[DEBATE] : (Fwd) Kenya updates

[Patrick Bond]

 From Njoki Njehu

January 7, 2008

A quick update from Kenya. I apologize that we aren't able to answer all 
the emails individually.

We are well and safe. Things are much calmer and quiet all around. There 
continue to be some problems in Rift Valley, but not on the scale we 
were seeing last week. In Nairobi, you can almost catch yourself 
thinking things are normal.

We have friends visiting Mombasa where there was violence and tear 
gassing report after Friday prayers. In our conversation yesterday 
(Saturday) they reported that it was very contained and only in a few 
blocks around the mosque.

My cousin who lives in Rift Valley, near Kericho, the tea growing 
region, says things are quiet and calm and this is also evidenced by the 
steady stream of arriving displaced people. It is calm in that they are 
able to get out and to travel away from where they were hiding or under 
police protection.

My sister Ciiru and I went to deliver blankets and clothing to one of 
the Red Cross centers about 30 kilometres from Nairobi in Limuru. Two 
trucks had just arrived packed with people fleeing the violence, they 
were just being given water, covered in dirt and soil - not just dust, 
and looking haunted, but relieved - men, women, and children with no 
personal belongings having lost everything. The stories of ordinary 
people's generosity, selflessness, and taking to great risk to protect, 
shelter, and feed the displaced is one of the true rays of hope in this 
heart-breaking situation. I witnessed women and men accompanied by their 
children and in some cases obviously grandchildren bring whatever they 
could to help, a bag of flour, a cabbage, cooking fat, tomatoes, 
clothes, blankets, shoes, etc. and as word went out that fuelwood was 
needed to cook, charcoal and firewood.

Things are cooling down, though not back to normal yet. All is not well 
in Kenya, although it seems that tempers are cooling some and the 
killing rampage has slowed down and/or stopped. Reports from some other 
parts of the country (Mombasa at the Coast, Eldoret in the Rift Valley, 
etc) are heart-wrenching - food scarcity; fuel shortage, so people are 
not able to leave the areas that have had lots of the violence; there 
are reports of rape of women and girls; and people are still generally 
scared and very terrorized based on their ethnicity, and/or perception 
of who they might have voted for in the presidential elections. Some of 
the demagoguery has quieted down, and the hardliners are softening, but 
still it is quite chilling. Rumors sprout everyday and the media and 
government has to keep issuing denials – on Friday it was that the water 
supply had been poisoned… People are generally scared and even in public 
places you do not hear laughter, the spirit of joy seems to have been 
sucked out of Kenya.

Archbishop Tutu was here to help with the situation and I believe he 
succeeded in getting the Kibaki and Raila sides to drop some of their 
hardline positions and move closer to dialogue. It seems that the 
hundreds of dead people, over 100,000 displaced, and dozens of raped 
women and girls are invisible and disappeared and this has become about 
these two men. It is quite obvious that the elections were rigged, but 
their greed for power and disregard for the loss of life and welfare of 
Kenya and ALL her peoples is outrageous.

The tribalists, the criminals, the rapists, the vengeful, the 
power-hungry, and other destructive forces have hijacked this moment 
which had the possibility of seeing Kenya and Kenyans birth a new 
future. Many people have tried to explain and/or give rationale to what 
unfolded in Kenya in the last week. Is it a class struggle or tribal 
warfare/ethnic cleansing? Is it disenfranchised voters demanding their 
rights? Or is it opportunists who have taken over for their own gain? 
They always seem to win and to be better prepared – there were reports 
before the elections of machetes being purchased in large volumes, and 
in one case someone was arrested with a trunkload/boot of new machetes! 
The previous three general elections (1992, 1997, and 2002) were 
preceded by so-called tribal violence, this time it has come post the 
elections. And this time, for the first time, the violence was unleashed 
in the full glare of the media because they were already covering the 
elections.

Kenya and all her peoples have been betrayed in so many ways and many 
times, but this time it somehow cuts deeper. We have fallen back and far 
from where we were five years ago. The 2002 elections were a victory for 
Kenyans everywhere and the gains since had turned Kenya around on to the 
path of change. Now the hearts of Kenyans are broken and our country has 
been ripped apart. And sadly we seem befuddled about how to begin 
healing. I believe we must start with each one of us reaching out in 
friendship and in peace. During the international days of action around 
January 26 called for by the World Social Forum (which was last held in 
Nairobi, just a year ago), our organization, Daughters of Mumbi, will be 
sponsoring events which will provide space for open discussion of what 
has befallen Kenya.

The people have already begun to lead and the "leaders" must follow in 
the quest for healing and reconciliation in Kenya.

Thank you for all your expressions of concern and good wishes.

