragedy. As much as I think former New York Mayor Rudy Giuliani has over-milked his stewardship of New York after 9/11, Mr. Kenyatta should borrow a page from the former mayor’s performance after the attacks on the Twin Towers. Mr. Giuliani basically wrote the book on the conduct of elected officials after tragedies. A visit to the sight of the attack AND with the injured shortly after the attacks would convey both engagement and empathy – a “today we are all Kenyan” image.

Official pronouncements should be coherent, coordinated and rooted in reality. Talking tough and thumping one’s chest while getting your head literally handed to you is embarrassing. Announcing that “all is under control” only to have an attack happen within 24 hours of said assurance would be grounds for immediate termination of the “announcee” in most countries.

Incoherent and disjointed public pronouncements by Jubilee appointees Kibicho, Ole Lenku, Kimaiyo and the president himself continue to diminish his government’s already non-existent credibility.

Additionally, there is nothing wrong with asking for help from those who have experienced what one is going through. Mr. Kenyatta should ask Mr. Goodluck Jonathan. Had his Nigerian government swallowed its pride and asked the international community for help immediately after the 200+ schoolgirls were kidnapped by Boko Haram, who knows what the outcome to the tragedy would have been? As it currently stands 30+ days after the attack, any evidence and traces of the girls’ whereabouts have pretty much dissipated.

Budgetary breakdowns illustrate a country’s priorities and have consequences. Allocating almost 500% more money to fund the retirements of the ridiculously wealthy ex-presidents Moi and Kibaki than to the outfit at “the tip of the spear” in the country’s fight against extremism sends the wrong message to all including the terrorists. The fight against extremism and the perpetrators of death and destruction should be funded with a budget commensurate with the problem. I would be curious to see how much money the travel advisories issued by America and Gt. Britain among others cost Kenya’s tourism industry.

Mr. Kenyatta has said that those carrying out the attacks want to divide Kenyans along religious lines. In the wake of the attacks in Thika, allegedly perpetrated by Luo and Kamba attackers, some have also argued that said attackers want to divide Kenya along tribal lines. I won’t deign to understand what motivates some to cause wanton death and destruction on unsuspecting fellow humans. What I do know is that the aim of terrorism is to spread fear among the public.

Mr. Kenyatta and his government need to reassure the increasingly jittery Kenyan public that they can deal effectively with the scourge that is terrorism and extremism before it is too late.

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April 7, 2014 · 5:47 PM

Kenya’s War on Extremism: A Slippery Slope

That was an interesting photo-op of President Uhuru Kenyatta and diplomats from the much-maligned “western imperialist powers” United Kingdom, US, Australia and Canada on April 5, 2014. The respective diplomats Dr. Christian Turner, Robert Godec, Geoff Tooth and David Angell all paid a courtesy visit to Mr. Kenyatta at State House Nairobi, a visit whose timing could not have been spot-on given the country’s apparent inability to deal with the violence perpetrated by extremisms in their midst; home-grown extremism if you will.

Visibly absent and I will add silent thus far as Kenya faces the scourge that is violence driven by radicalism is its new BFF China. I would imagine that the Chinese, who also have their own problem of (Uygar) extremism, are on board with Kenya’s fight: A public pronouncement of that support would be nice unless I missed one.

The challenge for Kenya and Mr. Kenyatta remains adherence to its constitution and all that is enshrined therein: civil/human and religious rights while protecting ALL its citizens.

Based on the government’s recent utterances and actions, I would argue that Kenya’s leaders are desperately trying to thread the needle between these oftentimes conflicting ideals. It is a task made even more daunting by a country whose past is littered with isms of many permutations and has potential fault lines along said isms which can and have easily been exploited thus making its stability tenuous at best. It also does not help that Kenya finally has a constitution-based/driven democracy that is still struggling to find its land legs.

ALL communities in Kenya form the mosaic, the fabric that is Kenya. ALL these communities also have a solemn responsibility to flush out any extremism in their midst be it Al-Shahaab sympathizers or adherents to the Mungiki or any other indigenous and tribal-based extremist groups within the country.

