Uhuru’s Storm Troopers Are NOT Doing Him ANY Favours
Jul 22, 2014 19:09:55 GMT 3
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Post by Onyango Oloo on Jul 22, 2014 19:09:55 GMT 3
A Digital Essay by Onyango Oloo
I hardly slept last night.
My thoughts were with my cousin, a doctor in Mombasa, his wife and their two young children. He lives in a middle class area in that ancient town where he has been resident for more than two decades. In the Luo community, we really do not have an exact word for “cousin”-for practical purposes, he is my BROTHER. His mother is my mother’s younger sister. Way back in 1997 he had a clinic in Likoni at the height of that year’s KANU sponsored ethnic cleansing targeting Luos, Gikuyus, Kisiis, Luhyas and perceived “Wabara” outsiders from up country. He was only spared the tribal hate spewed by young MijiKenda raiders incited by politicians because the doctor was well loved and respected by his patients and their families many of them drawn from the diverse, multi-ethnic neighbourhoods of Mombasa who included members of the Giriama, Digo, Chonyi, Duruma, Rabai, Ribe, Kauma, Swahili, Bulushi, Arab and other local indigenous communities.
He happens to be married to a Gikuyu lady whose mother is from Kiambu County. One of his sisters has borne two sons to a man whose village is somewhere in Nyahururu. His other, younger sister is married to another Mgikuyu from Nyeri.
In other words, he is a typical Kenyan with a typical Kenyan family.
My own son has a Meru mother and my late wife (from another relationship) is from Sagana, in Kirinyaga County.
Mombasa is my home town-that is where I grew up in the 1970s and 1980s-having been born in Nakuru, baptized in Muranga, with my early primary schooling in Nairobi and Kakamega counties.
I tossed and turned for the better part of the night just past.
My brow was furrowed as I fretted over the fate of the residents of the Soweto informal settlement in the Likoni area, across the ferry on the southern part of Mombasa who survived the horror, the terror and carnage of some murderous, youthful thugs who sprayed strangers with gun fire while distributing hate leaflets boasting about ethnic revenge by the Agikuyu for the killings in Mpeketoni and WARNING Luos and Raila Odinga in particular, that they would not know peace.
Here are snippets of the news stories:
Teen attackers shot and distributed hate leaflets, says Likoni survivor
The gang that attacked crowds at Likoni in Mombasa on Sunday was composed of teenagers who hurled petrol bombs and conversed casually as they shot indiscriminately, a witness has claimed. Besides shooting, they handed out hate leaflets to terrified residents, in what police claim was a diversionary tactic by the attackers. David Oruko who had just come from work at around 8:15pm heard shots and saw people running when he was alerted that there was a gang attack on Soweto. Residents said nothing was stolen during the attack. “At first I thought they were fireworks as Diwali and Ramadhan season are approaching but I noticed some people were running and that is when I took cover in a nearby bush,” said Oruko. He said from the bush he saw four heavily armed men shooting at people who were running to take cover in their homes. Residents claim four people were killed but the police insist only three died. By the time of going to press, police, who had launched a manhunt for the attackers, had arrested a couple of people. Human rights bodies including Muslims for Human Rights condemned the killings, saying the latest incident could have been avoided had the Government taken the insecurity incidence in the South Coast seriously.
www.bbc.com/news/world-africa-28397210
Gunmen in Kenya kill four in Mombasa
www.aljazeera.com/news/africa/2014/07/deaths-shooting-rampage-kenya-mombasa-20147214444141458.html
Deaths in Mombasa shooting rampage
It was startling to read on the Al Jazeera web site yesterday,of a sudden outbreak of brutal tribal violence in MOMBASA in southern Kenya, targeting poor Luo speaking slum dwellers over a terrorist attack in LAMU in northern Kenya next to Somalia where Al Shabaab has REPEATEDLY claimed responsibility.
It was a chilling rendition, and macabre evocation of déjà vu, rewinding my retraumatized mind back to the blood soaked days and nights of January 2008, when
members of Mzee Benard Orinda Ndege's family were mercilessly roasted alive
by ruthless mobs in NAIVASHA looking to wreak vengeance on INNOCENT, UNARMED flower workers apparently in “retaliation” for other victims slaughtered in Eldoret, Molo and Nakuru!
