Down With State Terrorism in Kenya!

[Onyango Oloo]

Onyango Oloo Reacts to the Police Brutality in Kisumu

UPDATED VERSION:
More leaders and organizations yesterday joined calls on Police Commissioner Maj-Gen Hussein Ali to resign over the Kisumu weekend bloodbath.

The National Muslim Council of Kenya supported Orange leaders who established a fund for the victims.

Nazlin Omar Rajput, the council’s chairperson, said Ali and Cabinet ministers Raphael Tuju, John Michuki and Kiraitu Murungi should be held responsible for the deaths.

They urged Ali to quit as the Law Society of Kenya pledged free legal services for families of those killed by police during the skirmishes last Saturday.

"Ali lied to the public that those who were killed were trying to attack a police station. The truth is that they were shot in the back while running away from the police," Rajput said.

She said she had seen the bodies of those killed and the wounds showed that the bullets entered from the back.

She claimed 13-year-old schoolboy Paul Mwela, who was among those killed, was shot at close range and not by a stray bullet as claimed by the police.

-Excerpt from East African Standard






Kisumu Polytechnic students display a pistol allegedly used to shoot one of their colleagues during a Yes campaign rally held at Moi Stadium at the weekend.

How can ANY KENYAN PARENT with any sense of human decency and common compassion, leave alone a democratic conscience, JUSTIFY the killing in cold blood of an innocent school child going HOME from school?

Why was it NECESSARY to have 3,000 regular and riot police PLUS 600 GSU troops ARMED with live bullets to protect a handful of people who showed up at Raphael Tuju's rally in Kisumu?

How many police officers were on hand at Thika when dozens of panga wielding youths tried to charge the dais where Orange leaders were waiting to address a NO crowd not too long ago?

All Kenyans- whether they support the Yes side or the NO side must LOUDLY condemn the wanton and unwarranted police brutality in Kisumu yesterday which left AT LEAST four people dead and several more serious injuries.

Police Commissioner Hussein Ali has defended his askaris for their cold blooded murder of innocent civilians. Several politicians on the Yes side have seized on this latest act of state terrorism and government hooliganism to call for the arrest and incarceration of their NO opponents. It is in the public domain that Justice Minister Kiriatu Murungi (formerly a highly respected Kenyan human rights lawyer who was famous for DEFENDING victims of state repression) boasted that the government holds the upper hand when it comes to unleashing violence. Internal Security minister John Michuki is warning that he is not "very far" from unleashing unspecified measures against unnamed people that he considers to be a threat to state security.

I want to CONDEMN, in the STRONGEST terms possible, the killings in Kisumu on October 30, 2005 and the complicity of the Kenyan government in those killings. In the same breath I want to condemn ALL OTHER incidents of violence associated with the referendum campaign- whether it is the torching of

Dr. Bonny Khalwale's car, the


assassination attempt against the Orange leaders in Thika; the

stoning of Raphael Tuju's helicopter or the clobbering of innocent Wajir women and

other Orange supporters.

Why are Kenyans beating each other up over this referendum campaign?

Why is the Kenyan government shooting to death the very people who lined up for hours to vote it to power in December 2002?

Why are cabinet ministers calling for the arrest and imprisonment of their colleagues who they should be thanking for their presence in parliament and in that cabinet?

Why is President Mwai Kibaki SILENT over this unconscionable act of state thuggery?

My fellow Kenyans, in 1985 Mwalimu Julius Nyerere made Africa proud by stepping down from power after declaring that he had let his fellow Tanzanians down- allowing our southern neighbour a peaceful transition of power.

In 1994 the South African people made Africa proud by conducting the first peaceful, democratic elections which DID NOT result in the mass slaughter of wazungu and other incidents of racial strife that the nay sayers feared. Five years later Comrade Madiba made us even more proud when he honoured his pledge of serving a single term.

In 2002, Kenyans made Africa proud by effecting a major and democratic changeover of government through peaceful and electoral means- eschewing the ethnic conflagration that many pundits had predicted. On December 30, 2002 Kenyans made Africa even more proud when former President Daniel arap Moi acquiesced to the popular will that was rubber stamped by the ascendancy to the highest office in the land of the former leader of the opposition, Mwai Kibaki.

For the last 18 years when I have lived outside Kenya-including the last 17 in Canada- I have seen how so mundane and ordinary life is when a democratic and civil society culture has been ingrained among a people.

Canada, is of course an advanced capitalist state under the thumb of the monopoly bourgeoisie. But one cannot deny the reality of long entrenched DEMOCRATIC INSTITUTIONS and its accompanying culture.

Elections in Canada can often be very emotional and passionately contested affairs- just ask Brian Mulroney, Jean Chretien and Paul Martin.

For the last five years I have lived in Quebec which has survived two very fractious referenda over the last quarter century- one in 1980 and the other in 1995. In both cases, the provincial government LOST the referendum. Yet Quebeckers did not slaughter each other. The losing side accepted the democratic verdict.