Njoki (& Soren too)
-- 
Njoki Njoroge Njehu (Ms.)
Executive Director
Daughters of Mumbi Global Resource Center/ Solidarity Africa Network
P.O. Box 23306 – Lower Kabete - 00604
Nairobi, KENYA
Phone/Fax: +254-20-418-0282
Mobile : + 254 723 229 426
Email: daughtersofmumbi at gmail.com
SKYPE: solidarityafrica
URL: http://daughtersofmumbi.org


The Daughters of Mumbi Global Resource Center is inspired by values drawn
from four meanings of Mũmbi in the Gĩkũyũ language & culture:
• Creator – connecting to the environment which must 'include human 
beings as a species worth saving';
• Clan – pledging to build united, just, & caring communities and 
relationships at all levels;
• First Mother – honoring women's roles in anchoring family & community 
and linking to our respective diverse cultural roots; and
• Potter – recognizing dignity in the work of our hands, especially 
women's work and creativity.

***

General » JUKWAA » Democratic Consensus vs. Reactionary Discourse
http://jukwaa.proboards58.com/index.cgi?board=general&action=display&thread=1199698886
Democratic Consensus vs. Reactionary Discourse
Post by Kenya Democracy Project on Today at 4:41am

A Digital Essay By Onyango Oloo

PART I


A week after the violent post-election crisis in Kenya exploded onto
the global stage, there is an emerging consensus among progressive,
patriotic and democratically minded Kenyans:


1. Kibaki and his PNU cronies stole the Presidential election
using the Electoral Commission of Kenya, and it should be underscored,
the police, the paramilitary and other coercive organs of the state;
2. What we have in the country today is the reality of a civilian
coup with increasingly fascist tendencies as can be evidenced by
massive presence of the police and the paramilitary in the Kenyan
capital and the fact that it is often Police Commissioner
Major-General Hussein Ali and the Chief Propagandist, Dr. Alfred Mutua
who are the visible expression of government policy;

3. Mwai Kibaki's credibility as a would be elder statesman is
forever tarnished and his credentials as a "reformer" and "democrat"
shattered to smithereens;

4. The poor and other elements of the lumpen elements de classe
have turned their anger on each other reducing the conflict to crude
tribal terms as they simultaneously hunt the "evil ethnic other" and
cower from the same; unless stanched and nipped in the bud, the
ethnicized violence poses immediate and long term threats to the very
notion of Kenya;

5. That the business and professional elite as well as other
sections of the comprador/petit bourgeoisie, rattled by the financial
ramifications of the current unrest are desperate to restore an
element of "stability" and social control by bombarding Kenyans, via
the air waves and media channels of the need for a "peace" which is
not necessarily anchored in justice or democracy;

6. The major players in the capitals of capital- from Condoleeza
Rice at the US State Department, to David Miliband the British Foreign
Secretary to their counterparts and opposite numbers in Ottawa,
Canberra, Paris, Berlin and elsewhere are concerned that the current
unrest could degenerate into something that they cannot control or to
a situation that threatens the economic and geopolitical strategic
interests of international global monopoly capital;



At the other, reactionary, backward and right wing end of the
ideological and political spectrum, there is a desperate fight back to
revise the reality of the recent developments and create a
counter-discourse that is characterized by the following hall marks:


(a) A strident attempt to force a shot gun marriage between Raila
Odinga and Mwai Kibaki that will effectively legitimize the December
30th civilian coup and undermine the potency of Raila's popular,
national democratic bedrock of support around the country;

(b) A dishonest attempt to broker "peace" without paying attention
to the blatant injustices perpetrated on the Kenya people by the
stealing of the presidential election;

(c) A melodramatic campaign alleging that some specific
communities are the subject of a "genocidal attack" as a convenient
smokescreen to wish away the totalitarian acts of state terror and
fascist reprisals against peaceful pro-democracy campaigners;

(d) A crass push for political realignments spearheaded by power
hungry election losers like Kalonzo Musyoka and the majority of former
government ministers who were trounced by ODM at the parliamentary
elections.



Bearing in mind the patriotic and democratic consensus I spoke about
above, let us look at the reactionary counter-discourse and its
political implications.

I will deal with each factor in turn.


A strident attempt to force a shot gun marriage between Raila
Odinga and Mwai Kibaki that will effectively legitimize the December
30th civilian coup and undermine the potency of Raila's popular,
national democratic bedrock of support around the country;



In my opinion, those hankering for a so called "government of national
unity" are those members and supporters of the PNU who realize that
their leader Kibaki has lost all moral authority to govern this
country. More importantly, they know that in parliament they simply DO
NOT HAVE THE NUMBERS to form a legitimate working government that can
enact laws and implement policies. Even though they have Kalonzo's
ODM-K as their not so secret trump card, they do know also that
Kalonzo Musyoka has been totally discredited as a national politician
not just by his pathetic showing at the polls, his obscene pressures
on the ECK to release fraudulent results, his opposition to an
internationally brokered mediation process but most principally by his
cynical horse-trading behind the scenes to ascend to the position of
vice-president-this in an outfit that he spent his entire campaign
trashing at every pit stop. Any attempt by Raila Odinga to even
consider this possibility will thoroughly undermine Agwambo's
credibility and national stature especially in the aftermath of the
stolen elections. If he did this it would confirm those slurs that all
the Lang'ata MP is interested in is raw political power, devoid of any
devotion to principles.