Beyond focusing on the “clear and present danger” posed by the visible and tragic actions of a few, Kenya and Kenyans have an equally solemn responsibility to avoid sweeping bigotry and stereotyping that puts the onus on members of any one group to prove that they are “good people” as one blogger put it. The foregoing brings to mind the silliness of “real Americans” vs. “un-real or fake Americans” birthed and peddled by GOP extremists here in the US. Such a mindset is akin to asking all Luos to prove that they are not “stone-throwers” or asking all Kikuyus to prove that they are not sympathizers of the Mungiki. The notion that there is something wrong with Mr. Aden Duale’s protestations against the actions of the government he serves for making sweeping indictments against a community/region he represents puts Dr. Martin L. King’s caution about the silence of the majority giving tacit approval to the hatred of a minority on its head.

Few would doubt that the country of my birth Kenya and most of her citizens have been steadfastly unequivocal against intolerance and hatred. However, Kenyans have also been party to evil and hatred predicated on perceived differences as recent as the post-election violence of 2007/8.

I have always believed that the anonymity of the internet provides a window through which one can get an unvarnished view into the soul of any society albeit a narrow one: To wit, the notion that there are some who have zero compunction about referring to entire groups as “cold blooded idiots…and…evil comrades who don’t even respect house of worship…are filled with irrational hatred and rage…” further telling another that “…your kind are not capable of human feelings…your evil parasites who hide underground like ravenous rodents” maybe the opinion of some misguided and angry individual(s) whose identity is “protected” by the internet – Edward Snowden anyone?

The problem occurs when a watered down variant of the foregoing hate-speech is echoed by the authorities.

Mr. Kenyatta and his ruling Jubilee Party are at a cross-road regarding Kenya’s fight against radicalism and extremism. Far from being the election-cycle driven ethnic violence most Kenyans expect and are macabrely immune to, the current spate of bombings and wanton violence against civilians including a one-and-a-half year old baby is well outside the election cycle. The violence has a religious dimension to it. And in a near-perfect storm, the violence is playing out in a polity whose citizenry has allowed its politicians to play up and prey on their differences (tribal/ethnic) to hold on to power and “eat”!

I do not have any answers on how Mr. Kenyatta should deal with the religious-fueled violence facing his struggling administration. I do know that playing the “religious card” as some in my adopted home tried doing shortly after 9/11 is a slippery slope that the president and Kenyans would be well-advised to steer clear of.

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February 10, 2014 · 5:04 PM

Never Again – Until Next Time

Back in September of 2013, I wrote a piece titled “The Hague Imefika” or “The Hague Has Arrived” where in response to the erratic commencement of the crimes against humanity cases against the three Kenyans charged, I offered that the cases against the deputy president Mr. Ruto could have started out “much smoother” and that Ms. Fatou Bensouda appeared “unprepared” to begin the cases. I also wrote that the high-priced lawyers, especially the ones representing the two principals, may successfully argue dismissal (of the cases); even acquittal for both the president and his deputy.

https://thetwoninetyonetracker.com/2013/09/18/the-hague-imefika/

In this updated reading of the tea leaves, I am offering that several recent developments all point to the possibility I reluctantly theorized late last year when the trials begun: That one of the two principals may be acquitted or have their case fully dismissed based on the following:

  • The January decision by the Chief Prosecutor to adjourn the case against Mr. Kenyatta, ostensibly to give her time to “obtain additional evidence and consider whether such evidence will fully meet the evidentiary threshold required at trial”.
  • The recently announced sequence of meetings held by the court during late January and early February 2014, not to mention the one scheduled for Thursday, February 13.
  • The recent announcement that suspect Mr. Kenyatta is “said to be on the invitation list” for the inaugural US-Africa Leaders’ Summit in Washington.
  • The apathetic mood of Kenyans, indeed Africans, towards the ICC: The accused may be scoundrels but they are OUR scoundrels!