Those of us who have organized/ participated in protests and rallies in Toronto, Montreal, Vancouver, Ottawa and other Canadian cities will attest to the fact that the demonstraters are officially PROTECTED by the police officers who attend those rallies- with of course the notable exception of the Quebec anti-FTAA 2001 protest and other anti-globalization confrontations.

I remember the last election night in Canada, I was heading to my house in the NDG. While strolling along the stylish and fashionable Monkland Avenue I noticed that all the sidewalk cafes were teeming with patrons steadily humming sweet nothings and yabbering small talk. Many of them had gone out to vote- but it was not a major deal. It was like stopping by the supermarket to do some grocery shopping. In other words, elections, referenda and other acts of democratic public participation have become so mainstreamed within the Canadian social fabric as to be virtually indistinguishable from going to church or attending prayers at a mosque.

Why can't we as Kenyans rise above this PRIMITIVE mentality of seeing our democratic opponents as sworn blood enemies? Why should you KILL someone merely because they are shouting Yes while you are screaming NO?

It is JUST ridiculous!

Is Kenya going to make Africa proud again or is our government going to replicate yesterday's police thuggery in Ivory Coast?

Is Kenya going to make Africa proud again or is the popularly elected government of NARC going to kill more of the very wananchi who lined up for hours to turf out KANU in 2002?

Here is a DIRECT MESSAGE to my former lawyer Kiraitu Murungi, the minister for Justice and Constitutional Affairs:

Mwananchi mwenzangu na Mheshimiwa Waziri Kiraitu:

Many of us still retain a soft spot for you because of your courageous defence of political prisoners in the 1980s. Today you are entrusted with defending justice and constitjutional rights for all Kenyans. Even if one were to agree with your Yes arguments, one of the planks in the Wako Draft is the Bill of Rights which guarantees among other things, freedom of assembly, freedom of association, freedom of speech, freedom of expression and freedom of conscience. I urge you Mister Murungi to adhere to the terms of your oath of office. Please do not let any MORE BLOOD of innocent Kenyans to be on your hands or your conscience because you know that history is a very harsh judge.

And here is my message for Minister John Michuki:

Waziri Michuki, millions of Kenyans supported your efforts to clean up the Matatu industry. Please do not wipe out that goodwill by reprising the role of the discredited ministers of the one party era in our history.

And here is my message to Police Commissioner Hussein Ali:

Please read this essay that I wrote in mid July 2005:

demokrasia-kenya.blogspot.com/2005/07/kenya-police-should-not-break-law-on.html


Here is my message to

Maina Kiai, the Chairperson - Kenya National Commission on Human Rights :

Can your organization immediately launch proceedings leading to the indictment of the Commissioner of Police who in the most obscene and callous manner justified the wanton butchery of innocent and unarmed Kenyans including a 13 year old schoolboy going home from school. This challenge is also extended to all other Kenyan human rights and social justice formations.

To all Kenyans inside and outside the country:

Please defend all our democratic gains. Do not coddle or condone state brutality or any other form of politicized violence.

The latest spate of state engineered police thuggery in Kisumu is just the latest edition of a sordid Kenyan government tradition of victimizing innocent people to fight their imaginary enemies . Kenyatta did it in 1963 in Uyoma when GSU brutalized the local people, and more infamously in 1969 using the pretext of a threat to Kenyatta's life to unleash mayhem and a massacre. On February 27th, 1975, to provide a convenient smokescreen for the cover up of the grisly gangland style execution of the popular Nyandarua North MP, JM Kariuki, the Kenyan state planted bombs in the OTC country bus station which eventually left hundreds of innocent Kenyans dead and maimed.

Onyango Oloo

[job]

Out of curiosity I perused the main editorial of the latest edition, The Daily Nation (Nov. 1st, 2005) and it seems to be loudly advocating for a call-off of the forthcoming referendum using the Kisumu murders as justification.

Prior and after-the-fact statements attributed to YES proponents besides the massive deployment of a 3000 strong police & GSU force, also seem to suggest not just complicity but a state orchestrated plot which has executed the killing of innocent civilians, probably to pre-empt shunting of the referendum altogether.

I hope we are not heading to a scripted State of Emergency and call-off of the referendum. I also hope that Kenyans take note of NARC government's selective brutality on sections of its population.

A keen pundit recently observed in this very forum that the earlier planned YES rally by Mungatana and co., at Kisumu could have been a plot alluding to instigation of violence for politically suspect reasons. Well, they may have had a change of plan.

Since Brig. Ali's cooked up story about rioters raiding a police post has been proved a blatant lie by most media reporters, and since none of the police officers involved have been "identified", suspended or charged, then we may safely assume that Michuki's boys executed to script, a state "duty" assigned to them from above.

Fleeing civilians shot through their backs with live bullets and killed, either instantly or after painful suffering, is what many now want to wish away very quickly. Many are noticeably reluctant to talk about this tragedy commited under Kibaki's watch.

Believe it or not, a previously respectable gentleman- turned-sycophant called Raphael Tuju, in trying to please his "dad" (& master) Kibaki, assigned blame on the Luo community for its hardline political stance and disrespect for democracy.