A dishonest attempt to broker "peace" without paying attention to
the blatant injustices perpetrated on the Kenya people by the stealing
of the presidential election;



I analyzed this phenomenon in depth in my recent essay, No Justice No
Peace!! so I need not rehash anything here. Please click on the
following link if you have not the essay:

http://jukwaa.proboards58.com/index.cgi?action=display&board=general&thread=1199355331



A melodramatic campaign alleging that some specific communities
are the subject of a "genocidal attack" as a convenient smokescreen to
wish away the totalitarian acts of state terror and fascist reprisals
against peaceful pro-democracy campaigners;



In many respects this is perhaps the most manipulative and devious of
the counter-discourse being perpetrated by the PNU camp. It goes
something like this:


Quote:
Hundreds of innocent Gikuyu men, women and children have been
slaughtered and thousands more forced to become internally displaced
people as a direct result of the hatred whipped up by Raila Odinga and
ODM and that the ethnic violence flows directly from ODM's
Majimbo/Ugatuzi electoral platform which they equate with rabid
Kikuyuphobia.


While it is 100% correct to say that many, many members of the Agikuyu
people have been direct victims and targets of ethnic specific
violence and also true that thousands are now displaced and homeless,
it takes a huge stretch of the imagination to sustain the allegation
that Raila Odinga and ODM are behind the criminal attackers of
innocent Agikuyu.

Facts are often not very convenient to those who want to make sweeping
allegations unsupported by empirical evidence.

For instance, Raila Odinga went out of his way to plead for a
peaceful, democratic and just determination of the contentious issues
swirling around the controversial tabulation process leading to the
announcement of the fake presidential results and he stressed that it
would be very unfortunate and Kibaki and the powers that be would be
held responsible if Kenya became another Ivory Coast. This demeanour
is not consistent with a blood-thirsty tribal war monger who was
intent on Kenya descending into an ethnic dystopia.

Moreover, the ODM was prevented, by bayonets, tear gas, live and
rubber bullets to address its followers and pass them ANY KIND OF
MESSAGE. Raila and the ODM leadership can hardly be now accused of
"inciting" and "instigating" their followers when Michuki unleashed
his triple fascist weapons: an effective gag on the media; an illegal
ban on opposition rallies and the flooding of public and civil spaces
with ferocious looking trigger happy members of the GSU and other
security troops.


CONTINUED>>>>>>>

Pt 2: Democratic Consensus vs...
Post by Kenya Democracy Project on Today at 4:43am

PART II


Judging by most objective media reports, the brutal attacks that
targeted members of the Agikuyu all over the country were SPONTANEOUS
acts of lumpen and often criminal mobs who vented their anger on
innocent Kenyans whose only "crime" was sharing an ethnic background
with Mwai Kibaki.

To take this a step further, let us examine closely the charges of
"genocide" that have been bandied around by PNU zealots who want
Kenyans to forget that all this violence was sparked off by the
criminal and illegal announcement that Mwai Kibaki had been "elected"
the country's fourth president.

I looked up the term "genocide" in the online encyclopedia Wikipedia
and this is what I gleaned:

Quote:

Genocide is the deliberate and systematic destruction of an ethnic,
religious or national group. While precise definition varies among
genocide scholars, the legal definition is found in the 1948 United
Nations Convention on the Prevention and Punishment of the Crime of
Genocide (CPPCG). Article 2 of the CPPCG defines genocide as "any of
the following acts committed with intent to destroy, in whole or in
part, a national, ethnical, racial or religious group, as such:
killing members of the group; causing serious bodily or mental harm to
members of the group; deliberately inflicting on the group conditions
of life, calculated to bring about its physical destruction in whole
or in part; imposing measures intended to prevent births within the
group; [and] forcibly transferring children of the group to another
group."… Generally speaking, genocide does not necessarily mean the
immediate destruction of a nation, except when accomplished by mass
killings of all members of a nation. It is intended rather to signify
a coordinated plan of different actions aiming at the destruction of
essential foundations of the life of national groups, with the aim of
annihilating the groups themselves. The objectives of such a plan
would be the disintegration of the political and social institutions,
of culture, language, national feelings, religion, and the economic
existence of national groups, and the destruction of the personal
security, liberty, health, dignity, and even the lives of the
individuals belonging to such groups…...any of the following acts
committed with intent to destroy, in whole or in part, a national,
ethnical, racial or religious group, as such:

