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Post by JAHAATWACH on Feb 2, 2008 20:53:11 GMT 3
Deyieng: thanks for bringing this up. Allow me to reproduce what I had posted elsewhere. I believe it is relevant. I argued: * That genuine and meaningful change in Kenya will only be realized in wartime and not peace time. * That the parachute diplomacy we are witnessing in Kenya( from Raila's age-mate and friend John Kofour to Annan and now Ki-moon) are nothing but atheistic for Kenyans' pain and suffering if to paraphrase Raila. * That the Serena Peace Talks and a parallel one by wajumbe washemiwa in Parliament are a set-up for the Opposition and only serve Kibaki's short time interest. I will explain. * That Koffi Anann blundered when he ignored the protesting voters and instead chose to deal with the political class.At minimum he should have let rest of Kenyans and not politicians set the agenda for the talks. * That while Kibaki has mastered and therefore can anticipate Raila's group, his rival in ODM appears not to know the secret behind Kibaki's confidence and stubbornness. *That contrary to what many believe, Kenyan crisis is not and will never be the west's top priority. If you doubt me see for example this www.fco.gov.uk/servlet/Front?pagename=OpenMarket/ Xcelerate/ShowPage&c=Page&cid=1007029393465 So, will Kibaki voluntarily give up or share power with Raila? If you ask me the answer is NO. In fact he is currently on a multi-pronged attack on the ODM and the worst mistake ODM is making is letting its members loose on this so called Amani forum. Remember how akina John Koech and Noah Wekesa got their ministerial jobs in last parliament? Indications are that Kibaki and his handlers are adept at mind reading ODM's think tank. They had anticipated the opposition to his rule and reading from the old script had embarked on a mission to decapitate the Opposition. They warmed up to Kofour because they knew Kibaki's loyalist Chris Kirubi is Ghana's official point man in Kenya. Despite excluding Kenya from its security council, AU's failure to condemn Kibaki in absolute terms and decision to lock out ODM from the Ethiopia Summit is no coincidence.What did Kibaki do immediately after being sworn in? he appointed the like of Uhuru Kenyatta as special envoys with specific brief and their diplomatic port of calls were telling.Other countries were ignored either because their leadership also lacked the legitimacy Kibaki suffers from or had no leverage. Kibaki's handlers also embarked on media spinning. Soon we were watching,reading and hearing such economic power houses as Libya which was perceived as friendly to ODM making unmistakable statement with diplomatic acts. ODM got votes from all the provinces and an emphatic lead in six out of the eight provinces yet prowling the international media from BBC to Aljazeera and assorted news networks you would be made to believe that it is "the violent Luos"who have problem with Kibaki's re-election. You guess is as good as mine whose interest this media spinning serves.Kibaki, if you ask me is confident and stubborn because he is convinced he can survive Raila and ODM. He is counting on former insiders,the likes of Raila's ex-strategist Rateng Ogego(Kenya's ambassador to US)and a motley of brainy but desperate anti-ODM elements to anticipate and overcome the ODM threats. Then there is Kalonzo. Watching akina Orengo,Gumo,Ruto the other day at County Hall curtsying and chatting up Kibaki,the man who want us to believe that his political maxim ties with the title of his all time favorite music Sina Makosa by Les Wanyika ,I felt compelled to ask: Do this people really understand Kibaki? Can they anticipate him? Kazi Iendelee?The UN/AU backed Anann initiative and so called Amani Forum in Bunge are a set-up because hidden in the sound bites from the Serena and Bunge press briefings are legitimization of Kibaki's rule. Wrapped in Anann's diplomatic speak of immediate cessation of violence and long-term solution(one year), is an unspoken message to Raila: go take up the Official Opposition seat, let Kibaki rule as we sort things out. In other words, lets move on in Kibaki's own terms. By luring ODM out of the bloody streets to the boardroom where the key issue that triggered the bloodletting is the least of the worries, Annan has basically done Kibaki a big favour. His only hope is that the 4 million plus Kenyans who voted for Raila will swallow the bait and let the status quo prevail. Kibaki's strategists are confident that by the time Annan flies out of town, ODM will be bound by this conventional process and risk the obvious backlash if it pulls out or is seen as determine to torpedo the process. With mysterious deaths in the opposition ranks and increasing odds against the Opposition, I wont be surprised if Kibaki chooses to walk the Mugabe road and soon we will be faced with the Kenyan version of this www.cbc.ca/world/story/2002/02/13/zimbab0202013.htmlWhat I am saying is that ODM must jealously guard the leverage it currently has and in doing so align its will and aspirations with where Kibaki's real headache is,the Kenyans for change. Lastly ODM must duck the anti-Kikuyu skunk that western media and PNU spin doctors are throwing at it, up its ante by insisting that Kenyans own the ongoing negotiation. I am saying that Kenya's national transformation is in that phase where the people and not politicians are in charge which is why Kibaki's strategy of circling ODM will come a cropper. Kenyans for change have atomized and no longer needs national mobilization. They are now talking to Kibaki directly through regrettable violent actions and indications are that they will be in it the whole hog. addendum:Kibaki's strategy now,it appears, is to destabilize ODM with the hope of weakening it to the extend that it no longer pose a threat to his leadership. He is more determined given that even as it goes to the negotiation table ODM is yet to officially renounce the statement by its chairman Henry Kosgey on January 19th that " We will use all available means to bring down the Kibaki regime. "http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/africa/7198330.stm
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Post by JAHAATWACH on Feb 1, 2008 20:48:32 GMT 3
Its seems the international media have made up their mind about the Kenyan conflict and are determined to validate their objective with selective reportage.