Is Tuju part of this state scripted propaganda conspiracy, aimed at tagging the Luo as born dissidents with violent tendencies ?

These tricks used previously by Jomo Kenyatta have been outdated and frankly only make it's evil minded perpetrators look worse.

Kenyans will treat the authors of such schemes with utmost distrust, if not hatred. No political mileage may be achieved easily with such ideals; to the contrary, heavy political liability is incurred by such schemers.

Lets get one fact straight, Orange chanting demonstrations at YES rallies have occured throughout the nation, and Banana chanting groups have likewise stormed Orange rallies.

Violence involving rocks and other weapons, has been a common occurence during these referendum campaigns at Garissa, Wajir, Thika, Webuye, Kakamega, and Bungoma. No police gun was aimed at a civilian. No one died.

So Kisumu is not a trailblazer with regard to Orange chanting demonstrators storming around the venue of a YES rally.

But in Kisumu, shots were aimed and fired at civilians. Four people, including an innocent school child, have died so far. Thirty or more are nursing gunshot wounds.

Tell me what amount and quality of rationalization will explain this blatant discrepancy. Were these people being fired really human beings or were they the "nyamu cia ruguru" we've been hearing about ?

It is all out on the Kenyan public to see for themselves what plans are in store for them by this government currently in power, trying to buy the referendum vote to achieve more constitutional power in their hands.

DP appears hell bent on creating an artificial war using the police and assisted by sections of the media to portray a scenario that the Luo want to eject Kibaki from the Presidency by unconstitutional means.

To deflect the mainstream public from the unpopular Wako draft and the upcoming referendum, DP originated sideshows played by the media & now the police, have apparently taken centre stage dominating the national scene.

Whether aimed at isolating one community from the rest or galvanizing other related tribes claiming to have been besieged, these highly emotive tribal divisions must stop forthwith.

Common sense demands that an already bad looking government should strive to display some humility and respect for human life at least.

Killing Kisumu people literally is not synonymous with "finishing" political rivals, for those who may be mistaken.

We are actually back to the old days of police repression whereby the government uses, quoting Kiraitu Murungi's words, "state instruments of violence" which they monopolize to forcefully effect socio-political policies, mainly those taking acutely ethnic dimensions.

It has not escaped our minds too that Dr. Chrispin Mbai an architect of the Bomas devolution chapter was assasinated under suspicious circumstances by what many have argued, was a state supervised conspiracy.

In the gist of imposing a flawed Constitution upon us, Kenyans unfortunately have to shed more blood, at the hands of the same people mandated to protect citizens; the police and their elected bosses in government.

The nation must prepare annals documenting all these cases of human rights violations, loss of lives and crude abuse of executive power to achieve political desires.

Sending the police to kill citizens with different political viewpoints has not made any dictator more popular, or am I mistaken?

unedited.

Job.

[job]

Quote of the day
---------------------------

"Ex-President Moi tried without success for years to unite everybody against Central Kenya. President Kibaki has achieved that without even breaking a sweat !"

By Macharia Gaitho, Managing Editor, Sunday Nation in his Op-ed, Daily Nation, November 1st, 2005., edition.

Job.

[kamalet]

There is a kikuyu saying that goes something like "it is better to give birth to a thief than to a fool".

For all its worth, the people involved in the disruption of Tuju's rally knew that there was a heavy police presence in Kisumu and these policemen were hell bent on making a statement about violence in the rallies. How in hell's name could these people hope to confront the police?

Why could they not listen to simple advice from Oloo that they could go to the stadium but show their butts to the speakers or even better still stay away? The fact that police were having skirmishes even before the rally started was telling sufficiently.

So does Kamale condone the loss of life as witnessed in Kisumu? Certainly not! No Kenyan should die at the instigation of politicians or even at the hands of the police if he is innocent.

So what should Kenyans do in such circumstances. They should avoid going to rallies if they do not believe in what is being said, but MUST allow those that want to go and listen do so. The events in Kisumu were both shameful and regrettable.

The fools that allowed themselves to be used for violence and got clobbered - I say shame on them.

For the innocent child that was killed, then the police commissioner must investigate and find out why that child died.

[aeichener]

Sensible and responsible statement; I agree with Kamalet.

And Job: that was far below your usual level. Am surprised and a bit disappointed. Has someone hijacked your deserted computer, perchance ?

Alexander

[job]

Alexander,

Are you by any means trying to police or control my freedom of expression? With all due respect, learn to respect other peoples opinions, I respect yours.

Am I observing correctly that you are developing a penchant for generally GRADING and JUDGING other peoples opinions without necessarily offering substantiated rebuttals armed with facts?

You seem to be lately walking out of ambivalence and declaring your true feelings,... though timidly, .....through acts like cheering on debators espousing your position, and chastising those on the opposite side.

Try to originate and argue your own positions and I'll be glad to debate with you, just as I like debating Kamale.

Well, just for record, your generalized opinion on another's opinion, with no facts, just unveils hidden but harboured ill motivation.