(a) Killing members of the group;
(b) Causing serious bodily or mental harm to members of the group;
(c) Deliberately inflicting on the group conditions of life calculated
to bring about its physical destruction in whole or in part;
(d) Imposing measures intended to prevent births within the group;
(e) Forcibly transferring children of the group to another group;


...The phrase "in whole or in part" has been subject to much
discussion by scholars of international humanitarian law.[11] The
International Criminal Tribunal for the Former Yugoslavia found in
Prosecutor v. Radislav Krstic - Trial Chamber I - Judgment - IT-98-33
(2001) ICTY8 (2 August 2001)[12] that Genocide had been committed. In
Prosecutor v. Radislav Krstic - Appeals Chamber - Judgment - IT-98-33
(2004) ICTY 7 (19 April 2004)[13] paragraphs 8, 9, 10, and 11
addressed the issue of in part and found that "the part must be a
substantial part of that group. The aim of the Genocide Convention is
to prevent the intentional destruction of entire human groups, and the
part targeted must be significant enough to have an impact on the
group as a whole." The Appeals Chamber goes into details of other
cases and the opinions of respected commentators on the Genocide
Convention to explain how they came to this conclusion.

The judges continue in paragraph 12, "The determination of when the
targeted part is substantial enough to meet this requirement may
involve a number of considerations. The numeric size of the targeted
part of the group is the necessary and important starting point,
though not in all cases the ending point of the inquiry. The number of
individuals targeted should be evaluated not only in absolute terms,
but also in relation to the overall size of the entire group. In
addition to the numeric size of the targeted portion, its prominence
within the group can be a useful consideration. If a specific part of
the group is emblematic of the overall group, or is essential to its
survival, that may support a finding that the part qualifies as
substantial within the meaning of Article 4 [of the Tribunal's
Statute]."[14][15]

In paragraph 13 the judges raise the issue of the perpetrators' access
to the victims: "The historical examples of genocide also suggest that
the area of the perpetrators' activity and control, as well as the
possible extent of their reach, should be considered. ... The intent
to destroy formed by a perpetrator of genocide will always be limited
by the opportunity presented to him. While this factor alone will not
indicate whether the targeted group is substantial, it can - in
combination with other factors - inform the analysis."



I have deliberately quoted such a huge chunk to inform the debate
around the question of whether a case can be made that what is
happening in Kenya today is genocide.

In my opinion, I think it is RECKLESS and DISHONEST to further inflame
passions in the already taut Kenyan crisis by making sweeping
statements about genocide in Kenya whereas the facts seems to suggest
that among the poor in the cities and countryside there have been
widespread criminal acts of murder, rape, looting, plunder and even
ethnic cleansing TARGETING specific tribes among them the Agikuyu,
especially in the Rift Valley.

This ethnic targeting include the case of a Kikuyu mob torching houses
in Kikuyu Township inhabited by Luhyas and non-GEMA communities;
Kisiis being singled out for allegedly voting for the President; Luos
in Kibera and elsewhere being killed and forcibly circumcised by gangs
allegedly associated with the dreaded Mungiki sect.

All of these ethnic specific terror attacks are reprehensible and
should be condemned by ALL Kenyans irrespective of their political
affiliations.

In other words it is patently DISHONEST to suggest that it is only the
Agikuyu who are being targeted.

Let us also put the current violence in perspective.

Who is responsible for the highest number of civilian casualties?

Marauding Luo mobs?

Wrong answer.

Vengeful Kikuyu gangs?

Wrong again.

Enraged Kalenjin warriors?

One again, wrong answer.

Here is the truth:

The highest number of deaths has been caused by the STATE itself,
working at the behest of masterminds who want to "protect" the illegal
Kibaki usurpation.

Judging the bullet riddled bodies in hospitals across the country, it
is clear that it is the police and the paramilitary who are
responsible for most of the killings so far.

A report carried on Page 9 of the Monday, January 07, 2008 edition of
the Standard accuses the police of shooting minors in the western city
of Kisumu and its environs.

Eight year old Loreen Awuor testifies that she was sitting inside her
home in Koru when a group of police officers broke in and shot
her-threatening to come back.

Washington Odhiambo who is only eleven reports that he was shot in the
abdomen after a lorry full of GSU paramilitary troops fired shots at
Kona Mbaya in the Manyatta neighbourhood of Kisumu.

Kevin Otieno, 13, was shot in the thigh by AP cops at Kibuye Market on
the 6th of January.

My own brother told me about four days ago that he personally went to
the New Nyanza Hospital where he counted ONE HUNDRED AND FIFTY BODIES,
most of them bullet riddled and including several INFANTS.

How many civilians have been shot dead in Kibera and other parts of Nairobi?

Were they all looters, murderers and rapists?

And even if they were suspected criminals, is it lawful in Kenya for
police to shoot to kill with impunity?