When its not Luos looting and killing Kikuyu tribe, its Kikuyus dismembering the Luo tribe. The TV footage of some Kibaki supporters chanting Jaluo Must Go! when the IDPs in camps have all tribes doesnt help matters either.
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Post by JAHAATWACH on Feb 1, 2008 20:39:50 GMT 3
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Post by JAHAATWACH on Feb 2, 2008 2:39:13 GMT 3
Kibaki's strategy now,it appears, is to destabalise ODM with the hope of weakening it to the extend that it no longer pose a threat to his leadership.
He is more determined given that even as it goes to the negotiation table ODM is yet to officially renounce the statement by its chairman Henry Kosgey on January 19th that "We will use all available means to bring down the Kibaki regime. "http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/africa/7198330.stm
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Post by JAHAATWACH on Feb 2, 2008 1:04:13 GMT 3
Jakojwaya Please allow me to share my view in this thread. I would like to state as follows: * That genuine and meaningful change in Kenya will only be realized in wartime and not peace time. * That the parachute diplomacy we are witnessing in Kenya( from Raila's age-mate and friend John Kofour to Annan and now Ki-moon) are nothing but atheistic for Kenyans' pain and suffering if to paraphrase Raila. * That the Serena Peace Talks and a parallel one by wajumbe washemiwa in Parliament are a set-up for the Opposition and only serve Kibaki's short time interest. I will explain. * That Koffi Anann blundered when he ignored the protesting voters and instead chose to deal with the political class.At minimum he should have let rest of Kenyans and not politicians set the agenda for the talks. * That while Kibaki has mastered and therefore can anticipate Raila's group, his rival in ODM appears not to know the secret behind Kibaki's confidence and stubbornness. *That contrary to what many believe, Kenyan crisis is not and will never be the west's top priority. If you doubt me see for example this www.fco.gov.uk/servlet/Front?pagename=OpenMarket/ Xcelerate/ShowPage&c=Page&cid=1007029393465 So, will Kibaki voluntarily give up or share power with Raila? If you ask me the answer is NO. In fact he is currently on a multi-pronged attack on the ODM and the worst mistake ODM is making is letting its members loose on this so called Amani forum. Remember how akina John Koech and Noah Wekesa got their ministerial jobs in last parliament? Indications are that Kibaki and his handlers are adept at mind reading ODM's think tank. They had anticipated the opposition to his rule and reading from the old script had embarked on a mission to decapitate the Opposition. They warmed up to Kofour because they knew Kibaki's loyalist Chris Kirubi is Ghana's official point man in Kenya. Despite excluding Kenya from its security council, AU's failure to condemn Kibaki in absolute terms and decision to lock out ODM from the Ethiopia Summit is no coincidence.What did Kibaki do immediately after being sworn in? he appointed the like of Uhuru Kenyatta as special envoys with specific brief and their diplomatic port of calls were telling.Other countries were ignored either because their leadership also lacked the legitimacy Kibaki suffers from or had no leverage. Kibaki's handlers also embarked on media spinning. Soon we were watching,reading and hearing such economic power houses as Libya which was perceived as friendly to ODM making unmistakable statement with diplomatic acts. ODM got votes from all the provinces and an emphatic lead in six out of the eight provinces yet prowling the international media from BBC to Aljazeera and assorted news networks you would be made to believe that it is the violent Luos who have problem with Kibaki's re-election. You guess is as good as mine whose interest this media spinning serves.Kibaki, if you ask me is confident and stubborn because he is convinced he can survive Raila and ODM. He appeared to be counting on former insiders,the likes of Raila's ex-strategist Rateng Ogego(Kenya's ambassador to US)and a motley of brainy but desperate anti-ODM elements to anticipate and overcome the ODM threats. Then there is Kalonzo. Watching akina Orengo,Gumo,Ruto the other day at County Hall curtsying and chatting up Kibaki,the man who want us to believe that his political maxim ties with the title of his all time favorite music Sina Makosa by Les Wanyika ,I felt compelled to ask: Do this people really understand Kibaki? Can they anticipate him? Kazi IendeleeThe UN/AU backed Anann initiative and so called Amani Forum in Bunge are a set-up because hidden in the sound bites from the Serena and Bunge press briefings are legitimization of Kibaki's rule. Wrapped in Anann's diplomatic speak of immediate cessation of violence and long-term solution(one year), i read the unspoken message to Raila: go take up the Official Opposition seat, let Kibaki rule as we sort things out. In other words, lets move on in Kibaki's own terms. By luring ODM out of the bloody streets to the boardroom where the key issue that triggered the bloodletting is the least of the worries, Annan has basically done Kibaki a big favour. His only hope is that the 4 million plus Kenyans who voted for Raila will swallow the bait and let the status quo prevail. Kibaki's strategists are confident that by the time Annan flies out of town, ODM will be bound by this conventional process and risk the obvious backlash if it pulls out or is seen as determine to torpedo the process. With mysterious deaths in the opposition ranks and increasing odds against the Opposition, I wont be surprised if Kibaki chooses to walk the Mugabe road and soon we will be faced with the Kenyan version of this www.cbc.ca/world/story/2002/02/13/zimbab0202013.htmlWhat I am saying is that ODM must jealously guard the leverage it currently has and in doing so align its will and aspirations with where Kibaki's real headache is,the Kenyans for change. Lastly ODM must duck the anti-Kikuyu skunk that western media and PNU spin doctors are throwing at it, up its ante by insisting that Kenyans own the ongoing negotiation. I am saying that Kenya's national transformation is in that phase where the people and not politicians are in charge which is why Kibaki's strategy of circling ODM will come a cropper. Kenyans for change have atomized and no longer needs national mobilization. They are now talking to Kibaki directly through regrettable violent actions and indications are that they will be in it the whole hog.
