Post by Onyango Oloo on Aug 5, 2011 14:35:23 GMT 3
A Note for My Friends
By Miguna Miguna
Nairobi, Friday August 5th, 2011
I am still alive.
I have been on a one month vacation which started on July 6th, 2010. The Prime Minister had granted my request for vacation in June. I travelled to Canada on July 10th and brought back my two children studying there for their summer holidays on July 18th. On July 9th, I accompanied the Prime Minister to Juba, South Sudan for their independence celebrations.
On Thursday July 21st, 2011, I published an article in the Nairobi Star newspaper. The article was titled “IIEC Chair Isaack does not deserve all the plaudits”. Like my articles I have authored, I made factual and logical arguments based on publicly available information. No one has refuted any of the factual assertions and issues in that article. The article was not about Isaack as such. It addressed issues of good governance, discrimination, corruption and nepotism at the IIEC. Those are important issues that cannot be trivialised. I stand by my story.
Sometime last week, I received an invitation for a two-day party strategy team retreat from the ODM Secretariat. The two-day retreat was scheduled for August 4th and 5th, 2011 at the Enashipai Resort and Spa in Naivasha. I arrived for the retreat at about 11 am on Thursday August 4th. We proceeded to a session after lunch. At about 3:30 pm, I started noticing numerous calls and texts from various media houses. My phone was on vibration.
One text from a Star reporter attracted my attention. It asked: “Can you confirm the the suspension? What’s your response?”. Since I hadn’t received any information (no letter, text, email or telephone call) about the so-called suspension, I texted back: “Suspension of whom?” The answer came back: “You!” I further inquired from him who had told him about it and he responded that he was getting the ‘suspension letter’ in a few minutes and would get back to me. Within minutes, I started receiving calls from all kinds of people – media, friends, et cetera. I then texted the PM’s spokesman Dennis Onyango, Sarah Elderkin, Prof. Edward Oyugi and Sylvester Kasuku to find out if they knew or if they had heard anything. They promptly replied that they knew nothing. Dennis told me that he was with the PM in Kisumu and that I should treat the story as rumours.
Apparently not, for within minutes Joshua Kawino passed me his phone with the Nation Media Group’s “breaking news”. So, quite clearly, something had happened. Later, one of my friends informed me that he had seen similar “news flash” on face book but had ignored it as rumours. By 4 pm, major TV, radio and electronic media were “officially” announcing my “indefinite suspension without pay.”
By 4:15 pm, my secretary sent me a short text message that my personal assistant, messenger and she had received letters of termination. No reasons were given. At or about 5 pm, the personal assistant sent another text message saying they had received a letter from Dr. Mohammed Isahakia addressed to me. It was marked “top secret” and the person who delivered it had instructed them not to open it.
By 6 pm, I had had enough and after a brief consultation with Prof. Oyugi, I decided to return back to Nairobi. As I was leaving, our house keeper called to inform me that the Administration Police at the gate had been “collected” and that there was nobody at the gate. As I scrambled to make my way back to Nairobi, I saw missed calls from two cabinet ministers close to me, an MP and another good friend. I knew things were elephant.
And I knew the script. An announcement is made by a major media house that a prominent person has been fired. “Reasons” and “justifications” are quickly concocted. The story catches fire. The prominent person’s career is in tatters. He goes into hiding and remains there, ashamed of the humiliation! Friends and relatives take cover. Enemies emerge, emboldened. Life goes on. It was obvious that the chain of events had been carefully choreographed.
As I drove back to Nairobi, another telephone call revealed that the “decision” to ‘suspend’ me had taken place that morning in Nairobi. Some people who were supposed to have been attending the Naivasha retreat were at that meeting. That explained why one of them failed to show up but gave two conflicting “stories” of his whereabouts. Two others arrived about four hours late and couldn’t maintain eye contact with me. They didn’t even greet me.
At the meeting, I understand that ODM Chief Whip demanded that I be fired immediately. He doesn’t appear to have disclosed the reasons for this demand. A number of MPs present - I don’t know how many – supported him. But Budalangi MP Ababu Namwamba and another un-named MP defended me strongly, arguing that someone like me is needed by both the PM and the party; that if we want to triumph in the struggle ahead, then “we cannot get rid of Miguna.”
As Ababu was arguing to the wind, the “story” had already been carefully leaked and planted in various reactionary media. And boy, were they having a field day!
On my way to Nairobi, I gave the media my brief response to the hilarious hullabaloo. I told them that I had not received any information – letter, email, text or telephone call about the suspension. I explained that I have been on vacation for nearly a month and that I was only that day gone to a party strategy retreat in Naivasha. I added that whatever might have been concocted as “reasons” for the suspension are baseless and unfounded, and that I shall neither be cowed nor will I waver. I then declined further comment until I receive the letter.