http://www.nation.co.ke/news/politics/Now-Bensouda-wants-Uhuru-case-adjourned/-/1064/2119498/-/nufy37/-/index.html

http://standardmedia.co.ke/?articleID=2000104110&story_title=another-uhuru-meeting-called-at-icc

http://www.nation.co.ke/news/Obama-invites-Uhuru-Kenyatta-to-US-summit/-/1056/2155432/-/14sp3l1z/-/index.html

http://iwpr.net/report-news/kenyan-support-icc-trials-falls

Given the foregoing, it is my opinion that the case against the senior half of the digital duo may be dropped for reasons that have very little to do with Mr. Kenyatta’s innocence and more to do with the politicization of the case as recently conceded by Mr. Ocampo; a scenario most Kenyans should be fully familiar with and that is always in the background in such high profile cases. Additionally, Mr. Kenyatta’s case may be dropped because he and his deputy Mr. Ruto were able to form a convenient and timely union – “coalition of the accused” – between their two populous communities and ride the “tyranny of numbers” to the 2012 presidency and deputy presidency respectively. The move was a masterstroke that dared their accuser – International Criminal Court (ICC) – to prosecute a sitting president and his deputy, the former a son of one of the founding members of Pan-African Movement. Calling their bluff and doing just that put the international organization in the crosshairs of the African Union (AU), an organization with a membership whose conduct, past and present, made the (ICC) court necessary. Sensing that they could be next, the big men of the AU formed yet another union aptly called “coalition of the threatened” less from the desire to do the right thing for their subjects and more out of self-preservation. The rest as they say is history.

As much as I was hoping for all the cases facing the Kenyan suspects to proceed i.e. be presented before the judges and heard to their conclusion replete with presentation of all available evidence, I have to respect, indeed commend Ms. Bensouda’s concession that she does not have the evidence to sustain the case. She does not have the evidence that will “meet the evidentiary threshold required at trial” not necessarily because the evidence does not exist, but because she is persecuting the very persons who control, thus can manipulate the levers that open or close access to said evidence!

The following comments made by the Victims’ Legal Representative Mr. Fergal Gaynor best capture the dilemma that faced Ms. Bensouda. The comments should also give pause to those interested in a Kenya, indeed an Africa where the rich and powerful are not above the law and are held to account by a fair and unfettered judicial process that cannot be blatantly manipulated.  Said Mr. Gaynor:

“The fact remains that there was massive obstruction to availability of evidence from phone companies and the government. Nobody wants a conviction based on false evidence. “

The Irish barrister went on to say that:

“There have been unprecedented levels of witness intimidation and interference. The accused has devoted enormous resources to end the case. The national Commissioner of Police himself was charged but there was no interest in taking evidence which might implicate him. Little wonder that the Kenyatta case has suffered such devastating setbacks”

http://www.nation.co.ke/news/politics/Uhuru-kenyatta-ICC-status-conference-bensouda-evidence/-/1064/2193582/-/qgv7naz/-/index.html

Echoing the very sentiments was a piece in the Global Post that wrote:

“The five-year-long procedures in the Kenya cases have displayed all the court’s weak points and flaws, including its dependency on state cooperation for evidence collection, difficulties in protecting its witnesses and vulnerability to political pressures.”

http://www.globalpost.com/dispatch/news/regions/africa/kenya/140206/uhuru-kenyattas-trial-case-study-whats-wrong-the-icc

Finally, the man who set the ball rolling, the erstwhile Chief Prosecutor of the International Criminal Court Argentinian Luis Moreno Ocampo offered a variant of what the piece in the Global Post and Mr. Gaynor both said:

“….the Waki Commission…. gave a lot of evidence on Mr. Ruto and less on the atrocities allegedly perpetrated by Mr. Kenyatta…..(possibly) because Mr. Kenyatta was then in government which made it difficult for the Commission to gather sufficient evidence against him.”

http://www.nation.co.ke/news/politics/Ocampo-Envoys-wanted-Uhuru-and-Ruto-out-of-polls/-/1064/2197348/-/14sap7sz/-/index.html

The foregoing assessments are sad indictments on an international community that has at one time or another invariably said “Never Again” in the wake of wide-spread atrocities and extensive human suffering. The post-election violence of 2007 caused the death of 1,300 innocent Kenyans and to-date, most (Kenyans) cannot identify or name any high-ranking official or anyone for that matter who has been brought to justice for said mayhem: I certainly cannot cite a pronouncement by Kenya’s courts pointing to actions against people charged with fomenting the violence of 2007/08.