Related to the above, even though there is substantial evidence that
the police and paramilitary TARGETED Luos in Kisumu, Migori, Homa Bay
and other areas, I would personally still hesitate before I built up a
case of genocide against the police.

There is simply insufficient evidence for me or anybody to claim that
those cops were out there to FINISH OFF MEMBERS OF THE LUO COMMUNITY
from the face of the earth.

The cops were there on a brutal fascist mission:

to suppress any forms of popular dissent and protest-and I think it is
IRRESPECTIVE of the ethnicity of the protestor as can be evidenced by
similar police brutality in Mombasa, Kakamega, Bungoma, Eldoret and
other Kenyan towns and neighbourhoods.

Why then the claims of Agikuyu particularism when it is a fact that
ALL THE INNOCENT VICTIMS were KENYANS and that each and every one of
their lives was precious and did not deserve to be lost, especially on
account of one's tribal background?

For me, I think, and I repeat, it is a disingenuous and ultimately
DECEPTIVE attempt to shift the FOCUS from the immediate cause of all
the violence-Kibaki's civilian coup-to a preoccupation with victims of
one particular community.

The end goal is to let Kibaki off the hook and coerce Kenyans into
believing that "We" as in ALL Kenyans are somehow to "blame" for the
aftermath of the stolen election fiasco and fracas.

Well, some of us ARE NOT BUYING that manipulative argument because it
is simply not held up by the reality on the ground.

Let us remember:

Before Kibaki was illegally and unjustly announced as the fake
"winner" of the Presidential poll, NOT A SINGLE LIFE HAD BEEN LOST
because of the election results- and I am not forgetting that up to
100 people had lost their lives in pre-election violence before
December 27, 2007.

And both in the local and international media it is often overlooked
that at the same time as the Eldoret church atrocity was being played
out by murderous mobs, Moi's farm in the Rift Valley was being torched
so we must remember that NOT all the attacks were necessarily ethnic.

Moi was a CLASS target because the people who attacked his property
were fellow Kalenjins.

A crass push for political realignments spearheaded by power
hungry election losers like Kalonzo Musyoka and the majority of former
government ministers who were trounced by ODM at the parliamentary
elections.



It has been pathetic watching election losers like Musikari Kombo,
Raphael Tuju, Suleiman Shakombo, Mukhisa Kituyi, George Nyamweya,
Moody Awori and of course Mwai Kibaki MASQUERADE as the "government"
of the day when the reality is that they ALL lost their jobs on
election day.

It has been even more comical following the empty grandstanding of
Kalonzo Musyoka, Mutula Kilonzo and other members of the also ran
ODM-K posse pontificating on the future of Kenya even as they
shamelessly lobby for positions in the same Kibaki regime that they
boasted loudly of vanquishing at the polls.

The attempts of PNU poll robber barons and the shifty schemers in
ODM-K to cobble together a "coalition government" is the SECOND
attempt to subvert the democratic will of the Kenyan voters who
overwhelmingly rejected BOTH PNU and ODM-K.

The next government should and must be formed by the ODM whose 100
seats (give or take one) plus the 3 from NARC and the couple from UDM
and other friendly parties gives them the DEMOCRATIC and LEGAL mandate
to form the next government with the popularly elected Raila Odinga at
the helm of this government.

Let us recap the patriotic, progressive and democratic consensus I
spoke about at the beginning of this essay:


•Kibaki and his PNU cronies stole the Presidential election using
the Electoral Commission of Kenya, and it should be underscored, the
police, the paramilitary and other coercive organs of the state;
•What we have in the country today is the reality of a civilian
coup with increasingly fascist tendencies as can be evidenced by
massive presence of the police and the paramilitary in the Kenyan
capital and the fact that it is often Police Commissioner
Major-General Hussein Ali and the Chief Propagandist, Dr. Alfred Mutua
who are the visible expression of government policy;
•Mwai Kibaki's credibility as a would be elder statesman is
forever tarnished and his credentials as a "reformer" and "democrat"
shattered to smithereens;
•The poor and other elements of the lumpen elements de classe have
turned their anger on each other reducing the conflict to crude tribal
terms as they simultaneously hunt the "evil ethnic other" and cower
from the same; unless stanched and nipped in the bud, the ethnicized
violence poses immediate and long term threats to the very notion of
Kenya;
•That the business and professional elite as well as other
sections of the comprador/petit bourgeoisie, rattled by the financial
ramifications of the current unrest are desperate to restore an
element of "stability" and social control by bombarding Kenyans, via
the air waves and media channels of the need for a "peace" which is
not necessarily anchored in justice or democracy;
•The major players in the capitals of capital- from Condoleeza
Rice at the US State Department, to David Miliband the British Foreign
Secretary to their counterparts and opposite numbers in Ottawa,
Canberra, Paris, Berlin and elsewhere are concerned that the current
unrest could degenerate into something that they cannot control or to
a situation that threatens the economic and geopolitical strategic
interests of international global monopoly capital;



If we start with the last bullet point about the major players in the
capitals of capital being concerned about events in Kenya because of
their geo-political strategic and ideological interests, it then
behooves Kenyans of a democratic and patriotic mien to transcend these
imperialist interests even as we lobby the same capitals of capital to
isolate the Election Thief Mwai Kibaki.