It is in the public domain that Uhuru Kenyatta is today standing trial
for crimes against humanity at the International Criminal Court, convened at Daag Haag, in the country currently engulfed in the mourning of almost two hundred souls who perished in another senseless, seemingly random act of terrorist insanity. Among the charges leveled against him are accusations directly in connection with the ethnic inspired acts of arson, murder and forcible evictions of members of the Luo and other tribes in Naivasha.
Let me emphasize that Uhuru Kenyatta is INNOCENT until when those serious charges are proved BEYOND REASONABLE DOUBT in a duly constituted court of law.
Nevertheless, our head of state has the ICC indictment hanging around his neck as the albatross bird of yore, threatening to sink his presidency and obliterate his legacy.
Unfortunately, his first public remarks in the immediate aftermath of the Mpeketoni massacre, in a live address to millions of Kenyans was to dismiss Al Shabaab’s claim of responsibility, opting instead to pin the atrocity on “local political networks-widely interpreted by his supporters and detractors alike to be code and short hand for the Raila led CORD opposition, with a further insinuation, given the toxic, putrid tribal underpinnings of our politics-that the attackers MUST HAVE BEEN LUOS OUT TO KILL HARD WORKING KIKUYUS.
That sweeping diversionary side swipes at his political rivals helps to explain, contextualize and in effect, JUSTIFY the CONTENT of the HATE leaflets littered in Mombasa yesterday talking of Kikuyus exacting revenge for the Mpeketoni killings and warning Luos and Raila of dire future consequences.
On the day after President Kenyatta’s unfortunate address, I penned a piece on the Jukwaa online platform in which Onyango Oloo opined, inter alia:
I think it is very important for Uhuru Kenyatta to remain President of KENYA.
Note where my emphasis lies.
It is not on “Uhuru”.
Or “Kenyatta”.
Or “remain”.
Or “President”.
It is on KENYA.
Let me try this again:
It is very important for Uhuru Kenyatta to remain President of KENYA.
In other words, NOT the Jubilee candidate.
Not the TNA leader.
Not the former MP for Gatundu South.
That remains my view.
If Uhuru wants to be seen as a LEGITIMATE President of Kenya, he must act Presidential.
In this context, he should schedule a live address to the nation in which he looks straight into the camera and says, solemnly, that as President, he, Uhuru Kenyatta, WILL NOT CONDONE OR COUNTENANCE the reckless utterances of thugs who want to kill in his name and in the name of the Gikuyu community. He should say that as President of Kenya, he is also President of the Luos, of the Somalis, of the Waswahili, Mijikenda, Maasai and ALL the people who call Kenya home.
Further, the President should denounce, using the strongest terms, the wanton killing that took place in Mombasa on Monday, July 21, 2014 and pledge to Kenyans that he will not rest until those alleged perpetrators are held accountable, in a court of law, for their murderous exploits.
If he does NOT do that, he risks feeding into the growing perception in many parts of the country that he is a President of the Agikuyu who only gets worked up when Gikuyu lives are lost or when Gikuyu property is vandalized or stolen.
Mr. President, this is something that transcends mere cosmetic optics. It goes beyond a cynical PR deflection.
Kenya is on the cusp of a major national headache about our very being, our very personality as a united nation bringing diverse peoples and cultures under one rubric.
There are times when strong, unambiguous words, followed by swift decisive action, backed by the full arsenal of the law, with all the requisite constitutional and human rights safeguards is absolutely imperative.
I hardly slept last night.
My thoughts were with my cousin, a doctor in Mombasa, his wife and their two young children. He lives in a middle class area in that ancient town where he has been resident for more than two decades. In the Luo community, we really do not have an exact word for “cousin”-for practical purposes, he is my BROTHER. His mother is my mother’s younger sister. Way back in 1997 he had a clinic in Likoni at the height of that year’s KANU sponsored ethnic cleansing targeting Luos, Gikuyus, Kisiis, Luhyas and perceived “Wabara” outsiders from up country. He was only spared the tribal hate spewed by young MijiKenda raiders incited by politicians because the doctor was well loved and respected by his patients and their families many of them drawn from the diverse, multi-ethnic neighbourhoods of Mombasa who included members of the Giriama, Digo, Chonyi, Duruma, Rabai, Ribe, Kauma, Swahili, Bulushi, Arab and other local indigenous communities.
