Wednesday, 20 January, 2010 2:46

Blessed be The Name of Jesus Christ, The King of kings and Lord of lords, even over Kenya and Eastern Africa. I wish to pass a message to all Christians, which I believe is from The Lord (with all due respect to all who may disagree, and a humble apology to those I may offend). I’m no big preacher or renowned prophet…I’m a simple, ordinary Kenyan, in fact I’m a rather private and shy person. However, I would not want to repeat the mistake I made in February 2007 when I failed to alert fellow brethren of the dream warning I received, which was replayed in early 2008 ( see at the bottom).

This is why I beseech you to read this, then pray asking The Spirit of God who knows and reveals all things to guide you… do not ignore this without seeking God’s confirmation. He’s ALL Knowing and able to confirm that which He’s authored… and He exposes liars and false prophets. If you get a conviction in your heart, spread this email with urgency to other brethren and take action. We are all watchmen…appointed to alert others so that we may be saved from satan’s destructive plans.

On Thursday 7th January 2010, as I slept, I got a very vivid dream. I was shown the map of Africa. It had an odd shape as though parts of the Southern and West Africa were missing. Whereas the rest of Africa was dark green (like a rain forest) the eastern part was markedly different. The horn of Africa, the entire country of Somali was red hot. Next to it was Kenya, part of Ethiopia, Southern Sudan, Tanzania and Uganda all deep orange – the sunset orange that’s approaching color red. I seemed to be conversing with the person showing me the map. I first of all asked why parts of the Southern and West Africa seemed missing.

The map was then zoomed-in and to my surprise the previously missing parts were there but in pale green, a color making them invisible from a distance. It seemed like a color of peace, as though they were not really a part of Africa. I was then returned to Eastern Africa, I asked why Kenya and all the other countries were deep orange. I didn’t get a clear answer but I got a message within me that they are being infected by the Horn of Africa, and before long if we do not step up prayers to fully possess them for Christ, they will be as red hot as the Horn of Africa (Somalia).

I was deeply shaken when I woke up and a strong urgency to begin interceding for Kenya was roused. I was quickened to share this dream out with other believers (Kenyans, Ugandans, Tanzanias, Southern Sudanese, and all brethren with a burden for Africa) to rise urgently in serious prayer and intercession.

This dream found me outside the country and I’d planned that upon my return I’d draw the map I’d seen so that I could email it with this message. However, to my shock, I learnt of the violent riots that followed in Nairobi last Friday and that several bombs were found in the country…I could not wait any longer. I had to release this message urgently.

I was reminded of the dream I had on 24.2.2007… it seemed out of place at the time, and totally outrageous to share with anyone. I only related it to a few close people, perhaps less than 20 (I deeply regretted my actions and had to repent before God when the violent events unraveled in January 2008). When I woke up in the morning of 24.2.07, I immediately recorded the events of that dream in my dream book which is on my laps now.

This is what I wrote then: “On 24.2.07 night. Dreamt of bloodshed in Nairobi. Riots on roads and certain hooligans attacking villages and innocent people with sharp objects…a lot of blood… gangs in different parts of Nairobi and rural areas…someone dispatching vehicles and lorries to take people to safety… I move to a safe house…there are riot police everywhere and road blocks erected in some places to deal with violence…”

That was the dream I got with similar vividness and urgency as the one of 7.1.10. In February 2007, there was no hint of violence in Kenya, even the Mungiki violence had not peaked until May 2007. You must therefore understand why I was shy to share that dream… and knowing what happened in early 2008, you can well imagine how horrible and guilty I felt for keeping silent. If I didn’t know the full meaning of God’s forgiveness after repenting, I would never have released myself from my guilt. But I know God forgave me.

Brethren, this is a watchman’s trumpet alerting us of the enemy’s onslaught. I know God has posted several watchmen both mighty and simple, we are all messengers. Once an enemy gains a toe-hold, it will soon become a foot-hold, then a stronghold… we cannot let that happen. But thanks to Jesus and the precious powerful blood that He shed we can war in prayer (and not in the flesh or with physical arms) and reclaim that which has been lost.

In 2008 we prayed reactive/defensive prayers, when massive damage had already taken place… our country is yet to fully recover. But a greater enemy army is at hand...much more violent than imagined. We all leant from our past complacency, and we know that should anything happen to Kenya, we all lose regardless of our tribes or denominations. When Kenya goes into the hands of a violent man, so does Uganda, Tanzania, S.Sudan, Rwanda, Burundi…we all know the role Kenya plays economically, spiritually and politically as a gateway in this region.

Brethren, as kings and priests of the Lord, lets rise up in violent prayer, to protect and repossess the land that the Lord has given us, and to be messengers of peace to those who still don’t know Christ. We have a more precious home in heaven, but while we are here on earth, we must do our part to reign and conquer under Christ. Without prayer, the best army cannot save us and neither can the UN peace keeping force. Let us run to Mt Zion… and possess our possessions.

An appeal to our beloved church leaders: let’s lay aside our differences this time around and gather urgently to start praying …NOW. To the simple man and woman at home, do not belittle yourselves, don’t wait until a call is made, intercede with the simplest words you know…A minute of prayer by a multitude can make a big difference. To the seasoned intercessors…you know what to do. To fellow Christians outside Eastern Africa, a loss of any part of God’s Kingdom is a loss for Jesus, stand with us and intercede for us.

KENYANS, THIS IS THE ONLY COUNTRY WE HAVE WHILE ON EARTH… IT’S GOD’S GIFT TO US TO FULFILL HIS PURPOSE UNTIL JESUS RETURNS.