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Post by JAHAATWACH on Feb 3, 2008 15:00:37 GMT 3
Jahatwach:What in your view is the so called "Kikuyu Question"? Onyango Oloo Nairobi, Kenya Ok, wuodgem, Let me keep it short and sweet.The palpable Kikuyu Question is the flip side of the vexing National Question that you beautifully capture in this compelling thread.
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Post by JAHAATWACH on Feb 2, 2008 13:55:53 GMT 3
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Post by JAHAATWACH on Feb 10, 2008 0:09:41 GMT 3
If my memory serves me right, Kivuitu told us that ECK had the budget and logistics for a presidential election re-run.Fresh election supervised by a reconstituted ECK in six months is viable. The IDPs can vote in specially designated zones.
Elections is the best way of involving Kenyans in fixing the mess we are in.I agree with the suggestion that the referendum for Bomas draft and election re-run be held at the same time.
By calling for mayoral elections and even lifting the ban on assembly, the government is confirming that the environment is conducive for political activity.
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Post by JAHAATWACH on Jan 22, 2008 14:26:28 GMT 3
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Post by JAHAATWACH on Jan 21, 2008 18:50:26 GMT 3
RR,
There is also another form of political protest that I wont be surprised to witness in Kenya soon. It seems the ingenuity of Okoiti Omtata 'sgave rise to new ideas and concepts of turning the heat on Kibaki.
I have just talked a loud,radical rural mother of two from the austere of Gobei,Sakwa out of bizarre threat to travel to Nairobi and publicly take her own life in protest against Kibaki's presidency.
Her plan was to douse herself in petrol and right outside Harambee Hse, strike the match stick on her.Whether the threat was real or not, it tells much how far Kenyans have gone in their demand for change since the Bomas Conference.
You never know these days in Kenya.
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Post by JAHAATWACH on Jan 21, 2008 18:15:55 GMT 3
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Post by JAHAATWACH on Jan 21, 2008 15:46:10 GMT 3
KAMALE, this is no laughing matter and I beg you,PLEASE lets keep political rhetorics out of it.
There is one reason and one reason alone why Kibaki chose to invade Kenya's living rooms via KBC live broadcast on his controversial swearing in:To tell Kenyans who is-in-charge of the country.
Raila, Kalonzo and Kibaki craved for and literally begged Kenyans for the 2008-2012 job. Of course Kenyans made their choice but while we may not all agree who ought not to be the president, we all know who is now at State House.
Before he collect his salary in eleven days time, Kibaki must look Kenyans in the face and explain why he is unable to prevent leave alone halt the senseless killings.No excuses!
Nations like Libya,Germany and even recently here in Kenya, the British, have not only owned up but also paid/compensated for historical atrocities which they had the powers to prevent.
I know for sure that families of victims of the ongoing killings will one day seek and be granted not only justice but compensation.
As the man under whose watch this atrocities are being committed, Kibaki's spiritual and legal advisers ought to have by now advised him to make a formal public apology first to Kenyans who would be alive today had he done his job and secondly to their families.Most importantly the families who have lost their loved ones and bread winners want to see arrests, prosecutions as a start of national healing.
YES the buck stops with Kibaki.
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Post by JAHAATWACH on Jan 21, 2008 14:48:52 GMT 3
If[ and God forbid) Kenya goes the Rwanda way, an International Tribunal will inevitably be constituted and the perpetrators will be held to account.
The Rwanda experience is a lesson to the Kabugas of this world.I believe not even my likes in the blogging world who may be tempted to take advantage of the online anonymity to play a part in gross human right violation will be spared by the long arm of justice.
Kenya it is time for all of us to examine ourselves and our role either by inaction or outright complicity in the wanton and senseless killings.
The world as Charles Taylor, Melosovic and Rwanda war crime convicts can testify is too small for those with disregard to human life.
I stand to be corrected but I personally hold President Mwai KIbaki responsible for the deaths ands destruction in Kenya.Why?
Because it is him and not his opposition protagonist who is drawing a salary for the job of a President. There was a reason why KBC beamed live transmission to Kenyan homes during Kibaki's hastily arranged swearing-in ceremony
In the oathing ceremony at State House Nairobi,Kibaki swore to protect Kenyan lives and property something that even a child who watched him that evening knows he hasnt.And he seems to have no apology for it.
I also blame Kibaki because the heavily funded Kenyan intelligence community(from Military Intelligence to CID and NSIS to Kenyan's Interpol) is answerable to him and him alone.
Kibaki is the Commander-In-Chief of the policeman captured killing an unarmed innocent civilian in Kisumu and the forces whose operations in Nairobi,Coast,Western and Nyanza have left hundreds dead.
Where were Kibaki's grassroot agents(Assistant Chiefs, Chiefs,OCS,APs and Intelligence Officer)when thugs burn Kenyan citizens in church or dismember children in homes?