It is understandable if your "surprise and disappointment" was directed at the matter under question (Kisumu massacres) rather than to my innocent piece.

I've noticed you've not uttered a word or comment about the incident, but you're too quick to dismiss my view with a tinge of contempt.

I'll repeat for your record, violence with stones, rocks, pangas, etc has been a common occurence throughout these referendum campaigns in Garissa, Wajir, Thika, Kakamega, Bungoma, Webuye, ....etc and NO POLICE SHOT AT or KILLED A SINGLE PERSON.

In Kisumu, fleeing people were FIRED THROUGH THE BACK and KILLED, some in the estates located miles away from the rally venue.

So, lets call a spade a spade, if I quip - whether these people being shot were not humans as in other areas, but were "nyamu cia ruguru", ......what is below my level? I hope you get it.

Do you by any chance know the proximity in relation to Moi stadium, of ; Kondele, Kibuye, Kachok, Nyalenda and Dunga. Maybe the Polytechnic is close by, but why the police decided to engage the entire town residents in a frenzy of terrorism must be explained, now or later.

Get your facts and try to understand my point before quickly responding to your feelings.

Lastly, I am calling for justice and demanding that those involved in the massacre be held accountable, what about you?. Are you reading anything beyond that?

unedited.

Job.

[adongo12345]

Kamale:

There is one thing you are ignoring and you should be ashamed of yourself. The police have no business shooting demonstrating kids with lives bullets. That is why we buy them tear gas and rubber bullets. It is not to herd rabbit in their farms.

So far two of the dead from what I have learnt are kids aged eight and thirteen. None of them has been reported to have been invading a police station like we were told before. One was shot by a stray bullet, I don't know where the bullet strayed from. Obviously this kid too has a right to be in the streets of Kisumu even if Tuju must have his gig to that empty stadium.

The other kid was shot on the back. This is the second time these murders have taken place in Kisumu. The last time I remember a woman who was shot point blank at Kondele market in her own shop (Malo Malo Tailoring). She was shot in the stomachand her entire intestines came out and she was taken to hospital. I do not what hapenned to this woman. I don't know if she survived. But I know those who shot her would care less.

That is the attitude the likes of Kamale want to peddle by insinuating that victims of state violence even outright murder are some what "fools" who asked for it. That is an insult to all Kenyans who value the sanctity of life as enshrined in our constitution.

Citizens have a right to protest. Those from the public who attacked others were guilty of an offence and should have been repremanded. We are told the police out numbered raia in Kisumu. Why shoot the kids? So far there is no report of the "rioters" killing anybody.

So just because I am not a Tuju mfuasi does not mean I should lock myself indoors when Tuju raids the neighbourhood with police.

[miguna]

Folks:

It is very sad indeed when people who claim to have functioning brains refuse to appreciate simple facts. It is not too much to ask our fellow Kenyans to just, for one second, think of Luos as human beings; with both positive and negative attributes.

When Kamale offers us his Kikuyu saying, he somehow sounds as if he wants to tell us that those people who were killed in Kisumu were "fools" and that they are better dead than alive, because, as his people say, "it is better to give birth to a thief than a fool." So, if we take this saying literally, does that mean that the Kenyan police should shoot hunt down and shoot fools but let our villages and cities full of thieves? Between being born a fool and taking to crime such as theft, which one should be criminalized? Does a fool have a choice of the amount of intelligence he or she would posses? How about a thief? By the way, the 13-year old child that was brutalikzed in Kisumu was not a Luo. But we still condemn his killing in the strongest words possible. Innocent people lost their lives unnecessarily duie to state brutality. It is as simple as that. We should never have to choose who lives and who dies, especially when that choice is being made by some deranged gun-totting force like the Kenyan police.

Oloo, Job and Adongo have done justice to this outrage. You have eloquently exposed the hypocrisy of the Kenyan government. You have also exposed some of these rabid tribsalists hiding in these discussion forums pretending to be knowledgeable on this or that discipline. A ghost calling himself Alexander has had this dubious penchant of quipping on things he either has no clue about or has no courage to comment on.

Hell no! We shall not be intimidated into silence. We shall shout even from the roof tops for the murderous nonesense to stop!

These are not jokes.

Miguna

[aeichener]

job said:

Alexander,
Are you by any means trying to police or control my freedom of expression?

ROTFL.
Naah. My G-3 rifle stays in the gun locker. And I shall not even bombard you with over-ripe bananas or oranges.

What I am exercising here, is indeed freedom of expression - mine. A novel concept to you, perchance, judging from the way you just used the word ?

Please realize that this is a public forum. You can say - within the bounds which our esteemable forum moderator has set us - what you want. You can impress us with fine postings, as you did before - or you can abase yourself lower and lower, as you are attempting now.

And you'll also get the feedback which your postings deserve (within the boundaries of some decorum however, since this is not Rcbowen or Mashada). Big deal... but fair deal.

It's the 'Net. Learn that and live with it.