SHALOM

(I’ve omitted my identity deliberately…I’m a messenger. If you’ve read this full text, I’ve done my part)..

The following disturbing happenings

• Widespread buying of properties by Somalis (from Somalia ) in Nairobi , Mombasa , Nakuru, isiolo, kajiado and other major towns. Areas around the Eastleigh Airbase, Wilson Airport , JKIA and even near statehouse a priority. In Eastleigh and South C it is actual ethnic cleansing(or is religious cleansing) through buyout of all properties (including a chiefs office and a market)This happens despite muted complaints from Kenyans warning of a takeover of their country by foreigners.

• Internal security permanent secretary orders an audit of all properties owned by foreigners in Nairobi .

• This is followed by complaints of disapproval from some Kenyan Somalis including a nation columnist former LSK chair Ahmednasir Abdulahi and among others Billow Kerrow, former Mandera West Mp arguing that the Somalis work very hard. (Which hard work is this that other Kenyans do not know about? Why have they refused to work hard in Somalia instead?) Their hardwork has even bought some Kenyans! Maajabu!

• Reports that the insurgency in Somalia is financed by cheap, duty free sugar imported through Kismayu before finding its way through porous borders and corrupt and inept intelligence and security apparatus to Eastleigh and then to other parts of Kenya. Also included are clothes, elctronics, gun running, piracy, printing of fake currency poaching and other criminal activities.

• John Allan Namu and Mohamed Ali demonstrates how goods are brought to Eastleigh from The mombasa port and the Eldoret Airport by foreigners through corrupt networks. KRA is unable to detect this. Eastleigh is the only place in Nairobi where KRA staffs enforcing ETR registers have been chased

• Unearthing of a syndicate in Eastleigh printing fake Kenya IDs and passports

• Reports of recruiting of young Kenyans and Somali refugees in madrassas and mosques in Eastleigh and Isiolo town to fight for Al Qaeda (or is Al Shabab) in Somalia .

• Census results withheld after it emerges that the Somali population in Kenya has grown from about 900,000 persons to 2,200,000 persons since 1999, a massive 140%. Other comparable areas such as Pokot, Turkana, and Marsabit come nowhere near a tenth of that.

• A rocket propelled grenade capable of bringing down a building found in Maua town and another in a Nakuru-bound bus.

• Al Amin Kimathi and Sheikh Dor announcing a muslim takeover of the country in 20 years.

By virtue of their profession, society has placed much trust in teachers. They are expected to inspire freedom of thought and expression and a rigorous pursuit of knowledge among pupils. In such a crucible, ideas are supposed to be wrought. Indeed each and every one of us is a proud product of teachers. The environment within which knowledge was churned gave each of us an equal opportunity to shine according to his or her gifts. However, this enabling environment has since then drastically changed.

There have been unfortunate reports that some students have been sexually assaulted, touched inappropriately or courted in suggestive manner by their teachers. It is also worrying that the cases so far reported may just be a tip of the ice berg given that many offenders are not reported because their targets do not want to alert their parents or relevant authorities. This trend spells doom for the children as well as the society bearing in mind that the children`s chances of achievement in life is seriously compromised from the first minute they set foot in the classrooms of these perverts.

The Teachers Service Commission (TSC) has had to suspend, dismiss and even deregister such pedophiles in accordance with the code of regulations. The fact that there has been an increase in the number of teachers found guilty of misconduct should be seen as an encouraging sign that TSC has detection systems in place which are having an effect.

It must be noted albeit sadly that any occupation with children as its clientele will attract a proportion of people who are predators or simply morally weak. And, since these people do not have permanent tattoos on their foreheads, detection and prevention mechanisms will never be 100% effective. Hence, reports that TSC has tolerated endless deviance from sex pests are inaccurate. The day the mainstream media reports that no teachers have been interdicted, suspended, dismissed and even deregistered is the day the country should truly be worried!

Having said that, I must quickly add that there is genuine concern that the punishment meted to pedophiles by TSC is not deterrent enough. In my considered opinion such teachers ought not to be disciplined by TSC alone. After dispensing with them, TSC should then haul such offenders before the courts of law to be culled.

However, in calling for stiffer penalties, it must be understood that there are two sides for every story. So until and unless the claims have been corroborated beyond any reasonable doubt, it would be naïve for anyone to expect TSC to hastily take punitive measures (other than an interdiction pending investigations) against any of its employees. We have seen quite a number of teachers terribly suffer from false accusations.

Moreover, suffice to say that it hurts the lot of the over 240,000 teachers who are doing excellent work when the public and the mainstream media make unfortunate generalizations about teachers in entirety. Such ill informed comments will only serve the purpose of demoralizing the many diligent teachers.

We must accept the fact that individuals roused by pubescent desires are not only a preserve of the teaching profession. They are everywhere. We have seen priests, policemen, doctors, lawyers, businessmen among others. Rather than engage in selective criminalization, it is time that the Government and all stakeholders came up with far reaching policies to stamp out this malady in the society.

Judging by what transpired in a political rally in Kipkelion this week, it seems as though the maverick brigade that presided over that rally is determined to once more put this country on a flight to political incineration.

Otherwise why would they be so much interested in taking the nation back to the painful memories of the post election violence?

Their incessant and callous talk about incited youths having killed, raped and maimed in the name of the Prime Minister does not augur well with the conscientious public that is reeling from horrendous post election violence. This brunt of politics is brutally dishonest and only serves to expose the brigade`s comprehensive incompetence.