That Mr. Kenyatta may beat back the charges he is facing at The Hague would be a disappointment, not only to me, but to those in Kiambaa, Kibera, Kisumu, Nakuru, Naivasha etc. who not only lost loved ones, but life-long accumulation of relations and property at the hands of events and individuals allegedly organized and funded by the two principals.

On the other hand and in a uniquely Kenyan and now international community meme, most will “accept and move on” from the tragedy of PEV-2007 to the next one – in South Sudan, Syria, Central African Republic etc.

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February 4, 2014 · 5:13 AM

Harnessing Our Collective Wherewithall

This piece is a follow-up to a conversation I had with a University of Nevada Police Officer during the International Rugby Board Seven Series (IRB Sevens Round 4) that I wrote for Mwakilishi.com. I struck a lengthy conversation with the officer who was manning the entrance to Portal 5; the section of Sam Boyd Stadium where most Kenyan fans sat during the just concluded event. It was a discussion that got me wondering whether like some other groups in the diaspora, Kenyans have been able to harness their power, especially economic power, to impact change home and abroad. During the conversation, Officer James (not his real name), absolutely impressed by the camaraderie and bonhomie displayed by Kenyans towards one another asked me whether we (Kenyans) were as friendly with and caring of one another back “in the motherland” as we were up in the stands.

http://www.mwakilishi.com/content/blogs/2014/01/27/diasporaville-wanakenya-halisi-representin-in-vegas.html

I reflected on Mr. James’s observations then juxtaposed them with a thought I had been mulling over for quite some time: The widely-held belief that the Jewish Diaspora, especially here in the United States has done well not only supporting Israel financially, but more importantly, impacting America’s foreign policy in favor of the country, especially in the Middle East and at the United Nations (UN). The so-called “Jewish Lobby” has been, in equal parts, vilified and admired by friends and foe alike for its ability to influence American leadership since Israel got its independence in 1948, certainly after the Six-Day War of 1967. To be sure, that the Jews suffered the Holocaust and are under the constant threat of being attacked is a clear and present danger that the international community should be forever mindful of.

In their book “The Israel Lobby and US Foreign Policy”, authors John Mearsheimer and Steve Walt describe the Jewish or Israel Lobby as a “loose coalition of individuals and organizations who actively work to steer U.S. foreign policy in a pro-Israel direction” that is oftentimes “unintentionally harmful to Israel as well.” Disparate groups from the Anti-Defamation League (ADL), American-Israeli Public Affairs Congress (AIPAC), Jewish Defense League (JDL), and American-Jewish Congress (AJC) are among several whose stated objectives include fighting anti-Semitism, bigotry and defending democratic ideals and civil rights for all. Taken collectively, these objectives have resulted in policies that support and favor the small nation of 8 million Jews AND Arabs.

Full Disclosure:

I do not have evidence to support my contention that the Kenyan diaspora has not harnessed its (economic) power to impact change abroad and at home as effectively as say Israel. What I can say is that had the president of Israel and his deputy been facing crimes against humanity charges before the International Criminal Court at The Hague, the US would not have been silent. Actually the case would NOT even have been brought before the court because the US would have vetoed efforts to do so. I am thus using that Mr. Kenyatta and Mr. Ruto are facing charges of crimes against humanity at The Hague as indication of the country’s inability to impact policy at the international level, the recent proclamations by the country’s Foreign Minister Ms. Amina Mohammed notwithstanding.

http://www.nation.co.ke/news/politics/African-Union-icc-UHURU-Ruto-amina-mohamed/-/1064/2164694/-/147psgp/-/index.html