He happens to be married to a Gikuyu lady whose mother is from Kiambu County. One of his sisters has borne two sons to a man whose village is somewhere in Nyahururu. His other, younger sister is married to another Mgikuyu from Nyeri.
In other words, he is a typical Kenyan with a typical Kenyan family.
My own son has a Meru mother and my late wife (from another relationship) is from Sagana, in Kirinyaga County.
Mombasa is my home town-that is where I grew up in the 1970s and 1980s-having been born in Nakuru, baptized in Muranga, with my early primary schooling in Nairobi and Kakamega counties.
I tossed and turned for the better part of the night just past.
My brow was furrowed as I fretted over the fate of the residents of the Soweto informal settlement in the Likoni area, across the ferry on the southern part of Mombasa who survived the horror, the terror and carnage of some murderous, youthful thugs who sprayed strangers with gun fire while distributing hate leaflets boasting about ethnic revenge by the Agikuyu for the killings in Mpeketoni and WARNING Luos and Raila Odinga in particular, that they would not know peace.
Here are snippets of the news stories:
Teen attackers shot and distributed hate leaflets, says Likoni survivor
The gang that attacked crowds at Likoni in Mombasa on Sunday was composed of teenagers who hurled petrol bombs and conversed casually as they shot indiscriminately, a witness has claimed. Besides shooting, they handed out hate leaflets to terrified residents, in what police claim was a diversionary tactic by the attackers. David Oruko who had just come from work at around 8:15pm heard shots and saw people running when he was alerted that there was a gang attack on Soweto. Residents said nothing was stolen during the attack. “At first I thought they were fireworks as Diwali and Ramadhan season are approaching but I noticed some people were running and that is when I took cover in a nearby bush,” said Oruko. He said from the bush he saw four heavily armed men shooting at people who were running to take cover in their homes. Residents claim four people were killed but the police insist only three died. By the time of going to press, police, who had launched a manhunt for the attackers, had arrested a couple of people. Human rights bodies including Muslims for Human Rights condemned the killings, saying the latest incident could have been avoided had the Government taken the insecurity incidence in the South Coast seriously.
www.bbc.com/news/world-africa-28397210
Gunmen in Kenya kill four in Mombasa
Gunmen on a motorcycle have killed at least four people and injured several others in the Kenyan city of Mombasa.
Police were quoted by local media as saying that the gunmen had fired indiscriminately at passers-by.
The port city has seen a wave of violence in recent months, with a number of bombings and gun attacks.
The violence has largely been attributed to Somali al-Shabab militants but many say local political rifts are to blame.
Witnesses said the gunmen rampaged through the streets of Kenya's second-largest city.
'Shooting carelessly'
Peter Musyoki, a resident in Mombasa's Likoni area who saw the shooting, said the two masked men were armed with a rifle and a pistol.
"I saw two men dressed in black with a red ribbon around their heads," he said. "They walked on foot and were just shooting carelessly at anyone they saw."
The gunmen reportedly said the attack was revenge for violence against ethnic Kikuyus in Mpeketoni.
The Reuters news agency say the gunmen also handed out leaflets saying the attack was retribution for last month's violence in Mpeketoni, a town about 300km (185 miles) north of Mombasa.
More than 60 people were killed in two days of violence there in June and President Uhuru Kenyatta blamed "local political networks" for the attacks.
Ethnic tension
Most of the dead were ethnic Kikuyus, like the president.
Critics said Mr Kenyatta was trying to put the blame on his rival Raila Odinga, an ethnic Luo, whom he defeated in last year's presidential election.
Correspondents say political allegiances in Kenya tend to follow ethnic lines and inter-ethnic tensions have led to bloody violence in the past.
Kenya-and Mombasa in particular - was once a popular tourist destination but it has suffered from a wave of attacks in recent years.
Several foreign governments, including the US and Britain, have issued travel warnings advising their citizens to avoid Mombasa.
As well as political tension, Somalia's Islamist militia al-Shabaab say they have been behind several of the recent attacks in Kenya.