It must be made abundantly clear to them that they cannot hope to gather public goodwill to propel them to the helm of this country`s political leadership in 2012 through such unfortunate emotional trickery. We have not forgotten that some among this servile brigade are today obsessed with misusing “truth and reconciliation" to evade justice. Some among them are probably fully responsible for the multiple debacles currently going on in the country.

The least we expect from them is remorse and for them to spearhead a genuine healing campaign. However, it appears as though hubris has defeated caution once again. We are again witnessing parochial politicians traversing this country on a mission to magnify distrust among the people of this nation. Do they think that Kenyans are too benighted to understand what is good for them!

I expected that since some among them have already declared their presidential ambitions, they would be prudent enough to preoccupy themselves with selling their vision to the electorate. Instead, it appears to me that their ambition to presidency is hinged on their venomous hatred against the PM and by extension other ethnic groups that seem to be gravitating towards the PM. Hatred alone can never be reason for one to seek the presidency of this country. The worst mistake that the electorate can do is to allow such an individual to take the mantle of leadership of this country. Rather than divine healing, expect revenge. Expect discrimination against certain individuals and ethnic groups in the country. Consequently, there would be skirmishes upon skirmishes ad infinitum.

It is also totally absurd they are squandering a tremendous opportunity of advancing their political ideology by using threats to try to buttress bovine obedience from a section of MPs from Rift Valley Province who are supposedly not in their camp. Inciting voters against a popularly elected leader just because he does not champion one`s political cause is a very shameful act.

Finally, it is pathetic for any elected leader to spend his every waking hour trying to get even with the PM instead of dispensing services to Kenyans. Such obsession will only make them dither and dither and finally self destruct themselves.

The public relies entirely on teachers and educational institutions to provide the basis for a fully functional society. Schools have therefore to constantly grapple with providing for a diversity of cultures and learning styles. The physical, social and emotional needs of students have to be effectively addressed. These accelerating social and cultural dynamics within the educational system continue to have a huge impact on the working lives of teachers. Amid all these changes, the parents` “magic touch” on the lives of their children has increasingly become a missing link. Once parents literally damp their children in school; they heave a sigh of relief and from there on they become absentee parents.

Even after schools close for the vacations, parents will hastily arrange for their children to be enrolled in various private centers offering holiday tuition thus limiting the chance of spending quality time with their children. They mistakenly think that more classroom instruction would some how make up for their absence. This behavior is observed in both boarding and day schools. In day schools for instance, there is not much time for the children after the parent(s) arrive home from work. They are tired, and therefore the homework and other concerns of the child are often neglected or done in haste.

This is trend is obviously doing a great disservice to our youth. Given that they will be the future of this nation, many of them will be ill prepared for the real world of work, bills, and household duties and responsibilities because of a poor education and poor role models. What parents and teachers fail to understand is that classroom instruction is just but a piece of a jig saw puzzle in the provision of a holistic education.

As for teachers, very few of them have received essential skills in guiding and counseling. A look at the education courses offered in the leading public universities and primary teacher colleges reveal that the graduates in education do not take guiding and counseling as a core course. This means that when they are absorbed as teachers in schools, the child is no doubt expected to struggle alone to find a footing amid the numerous vulnerabilities. Indiscipline and the resultant underperformance in examinations cannot be avoided in such an environment.

Cognizant of this challenge the government must quickly come up with a tailored programme that will see to it that all teachers are trained in guiding and counseling so that they can in turn reverse this trend and encourage parental involvement. This will be the first step towards creating a more positive attitude towards teaching and learning. In so doing, teachers, parents and students will ultimately be helped in achieving their goals of a top quality education without unnecessary distractions such as excessive indiscipline. Some diligent teachers are already going back to universities and other colleges to horn their skills, but most of them are struggling with families and high costs of living and cannot therefore afford this essential course.

Suffice it to say that no amount of policy reforms in education will effectively work without first addressing the component of guiding and counseling in schools. The Government should therefore commit itself to putting proper money and time into training the existing teaching workforce in both primary and secondary schools in guiding and counseling. It should partner with universities and primary teacher colleges to offer this course through school based programmes that can be offered in selected centers countrywide.

A couple of weeks ago, I was satisfied with the fact that the Parliamentary Select Committee on Constitution (PSC) regarded with great respect the guaranteed constitutional rights of the electorate. However, going by what is transpiring in the Naivasha grand retreat, I have now modified my position, changing it so slightly so that "satisfied" becomes "dissatisfied," which is just a difference of three letters, but of course with a gulf between them.

In its hurry towards the thrill of a “breakthrough” it has left the public in a catatonic stupor. PSC is exhibiting its arrogance and malfeasance by brazenly frittering away the draft constitution. We have seen it arrogate itself the power to determine the number of MPS that this country needs. (I am informed that PSC is wagging hopeful on a figure of 325!). It is also ominously aiding the miscarriage of article 35, to mention but a few. Shifting attention to that which is beyond its mandate is exactly what is making the public gripe about.

Given that it has allowed political fiefdoms to hold it at ransom, it would have been difficult for it not to dither. That is why it is not surprising that after the counterfactual discussions and concessions it has come up with a Hobson’s choice; a pure presidential system of governance. That is democracy- the PSC style.

Whereas I have no qualms with those who support the pure presidential system, I feel that an equally large section of the electorate has been terribly disenfranchised by being denied the constitutional right to vote for a pure parliamentary system. It would be naïve of the PSC to try to buttress bovine obedience in the electorate when it is very clear that their over- the- counter prescription is unconstitutional. It smacks of dictatorship.

According to the constitution, national sovereignty belongs to the people; not a 26 member PSC. Not even to the 222 members of parliament! Under the principle of universal suffrage, the constitution gives the electorate the right to exercise their political will in periodic elections and referenda.