Can Kibaki account for the hate leaflets being distributed in parts of the county,for the cache of weapons consficated in a government vehicle in Naivasha, for mass purchased of pangas at Nairobi's Nakumatt before elections?
Martha Karua is on record in BBC's Hardtalk saying the government foreknew the ongoing killings and if indeed she was right why wasn't it averted and why are the mastermind still scotfree?
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Post by JAHAATWACH on Jan 21, 2008 14:14:36 GMT 3
Signs in Kenya That Killings Were Planned By JEFFREY GETTLEMAN January 21, 2008 KERINGET, Kenya At first the violence seemed as spontaneous as it was shocking, with machete-wielding mobs hacking people to death and burning women and children alive in a country that was celebrated as one of Africa’s most stable. But a closer look at what has unfolded in the past three weeks, since a deeply flawed election plunged Kenya into chaos, shows that some of the bloodletting that has left more than 650 people dead may have been premeditated and organized. Leaflets calling for ethnic killings mysteriously appeared before the voting. Politicians with both the government and opposition parties gave speeches that stoked long-standing hatred among ethnic groups. And local tribal chiefs held meetings to plot attacks on rivals, according to some of them and their followers. As soon as the election results were announced, handing a suspiciously thin margin of victory to Kenya’s president, Mwai Kibaki — whose policies of favoring his own ethnic group have marginalized about half the country — all the elements lined up for the violence to explode. www.nytimes.com/2008/01/21/world/africa/21kenya.html?ei=5087&em=&en=c3efd57955c55ff2&ex=1200978000&pagewanted=print
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Post by JAHAATWACH on Jan 19, 2008 23:36:14 GMT 3
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Post by JAHAATWACH on Jan 20, 2008 1:36:17 GMT 3
Kenya election was rigged – regional MPs BY CHARLES KAZOOBA IN KAMPALA The New Times, Rwanda Members of Parliament from the Great Lakes Region have claimed that Mwai Kibaki is holding the Kenyan presidency illegitimately. The lawmakers, grouped in Amani (Swahili for peace). The [Amani]Forum – composed of parliamentarians from a number of countries in the region, are demanding a vote recount and establishment of a transitional government that would institute a repeat of the presidential election. “ Kibaki is sitting in that chair (presidential seat) illegitimately,” MP Betty Amongi, the chairperson Amani-Uganda Chapter told a news conference in Kampala yesterday. www.newtimes.co.rw/index.php?issue=13406&article=3476
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Post by JAHAATWACH on Jan 19, 2008 13:02:54 GMT 3
Kibaki afflicted by the ‘African disease’ FINANCIAL GAZETTE, ZIMBAMBWE Mavis Makuni Own Correspondent As Zimbabwe prepares to stage elections in the next two months, according to the government, it continues to be instructive to watch electoral processes in other countries so as to avoid certain pitfalls and adopt transparent practices that remove barriers to the genuine expression of the will of the people. The debacle in Kenya has many lessons for Zimbabweans, who are already familiar with the ramifications of political violence and disputed election results. What is so excruciating about the Kenyan situation is that it was not supposed to happen under a government headed by a man who was swept to power on a tidal wave of the people's hunger for change. Mwai Kibaki's government came to power with the promise of moving the country forward after decades of Daniel Arap Moi's autocratic and corrupt governance. Regrettably, once ensconced in Kenya's state house, Kibaki has betrayed the people by condoning and entrenching the abuses of the previous administration. A lesson for opposition parties such as Zimbabwe's Movement for Democratic Change and the one expected to emerge after a breakaway from ZANU PF, is that when the people agitate for change, they desire genuine change, not the mere supplanting of the visage of one authoritarian leader for that of a political clone equally afflicted with imperviousness to their aspirations. Ruling parties in turn must realize that regardless of how long it takes, hard–nosed intransigence characterized by a resort to subterfuge is a recipe for inevitable disaster. Trickery and cosmetic changes in response to deeply felt national grievances and perceived injustices can only work for so long. At some point, the dam will burst, with tragic consequences such as the unnecessary loss of life in Kenya. Moi's administration was criticized for its poor human rights record and the use of the legal system to harass government critics. Under Moi, opposition leaders and pro–democracy activists were subjected to arbitrary arrest, detention without trial and abuse in custody. These and rampant corruption such as that which manifested itself in the Goldenberg scandal, which cost the equivalent of Kenya's gross domestic product, resulted in international donors withdrawing aid and countries like the United States, Germany, the United Kingdom and Norway breaking off diplomatic relations. Under Kibaki, politically motivated human rights abuses abated but the security forces, particularly the police, were still accused of perpetrating atrocities against innocent citizens. The police force has been described as the most corrupt entity in Kenya, accused of demanding bribes, using excessive force and complicity in criminal activities. Most of these unacceptable traits which Kibaki allowed to remain unchecked have become evident in the current crisis. The Kibaki government's disproportionate show of force in recent weeks using an organisation already notorious for being trigger–happy has resulted in the death so far of 700 Kenyans for whom voting should have been an empowering rather than fatal experience. But despite the escalating bloodbath, Kibaki continues to exhibit the unmistakable symptoms of the "African disease"– a single–minded unwillingness to yield power under any circumstances.Zimbabwe has similar problems. Its police force is notorious for its brutality and the authorities are accused of condoning widespread abuse of police power. The police force openly enforces laws selectively, including those pertaining to freedom of speech and assembly which ultimately impact on the integrity of the electoral process and its outcome. The Kibaki government was reported this week to have rejected a bid by former United Nations secretary general, Kofi Annan, to help end the harvest of death. The Minister of Roads and Public Works, John Michuki declared: "If Kofi Annan