I arrived home safely just before 7:00 pm and found my children outside. Daddy, why did the soldier leave? Daddy, are we going to have security? Daddy this, daddy that! “Shhhh...quiet. Everything will be all right was my response”. I didn’t have an explanation. I couldn’t look at them. I could see the confusion in the children’s eyes. Nobody gave me advanced notice or warning and I hadn’t prepared them. Now, I had no way of explaining anything.
The calls and text messages then started coming like torrents. My phone couldn’t cope and ‘died’. As I charged the phone, I responded to the most urgent ones; essentially repeating what I had told the media. Later, I watched the 9:00 pm news and couldn’t believe the disinformation, slant and propaganda. What was very clear to me is that whatever had happened had been planned and calculated. The only drawback for them is that they couldn’t conjure up coherent “stories”. The ones they were peddling weren’t persuasive.
Take the one about the IIEC. I don’t work for the commission. Nobody has presented credible evidence or set of facts linking me to anything unlawful, illegal or unethical at the commission. I author my opinions without any external assistance. I stand by the opinion I published on how the IIEC being mismanaged. Nobody has credibly and logically refuted or responded to anything in my article. Yet, rather than deal with the issues and facts in that article, my detractors have chosen to spread rumours, innuendos and propaganda.
The second myth they have conjured refers to “failure to sign local agreement forms despite several appeals”. These are forms forwarded to me by Isahakia more than one whole year after I had been hired. The forms sought to fundamentally change the terms of my employment. My remuneration, allowances and benefits were arbitrarily reduced by half. I had written to Isahakia and the Head of Public Service, Francis Muthaura, that I couldn’t sign the forms unless and until they amended to reflect what I had been offered and I had agreed to. The terms I had agreed to were identical to those of the advisor of President Mwai Kibaki on constitutional affairs, Kivutha Kibwana. I have never received a response to my letters demanding those amendments. Indeed, I have filed a case in court seeking compliance with the contract. The trial is scheduled in a few months.
Is this claim valid? Is it supposed to be the means somebody has devised as a response or “defence” to the legal action, which incidentally, the Attorney General has not responded to? I have now seen that Hon. Midiwo is claiming that I have no legal or constitutional right to sue for my interests. I am not sure where he gets that. But one thing is clear: Jakoyo’s comment was either actuated by malice or ignorant of the law, or both. More fundamentally, I don’t see how it is Jakoyo’s mandate to determine whether I keep or lose my job. And he does so through the media.
The other scandalous allegations about misrepresenting the PM’s Office; harassment, intimidation and use of abusive language are only added for colour. The purported letter presents no particulars. There isn’t any indication who I subjected to any of these, where and when. Nothing. And of course, nobody accorded me the opportunity to respond to the illegitimate charges. I guess somebody thinks that all you need are allegations however unfounded and they will stick.
For me the issues of good governance, the rule of law and constitutionalism aren’t things I negotiate about. We either have a country governed by the rule of law or we continue with the culture of impunity. I have opted to be a soldier in the fight to end impunity. That will never change.
Today in the morning after breakfast, my son went to the “gate house” and retrieved some papers from the roof, which I had no idea were there. And lo and behold, there is an unsigned letter by Francis Kimemia, Permanent Secretary, ministry of internal security and provincial administration dated 22 July 2009, inviting me for dinner at State House on 24th July, 2009 at 7:00 p.m. I never received the letter. Then there is a copy of a nine-page document titled “The assassination plot against Hon. Raila Amollo Odinga and the prominent Kikuyus [sic] businessmen involved”. I’ve never seen that one too. Then there are two copies each of unsigned confidential memoranda I had written to the PM on August 12th and 23rd, 2009, respectively; two copies of my article: “Reform the judiciary by transforming the law society and creating an independent judicial service council; not by removing tenure for judges dated August 23, 2009; and one copy of my article: “Raila has power to release arrested youth under power sharing accord”.
Clearly, the security that the state had stationed at my Nairobi home was doing more than “guarding” me.
I understand I have been suspended without pay. I don’t know the legal basis for that.
Let me conclude by saying the following: I don’t know the charges against me. I haven’t been given notice of the allegations. Neither have I been accorded an opportunity to respond to them. But I am completely disappointed that under the new constitution that I played a pivotal role in drafting and having ratified, I would be treated with such callous disregard to my legal and constitutional rights, including simple human decency.
The struggle for a democratic, equal and humane Kenya shall and must continue! I am going to stand upright up to the end!!