Therefore, in order to avoid this unfortunate disenfranchisement, parliament should vouch for a “Yes- Yes” referendum. This will ensure that either a parliamentary or presidential system of government is adopted by the country depending on the outcome of the referendum. This will of course mean that parliament amends the Constitution of Kenya Review Act, 2008 to allow IIEC to present two draft constitutions to the electorate; the pure presidential or pure parliamentary systems of Government.

The argument that presenting two draft constitutions to the electorate would paralyze the country flies in the face of logic. A referendum, whether based on a single issue or multiple issues is not a wedding ceremony. Acrimony and even paralysis is not unexpected. However, the worst form of crime is the deliberate disenfranchisement of a section of the electorate. This will create a perfect flight to this country`s incineration. We must refuse to be made the butts of PSC`s procedural cynicism. Neither should we allow it to leaven its strategy of gerrymandering. It is now time that the conscientious public repudiated their PSC`s actions.

What pray thee will happen if we fail to garner the necessary threshold on a single draft that would have been subjected to the much awaited referendum? It would mean that we head to the 2012 polls without a new constitution. It would mean another round of an acrimonious election. We must avoid this pitfall at all costs. We can't get this halfway right or three-quarters of the way right. We have to get this really, really right. Unless this is urgently and meticulously done, I have no doubt in my mind that the unsuccessful decades long constitutional imbroglio will persist. We must as a country learn from the 2005 referendum.

With 2012 nigh, the electorate should expect many a politician to spin tales that are an abyss of mystery even to a seasoned psychologist. In fact, I do not think that there will be an appropriate scale available with which to weigh absurdity in Kenya`s political theatre.

Already politicians have begun spinning strange tales to the electorate to win their favor. Never mind whether such tales are invalid, illegitimate or absolutely meaningless. One such politician scrambling into this political gravy train is honorable Eugene Wamalwa.

Not only has he joined the rank and file of those who have placed their faith in creative imagination rather than reason, but he has also fast and furiously outdone the rest. You see, it is understandable for him to discard gentility and embrace opportunism in a bid to remain afloat rather than risk going to the bottom with his burning political ambitions and principles hanging around his neck. Nonetheless, his modus operandi to State House is hilarious as it is wanting. As part of his scheme to endear himself to the electorate; he dresses, walks, talks and even smiles like his late brother. But more importantly, he now wants to inherit a political pact ostensibly made between his late brother and the incumbent as his most valuable ticket to state house! And therein lies the rib cracking humor.

It is hilarious for a person of his stature to entertain the notion that he is his late brother`s heir apparent. (Perhaps, it is time the electorate demanded to see the last will and testament of his late brother. It would be interesting to see whether such a claim is part of the will or is codicil). The will and testament aside, I can bet with certainty that the much hyped pact is not binding to the electorate. For if it were then it would presuppose an end to democracy!

It is with this in mind that I have to be brutally honest with him. I wish to remind him that such rhetoric is likely to ruin his reputation. But I am also not oblivious to the fact that one has a democratic right to talk himself out of reputation. As one among the few youthful politicians whom the electorate thought to be a transformational leader, I am surprised that he is unaware of the fact that the Kenyan electorate is itching to break out once and for all from the discredited straight-jacket of the past.

He must therefore know that no amount of cajolery nor seduction can eradicate the deep burning hatred that Kenyans have developed against political pacts and ethnic liaisons. The electorate will view anyone with such vile intentions to be as “intelligent” as one who thinks that hanging the baby on the clothes line to dry rather than changing the diapers, is a worthy innovation..

Archbishop Ndingi found like-minded allies in the person of Maina Kiai, who was to become the chairman of the Kenya National Commission on Human Rights at the turn of the decade and Prof Wangari Maathai, who was later to be awarded the Nobel Prize for her fight against social injustice.

Prof Maathai, the environmentalist-cum politician, was one of the most vocal politicians at the time and one who was constantly in the government's bad books. The government could not condone any occasion where Prof Maathai was present or where she was addressing people. Her pairing up with Ndingi was particularly seen as hair-raising and the government constantly kept her in check.

On March 3,1993, there was a meeting to discuss the rehabilitation of the displaced people at the hall of Christ the King Cathedral in Nakuru and Prof Maathai was invited.

The embassies of Canada, Germany and Netherlands had also sent representatives to give views
on how best to resettle the people. There were many people gathered at the gate of the cathedral.

As the bishop and the professor walked from the bishop's office to the cathedral, they were met
by an astonishing sight.

The cathedral had been cordoned off. There were General Service Unit (GSU) and Criminal Investigation Department (CID) personnel all around. The police were fully armed, "as if they were at war" and they were stopping people from entering the compound. Priests were required to identify themselves before they could be allowed entry into their church. Though they put up a strong resistance, the police were not in any mood to compromise. They stopped the meeting but the publicity it gained was more than enough to arouse the sensibilities of the nation as to what was going on in the Rift Valley.

Wangari's crusade did not have the benefit of awe and fear as that of the bishop. She was a marked person in a way that the bishop was not. The bishop, however, lent her every kind of support. Her relentless battle with the government had started a little earlier when she mounted a serious campaign against the construction of Kenya Times Tower (KIT) in Uhuru Park.

Wangari's view was that the construction of the complex would ruin the city and turn it into a concrete jungle. Almost single handedly, she waged a war against the development, drawing the anger and earning quite a number of enemies but also admirers.

Members of the ruling party, Kanu, were never comfortable with her. They railed, and threatened her so many times that she was in constant fear for her life; she was constantly in need of protection.