We must craft our own immediate and long term democratic agenda that
is not simply a carbon copy of the West's blue print for Kenya. This
may very well mean expanding the spaces of contest to incorporate AND
go beyond the immediate ODM locus as we insist, campaign for and
struggle together for the restoration of democratic rule in our
country.

Progressive Kenyans, especially those of us who are socialist and part
of the Left must do much more to expose the agenda of the tiny Kenyan
comprador/petit bourgeois business elite (generally pro-PNU) who
preach a vacuous "peace" devoid of Truth and Justice.

We must educate, sensitize and galvanize the poor and especially the
lumpen elements to rise above and move away from the parochial,
backward tribal mindsets which makes them conceive of the "enemy" in
destructive and violent ETHNIC TERMS. There is a lot of work to be
done here and it will have to involve faith leaders, women, peace
makers, musicians, artists, athletes and sports people, mediators and
those with conflict resolution and conflict transformation skills and
experiences.

We as progressive, patriotic and democratic Kenyans must immediately
do the groundwork to form A NATIONAL MOVEMENT built on the four
cornerstones of PEACE, DEMOCRACY, TRUTH and JUSTICE.

The bedrock of this movement should be Kenya's youth, the women, all
democrats and anti-imperialists and not forgetting the huge community
of patriotic Kenyans abroad.

This movement should be publicly launched before the end of January
2008 and it should have as it main immediate goal:

The removal of the illegal Kibaki civilian junta which usurped power
during the infamous December 30th Coup.

Completed January 7, 2008, 12:30 pm

Onyango Oloo
Nairobi, Kenya

***

-----Original Message-----
From: Akwe Amosu [mailto:aamosu at osi-dc.org]
Sent: Sunday, January 06, 2008 1:17 AM
To: Akwe Amosu
Subject: FW: Statement by Civil Society Organisations in Kenya, Saturday
5 January 2008


Forwarding FYI: the attached statement by civil society organisations in
Kenya was released to international press in Nairobi at 4pm, 5 January
2008. Apologies if you already have it. The text is pasted below for
convenience.

Media seeking further information or interviews should contact Linda
Ochiel of the Kenya National Commission on Human Rights. Linda can be
contacted on +254722583200 or lochiel at knchr.org; linakoth9 at yahoo.com

------------------------------


Kenvans for Peace with Truth and Justice Statement from concerned
citizens and governance, human rights and legal organizations

We speak in the name of Kenya's governance, human rights and legal
organizations, as well as the concerned citizens who have contacted and
chosen to work with us over the last week.

We strongly condemn the violence that has erupted across the country
following the questionable outcomes of the counting and tallying done
under the electoral process. We express our deepest sympathy to all
those who have been injured, raped or killed, those who have lost
property, those who have been internally displaced as well as those who
continue to live in fear. We are only too acutely aware that the
survivors and victims continue to be those with the most to lose from
the violence as well as those who least deserve to experience it-Kenya's
impoverished women and men in both low-income urban areas as well as in
rural areas.

We are aware that the violence experienced has taken three primary
forms. First. disorganized protest at the supposed results of the
presidential tally. Second. instigated and organized militia activity
particularly in the Rift Valley. but also through the re-activation of
Mungiki in Central and Nairobi and, now, Chinkororo in Nyanza. And
third, extraordinary use of force by Kenya's Police Force and General
Service Unit to the extent of extrajudicial executions violating the
most fundamental of freedoms and human rights-the rights to life and the
safety and security of persons. We strongly condemn all three forms.

We note that the violence experienced is being used to legitimize the
curtailing of the most basic of freedoms and human rights - the freedoms
of expression, assembly and association. These freedoms and human rights
are guaranteed by international law, regional law and our own
Constitution. They must be upheld at all times - especially as the
exercise of these freedoms and human rights is the only way for Kenyans
to legally and legitimately express their protest at the alleged
presidential outcome of the electoral process. We believe that the
repression and suppression of legal and legitimate forms of protest can
only perpetuate further violence.

It is also clear to us that at the heart of the violence now being
experienced, is a violation of other fundamental freedoms and rights
directly related to the electoral processes. It is clear that the
electoral anomalies and malpractices experienced during the counting and
tallying of our electoral process were so grave as to alter its
outcomes. Some of those electoral anomalies and malpractices were, in
addition, illegal - thus rendering the supposed presidential outcome not
only illegitimate but also illegal We therefore consider Mwai Kibaki to
be in office still on his first term.