The financial power of Kenya’s diaspora is real and no longer in doubt. Even more relevant to Kenyans in the United States and Canada, of the more than $1billion remitted back home in 2013, just under $500Million come from these two countries! Equally important is the fact that the KShs. 112billion remitted back to Kenya, also in 2013 is bested only by foreign exchange earned from tourism, tea and horticulture.

http://www.theafricareport.com/Reuters-Feed/Kenyan-remittances-on-course-for-record-in-2013.html

A recent piece in the Daily Nation about a new organization – Kenya Diaspora Development Forum – whose stated vision is “Harnessing Diasporas and Partners resources towards improvement of Kenyan Communities towards vision 2030” – was mostly met with derision, at least based on the comments in response to the article. Another Daily Nation article on the subject further speaks/spoke to the animus and mistrust amongst those in the diaspora. Efforts at organizing those in the diaspora have also been met with swift rejoinders with those excluded from said efforts accusing those organizing/attending said meetings of being “…imposters and fellows out to hijack the diaspora issue to use it for their own selfish ends.” Finally, the Kenyan government is still developing their diaspora policy and as of going to the press, all I could find was the draft version of the Diaspora Policy of Kenya report published 3 years ago in 2011.

http://www.nation.co.ke/news/diaspora/Kenya-Diaspora-Organisation-Unity/-/2107720/2132710/-/5qopdz/-/index.html

http://www.kenyaddf.org/

http://www.nation.co.ke/news/UK-court-orders-2-Kenyans-to-pay-Sh3-6m-for-defamation/-/1056/2165580/-/uls3wmz/-/index.html

http://www.mwakilishi.com/content/articles/2013/05/23/kenyan-diaspora-dismisses-a-group-claiming-to-speak-on-their-behalf.html

http://www.kenyaembassy.com/pdfs/DraftDiasporaPolicyofKenya.pdf

Given the diaspora’s unquestionable (economic) clout, I have the following questions:

  1. Have Kenyans in the diaspora used their economic clout to impact policies towards the “motherland” not only abroad, but at home as well?
  2. Have they been successful at educating and influencing decision-makers and opinion leaders wherever they are about the value of strengthening relationships with Kenya?
  3. Have Kenyans been successful at convincing the outside world that it is in their best interest to help ensure that Kenya, given its rather unfriendly neighborhood: Lord’s Resistance Army (LRA) to the west in Uganda, Al-Shabaab to the east in Somalia, probably in Kenya as well and fellow-failed states Somalia South Sudan, respectively on its north-east and north-west border, are stable and safe?
  4. Are Kenyans abroad as united – abroad and at home – as portrayed during the IRB Sevens and other international events such as marathons and other running events?
  5. How does the fact that Kenyans back home cannot talk with a unified voice even on basic issues affect their unity in the diaspora?
  6. As an upshot to No. 2, does the fact that some in the diaspora retain some of their tribal biases and culture affect their unity and effectiveness?
  7. Does the fact that there are several organizations with the same basic vision and mission representing the interests of Kenyans in the diaspora dilute their effectiveness?
  8. How does Kenya’s reputation as a corrupt and poorly-governed country affect the ability of its citizens abroad to influence policy both in the diaspora and at home?
  9. Does the vastness and uniqueness of the diaspora, encompassing all continents, affect the effectiveness of organizations seeking to represent the interests of Kenyan diaspora?

This is partial list of questions and the article is not to prescribe answers or solutions to the questions. It is to ask them and spur discussions on how we in the diaspora can become effective in affecting policy here in the diaspora and abroad; definitely improve our effectiveness in doing so. As succinctly put by one Murori Kiunga, “Kenyan diaspora can do more than just remit money!”

http://mwakilishi.com/content/blogs/2011/12/29/kenyan-diaspora-can-do-more-than-just-remit-money.html

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January 5, 2014 · 5:29 AM

Selective flexing of continental muscle?