Together with another crusader, Fr Ndikaru wa Teresia who had also waged an environmental crusade against a company called Kel Chemicals in Thika, they were people on the run.

Kel Chemicals was emitting harmful gases into the environment; endangering the lives of those living in the surrounding.

In 1992, Wangari was at the peak of her crusade. This was also the time that her life was totally threatened. She was followed everywhere and was never sure of where she would be the following day. Where could she hide from the seeming omnipresence of security people? As they say, it is in the middle of danger that those who are threatened find the best refuge.

Ndingi even though a marked man, arranged to house Wangari.

How Maathai teamed up with Ndingi to fight for the rights of victims of ethnic cleansing in R. Valley

On March 2,1993, he arranged with Fr Ndikaru wa Teresia and Fr Francis Mirango to assist the professor go into hiding in Nakuru. This was a risky and almost impossible mission. Every one knew Wangari and the route to Nakuru was full of roadblocks.

Besides, Fr Ndikaru himself was also a marked man. But this was a time to take risks and it was better to try out the mission than wait and get caught unawares.

Fr Ndikaru was to meet Wangari at Uthiru, 10 kilometres from the city. The location was ideal because the place was teeming with people. No one seemed to notice a sickly looking lady, dejected to the core, wearing a buibui and gazing into nothingness as if she had lost all hope of living. Those who saw her must have dismissed her as another Somali lady probably looking for her kin in the densely populated and cosmopolitan suburb.

Fr Ndikaru arrived at 9.35am. The scrawny lady recognised the white Toyota Corolla car, registration KAA 203G and ambled towards it. She opened the door and got onto the back, slumping down like a patient. The car started off at a steady speed. No suspicions aroused, it got onto the highway and started the 140 kilometre journey to Nakuru.

At Kamandura-Limuru road, they came across the first road block. The car slowed down, the police peered in and saw a Somali lady. They waved the vehicle on. The next road-block was at Delamere in Naivasha. The police were not interested in a ragged looking man wearing a cap and a Somali lady seated at the back. They probably thought it was a taxi, so they waved it on.

But in Gilgil, tougher luck was awaiting them. The people manning the road-block were not regular police but GSU personnel. These would be more difficult to fool than the others. They waved down the vehicle. At this point the occupants of the vehicle said a prayer in Kikuyu, "Mwathani utugitire na utuiguire tha" (God protect us and have mercy on us).

"Where are you going?" a burly GSU man asked in a rude and abrasive voice, all the time training his eyes into the vehicle and the figure slumped at the back. Fr Ndikaru thought that the officer would recognise Wangari and his heart raced with terror.

He was cold and full of fear. "I have never felt that kind of fear in my life," he was to later say. He was nearly responding when the officer cut in; "Kwani Mama ni Mgonjwa?" (Is the old lady sick?) "Eee ni mgonjwa sana" (yes, she is very sick). It was a holy lie and "God would forgive me," Fr Ndikaru recalled.

"Haya basi kimbia haraka umpeleke hospitali pale Gilgil (then hurry and take her to hospital in Gilgil).

"That was the Holy Spirit at work," Fr Ndikaru told Maathai who also could not see it any other way.

Fearless Catholic Archbishop Ndingi Mwana a'Nzeki' tells His story with the first installment of his new biography, A Voice Unstilled: Archbishop Ndingi Mwana a'Nzeki'.

F or people residing in some parts of the Rift Valley, the period 1991-1992 was a time of living dangerously. At that time ethnic clashes had broken out around Kipkelion, Olenguruoni, Molo and some parts of Bomet.

The government preferred calling them land clashes, attempting to convince the masses that what was happening there was just simple clashes but there was more than met the eye. Houses were being torched and people were being killed senselessly.

Neighbour was rising against neighbour and communities where people had lived peacefully for years became veritable tinder boxes, hi spite of this, the government still wanted people to believe that the clashes were about land. In fact, the term tribal clashes disappeared from the media and the softer 'land-clashes" became the denning term for the atrocity happening in the Rift Valley. It was largely seen as a Kikuyu-Kalenjin affair where two tribes had turned against each other with dreadful consequences.

Two things made this conundrum puzzling. First, it was coming at a time when the clamour for multipartyism was at its peak Kami's hegemony, as a political party that had ruled the country since independence, was being fiercely challenged by a rabid opposition. The supporters of Forum for Restoration of Democracy (Ford) were mainly Luos, Luhyas and Kikuyus and some of them lived in Rift Valley. To ensure that they did not vote, they had to be uprooted from the province.

Police protection

Second, there was what was seen as government lethargy in dealing with the problem. When the clashes first broke out, the government did nothing to stop them, hi some cases it was claimed that the raiders were receiving police protection and even as the fighting continued no one was getting arrested for the atrocity. Some believed that ethnic-cleansing was at work.

As the atrocity continued, the allegations that some of those actively involved were members of Kami, were rife. In just five days, 20,000 people had been displaced and were now gathered in open areas requesting intervention from the government.

On the Sunday morning of November 3,1991, a group of armed raiders invaded farms belonging to non-Kalenjins in Kokwet, Chepkechei and Mtaragon areas, set houses ablaze, shot people with arrows and raped women. Consequently, the displaced families ran away and sought refuge at a nearby school, leaving their farms at the mercy of raiders and looters.

Sitting in the bishopric house in Nakuru, Ndingi received the news with shock A number of priests, stunned at what they had seen, took the bishop through the entire episode, giving him a blow by blow account of what had happened. Desperation, anger and helplessness permeated the atmosphere. Ndingi reclined in his seat and listened much more carefully.

The priests who knew him well also knew that he usually acted on his feet when a burning issue was brought to his attention.