is coming, he is coming not at our invitation. We won the elections so do not see the point of anyone coming to mediate power sharing."It is clear that despite knowing the election results were disputed, all that those in power are now worried about is safeguarding their positions and sinecures. They are not bothered that hundreds of the very people they are supposed to have been elected to serve are losing their lives. African governments have yet to accept the fact that disputed election results are not cast in stone. Out of self–interest, officials stubbornly refuse to acknowledge that the simplest way to deal with these disputes is to open the electoral process up to scrutiny. If the victorious party won legitimately, it should have nothing to fear from a re–rerun of the polls or a recount of the ballots. Some ruling parties that have held sway in Africa since the end of colonialism have simply refused to accept that it is impossible to have fair and valid results from elections conducted in a flawed environment openly tilted in the sitting government's favour. This was a factor in Kenya where Kibaki's main challenger and losing presidential candidate, Raila Odinga, charged that the Electoral Commission of Kenya was dominated by Kibaki's cronies and was therefore biased and prone to manipulation. The government has neither disputed this serious charge nor explained why the integrity of the electoral body has been compromised by inundating it with government apologists and beneficiaries of state patronage. The role and composition of the Zimbabwe Electoral Commission has equally been a bone of contention because of charges that it is stuffed with ruling party loyalists and military /security operatives. As this country's dreaded elections loom, official calls for non–violence are reaching a crescendo, the latest being made by judge president, Justice Rita Makarau who said this week : "We, as the courts stand ready to play our part in ensuring that the rights of individuals enshrined in the constitution of Zimbabwe will be given legal expression to, before, during and after the elections." She called on the people of Zimbabwe to accept the results of the harmonized polls to be held in March. But how sincere are these calls in the midst of all else that is wrong in the country? Me thinks the learned judge doth protest too much – in the wrong vein. The authorities cannot call for the acceptance of election results without taking any measures to ensure the existence of a level electoral playing field. Justice Makarau knows this has been a contentious issue for many years but the judiciary has been conspicuous by its deafening silence even when blatant abuses and irregularities have been exposed. A disturbing report is published elsewhere in this issue about the alleged intimidation of rural voters that is already in full swing as reported by Zimbabwe Election Support Network (ZESN) observers. The methods of coercion range from threats of repercussions if the ruling party loses to using government handouts to "buy votes" even before polling day. The declaration by Justice Makarau that the judiciary stands ready to defend the constitutional rights of Zimbabweans is therefore as hollow as her exhortation on the acceptance of the results is insincere. This plea is analogous to a criminal who declares: "I did not kill Mr X" before he or she has been charged with any crime. There would be no need for any trepidation about the reaction of Zimbabweans to election results if polls were conducted in a free and fair atmosphere. The results would speak for themselves. The unease betrayed by a need to campaign for the acceptance of the outcome beforehand implies that the winner is already known. But electoral victory should reflect an expression of the will of the people, not the wishes of a particular party. www.fingaz.co.zw/story.aspx?stid=2009
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Post by JAHAATWACH on Jan 19, 2008 12:56:52 GMT 3
ANALYSIS - Kenya's Kibaki sheds gentleman imageFri 18 Jan 2008, 8:13 GMT By Andrew Cawthorne NAIROBI (Reuters) - When President Mwai Kibaki was inaugurated on Dec. 30, 2002, a million Kenyans thronged a city park to hail him as saviour after 24 years of repressive rule. Five years later, he was hurriedly sworn in, watched by a few close aides, on the lawn of his heavily guarded residence, as smoke rose from protests in nearby slums.The contrasting ceremonies mirror Kibaki's changed reputation both inside and outside Kenya after his disputed re-election and tough handling of the turmoil afterwards. "Sorry for the cliches, but the popular 'reformist president' is beginning to look a bit more like an old-fashioned African strongman these days," one Nairobi-based diplomat said.There was nationwide euphoria when Kibaki beat the party of authoritarian former President Daniel arap Moi in 2002.Though some Kenyans later became disillusioned over issues like corruption, there was still respect for a man regarded as a gentleman, statesman and "Mzee" -- Swahili for respected elder -- above the messy fray of daily politics. Now, however, Kibaki has turned into a hate figure for many who believe he stole the Dec. 27 presidential vote and is crushing protests with brutality.The man with a penchant for P.G. Wodehouse novels and a round of golf at the colonial-era Muthaiga Club, who was previously often satirised as a genial but bumbling leader, has shown unexpected steel in facing the crisis. After swearing himself in within minutes of being declared winner from a hotly-contested vote count, Kibaki, 76, has gone on to outlaw public demonstrations, put hardliners in his cabinet, deploy riot police daily, and ban live TV broadcasts." We are seeing a creeping regression to the totalitarian methods of the past," said Kenyan columnist Macharia Gaitho. "The government is going out of its way to curb the inherent rights of the people to associate, express themselves, communicate and assemble."Not so, cry Kibaki supporters, who say opposition leader Raila Odinga is forcing the government to take tough action by whipping up civil disobedience and ethnic massacres. "NOT ZIMBABWE" Diplomats are beginning to ask if Kibaki is following in the footsteps of others -- like Meles Zenawi of Ethiopia, or Yoweri Museveni of Uganda -- whose authoritarianism cut short their early status as favourites of the West. Kibaki opened up the economy, which stagnated under Moi, to achieve average annual growth of five percent, and ended many restrictions on free expression. He was also seen as a reliable Western ally against al Qaeda. But question-marks that began emerging towards the end of his first term, when, for example, police controversially raided