The African Union (AU) has said it will impose “targeted sanctions” in response to the violence in war-torn South Sudan where two weeks of fighting between the mostly Dinka forces loyal to President Salva Kiir and the mostly Nuer forces loyal to former vice-president Riek Machar is feared to have left thousands dead and several thousand others displaced. The AU made this western-like pronouncement even as the government of the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC), another member state, was reporting that “forty people who took part in an uprising Monday in Kinshasa, taking hostages and firing at the airport and a military headquarters were killed…” in a conflict that has been raging since 1996!
http://www.capitalfm.co.ke/news/2013/12/40-attackers-killed-in-uprising-in-dr-congo-capital/
That the preeminent political body in Africa has yet to stake such a “muscular” position on the continent’s other conflicts in the DRC, Mali, Nigeria or Central African Republic (CAR) begs the following:
– Why is the AU threatening military action in South Sudan and while remaining mute, certainly passive, on the other three conflicts in Africa all which pre-date the conflict in Southern Sudan?
– Why is Mr. Museveni ready to go to war against the mostly-Nuer rebels loyal to Riek Machar even as the country’s beleaguered president Salva Kiir of the majority Dinka tribe seemingly makes decisions that alienate the other tribes in a trend consistent across most African countries since independence?
Of the afore-mentioned conflicts, the one in the Democratic Republic of Congo has been raging since 1996 and recently saw government forces repulse an attack by several youths aligned with Christian leader Paul Joseph Mukungubila who had attacked the airport, military barracks and the state radio and television stations. Regarding the civil strife in Central African Republic, one can make a compelling case that the country has been at war since Jean Bedel Bokassa overthrew the presidency of a distant cousin David Dacko who had appointed him to head the armed forces back in 1966! The CAR is the definition of a “failed state” and as recent as late December 2013, a spokesman for the African Union peacekeeping mission in the country reported the discovery of a mass grave in the capital Bangui. Mali’s civil war begun in the country’s northern region when in early 2012, insurgents began fighting for independence and greater autonomy from the central government in Bamako. Finally, Nigeria has been dealing with the Boko Haram insurgency since 2001; an insurgency that has caused an estimated 10,000 deaths since 2001.
http://www.globalsecurity.org/military/world/war/congo.htm
http://www.nytimes.com/2013/12/31/world/africa/quelling-attacks-in-the-capital-congolese-troops-kill-dozens.html?_r=0
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Conflict_in_Mali
http://news.yahoo.com/mass-grave-found-central-african-republic-192648310.html;_ylt=A0SO8oYL0cRSulsAhXBXNyoA;_ylu=X3oDMTB0aG01cW5wBHNlYwNzYwRjb2xvA2dxMQR2dGlkA1ZJUDMxOV8x
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Boko_Haram
On the conflict in South Sudan, Uganda’s president Yoweri Museveni has already thrown down the gauntlet warning Mr. Machar that if he did not “report to the negotiating table…’we’ shall have to go for him, all of us.” This indeed is tough talk from someone who has consistently lambasted the west for flexing its muscle in conflicts around the world. I have to say that Mr. Kiir and Mr. Machar need to heed the tough talk given the toll their “personal challenges” is taking on the people of South Sudan. The tough talk aside, the African Union’s unity and resoluteness faces an uphill battle given what is usually the main cause of the continent’s conflicts.
http://www.nation.co.ke/news/africa/Machar-sends-peace-envoys-but-still-fighting/-/1066/2130604/-/kl9skl/-/index.html