On Friday, they said they were responsible for an attack near the town of Witu, some 50km (30 miles) from the resort island of Lamu, in which seven people were killed, including four police officers.
Police were quoted by local media as saying that the gunmen had fired indiscriminately at passers-by.
The port city has seen a wave of violence in recent months, with a number of bombings and gun attacks.
The violence has largely been attributed to Somali al-Shabab militants but many say local political rifts are to blame.
Witnesses said the gunmen rampaged through the streets of Kenya's second-largest city.
'Shooting carelessly'
Peter Musyoki, a resident in Mombasa's Likoni area who saw the shooting, said the two masked men were armed with a rifle and a pistol.
"I saw two men dressed in black with a red ribbon around their heads," he said. "They walked on foot and were just shooting carelessly at anyone they saw."
The gunmen reportedly said the attack was revenge for violence against ethnic Kikuyus in Mpeketoni.
The Reuters news agency say the gunmen also handed out leaflets saying the attack was retribution for last month's violence in Mpeketoni, a town about 300km (185 miles) north of Mombasa.
More than 60 people were killed in two days of violence there in June and President Uhuru Kenyatta blamed "local political networks" for the attacks.
Ethnic tension
Most of the dead were ethnic Kikuyus, like the president.
Critics said Mr Kenyatta was trying to put the blame on his rival Raila Odinga, an ethnic Luo, whom he defeated in last year's presidential election.
Correspondents say political allegiances in Kenya tend to follow ethnic lines and inter-ethnic tensions have led to bloody violence in the past.
Kenya-and Mombasa in particular - was once a popular tourist destination but it has suffered from a wave of attacks in recent years.
Several foreign governments, including the US and Britain, have issued travel warnings advising their citizens to avoid Mombasa.
As well as political tension, Somalia's Islamist militia al-Shabaab say they have been behind several of the recent attacks in Kenya.
On Friday, they said they were responsible for an attack near the town of Witu, some 50km (30 miles) from the resort island of Lamu, in which seven people were killed, including four police officers.
reliefweb.int/report/kenya/armed-men-motorbike-kill-least-four-mombasa-medic
07/20/2014 21:42 GMT
MOMBASA, July 20, 2014 (AFP) - At least four people were killed in the Kenyan coastal city of Mombasa on Sunday in an attack by armed men on a motorbike, according to medical sources.
Another eight people were wounded in the shooting, said the same source.
Earlier, the police said there had been two fatalities.
"At 8:30 pm (1730 GMT) people on a motorbike shot and killed two people and injured two others in the area of Soweto," Mombasa's chief of police Robert Kitur told AFP.
He added that the identity of the killers was not yet known.
No one has yet claimed responsibility for the shooting.
Mombasa has been the scene of worsening unrest in recent months with a string of shootings and bombings blamed on Somalia's Shebab rebels or local supporters.
The Al-Qaeda-linked group say the attacks on Kenyan soil are in retaliation for Kenya's military intervention in Somalia.
On Friday night seven people were killed in an attack on a bus near the Kenyan holiday island of Lamu. Among the dead were two police officers.
Responsibility for that attack was claimed by the Shebab who said it was "ready to act or attack anywhere necessary within Kenya".
str-ayv/dh/cw
© 1994-2014 Agence France-Presse
07/20/2014 21:42 GMT
MOMBASA, July 20, 2014 (AFP) - At least four people were killed in the Kenyan coastal city of Mombasa on Sunday in an attack by armed men on a motorbike, according to medical sources.
Another eight people were wounded in the shooting, said the same source.
Earlier, the police said there had been two fatalities.
"At 8:30 pm (1730 GMT) people on a motorbike shot and killed two people and injured two others in the area of Soweto," Mombasa's chief of police Robert Kitur told AFP.
He added that the identity of the killers was not yet known.
No one has yet claimed responsibility for the shooting.
Mombasa has been the scene of worsening unrest in recent months with a string of shootings and bombings blamed on Somalia's Shebab rebels or local supporters.
The Al-Qaeda-linked group say the attacks on Kenyan soil are in retaliation for Kenya's military intervention in Somalia.
On Friday night seven people were killed in an attack on a bus near the Kenyan holiday island of Lamu. Among the dead were two police officers.