Alexander

[miguna]

Job & Adongo:

There is no need trying to debate people who have made a firm decision that they will not listen to any other point of view but their own.

Incidentally, my 11-year old daughter has just cracked Kamau's secret code. She reminded me, with grave concern, that Kamau may be right about calling us fools who do not deserve to live, like the thieves in his tribal saying. As my daughter tried to explain, Odinga refused to take power, insisting that the people of Kenya had chosen Kenyatta. "No Uhuru without Kenyatta!" This was Odinga's rallying cry. Well, Kenyatta came out and almost immediately checkmated Odinga. That was the first betrayal that, if we were not fools, should have made us never ever again to trust people who believe that "thieves are better than fools." Then Mboya and Argwings were assassinated...Then hundreds of us were brutally killed in Kisumu in 1969. Then followed decades of ecomnomic and political strangulations... And yet, in 2002, Raila - Odinga's own son, bestowed Kibaki with political power.

Do you see what Kamau means by "thieves are better than fools?"

Hmmm! I cannot help but wonder at my daughter's simple logic. It may actually be true that Kamau, his grandmother, Michiki, Karume, Kibaki, Lucy, Alexander...and a whole of them believe that we are fools.

Let us thank them for rubbing in, otherwise, we would have forgotten thios lesson, to our historical and future peril.

[kamalet]

The responses have been as predictable as the high temperatures of Gaborone where I am whiling the time away!

Miguna, it is not a good idea to try to explain things you have no clue about. For instance you would have done your brains some justice to ask in what context the Kikuyus use that saying. To help, the reason is very simple why it is better to give birth to a thief than a fool. With a fool you could spend a night hungry but a thief will always find a way to provide food on the table. But that does not in any way change the analogy that those who allow themselves to be used in violence are no better than this proverbial fool!

On the problems I see with you, Adongo, Oloo and Job is that you have this view that someone wants to finish the Luos and you must rise to protect them! Unfortunately I could never be bothered if you were pokomo or suba, whether you are cut or have not lower teeth. I am more interested in what is between your ears, and how you spew it in these forums.

When the violence started in Wajir, people complained of the police dragging their feet and doing nothing. When the fools ( I have no regrets calling anyone involved in such violence a fool - be they in Thika, Wajir or Kondele!) in Kisumu decided to engage in violence to stop Tuju addressing the 25 people that turned up at Kenyatta Stadium, then they deserved what they got broken bones and all. By the way who is it that alleged that it was Luos unleashing the violence, was Kisumu town not a cosmopolitan CITY (do I say!)??

Stop this whining and drum sense in the people to stop the violence!

[aeichener]

Kamalet:
I think that the criticism and reverberations were not directed to the fact that the police used force. That is their job, after all. Neither can it be criticized that the police protected the banana rally; it was their d*mn duty.

What is under attack, is
a) the use of excessive force (to control unruly crowds and unarmed attackers, you use batons, helmets and shields, water cannons and tear gas; but not military rifle ammunition), and
b) that people were wounded and killed who would have had nothing to do with the violence (e.g. at least one of the schoolboys, possibly both).

Alexander

[johns]

I am completely horrified that some people who consider themselves sane would be high fiving themselves over this premeditated massacre in kisumu because it happened to them luo fools. Are we still expected to hug and kiss one another as brothers or sisters from the same country after this is over? Can somebody remind me again why saddam is being tried for crimes he never personally committed but were done in his name?

I urge real kenyans to demand for the prosecution of kebaki at the international court for these acts of terrorism against kenyans.

[adongo12345]

Kamale

"On the problems I see with you, Adongo, Oloo and Job is that you have this view that someone wants to finish the Luos and you must rise to protect them! "

Kamale

When did I ever say I am a protector of the Luos? I am a Kenyan and I love Kenyans including my family, some of whom are Luos. I consider the murder of citizens by the state as a crime. I wouldn't care the tribe of the victims nor the perpetrators. You remember when Abong'o used to do the same thing Ali is doing today. We condemned it then too.

Kenyans pay the police to protect not to kill them. And when the police kill we have to hold them accountable. It is dangerous to tell young Kenyans, whatever their tribe, that their lives are not important.

Tribalized political thuggery can be extremely harmful to our country. We should never let it take root.

My advice to the Kamales of Kenya, and they seem to abound even in this forum, is simple. When they kill a Luo, complain. When they kill a Nandi compain even more. Fight them when they kill a Kikuyu compatriot, a Mjikenda, a Msomali, a Maasai or whoever. We are all Kenyans.

Human rights are not privileges from the rulers. Certainly not from tin-pot dictators.

Adongo Ogony

[aeichener]

I would like to add a small statement to what Adongo Ogony just wrote; and it also suitably continues what I already wrote above:

One may indeed, as another poster fittingly wrote in the Nation forum, whom I now quote, be disappointed "by the response of the government to the loss of young innocent lives."