But on this morning, he just sat dazed and listened like one in a trance. Then he took out his pen and started jotting. As the moral disgust of the entire problem receded in Ndingi's mind, its political and historical contours became visible.

"Something has to be done," he told one of the priests,"we must make the whole world aware of the goings on. The Church must play its role."

Unbeknown to the priests, Ndingi's statement that "something has to be done" was the start of a long and bruising moral crusade against what was to clearly emerge as one of the biggest crimes against humanity to be committed in that part of the country.

Catholic priests

That very day, the Catholic priests of Nakuru Diocese crafted a strongly worded statement on the clashes, calling on the government to protect the lives and property of the communities living in the Rift Valley.

"These are people who acquired their land legally and are ready to be issued with title deeds...their future is now unclear to them. Though they have been promised security and a return to their land they feel- that this guarantee is too little; too late," the statement read.
The priests wondered if the government was trying to balkanise the nation. "The torching of houses and property appear to have been carefully planned and orchestrated.

In Kunyak, eyewitnesses stated that Kami officials were actively involved...there is no doubt that these events have caused great damage to trust and confidence among different ethnic groups.
Is this majimboism in action?"

The statement was endorsed by Ndingi as the bishop. It did not, however, make the screaming headlines that other stories from Ndingi had previously done. Still, it was a handy warning shot and a declaration that the Catholic Church was not about to take a backseat while people were dying and their houses being burnt.

The clashes had now spread to areas bordering Kisumu, affecting three dioceses: Kisumu, Nakuru and Eldoret. The bishops of the three dioceses, Archbishop Zacheaus Okoth of Kisumu, Ndingi and Cornelius Korir of Eldoret, Archbishop John Njenga of Mombasa, John Njue of Embu and Father Ndikaru wa Teresia, the editor of Mwananchi magazine got together and visited the affected areas. They were horrified at what they saw.

Hordes of people walking along the God-forsaken roads of Olenguruoni and Molo, stunned them.

Dead bodies were strewn on the road and warriors armed with arrows were spoiling for war.

They saw cows, mooing with the pain of un-milked udders; heard the agonised bleat of goats which, like their human owners, had been displaced from the familiarity of their pens; saw lost children crying for their parents, some unaware that their parents had been killed or seriously wounded and they saw the charred remains of what used to be peaceful homes; the scorched expanses of what used to be fecund earth. They beheld the unrepentant, bloodthirsty faces of the killers of Molo.

The picture was horrifying. Bishop Njue could not contain himself and he shed tears. Njue, was so enraged that, as those who were there recall, it was difficult to know if the tears were out of pain or anger.

Amidst sobs, he took out his camera and took some pictures of the warriors armed with arrows. He had underestimated the tempestuous nature of the moment because at that point, some young men approached them menacingly.

"Why did you take our pictures?" one of them asked.

Brandishing pangas, they demanded that the bishop gives them the camera. Bishop Njue hesitated and the men closed in.

Sensing serious trouble, Ndingi implored Njue to acquiesce.

"Let's not cause a commotion by taking photos," Ndingi pleaded with a frustrated Njue. "These people can even kill us."

They took the camera and unspooled the film, then furiously stomped on it.

Archbishop Njenga recalls seeing planes dropping arrows in the area, which were then hastily collected by the locals. For some time, he thought he was wrong but it dawned on him that the situation was not as it had been reported in the media. People were not fully aware of what was going on in the Rift Valley.

Land clashes

The whole issue had been made to look like a case of simple land clashes between warring tribes. But there was more to it. This was a war by one heavily backed set of people against another unarmed, hapless lot. It was a war full of fire and rage and in many ways, devoid of sense.
After this scaring episode, the bishops continued with their fact-finding mission. At one point they met an old woman on the road and stopped the car.

"Where are you going?" Njenga asked the old, haggard and scared woman. "I don't know?" she replied.

The bishops consulted and decided to take the woman in their car. They went all the way to Olenguruoni parish where they left the woman under the care of the parish priest.

"We as pastors must speak out," they proclaimed, quoting the book of Luke (19:40) "I tell you, if these keep silent the stones will cry out."

Getting back to the Kenya Catholic Secretariat, they crafted a statement challenging the government to break its silence and bring the clashes to an end. Then they cobbled together a collection of other bishops from other denominations with the intention of seeking an appointment with the president.

In Nairobi, they called the Head of the Civil Service, Prof Philip Mbithi, and asked him to arrange an appointment for them to see the president. Prof Mbithi was reluctant, probably sensing that the bishops were up to their rabble-rousing activities again. "If we do not see the president
today, we will demonstrate at the Holy Family Basilica tomorrow," they told him.

Mbithi realised that things were serious and that the clerics perhaps meant every word they said. He hastily organised a meeting for the bishops. All the ecumenical bishops met the president at State House that day at six in the evening. The meeting, Njenga recalls, was tense.

After Archbishop Okoth read the statement prepared by the bishops, Archbishop Njenga addressed the president. "Your Excellency, people are dying, we saw planes dropping arrows in the area and the situation is serious."

Moi hit the roof. "Bishop Njenga, I think you are exaggerating," he thundered. "The pilots you are referring to are Kikuyus. How can they drop arrows that would kill their people?" he asked.

"Your Excellency, given money they will do anything, even if they are Kikuyus."

Things were hotting up. The meeting was tense. The bishops were angry. The president was also annoyed at the audacity of the bishops. Silence descended on the room; no one wanted to speak and no one knew who would speak next and what they would say. The president fixed his gaze on the bishops.