a newspaper office, are now seen as an early warning signal. " He risks going down as the president who squandered the opportunities of the post-Moi democratisation in Kenya, even though he was the one who first enabled them," said Patrick Smith, editor of Africa Confidential newsletter. "The old stereotype of the genial but weak leader surrounded by bad people does not fit any more. That image was gradually chipped away. Then events since Dec. 30 finished the process." Analysts point out, however, that Kibaki has still led from the shadows during the crisis rather than become a dominant frontman like, say, Meles or Museveni.And U.S. ambassador Michael Ranneberger was adamant that comparisons made by Kibaki's most strident critics with Zimbabwean President Robert Mugabe were wrong."Kenya is nowhere near anything like Zimbabwe so such comparisons are completely beyond the point," he said. Still, there is a mounting chorus of criticism from Kenyan rights groups and activists who say Kibaki staged a "civilian coup" and is looking increasingly dictatorial. "The decline into a police state has been so swift and so organised that one can be forgiven for thinking that some within the government may have actually anticipated the chaos," said lawyer Karim Anjarwalla in Nairobi.Kibaki faces early tests of his international standing. First, he is due at an African Union (AU) summit at the end of January, where it is not clear how fellow heads-of-state will treat him. Uganda, Swaziland, Morocco, Somalia and Egypt are the only African nations to recognise Kibaki so far. Then there are threats in the air by Western powers to cut direct aid. But as Kenya gets less than five percent of its budget that way, the impact would be largely symbolic. Some who know Kenya well say that rather than a dramatic transformation in the last three weeks, Kibaki is in fact only showing qualities he has hidden for decades. As a legislator in every parliament since 1963 independence, Kibaki has exhibited plenty of political guile and strength during a career that includes a decade as vice-president for Moi -- the man with whom he was seen as representing a clean break. And while he belatedly benefited from the advent of multi-party politics in the 1990s, critics remember his comments in previous years likening those seeking to end one-party rule to daydreamers trying to fell a tree with a razor blade.africa.reuters.com/wire/news/usnL18466157.html
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Post by JAHAATWACH on Jan 19, 2008 12:56:13 GMT 3
Kibaki, an Imposition of the West, Says Rawlings01.19.2008 Former Ghanaian Presid-ent, Jerry Rawlings, has said that the violence that erupted in Kenya over alleged rigging of the election by the incumbent President, Mwai Kibaki, is a protest against neo-colonialism and the imposition of leadership by the West. According to him, Kenyans do not want to go through the same kind of experience again hence their insistence on change. Speaking to journalists yesterday at the Murtala Mohammed Airport Lagos, Rawlings said: “ Kenyans are demonstrating that enough is enough in neo-colonialism. If we have done away with coup d’etat, then let us preserve the integrity of the electoral process. And if we cannot count on the integrity of the electoral process, where do we go? This is happening in many countries in Africa, including my own country.”The former Ghanaian president said that the electoral process in many African countries is so weak, which in turn weakens the relationship between the African governments elected in such doubtful electoral process. “ Since the collapse of the bi-polar power, I have always been saying that the uni-polar power has been displaying some very unethical and immoral political standard and that is a price they (African leaders) had to pay. I keep repeating this. It does not surprise me the way economic affairs are handled, it is always as if we are living in the days of mercenary tendencies,” Rawlings said. It does not surprise me that a country like Venezuela should swing 180 degrees south of the US, when the Soviet Union has collapsed because the economic philosophy has just swung to one extreme with government just selling all national assets to themselves and to their families. So where is this going to lead us to? It is going to lead to arson. People are being violated and there is going to be a reaction,” Rawling also said. He remarked that if the African Command that United States is proposing is going to complement the efforts of African forces let it be established so that it would help to stop the situation in Darfur, Sudan, but “if it is 21st century form of trying to colonise the continent, then it is absolutely wrong and I think African Union (AU) should have a position on this. Also speaking to journalists, the former Ghanaian Minister of Foreign Affairs, Victor Gbeho, who arrived at the airport with Rawlings, said unless the electoral processes in Africa are reviewed, the kind of crisis happening in Kenya would not end. He said the crises in the African region were due to the failure of electoral processes which are usurped by malpractices and urged the AU to take wade into the political turmoil in Kenya by forming a coalition and organising a re-run of the presidential elections in that country. " The Kenyan situation is regrettable, no African country is proud of what is happening now especially now that we are trying to earn an international reputaion as a democratic continent, what is happening there is due to the fact that the electoral process has failed and what they called rigging was put in place. Those who are in the office in Kenya know that they did not win.This is a challenge to the A.U, they should get involved and organise a re-run election, otherwise the opposition party will never agree, they are prepared to shed more blood", he said. www.thisdayonline.com/nview.php?id=100826
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Post by JAHAATWACH on Jan 19, 2008 12:52:58 GMT 3