On the other side, I am encouraged by the response of Kenyan civil society to the death of the four. It shows that such killings now are no longer taken as granted and normal business as before ("oh yes, the usual campaign and pre-election violence, nothing special"), as it used to be for a long time since 1963 (see Onyango Oloo's poignant historical retrospective on the history of political violence in Kenya, in one of his Demokrasia digital blogs).

Rather, the joint outcry of media and wananchi shows that Kenyan police is now being held to the same standards of lawfulness and accountability as would be police in Denmark, Germany, France (which latter country is presently also rocked by violent city riots, but where the police has not resorted to gunfire).

And this expectation and demand of the society is a very good sign.

Alexander

[job]

Alexander,

For your information, my postings are not intended to impress anyone if that's what you think. This is not the forum to show off some literary skills, so don't arrogate yourself the role of reading professor, grading other's pieces, you're not ! and stop pretending that you're even suited to be one.

As for your freedom of expression, exercise it in consideration that others enjoy the same right.
To your credit, I'm glad you're finally seeing some sense and condemning the Kisumu massacre.

Kamale,

Since you've become another Kibaki, the "genius", fond of calling his political opponents foolish, pumbavu, mavi ya kuku, etc etc, then read these words from this fool.

Luos or Kisumu residents are not FOOLS! I assume you know that by now. Life in Kisumu will not stop because one egocentric sycophant called Tuju visits the town to impress his fast fading boss.

Kids will not stop going to school, businesses will not close and people will not stay locked in their houses because Tuju visits town flaunting the police might of his boss.

Incidentally, the only fool I've so far witnessed in this regard, is the one desperately trying to defend the indefensible, quoting self-defeating tribal sayings.

If Kikuyu's say that -It is better to be a thief than a fool,..... since a thief will bring food home ,...then Kisumu residents who have all the right to go out and earn their livelihood, (bring food) would be foolish to stay locked in,... hungry....simply because Tuju visits town.

The wisom used by Kibaki, Tuju et al in "selling" the Wako Mongrel through bloodshed and flaunt of instruments of violence, is quite a stroke of genius.

unedited.

Another fool,

Job.

[aeichener]

job said:

Alexander,
For your information, my postings are not intended to impress anyone if that's what you think.

FYI: They however do impress; positively (as before) or negatively (as now).

That's why you write in public here, for a readership, and it's a necessary and implied effect. Otherwise, you would content yourself to talking to your mirror in the morning when shaving.

As for your freedom of expression, exercise it in consideration that others enjoy the same right.

It is you who has been taught this trivial truth, by me.
And I am glad that you now seem to have learned it.

Alexander

[job]

Alexander,

Thanks for your very "creative" and "informative" pieces which have indeed 'taught' me a lot of truths.

Let me tell you a short story often told by psychiatrists. There's this fairly common personality disorder, which is often diagnosed by a psychiatrist while engaging the patient in mundane and general chat. The patient often unassumingly desribes EXACTLY WHAT THEY DO on a daily basis by using third party references.

For instance a patient will talk about,........ how there's this guy who talks to himself in the mirror every morning when shaving. He may actually burst in laughter while narrating the often interesting tale.

Within minutes, the unassuming patient will be walking away with a prescription for a strong psychotherapeutic without actually realizing the folly.

You may have have actually met such chaps, haven't you?

peace.

unedited.

Job.

[roughrider]

The police brutality in Kisumu was clearly the product of 'orders from above' - easily traceable to State House.

The president has not found it necessary to address the nation on the unfortunate loss of lives in Kisumu and the numerous injuries inflicted by his police. He does not give a hoot.

The lesson for kenyans here is that the Kibaki state cannot anymore guarantee their safety.

What happened in Kisumu is a flagrant violation of basic human rights of a people and a crime against humanity by the government that must be carefully documented for further action in relevant local and international courts.

[kichwambaya]

The civilized world can nolonger excuse the kind of police killings that went on in Kisumu. It is amazing that even as the facts are coming out, some people are still trying to find excuses for the police. There has been violence in Thika, Nanyuki, Garrisa and Kakamega. The police used force there too but nobody complained because we all understand the role of the police and do not need lectures on law and order. Kisumu was different because three children were killed and the police boss lied that those killed invaded a police station to free prisoners. The police boss said this before any investigation took place, suggesting that he must have pre-approved the use of live bullets. He seemed to know that people were going to be killed and he was prepared with a good excuse for the killings. Maybe he was too prepared. The police has lost their credibility in this matter and they should find people with integrity to investigate this matter. There are many Kenyans who can do this job and give a report that all Kenyans can accept. There are respected retired judges, lawyers, civil servants and men and women retired from the private sector. The police should only provide the technical support and the manpower. I do not see the police contradicting their boss and the minister, but more or else uphold his heartless comments.

Lastly I would thank Miguna Miguna and others for the articles to Kenya Times and elsewhere because after those articles, I saw folks starting to realize that those who were killed needed some sympathy. What bothers me most is the arguments which start with " I condemn the killings but..................... We should condemn police use of bullets in crowds regardless where they occur in Kenya. My God, 30 people were treated of bullet wounds. The cops must have been shooting indiscriminately into the crowd. How can any civilized human being support that.