All of a sudden one of the bishops rose to speak. He began to thank the president for the good deeds he had done for the country, pouring profuse praise on the Head of State.

"Your Excellency, I came here to thank you for the help you have given my church," one bishop said, "we have been able to do a lot with your generous contributions."

Another one would thank the president for helping his son get a scholarship and suddenly a few others chimed in with praises and panegyrics.

The whole course of the meeting changed. Moi sat there enjoying the whole drama and the sudden move some of the bishops had made to change the course of the entire conversation.

What had been, only a few minutes ago, a matter of grave national and public concern, was turned into a circus of praises. The Catholic bishops were seemingly isolated as the others chanted praises for the president and ignored the topic for which they had sought an appointment.

Needless to say, when the meeting ended, some of the bishops were assailed by a fierce sense of betrayal, a feeling that the meeting they had so painstakingly sought and issued threats over had miserably failed.

Perhaps unbeknown to some of the bishops was that the coterie of bishops was divided down the middle. There were those who were fierce loyalists and there were those who were genuinely searching for justice. The former are the ones who changed the course of the conversation.

Ndingi was crestfallen. He felt betrayed by some of his colleagues and as they left State House, he was almost in tears. He knew then that nothing would be done, that the president had not taken them seriously and that the appointment had come to nought.

In the following three months, the clashes continued. A litany of anguish and woes loomed large across a section of the kaleidoscope of Rift Valley.

Kamwaura area in Molo experienced some of the most vicious clashes with a hundred houses belonging to non-Kalenjins razed. About 2,000 homeless and displaced people sought refuge in St John and Paul churches in Kamwaura. Eight of them were killed.

In Elburgon area, 46 houses were burnt on March 16,1992, while during the same period, a group of about thirty youngsters from the Kalenjin community started burning houses belonging to the non-Kalenjins. They were doing this while guarded by elders armed with bows and arrows. Over fifty houses were torched.

On March 18, some houses were burned in Njoro area, some primary schools were shut down and several people were killed in an area called Larmudiac, near Egerton University.

Charged meeting

Sensing that the clashes were not about to abate, Ndingi gathered his priests for a meeting, the charged meeting, statistics on the death and suffering of the people of Rift Valley were put on the table.

On the Feast of Saint Joseph on March 19,1992, the priests and the bishop, once again released a statement expressing concern at the killings and destruction of property and just fell short of blaming the government for the violence.

"Our analysis leads us to conclude that there is reluctance among our political leaders to contain the situation and this reluctance depicts a certain lack of confidence in those empowered to guide and protect us."

The government was sending no help to the many victims strewn all over church compounds in the area. To make matters worse, no government officials visited the area.

Ndingi felt that matters were reaching intolerable levels and decided to take on the government personally, once again.

He released a statement, this time written and signed by himself as the Bishop of the Diocese of Nakuru, squarely blaming the government for the clashes:

How is it that, after so many assurances by the president that people can live anywhere and own property anywhere people continue to get displaced? As recently as 13th February, 1992, the president had assured people that anyone burning houses would be punished but houses continue to burn in Eldoret today and any policeman on duty in these clash torn areas who tries to defend the innocent and shoots or kills an attacker is transferred. How is it that nobody has been prosecuted for burning houses or shooting people with arrows? Our conclusion is that the government of Kenya - Kanu government is behind the clashes.

Those killed

This was followed by a documentation of all those killed and the places where the atrocities were committed.

The government did not do much in the way of exonerating itself. Around that time, the clamour for multiparty democracy had reached fever-pitch with the main opposition party, Forum for the Restoration of Democracy (Ford) presenting Kanu with its toughest challenge yet.

The Kanu diehards continued threatening those who were seen to oppose Kanu or embrace the opposition.

"Those who do not sing the Kami song," a Kanu politician proclaimed in public on February 27,1992, ''will be chased away"

By this time, Cardinal Otunga was getting increasingly wary of the situation. The government never really worried about him as the politicians knew him to be an extremely guarded clergyman who eschewed controversy. Whether they ignored him or just kept him at arms length was sometimes hard to tell. His manner contrasted sharply with that of Ndingi and other senior clergymen who were known to fly off the handle whenever they sensed injustice. The government sometimes praised him for his silence and sobriety.

But this time, the cardinal too could not keep quiet. On January 24,1991, he invited Ndingi to his house in Nairobi.

He was in a pensive mood and he went straight to the point. After voicing his distress at what was happening in the Rift Valley, he told the bishop: "We must do something to defend the people."

© Waithaka Waihenya & Fr Ndikaru wa Teresia 2009, Published by Sasa Sema, an Imprint of Longhorn. Available at leading bookshops countrywide. Price: Sh500

By Tom Odhiambo

The biography of retired Archbishop Raphael Ndingi Mwana a' Nzeki probably would never have come at a better moment.

Caught in the crosshairs of the politicians' threats and innuendoes about 2012, the country is in a moral conundrum. And maybe, the story of the 'little boy" from Mwala in Ukambani who became a pioneer African priest, bishop and archbishop will provide some inspiration.

Ndingi's journey to priesthood can best be summed up as a journey of trials and tribulations that saw him attend seminaries run by no-nonsense rector-fathers in Kenya and Tanzania. Ndingi persevered through the hardship but not by simply conforming.

He would challenge authority whenever he felt that those in administration were a bit too hard on the seminarians. It is this streak, the ability to stand up to authority which actually marked Ndingi out and probably defines his life in the service of the church.

Colonial rule

Ndingi joined the church when the country was still under colonial rule and even the Church hierarchy was largely white. Racial tension between white priests and their black counterparts formed part of his early experiences. The biography notes many instances when Ndingi would put his foot down and confront white priests whose pronouncements and actions towards black priests like Ndingi were racial and condescending.