END
By Miguna Miguna
Nairobi, Friday August 5th, 2011
I am still alive.
I have been on a one month vacation which started on July 6th, 2010. The Prime Minister had granted my request for vacation in June. I travelled to Canada on July 10th and brought back my two children studying there for their summer holidays on July 18th. On July 9th, I accompanied the Prime Minister to Juba, South Sudan for their independence celebrations.
On Thursday July 21st, 2011, I published an article in the Nairobi Star newspaper. The article was titled “IIEC Chair Isaack does not deserve all the plaudits”. Like my articles I have authored, I made factual and logical arguments based on publicly available information. No one has refuted any of the factual assertions and issues in that article. The article was not about Isaack as such. It addressed issues of good governance, discrimination, corruption and nepotism at the IIEC. Those are important issues that cannot be trivialised. I stand by my story.
Sometime last week, I received an invitation for a two-day party strategy team retreat from the ODM Secretariat. The two-day retreat was scheduled for August 4th and 5th, 2011 at the Enashipai Resort and Spa in Naivasha. I arrived for the retreat at about 11 am on Thursday August 4th. We proceeded to a session after lunch. At about 3:30 pm, I started noticing numerous calls and texts from various media houses. My phone was on vibration.
One text from a Star reporter attracted my attention. It asked: “Can you confirm the the suspension? What’s your response?”. Since I hadn’t received any information (no letter, text, email or telephone call) about the so-called suspension, I texted back: “Suspension of whom?” The answer came back: “You!” I further inquired from him who had told him about it and he responded that he was getting the ‘suspension letter’ in a few minutes and would get back to me. Within minutes, I started receiving calls from all kinds of people – media, friends, et cetera. I then texted the PM’s spokesman Dennis Onyango, Sarah Elderkin, Prof. Edward Oyugi and Sylvester Kasuku to find out if they knew or if they had heard anything. They promptly replied that they knew nothing. Dennis told me that he was with the PM in Kisumu and that I should treat the story as rumours.
Apparently not, for within minutes Joshua Kawino passed me his phone with the Nation Media Group’s “breaking news”. So, quite clearly, something had happened. Later, one of my friends informed me that he had seen similar “news flash” on face book but had ignored it as rumours. By 4 pm, major TV, radio and electronic media were “officially” announcing my “indefinite suspension without pay.”
By 4:15 pm, my secretary sent me a short text message that my personal assistant, messenger and she had received letters of termination. No reasons were given. At or about 5 pm, the personal assistant sent another text message saying they had received a letter from Dr. Mohammed Isahakia addressed to me. It was marked “top secret” and the person who delivered it had instructed them not to open it.
By 6 pm, I had had enough and after a brief consultation with Prof. Oyugi, I decided to return back to Nairobi. As I was leaving, our house keeper called to inform me that the Administration Police at the gate had been “collected” and that there was nobody at the gate. As I scrambled to make my way back to Nairobi, I saw missed calls from two cabinet ministers close to me, an MP and another good friend. I knew things were elephant.
And I knew the script. An announcement is made by a major media house that a prominent person has been fired. “Reasons” and “justifications” are quickly concocted. The story catches fire. The prominent person’s career is in tatters. He goes into hiding and remains there, ashamed of the humiliation! Friends and relatives take cover. Enemies emerge, emboldened. Life goes on. It was obvious that the chain of events had been carefully choreographed.
As I drove back to Nairobi, another telephone call revealed that the “decision” to ‘suspend’ me had taken place that morning in Nairobi. Some people who were supposed to have been attending the Naivasha retreat were at that meeting. That explained why one of them failed to show up but gave two conflicting “stories” of his whereabouts. Two others arrived about four hours late and couldn’t maintain eye contact with me. They didn’t even greet me.
At the meeting, I understand that ODM Chief Whip demanded that I be fired immediately. He doesn’t appear to have disclosed the reasons for this demand. A number of MPs present - I don’t know how many – supported him. But Budalangi MP Ababu Namwamba and another un-named MP defended me strongly, arguing that someone like me is needed by both the PM and the party; that if we want to triumph in the struggle ahead, then “we cannot get rid of Miguna.”
As Ababu was arguing to the wind, the “story” had already been carefully leaked and planted in various reactionary media. And boy, were they having a field day!
On my way to Nairobi, I gave the media my brief response to the hilarious hullabaloo. I told them that I had not received any information – letter, email, text or telephone call about the suspension. I explained that I have been on vacation for nearly a month and that I was only that day gone to a party strategy retreat in Naivasha. I added that whatever might have been concocted as “reasons” for the suspension are baseless and unfounded, and that I shall neither be cowed nor will I waver. I then declined further comment until I receive the letter.