Mr. Kiir’s decision to fire his vice president Mr. Machar AND imprison some of Machar’s mostly Nuer supporters is one that has been duplicated, in some way, shape or form in country after country in Africa since the 60s. As an example, once in office, Kenya’s first three presidents all consolidated their hold on power by surrounding themselves with Kenyans from their tribe AT the expense of equally-qualified Kenyans from other tribes. According to Charles Hornsby in his book Kenya: A History Since Independence, “(J)ust as Kenyatta had done, Moi…(developed) an inner circle or kitchen cabinet of loyalists….(A)mongst these Kalenjin insiders were Biwott…Stanley Metto…Isaac Salat…” (p373). Kenyatta Pere was thus surrounded by the “Kiambu Mafia” and Arap Moi relied on the “Tugen Mafia” (p582). Regarding Mr. Mwai Kibaki’s presidency, Mr. Hornsby writes that “…as Kalenjin executives and (former president) Moi’s…partners were evicted, a high proportion were replaced with people from the GEMA (Gikuyu Embu Meru Association) communities….described now as the ‘Mount Kenya’ people.” (p711). This same sentiment is expressed by Dr. Francis K. Sang the former Director of the Criminal Investigation Department (CID) in his book A Noble But Onerous Duty. The former sleuth writes that a complete overhaul of the top hierarchy of the Kenya Police and its military followed Mr. Kibaki’s ascension to power in 2002 as powerbrokers allied to the incoming president worked “tirelessly in search of public positions for their kith and kin.” (p62-63)
Mr. Pete Ondeng, in an article in the January 2, 2014 Daily Nation titled South Sudan bleeds, and the nation’s leaders must now staunch the wound writes that “it was only a matter of time before the war between the largely Islamic and predominantly Arabic north and the south would morph into a post-independence power struggle for the soul of the new nation.” Maybe Mr. Ondeng is using the phrase “soul of the new nation” to mean “matunda ya uhuru” or “fruits of independence” because I believe that given Africa’s post-independence trajectory, most if not all the conflicts have been about control of resources by the ethnic majority and those it can co-opt into their sphere of influence. Some, including Mr. Uhuru Kenyatta, have made the argument that the conflict between Kiir and Machar is a “political conflict”. That may be so but Mr. Kiir changed that calculus in mid-2013 when he neutered internal Sudan People’s Liberation Movement (SPLM) decision-making bodies such as the political bureau after it appeared that Mr. Machar’s predominantly Nuer caucus had the votes to overturn Mr. Kiir’s decision to fire his VP and dismiss the VP’s supporters. It is this abuse of power (by Mr. Kiir), after the people of South Sudan united against Khartoum during the fight for independence in the 2000s, that has opened and deepened the various fissures including ethnic fault lines that were papered over during the lead-up to independence.
http://www.nation.co.ke/oped/Opinion/South-Sudan-Conflict-Salva-Kiir-Riek-Machar/-/440808/2132610/-/43i5m7/-/index.html
http://www.foreignaffairs.com/articles/140617/alex-de-waal-and-abdul-mohammed/breakdown-in-south-sudan
Moving forward, I would argue that the challenge for the African Union’s new-found muscles and unity is consistency in confronting civil strife within ALL its member states. Rightfully so, African leaders have already staked the position that the west (and foreigners in general) cannot prescribe solutions for what ails the continent’s fifty-plus nations. At the very basic level of analysis, I do agree with AU’s position: For solutions to some of the continent’s challenges to be effective, not only do they have to be crafted by local key stakeholders; said stakeholders have to be front-and-center in their implementation.
The unfortunate thing though, is that Africa’s history is rife with “homegrown” solutions that barely, if at all, represent the interest of minority groups. The continent is also chockfull of local solutions under the guise of so-called memorandums-of-understanding (MoU) that are not honored or are unilaterally modified by the party or parties involved. Finally, the clamor for “African solutions for Africa’s problems” has oftentimes had foreign components to them. Foreign interference in (indigenous) African conflicts has had so many deleterious effects on the very people the “solutions” were intended to help that it boggles the mind how these very African leaders who preach “national pride” and “pan-Africanism”, knowing the continent’s history with foreign powers could countenance fully embracing or “off-shoring” implementation of the solutions to those very foreigners.