For Ndingi and the early African priests the challenge of starting life as celibate men was both personal and communal. Their communities frowned on the idea of unmarried adult men yet the Church demanded selfless service to God. This conundrum remains with the Church up to now as recent debates in the media attest. The question of celibacy has been at the foundation of the Church for many years.

The writers of the biography detail a case of a priest who had a relationship with a nun when he was serving under Archbishop Ndingi. The bishop still thought of the fallen priest as a child of God who needed to be treated with compassion.

His time as the bishop of the Nakuru Diocese was probably the most trying; what with the monster of ethnic clashes that broke out in the early 1990s in Rift Valley.

Many battles that Ndingi fought and won, on behalf of his congregation, Christianity and Kenyans in general are well documented by the two biographers.

Many questions

Yet many questions shadow the biography. For instance, why he was never made a cardinal (though an explanation is offered by the biographers); his position on the 2005 Constitutional Referendum and his mellowing in the face of a corrupt Narc government will deny the cake its icing. We hope that maybe one day the good old archbishop will "tell his own story"; and that we shall then have some answers to the lingering questions.

At the current pace, a referendum, new constitution, a complete review of constituency boundaries and new constituencies before end of 2010 or 2012, is a mere pipe-dream. Kenyan legislators did not know what they were up against, when they passed the Constitution of Kenya Amendment Bill 2008 en-masse.

With the disbanding of the Electoral Commission of Kenya (E.C.K), two bodies were formed: namely, the Interim Independent Electoral Commission (IIEC) and Interim Independent Boundaries Review Commission (IIBRC). The two bodies major tasks were: compilation of a new voter register, carrying out a referendum for a new constitution, conducting elections, drawing up administrative, constituencies and local authorities boundaries and creating(by way of proposals to Parliament); districts, constituencies and local authorities (electoral areas).

One of the urgent tasks was delivery of a new constitution by June this year. Key blocks stand in the way of this process: One, the personnel that will be recruited and in particular the Secretariat staff which actually does the spade work, will have no prior experience in carrying out a referendum.

In Kenya there is no other body that has been carrying elections where a pool of experienced and trained personnel can be sourced. Giving electoral greenhorns such a mammoth responsibility is simply courting disaster. They will not have the capacity, unless we source the manpower from Electoral Commissions of other countries.

Two, politicians are still divided on what type of constitution is suitable for Kenya. Is it parliamentary or presidential system? Majimbo; based on tribes or administrative regions? The list is endless. Before these political persuasions are addressed and harmonized, a draft constitution to be subjected to a referendum cannot be achieved in the next eighteen months (the life span of these interim bodies). And as the politicians drag their feet, the 2012 Elections will be beckoning. Eventually, interest in a new constitution will wane to be replaced by angling and jostling for strategic positions for the 2012 General Elections.

Three, mass voter registration is mandatory as the voter register with 14 million voters, was invalidated by the disbandment of E.C.K. For the referendum to pass the credibility test, the registered voters should be more than 15 million. This represents at least 50% Kenya’s population of over 30 million. Achieving such a registration threshold cannot happen this year or next! But if we must have the referendum in 2010 with a new voter register, then the Constitution will be decided by a paltry minority; a sad scenario indeed. Participation by all or majority of Kenyans during the referendum should be of paramount importance if not mandatory!

Four, before registration of the envisaged magnitude is contemplated or implemented, the Interim Independent Boundaries Review Commission (IIBRC) must first complete its work. The tragedy is in thinking that the two bodies can work simultaneously. Absolutely not! Re-drawing (harmonizing) administrative and electoral boundaries and creating new constituencies and electoral areas, will necessitate change of the current registration codes; namely constituency, local authority and polling station numbers. The same changes will have to be effected in the computer software that will be used to compile the registers, which is a lengthy process. If voters are registered before constituency and local authorities boundaries are established, some voters will find themselves with invalid voter cards having been ‘misplaced’ due to re-drawn boundaries or change of registration codes. Registers and voter cards will have to be amended to reflect the correct particulars of the voter; which will be voter registration all over again and a waste of time and scarce resources!

The Interim Independent Boundaries Review Commission(IIBRC) mandated with drawing of boundaries, creation of new districts, constituencies and local authorities, faces a plethora of almost insurmountable gridlocks which cannot be solved in the next one or two years. The current constitution does not allow for more than 210 constituencies. For new constituencies to be in place, the relevant constitutional clause has to be amended. When will this happen and what will be the maximum? What if the Commission proposes more than the stipulated number?

Political interest will feature quite prominently in determining the number of constituencies, where to create them and where the boundaries will lie. Most politicians will be looking at how all these will be of advantage to them in the 2012 General Elections and if the politician(s) will not be satisfied and this is one of the mostly likely factors that will stall the process of creating new constituencies. Also there are ongoing boundaries conflicts across Kenya, where administrative, ancestral and electoral boundaries conflict. These differences cannot be solved overnight. Worse too, during the re-drawing and creating of new electoral areas, more conflicts will crop-up and old rivalries will be ignited either by ancestral/tribal or political interests. Once again, the process will be bogged down. 2012 is too close for completion of such a complicated and tedious process.

It still begs the question why the two institutions were mandated with such sensitive, mammoth and onerous tasks on an interim basis. They should be permanent to instill a sense of belonging and thus dedication in those who are engaged by them. Alternatively, they will keep on asking for extensions to complete their assignments. But folks, brace yourselves for 2012 elections under the current constitution and constituencies!

Maitha Mugucu.