[aeichener]

kichwambaya said:

We should condemn police use of bullets in crowds regardless where they occur in Kenya. My God, 30 people were treated of bullet wounds. The cops must have been shooting indiscriminately into the crowd. How can any civilized human being support that.

We should indeed condemn that. It is unjustifiable, and should bring the commanding senior officers to court.

But just how many of these:



and these:



did Kisumu police have at their disposal ?

None. Presumably.
So much about modern non-lethal riot control in Kenya. Where police are issued military assault rifles as their standard side weapon, but not modern handguns.

Alexander

[kichwambaya]

They had the same tools they had in Thika, Nyanyuki, Garrisa and Kakamega where they did not need to use Rifles and handguns. You are tyring too hard to justify these killings.

[aeichener]

Idjit.
I did the contrary.

A.

[Onyango Oloo]

Posted by: Otero Nov 1 2005, 01:47 PM

QUOTE(Onyango Oloo @ Nov 1 2005, 01:12 AM)
jukwaa.proboards58.com/index.cgi?action=display&board=general&thread=1130742900&page=1


Democracy doesn't mean that the person with the most violent thugs wins. I believe the name for that is tyranny; we do not know how popular Tuju's message is because Raila's thugs will not allow Tuju to campaign freely.

If Tuju is so unpopular why the violent attempts to stop him. What are those paying the thugs afraid of, someone feels very threatened by Tuju. Why not let Tuju and his ten supporters have their rally if his message is so unpopular.

Instead Kisumu was barricaded by rampaging thugs who blocked roads, looted stores, robbed people of money and cell phones, assaulted elderly men and women all in an attempt to intimidate those likely to attend Tuju's rally. The hired thugs and misled youths attacked police and tried to storm apolice post.

Obviously the people doing these things are not the ordinary people of Kisumu but rather well known paid thugs. Luo elders recently called for an end to the violence directed at Tuju and pleaded that he be allowed to campaign freely.

I'm sure the people of Kisumu would like a chance to hear both sides and decide for themselves unfortunately a huge effort is being made to deny them that right and that my friends is tyranny.

Democracy requires a free exchange of ideas clearly the struggle for democracy in Nyanza continues.

Raila is to blame for the deaths in Kisumu if he wasn't paying thugs to attack Banana supporters and the police the Kids would still be alive.

Raila's hooligans injured scores of policemen even robbing police off of their guns. However even cops have a right to defend themselves when attacked by hired goons.

What galls me is that the same politicians responsible for the mayhem can go to the hospitals and shed crocodile tears and avoid taking responsibility for their actions.

I'm also concerned about the gun in the hand of the Polytechnic student. "http://www.nationmedia.com/dailynation/nmgcontententry.asp?category_id=1&newsid=60472."I live in the US where kids shoot each other all the time playing with guns that they find. Those kids are waving about a live firearm who knows if they discharged the weapon and accidentally shot their colleagues it happens all the time in the US.

Those students I'm sure have not been trained in firearm safety and the likelihood of an accident is very high The other thing is they snatched the gun from a policeman in the US Police are allowed to use lethal force to defend themselves. If you try to snatch the cop’s weapon you are liable to get shot.

The ordinary people of Kisumu, were the victims of robbery,looting and assaults. The Police cannot abandon thier duty to protect ordinary residents from marauding mobs.

It is a real shame that blood has to be shed over the proposed constitution.
Violence has consequences and is difficult to control those who instigate violence are responsible for the consequences.

Raila should stop paying kids to riot then accusing the police of "genocide". The Orange guys need to look up the meaning of the word genocide in a dictionary.

Raila has the blood of innocents on his hands and why wasn't he there himself leading the rioting instead of misusing kids. Raila is a coward and no amount of blame shifting will absolve him of this crime. He behaved like Saddam Hussein using kids and civilians as human shields to protect his thugs.

The people who deserve sympathy are the Kids and their families not the coward who sent out his thugs without caring about innocent people who may get caught in the crossfire.

I bet Raila was prayimg for innocent people to get hurt or die so that he can wrap himself in the bloody garments and claim that they died for his cause. Raila should know that the mothers of all the dead want their loved ones back not "heroes" sacrificed for Raila's glory.




Posted by: kip Nov 1 2005, 04:58 PM
otero
do you justify police brutality and tujus arrogance as a match to raila's bloated ego and madness


Posted by: Denno Nov 1 2005, 06:38 PM
Otero, Chukua vitu rahisi jo! Your focus on Raila can lead one to think that you dislike of him might lead you to lose your objectivity.


Posted by: Otero Nov 2 2005, 01:36 PM

QUOTE(kip @ Nov 1 2005, 12:58 PM)
otero
do you justify police brutality and tujus arrogance as a match to raila's bloated ego and madness





Kip
I condemn police brutality however police have every right to defend themselves and innocent wananchi. If rioters are assaulting people, looting, robbing people police have an obligation to act and protect those people.