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January 4, 2014 · 4:39 AM

RECONCILE, I command thee!!

If you ever wondered why some Kenyans were baying “don’t be vague….” in the wake of the post-election violence of 2007 or why the country is considered a “failed state”, then the Evans Kidero-Rachel Shebesh saga is Exhibit A. The 3-month saga is symbolic of a judicial institution that appears completely malleable when confronted with cases involving powerful and well-connected personalities.

The governor of Nairobi Mr. Evans Kidero is caught on a September 6, 2013 video assaulting the Nairobi women’s representative Ms. Rachel Shebesh. The Director of Public Prosecutions (DPP) Mr. Keriako Tobiko, supposedly investigates, make that “peruses” the case files and eventually orders both the governor and the representative to be charged with assault and creating disturbance respectively. Fast-forward 2-3days after the DPP’s “order” and we have an entirely different “order”. This latest one has High Court Justice Isaac Lenaola blocking the public prosecutor from pursuing the charges against the two even as he (Mr. Lenaola) orders the warring parties to report back to him within 13 days!

Come again?
http://www.nation.co.ke/news/Kidero-Shebesh-charges-dpp-keriako-tobiko-court/-/1056/2133132/-/skm63n/-/index.html
http://www.nation.co.ke/news/DPP-Keriako-Tobiko-Evans-Kidero-Rachel-Shebesh/-/1056/2131064/-/2rlcikz/-/index.html
I am hoping that Mr. Lenaoloa’s ruling on the matter is within the purview of his docket which would then beg the larger question: Why did the DPP proceed with filing the case if he knew that a high court judge could block the case and offer a completely different remedy? For the record, I will come out and say that I will not be surprised if the judge acted outside the scope of his office.

The fact is Mr. Kidero and Ms. Shebesh both comported themselves in a manner unbecoming of persons in the public eye. It is one thing to protest against a ruling or policy one disagrees with as the latter was supposedly doing when she led aggrieved Nairobi City County workers to Dr. Kidero’s office where they proceeded to demand better pay. It is another thing to violate someone’s personal space, let alone assault them as Ms. Shebesh allegedly did when she “hit” the governor in the groin; an alleged assault that earned Mme. Rachel the “slap seen around the world” courtesy of Steve Chen, Chad Hurley and Jawed Karim.
http://www.nation.co.ke/news/Kidero-you-slapped-me-cries-Shebesh/-/1056/1982610/-/4a1m39/-/index.html
So after a 3month investigation, the DPP orders Mr. Ndegwa Muhoro, the Directorate of Criminal Investigations boss, to proceed with charges against the 2 and in approximately seventy-two hours, the DPP’s investigation and order is trashed; reduced to a judge’s command that Ms. Shebesh and Dr. Kidero basically “kiss and make up”! It is this flippancy and pliability of Kenya’s legal system when it comes to dealing with cases involving powerful and well-connected personalities that prompted the country’s legislatures (MPs) and a majority of the public (at the time) to call for the current president and his deputy to be tried at The Hague instead of at Milimani for allegedly organizing and financing the PEV-2007. It is also this bipolar characteristic of Kenya’s judicial process that makes some of us, me included, push for external oversight in high profile cases even as we/I acknowledge that the country does indeed have the legal brains to try said cases. Sadly though, Kenya, indeed Kenyans do not appear to have the political will/courage to compel their institutions to hold accountable the likes of Kidero and Shebesh and if necessary, the president and his deputy.

I would argue that had the altercation between the governor and the representative not made it to the DPP’s office for further investigation, then maybe the judge’s order for the two to reconcile would have been appropriate. The problem for all involved was the pesky YouTube video that captured the incident; a video that has already been viewed over 330,000 times on the Nation TV (NTV) website while the closest rival video titled “Married women turn to Prostitution” has under 198,000 views! Put another way, Mr. Kidero was seen (?), definitely heard slapping Ms. Shebesh; who for her part was heard (?) exclaiming “Kidero you slapped me?” Compounding the video evidence of the “personal challenge” facing the two combatants, the governor in particular, was the location of the pam (Luo for slap). Mr. Kidero is seen slapping Ms. Shebesh outside his office in City Hall! Talk about workplace violence!

With Mr. Isaac Lenaola’s decision ordering Mr. Kidero and Ms. Shebesh to reconcile, the comedy of error that is the Kenyan judicial process against the high and mighty takes yet another hit even though the ruling may be within the prerogative of a high court judge.
Oy Vei!!

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