I arrived home safely just before 7:00 pm and found my children outside. Daddy, why did the soldier leave? Daddy, are we going to have security? Daddy this, daddy that! “Shhhh...quiet. Everything will be all right was my response”. I didn’t have an explanation. I couldn’t look at them. I could see the confusion in the children’s eyes. Nobody gave me advanced notice or warning and I hadn’t prepared them. Now, I had no way of explaining anything.
The calls and text messages then started coming like torrents. My phone couldn’t cope and ‘died’. As I charged the phone, I responded to the most urgent ones; essentially repeating what I had told the media. Later, I watched the 9:00 pm news and couldn’t believe the disinformation, slant and propaganda. What was very clear to me is that whatever had happened had been planned and calculated. The only drawback for them is that they couldn’t conjure up coherent “stories”. The ones they were peddling weren’t persuasive.
Take the one about the IIEC. I don’t work for the commission. Nobody has presented credible evidence or set of facts linking me to anything unlawful, illegal or unethical at the commission. I author my opinions without any external assistance. I stand by the opinion I published on how the IIEC being mismanaged. Nobody has credibly and logically refuted or responded to anything in my article. Yet, rather than deal with the issues and facts in that article, my detractors have chosen to spread rumours, innuendos and propaganda.
The second myth they have conjured refers to “failure to sign local agreement forms despite several appeals”. These are forms forwarded to me by Isahakia more than one whole year after I had been hired. The forms sought to fundamentally change the terms of my employment. My remuneration, allowances and benefits were arbitrarily reduced by half. I had written to Isahakia and the Head of Public Service, Francis Muthaura, that I couldn’t sign the forms unless and until they amended to reflect what I had been offered and I had agreed to. The terms I had agreed to were identical to those of the advisor of President Mwai Kibaki on constitutional affairs, Kivutha Kibwana. I have never received a response to my letters demanding those amendments. Indeed, I have filed a case in court seeking compliance with the contract. The trial is scheduled in a few months.
Is this claim valid? Is it supposed to be the means somebody has devised as a response or “defence” to the legal action, which incidentally, the Attorney General has not responded to? I have now seen that Hon. Midiwo is claiming that I have no legal or constitutional right to sue for my interests. I am not sure where he gets that. But one thing is clear: Jakoyo’s comment was either actuated by malice or ignorant of the law, or both. More fundamentally, I don’t see how it is Jakoyo’s mandate to determine whether I keep or lose my job. And he does so through the media.
The other scandalous allegations about misrepresenting the PM’s Office; harassment, intimidation and use of abusive language are only added for colour. The purported letter presents no particulars. There isn’t any indication who I subjected to any of these, where and when. Nothing. And of course, nobody accorded me the opportunity to respond to the illegitimate charges. I guess somebody thinks that all you need are allegations however unfounded and they will stick.
For me the issues of good governance, the rule of law and constitutionalism aren’t things I negotiate about. We either have a country governed by the rule of law or we continue with the culture of impunity. I have opted to be a soldier in the fight to end impunity. That will never change.
Today in the morning after breakfast, my son went to the “gate house” and retrieved some papers from the roof, which I had no idea were there. And lo and behold, there is an unsigned letter by Francis Kimemia, Permanent Secretary, ministry of internal security and provincial administration dated 22 July 2009, inviting me for dinner at State House on 24th July, 2009 at 7:00 p.m. I never received the letter. Then there is a copy of a nine-page document titled “The assassination plot against Hon. Raila Amollo Odinga and the prominent Kikuyus [sic] businessmen involved”. I’ve never seen that one too. Then there are two copies each of unsigned confidential memoranda I had written to the PM on August 12th and 23rd, 2009, respectively; two copies of my article: “Reform the judiciary by transforming the law society and creating an independent judicial service council; not by removing tenure for judges dated August 23, 2009; and one copy of my article: “Raila has power to release arrested youth under power sharing accord”.
Clearly, the security that the state had stationed at my Nairobi home was doing more than “guarding” me.
I understand I have been suspended without pay. I don’t know the legal basis for that.
Let me conclude by saying the following: I don’t know the charges against me. I haven’t been given notice of the allegations. Neither have I been accorded an opportunity to respond to them. But I am completely disappointed that under the new constitution that I played a pivotal role in drafting and having ratified, I would be treated with such callous disregard to my legal and constitutional rights, including simple human decency.
The struggle for a democratic, equal and humane Kenya shall and must continue! I am going to stand upright up to the end!!
END