Stolen votesSaturday January 19, 2008 The Guardian The death toll of the violence unleashed by a disputed election in Kenya is rising inexorably. At least 20 died in the last two days of opposition protest. Add them to over 600 who have already been shot by police or hacked to death or burned alive by mobs, and it is obvious that Raila Odinga, the opposition leader who insists that President Mwai Kibaki stole the vote, would have to stop street protest. Yesterday the opposition spokesman Salim Lone said they would now turn to economic boycotts and strikes. President Kibaki is losing his image of a gentleman surrounded by thugs. With each day that passes he is looking more like a hardliner who refuses to confront reality. He has dug in, spurned offers of international mediators, and packed his cabinet with the same discredited clique that voters tried to kick out of office. The violence obscures the root cause of the conflict - not ethnic unrest, social inequality, paramilitary gangs, youth unemployment or land distribution in the Rift Valley. These are symptoms, but the disease itself is vote-rigging. An umbrella group of civil-society organisations called the Kenyans for Peace with Truth and Justice (KPTJ) returned to this subject yesterday with a report analysing the election results. While there is evidence of ballot-box stuffing on both sides (and the turnout figures in both Mr Odinga's and Mr Kibaki's heartlands are unbelievable), the KPTJ found that in 130 constituencies 325,321 more votes had been cast for the presidential tally than for the parallel parliamentary one. In other words, people cast substantially more votes for their choice of president than they did for their choice of MP. This is not credible, and the reverse of what happened in 2002. Of those additional votes, the KPTJ found that 256,000 were "suspicious". As Mr Kibaki's margin of victory was 231,628 votes, this is more than enough to explain the result. Both sides stuffed ballot boxes, but only one side rigged the count at the election commission. As one analyst in Nairobi said, it is like comparing the activities of a chicken thief with those of a bank robber. A forensic audit of the count is difficult, if not impossible. The original tallies which election agents certified either do not now exist or are photocopies of the originals. Holding another election also looks like a pipe dream when the dead are still being buried. There is simply too much anger around. A coalition government should be formed with the limited objective of rebuilding discredited institutions such as the election commission and dismantling the roadblocks, so that fresh elections can be held at some point in the future. But for this to happen President Kibaki has to move. He has shown no sign of doing so yet. www.guardian.co.uk/commentisfree/story/0,,2243423,00.html
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Post by JAHAATWACH on Jan 19, 2008 1:17:45 GMT 3
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Post by JAHAATWACH on Jan 19, 2008 1:07:55 GMT 3
The Monitor (Kampala) OPINION 18 January 2008 Posted to the web 18 January 2008 Raila Odinga's Orange RevolutionHe speaks softly; his sentences tend to taper off toward the end, like somebody short of breath.He bears a fleeting resemblance with the late Ugandan poet, Okot p'Bitek. If there were people who did not know this man, we now all know who he is, thanks to queues for fuel that came at short notice and were felt right up to Burundi. This is shaping up to be the year of the Luo-speaking Nilotic people and they are energised. One of them, Barak Hussein Obama, is a major contender in the United States presidential election campaign. He hopes to become, in the literal sense of the word, the first African-American president of the world's most powerful country. The other, Raila Amolo Oginga Odinga for the past three weeks has held Kenya's destiny and economic and security prospects --- and that of much of the region --- in his hands. In Odinga was the kingmaker who helped President Mwai Kibaki come to power in 2002, he has become not only the king un-maker; but has power enough to overturn the status quo in the East African region in the same way that Uganda's President Yoweri Museveni had in the early to mid 1990s, when his militant foreign policy led to changes of governments in the Great Lakes region.How things can change. Only 15 years ago, talk was rife throughout the western part of East Africa and the eastern part of Central Africa of Museveni trying (or rumoured to be trying) to establish a mighty Hima-Tutsi empire stretching from Uganda to Rwanda, Burundi, Congo and beyond, in a re-enactment of the old Bacwezi empire of the 14th century. Now, a Luo speaker holds the destiny of East Africa in his hands. In January 1964, a Luo carpenter from Lira in Uganda, "Field Marshall" John Okello, staged a lightening coup in Zanzibar and overthrew the Sultans government. There has always been a tension between the Bantu and Luo that is hard to understand. It was in evidence in Uganda for the first 24 years of independence starting 1962 when many Bantu-speaking Ugandans felt that they had suffered at the hands of "these northerners." The Luo and Nilo-Hamitic northerners certainly have felt pushed to the margin and made to live in sub-prime internally displaced people's camps for the better part of 22 years. In Kenya, no matter how much we try to cast the current crisis as a political contest, it still takes on the feel of a Luo-Jaluo versus Bantu-Kikuyu struggle for resources, representation, power, and pride. Kisumu has been proposed as the headquarters city of a future East African Federation. Combining their population in Uganda, Kenya, Tanzania, Ethiopia, and Sudan, they are one of the largest ethnic groupings in East and Central Africa. The Kiswahili language Islamic weekly newspaper, An-Nuur of Tanzania, in a January 4, 2008 commentary cried out: "Raila Odinga has taught a big [or major] lesson to opposition parties in the country [Tanzania] which claim to fight for people's rights and against injustice. It has been said that if these parties do not heed this lesson, they will lose the people's backing, remain weak and thereby lose the right to speak for the citizens. Giving their opinions at different times, citizens who spoke to [An-Nuur] said that if leaders such as Prof [Ibrahim] Lipumba, Maalim Seif [Sharif Hamad, both leaders of the opposition Civic United Front] and Freeman Mbowe [of the Party for Democracy and Development, Chadema] stand by the truth, then they might be able to fell CCM [ruling Chama Cha Mapinduzi] and even oust it from power." That statement alone from this Tanzanian newspaper should be a warning to us that the deep resentment with the current political order is not restricted to Kenya and Uganda. Even in the apparently peaceful Tanzania, there are angry forces that are drawing lessons from the Kenyan opposition.There are reports of Acholi quietly slipping out of Uganda following the recent Kenyan election, to go to Kisumu and join hands with the Luo there in support of Odinga. The idea of creating a broad band of brotherhood that encompasses East Africa and part of the Horn is starting to gain ground. That is the direction the political winds in the region are going to take. Ethnic pride and political life viewed through the lenses of one's tribe will become the new point around which to rally.