Responsibility for that attack was claimed by the Shebab who said it was "ready to act or attack anywhere necessary within Kenya".
str-ayv/dh/cw
© 1994-2014 Agence France-Presse
www.aljazeera.com/news/africa/2014/07/deaths-shooting-rampage-kenya-mombasa-20147214444141458.html
Deaths in Mombasa shooting rampage
At least four people were killed and several others injured in a shooting rampage in the Kenyan port city of Mombasa, police said.
Witnesses said two attackers shot at people indiscriminately on the edge of Kenya's second-largest city and scattered leaflets saying Sunday's attack was retribution for last month's raid on Mpeketoni, a town about 300km north of Mombasa.
"[...] Four people have been killed and several others injured," said Robert Kitur, Mombasa County police commander, adding: "They did not steal anything. They just shot." Kitur said the police were pursuing the gunmen.
Peter Musyoki, a resident in Mombasa's Likoni area who witnessed the shooting, said two masked men toting a rifle and a pistol haphazardly shot at passersby.
"I saw two men dressed in black with a red ribbon around their heads," he said. "They walked on foot and were just shooting carelessly at anyone they saw," Musyoki said.
The latest attack will further dent Kenya's beleaguered tourist industry after a wave of deadly attacks and will deepen public frustrations about poor security.
About 50 people were killed when gunmen raided Mpeketoni in Lamu County, a coastal region where about 100 people in total have died since mid-June in a series of ambushes and raids.
Al-Shabaab claims
Somalia's al-Shabaab fighters have claimed responsibility for many of the attacks but the government, including President Uhuru Kenyatta, has suggested local politicians were behind the incidents.
Critics say the comments by Kenyatta, an ethnic Kikuyu, were political point-scoring against Raila Odinga, a Luo who lost to Kenyatta in last year's election but has been whipping up crowds with anti-government rallies.
The leaflets distributed at Likoni, warning Odinga and his community, could further fan an already tense political atmosphere in Kenya.
"This is a revenge for our brothers who were killed in Mpeketoni and you Luos, you won't stay in peace, and you Raila if you have anything to do, just do, we are not fearing you at all," said one of the leaflets seen by Reuters news agency.
A disputed poll in 2007 sparked weeks of ethnic bloodletting that left more than 1,200 people dead and crippled the economy.
Source:Agencies
Witnesses said two attackers shot at people indiscriminately on the edge of Kenya's second-largest city and scattered leaflets saying Sunday's attack was retribution for last month's raid on Mpeketoni, a town about 300km north of Mombasa.
"[...] Four people have been killed and several others injured," said Robert Kitur, Mombasa County police commander, adding: "They did not steal anything. They just shot." Kitur said the police were pursuing the gunmen.
Peter Musyoki, a resident in Mombasa's Likoni area who witnessed the shooting, said two masked men toting a rifle and a pistol haphazardly shot at passersby.
"I saw two men dressed in black with a red ribbon around their heads," he said. "They walked on foot and were just shooting carelessly at anyone they saw," Musyoki said.
The latest attack will further dent Kenya's beleaguered tourist industry after a wave of deadly attacks and will deepen public frustrations about poor security.
About 50 people were killed when gunmen raided Mpeketoni in Lamu County, a coastal region where about 100 people in total have died since mid-June in a series of ambushes and raids.
Al-Shabaab claims
Somalia's al-Shabaab fighters have claimed responsibility for many of the attacks but the government, including President Uhuru Kenyatta, has suggested local politicians were behind the incidents.
Critics say the comments by Kenyatta, an ethnic Kikuyu, were political point-scoring against Raila Odinga, a Luo who lost to Kenyatta in last year's election but has been whipping up crowds with anti-government rallies.
The leaflets distributed at Likoni, warning Odinga and his community, could further fan an already tense political atmosphere in Kenya.
"This is a revenge for our brothers who were killed in Mpeketoni and you Luos, you won't stay in peace, and you Raila if you have anything to do, just do, we are not fearing you at all," said one of the leaflets seen by Reuters news agency.
A disputed poll in 2007 sparked weeks of ethnic bloodletting that left more than 1,200 people dead and crippled the economy.