Our hope lies in Kenyans standing up against the travesty that has been
made of the electoral process. Our hope lies in Kenyans who have, at
great personal risk, and without regard to ethnicity, on principle
provided security, shelter and safe passage to those Kenyans targeted by
the militia activity 1n the Rift Valley and elsewhere, we note the
domestic humanitarian efforts coordinated by the National Council of
Churches of Kenya with statistical support from the Catholic Relief
Services - efforts to which many individual Kenyans and Kenyan
businesses have now associated themselves. We note too the domestic
peace initiatives being worked on by Amani Focus, the 'Ibrahim group'
(including Ambassador Kiplagat and General Sumbweiyo) and Peacenet. And
we now invite other concerned citizens to join the 'peace through truth
and justice' efforts being carried out by domestic governance, human
rights and legal organizations.

In particular, we would like to call on:

1. All efforts and initiatives to consistently stress that peace cannot
and will not be achieved without electoral truth and justice;

2. All Kenyans to stand up to be counted not just for peace but also for
electoral truth and justice;

3. The state to respect and uphold the rights to the freedoms of
expression, assembly and association so as to ensure Kenyans protest
only legally, legitimately and non-violently;

4. All politicians and political parties to immediately desist from the
re-activation, support and use of militia organizations such as those
active in the Rift Valley, Mungiki and Chinkororo

5. The Ministry of Internal Security, the Police Force and the General
Service Unit to exercise their duties within the boundaries of the
Constitution and the law and desist from any extraordinary use of force
and, in particular, extrajudicial executions;

6. The Electoral Commission of Kenya to immediately resign for having
participated in and condoned a presidential electoral process so flawed
as to result in our nation's current crisis;

7. African states and the rest of the international community to
pressurize for mediation between the Party of National Unity and the
Orange Democratic Movement on addressing the electoral travesty that has
occurred;

8. The mediation process to, as its first priority, agree upon an
interim electoral oversight body to conduct a forensic audit into the
polling, counting and tallying process with a view to recommending,
depending; on its findings, a re-count, a re-tallying or re-run within
a specified time period;

9. African states and the rest of the international community to, in the
interim, deny official recognition to the man sworn in as President;

10. African states and the rest of the international community to
immediately revoke any and all visas for any and all of the PNU's and
ODM's leadership - as well as all of their immediate family members - to
ensure they remain in this country to resolve the electoral travesty
that has occurred;

11. The man sworn in as President to desist from announcing a Cabinet
and otherwise aggravating and inflaming the current violence.

Signed:

Africa Centre for Open Governance (AfriCOG) Awaaz Centre for Law and
Research International (CLARION) Centre for Multiparty Democracy (CMD)
Centre for Rights, Education and Awareness for Women (CREAW) The Cradle
- The Children's Foundation Constitutional and Reform Education
Consortium (CRECO) East African Law Society (EALS) Haki Focus Hema la
Katiba Independent Medico-Legal Unit (IMLU) Innovative Lawyering
Institute for Education in Democracy (IED) International Commission of
Jurists (ICJ-Kenya) Kenya National Commission on Human Rights (KNCHR)
Kituo cha Sheria Media Institute Muslim Human Rights Forum National
Constitution Executive Council (NCEC) Society for international
Development (SID) Urgent Action Fund (UAF) - Africa Youth Agenda Shailja
Patel, Artist Sheetal Ruparel Law Society of Kenya

***

Kenyan Opposition Cancels Protests

Nairobi, Jan 7 (Prensa Latina) The leader of the Kenyan opposition,
Raila Odinga, Monday called to cancel nationwide protests against the
general elections results which gave the victory to outgoing
President Mwai Kibaki.

Odinga was hopeful that international mediation solve the crisis that
has caused the death of about 500 persons and displaced nearly
250,000 people from their homes.

The work of the chief US envoy for Africa, Jendayi Frazer, and the
next visit of the president of the African Union, and Ghanaian Head
of State John Kufuor, could contribute to a negotiated solution.

Frazer met separately with Odinga and Kibaki, after which both
parties in conflict have used a more conciliatory language.

Odinga has rejected a national unity government plan announced by
President Mwai Kibaki as a solution to the existing crisis in the
country.

Clashes started in late 2007 when the Electoral Commission announced
the victory of Kibaki with about 230,000 votes.

hr/ajs/mf
=====================================================================

from the January 07, 2008 edition -
http://www.csmonitor.com/2008/0107/p06s01-woaf.html

In Kenya, a key role for foreign observers

International observers have been criticized for doing too little -
and too much - in the wake of Kenya's flawed Dec. 27 vote, which
touched off a wave of ethnic killings.

By Scott Baldauf | Staff writer of The Christian Science Monitor

Nairobi, Kenya

If ever there were a vote where foreign election observers made an
immediate and significant difference, it was Kenya's Dec. 27
presidential election.