Worldwide the police are allowed to use lethal force to protect their lives and those of others when their lives are threatened. Many police men were also injured by flying projectiles and at least one was robbed of his weapon. Many police have been injured prior to the fatal riots by stone throwing criminals. Police are not target practice dummies for stone throwers they too are Kenyans and peoples children who cries for them.

As for Tuju's arrogance I say every Kenyan no matter how arrogant has aright to campaign or express himself without being physically attacked and having his supporters attacked and property damaged.

Raila is entitled to his bloated ego and madness it is when he pays people to maim his opponents and cause mayhem that he crosses the line into unacceptable behavior.


Posted by: Otero Nov 2 2005, 01:42 PM

QUOTE(Denno @ Nov 1 2005, 02:38 PM)
Otero, Chukua vitu rahisi jo! Your focus on Raila can lead one to think that you dislike of him might lead you to lose your objectivity.


Denno
Do you honestly think we can divorce Raila from what happened in Kisumu? Wouldn't that be like discussing bad cooking without mentioning the cook? Raila himself seems to think he is central to the story so does Tuju and I concur.


Posted by: Haki Nov 3 2005, 03:53 AM
There were some who resorted to lawlessness in Kisumu, and the Government responded accordingly to bring the situation under control. In situations like this it is always better for the government to bring overwhelming force to bear on the problem, than inadequate force.

When a house is burning, you do not spit at it, or bring water in cups with the hope of quenching the rapidly spreading flames. You get the biggest debes you can find, fill them with water, and douse the sucker down.

It is also instructive, and just for the sake of argument, to find out who cast the proverbial "first stone" that incited the riots in Kisumu. I am sure Raila's thugs were quietly going about their business when those big bad riot cops and GSU started raining bullets and rungus on their hapless skulls.

Yea! Right!!!

[Onyango Oloo]

Message posted by njathe on 01/11/2005 at 8:31am - IP Logged


njathe
Gold Member



10/07/2004
770 Posts


"I remember the last election night in Canada, I was heading to my house in the NDG. While strolling along the stylish and fashionable Monkland Avenue I noticed that all the sidewalk cafes were teeming with patrons steadily humming sweet nothings and yabbering small talk. Many of them had gone out to vote- but it was not a major deal. It was like stopping by the supermarket to do some grocery shopping. In other words, elections, referenda and other acts of democratic public participation have become so mainstreamed within the Canadian social fabric as to be virtually indistinguishable from going to church or attending prayers at a mosque."

Brilliant observation. now contrast that with the last time you attended an ice-hockey or football game in Canada, and saw the fans from either or one of the teams engaged in pitched street battles because their team had lost or won. Might help us to conclude why some people in Kenya make such a to-do of mere elections!




Message posted by bakhoki on 01/11/2005 at 10:30am - IP Logged



bakhoki
Standard Member


United States
08/04/2004
587 Posts


@onyango Oloo,

Many people in the Kenyan political powerdom have a very dim knowledge of international relations(and that includes International Law). Other than just two MPs(Bonaya Godana and Anyang Nyongo) plus a few others, the vast majority of our MPs are as ignorant as bats are blind.

Kiibaki and his underlings Michuki, Murung! and Brig.Ali should remember the following name, Agusto Pinochet. In the mid-1970s, the Chilean dictator Pinochet overthrew and had Salvador Allende assasinated. There followed in Chile, massive "disappearance" of leftist leaning students, activists, academics, unionists, etc.

Fast forward to the late 1990s early 2000. The octogenarian former dictator Pinochet was on a visit to Europe. He was arrested! He even pleaded for intervention from his former right-wing buddies such as Margaret Thatcher etc, to no avail. The law is the law, dictator Pinochet was told. His family came up with pleas such as, "Oh...our father is an old man...Oh...please let by-gones be by-gones...blah..blah..blah." The court would have none of it. Pinochet ended up staying in jail for quite some time.

Now back to Kenya. The murderers of these innocent youths should have their names in the International Court. Charges should be made and warrants issued. Please prepare warrants for the arrest of the following criminal murderers:

1. President of the Republic of Kenya Emilio Mwai Kiibaki

2.Minister for Security John Michuki

3.Commissioner of Police Brig. Ali

Prepare warrants for these three criminals ASAP!!





Message posted by johns on 02/11/2005 at 9:08pm - IP Logged



johns
Gold Member



01/03/2004
736 Posts



I would also add that rather than placing TOTAL blame on those who gave these execution orders, we should try to reach out to the very pawns being used in carrying out these schemes i.e, the police force.

The force is made up of sons and daughters of kenyans that means they are also kenyans. My question to them is; Is there a seperate constitution on which they are voting on? Do they feel that the present conditions of work is good enough and therefore any improvement is unwarranted? Are they aware that the people they are killing and brutallizing are also fighting for the rights of police officers as well? When they go out and follow STUPID ORDERS which go against their very own conscience, to kill their own children on what authority do they expect to be absolved from judgement?

Though you were sworn to protect the law and follow command as given, there comes a time when conscience should take precedence than the unjust laws of man. Sir/madam, you say NO to those orders.