Source:Agencies
It was startling to read on the Al Jazeera web site yesterday,of a sudden outbreak of brutal tribal violence in MOMBASA in southern Kenya, targeting poor Luo speaking slum dwellers over a terrorist attack in LAMU in northern Kenya next to Somalia where Al Shabaab has REPEATEDLY claimed responsibility.
It was a chilling rendition, and macabre evocation of déjà vu, rewinding my retraumatized mind back to the blood soaked days and nights of January 2008, when
members of Mzee Benard Orinda Ndege's family were mercilessly roasted alive
by ruthless mobs in NAIVASHA looking to wreak vengeance on INNOCENT, UNARMED flower workers apparently in “retaliation” for other victims slaughtered in Eldoret, Molo and Nakuru!
It is in the public domain that Uhuru Kenyatta is today standing trial
for crimes against humanity at the International Criminal Court, convened at Daag Haag, in the country currently engulfed in the mourning of almost two hundred souls who perished in another senseless, seemingly random act of terrorist insanity. Among the charges leveled against him are accusations directly in connection with the ethnic inspired acts of arson, murder and forcible evictions of members of the Luo and other tribes in Naivasha.
Let me emphasize that Uhuru Kenyatta is INNOCENT until when those serious charges are proved BEYOND REASONABLE DOUBT in a duly constituted court of law.
Nevertheless, our head of state has the ICC indictment hanging around his neck as the albatross bird of yore, threatening to sink his presidency and obliterate his legacy.
Unfortunately, his first public remarks in the immediate aftermath of the Mpeketoni massacre, in a live address to millions of Kenyans was to dismiss Al Shabaab’s claim of responsibility, opting instead to pin the atrocity on “local political networks-widely interpreted by his supporters and detractors alike to be code and short hand for the Raila led CORD opposition, with a further insinuation, given the toxic, putrid tribal underpinnings of our politics-that the attackers MUST HAVE BEEN LUOS OUT TO KILL HARD WORKING KIKUYUS.
That sweeping diversionary side swipes at his political rivals helps to explain, contextualize and in effect, JUSTIFY the CONTENT of the HATE leaflets littered in Mombasa yesterday talking of Kikuyus exacting revenge for the Mpeketoni killings and warning Luos and Raila of dire future consequences.
On the day after President Kenyatta’s unfortunate address, I penned a piece on the Jukwaa online platform in which Onyango Oloo opined, inter alia:
I think it is very important for Uhuru Kenyatta to remain President of KENYA.
Note where my emphasis lies.
It is not on “Uhuru”.
Or “Kenyatta”.
Or “remain”.
Or “President”.
It is on KENYA.
Let me try this again:
It is very important for Uhuru Kenyatta to remain President of KENYA.
In other words, NOT the Jubilee candidate.
Not the TNA leader.
Not the former MP for Gatundu South.
That remains my view.
If Uhuru wants to be seen as a LEGITIMATE President of Kenya, he must act Presidential.
In this context, he should schedule a live address to the nation in which he looks straight into the camera and says, solemnly, that as President, he, Uhuru Kenyatta, WILL NOT CONDONE OR COUNTENANCE the reckless utterances of thugs who want to kill in his name and in the name of the Gikuyu community. He should say that as President of Kenya, he is also President of the Luos, of the Somalis, of the Waswahili, Mijikenda, Maasai and ALL the people who call Kenya home.
Further, the President should denounce, using the strongest terms, the wanton killing that took place in Mombasa on Monday, July 21, 2014 and pledge to Kenyans that he will not rest until those alleged perpetrators are held accountable, in a court of law, for their murderous exploits.
If he does NOT do that, he risks feeding into the growing perception in many parts of the country that he is a President of the Agikuyu who only gets worked up when Gikuyu lives are lost or when Gikuyu property is vandalized or stolen.
Mr. President, this is something that transcends mere cosmetic optics. It goes beyond a cynical PR deflection.
Kenya is on the cusp of a major national headache about our very being, our very personality as a united nation bringing diverse peoples and cultures under one rubric.
There are times when strong, unambiguous words, followed by swift decisive action, backed by the full arsenal of the law, with all the requisite constitutional and human rights safeguards is absolutely imperative.