But in a vote as tightly contested as Kenya's, any allegations by the
hundreds of unpaid international volunteers who fanned out across the
country to watch for fraud, vote tampering, or intimidation can make
a huge difference in the outcome - and have explosive consequences.

Given the ethnic violence that engulfed much of Kenya in the wake of
the disputed vote, some experts are suggesting that foreign election
observers overstepped their role by proclaiming doubts about the
process before the final tally was announced by Kenya's electoral
authorities. Others say the observers didn't go far enough in their
condemnation of alleged irregularities.

"We are always mindful to stick to the narrow mandate, and comment
only on the election process," says Alexander Lambsdorff, the chief
election observer for the European Union (EU). "I want the facts to
speak for themselves."

Narrow mandate or not, Mr. Lambsdorff issued strong comments about
the flawed process of the Dec. 27 vote, noting irregularities such as
differences of vote counts reported at polling stations and those
reported by the Election Commission and EU polling observers being
refused the right to view vote counts at certain polling stations.

Lambsdorff stopped short of calling the Kenyan vote "rigged," but he
has said he has "doubts" about the final result that declared
incumbent President Mwai Kibaki the winner.

Observer comments spur action?

It is comments like these that have forced Kenya's election officials
to disavow the election results, thus undermining the legitimacy of
Mr. Kibaki, and forcing the country's leaders to consider the
unthinkable: negotiations.

"Both sides stole these elections," says Wafula Okumu, a political
observer in Nairobi, and head of the African security analysis
program for the Institute for Security Studies in South Africa.

"What gives me concern is that the way the election observers
reported their findings may have exacerbated the problem, because
they appeared to portray one side's concern," he says. "If Kenyans
had known that both sides were culpable, that could have eased the
tensions."

Over the weekend, Raila Odinga, the populist opposition leader who
narrowly lost the disputed vote, called for more rallies across the
country, but also indicated he was willing to share power with the
government he accuses of stealing the election.

Mr. Odinga rejected Kibaki's offer of a "unity government" but said
he was willing to consider a power-sharing agreement guaranteed by
the international community.

Still, his call for protests on Tuesday - despite a government ban
imposed during the unrest - is sparking concerns of fresh violence.

That Kenya's elections were flawed, by now, has become common
knowledge. Even the head of the Election Commission of Kenya admitted
last week that he had been put under pressure by Kibaki's ruling
party, the PNU.

Now, reports are coming out that Odinga's ODM party manipulated
counts in his own strongholds as well.

Observers also say that Kibaki's party waited until the pro-ODM vote
was counted before adding sufficient votes to allow Kibaki to carry
the day.

"In parliament, at least half of the seats went to Mr. Odinga's
party, and 18 ministers of Kibaki's own government lost their seats,
and yet we are told that Kibaki himself won the presidency," says one
Western election observer, who spoke under the condition of
anonymity. "You don't need to be a rocket scientist to draw the
conclusions we have drawn."

Kenyans shocked by vote rigging

Mohamed Datoo, an independent election observer and political
scientist, says that the post-election violence is hardly surprising,
given Kenya's very recent emergence from 24 years of dictatorship
under President Daniel Arap Moi.

After so many years of fighting for the right to free and fair
elections, it shocked Kenyans to the core to have this vote rendered
meaningless by manipulation, he says.

"The Kenyan people take their power to vote extremely seriously,"
says Mr. Datoo, himself a Kenyan national, "and in my opinion, the
Kenyan people have been disrespected by their leaders, irrespective
of party affiliation."

Should the EU election observer mission have done more? Some election
observers say yes, while others say that the EU may have done too
much, fanning the flames of an ethnic fire that was already raging.
To date, some 300 Kenyans have been killed, and 100,000 displaced
since election day.

David Throup, a political scientist at Johns Hopkins School for
Advanced International Studies in Washington who has led six election
observer missions in Kenya in the past, says that the EU election
mission has been "irresponsible" by releasing its preliminary report
before receiving a final tally of the votes by the Election
Commission of Kenya (ECK).

"They almost suggested that the election is rigged, using the
evidence from just two constituencies," he says, after hearing the
EU's preliminary report last week. "It's very dangerous, they have
destroyed the legitimacy of the ECK," as well as raising questions of
the legitimacy of Kibaki's win. "The ethnic violence is already too
dangerous; to have these kinds of statements from the EU is very
irresponsible."

But while election observers know they can't stop vote-rigging
outright, observers who have studied the country and who have watched
the process months in advance can make it harder to steal an election
outright.

"What an election observer does is force people to rethink how they
will rig an election," says Sebastian Elischer, an independent
election observer and political scientist at Jacobs University in
Germany.

"This crisis has been good for the country in one way," agrees Wafula
Okumu, of the ISS. "There is no way it can be rigged like this again
in this country. We have seen all the loopholes."