The largest tribe in Kenya, the Kikuyu, now know this all too well. Assuming Kibaki prevails and manages to serve out his five-year term, what shall he be pre-occupied with? Nothing else short of desperately trying to consolidate Kikuyu wealth, placing his tribesmen in key positions before this tidal wave of angry Luo power comes crashing into Nairobi in 2012. Tribalism in its most raw and violent form has arrived at Kenya's doorstep, and it is Unbwogable. allafrica.com/stories/printable/200801180916.html
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Post by JAHAATWACH on Jan 20, 2008 4:11:07 GMT 3
Mzee, one would be tempted to dismiss your info as alarmist and irresponsible but I for one take your source seriously moreso given allafrica.com/stories/printable/200801180927.html and radiokatwe.com/kibakialimuonam7080115.htm and radiokatwe.com/kibakialimuonam7080115.htm
This could be the doomsday scenerio that my late friend, DO Misiani (Owino Makawili,Owino wuod Amara,Rateng okeugo Rongo Jowi ja Mwuomo)warns of in one of his heartfelt but heavily coded lyrics that earned him run-ins with the powers that be.
In Amolo Piny pako te(see song No.4 cdbaby.com/cd/domisiani)in which he venerates Raila Odinga, the benga maestro warns prophetically:
Pinyni kangiye, pinyni karange mos Pinyni ka ngiye, to waboyudo gimawadwarono. Pinyni kanone, towabochalo pinje mamoko
Pinyni kasome to wabo ringo ngwe lee, Pinyni kangiye to wabo iko ji kangima, Pinyni kangiye to wabochamo kata oyieyo
To the uninitiated, DO Misiani news.independent.co.uk/people/obituaries/article1193115.ece is warning in the powerful composition that Kenya was headed to the failed states column unless its leadership hearkens to popular will of the masses.
He predict, prophetically, that unless wisdom prevails, Kenya will be engulfed in anarchy,strife and torment where citizenry bury their numbers alive in murderous rage and where people live like wild animals-homeless and surviving on rats as we saw in www.cnn.com/2006/WORLD/africa/12/19/koinange.zimbabwe/index.html
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Post by JAHAATWACH on Jan 18, 2008 18:46:49 GMT 3
www.abunuwasi.com/?q=detail&id=%201759And may I also add that by appointing a committee of hardliners " to spearhead national political dialogue, national reconciliation and to promote international understanding and good relations on the political problems facing the country following the recently concluded elections " Kibaki is telling us and the west: -That HE IS INCHARGE and can only negotiate with ODM or the west on his own terms. - That Raila is not his equal to warrant a one on one meeting which flies in the face of the West's recognition of -Raila as the only person Kibaki should directly deal with. -That if Moi survived Raila in 1997 he should,can and will. -That ODM is anti-dialogue. This Kalonzo committee reminds us of the Saitoti Committee of 1991 which Moi used to buy time and assuage tension. The war of nerves and wits is on and ODM has the upper hand.
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Post by JAHAATWACH on Jan 18, 2008 18:26:42 GMT 3
Pippy
You are raising a pertinent issue.Our very own Onyango Oloo, in his vintage self, had raised the red flag way back before the ballot was cast,when the Muslims votes were up for grabs and when the Kibakinistas were pouting all over about the west percieved backing for ODM.
Please allow me to reproduce what I had posted elsewhere as a response because I believe it is as relevant.
Kibaki is a FAMILIAR historical Kenyan problem whose solution is political and not military.[Those] youths should not fall into the trap of those who want to reduce the global campaign against Kibaki's injustice into an ethnic struggle.
As former presidents Fredrick Chiluba,Pasteur Bizimungu and Charles Taylor realized, 21st century has no room for impunity by bloody, undemocratic, repressive,corrupt and divisive rulers. Kibaki, besides robbing Raila of victory, has failed to protect the human lives and property when we all know that his office is well funded by taxpayers and has the mandate and ability to forestall crime of this magnitude.
Kibaki has Kalonzo,Uhuru,minority political parties on his lap and the military and intelligence community on his beck and call.It is a collabo that he and his handlers are convinced will vanquish ODM,permanently block Raila and for that matter a Luo, from ascending to presidency and in effect ensure that the presidency remains a family heirloom.
With this Mta du? attitude, Kibaki is casting the image of an American cruise liner powering its way in the choppy waters of Atlantic:mighty,strong,domineering and intimidating. But boy?even the Titanic that was designed to conquer the wilds of the ocean went down.
I am saying that Kenya's will, will prevail ipso facto. I am also saying that attempt by Kibaki,Kenyatta and Kalonzo for self-preservation is bound to fail with the only success being radicalizing the majority under 35 who WANT CHANGE AND WANT IT RIGHT NOW.
Kenyan elders who care about Kibaki must indulge the faltering statesman and warn him that nothing short of JUSTICE will appease the Nation.
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