A Political Kenya: Latest Politics and Kenya Economy News

William Ruto dragged Martha Karua's name into his sty. Ruto being haunted by the maize scandal and post election violence is a man under siege. Like a drowning man he is clutching to any floating straw in sight. His latest being Martha Karua.

Martha Karua ia a no nonsense straight shooter and today aimed her quivers at Ruto shrugging off his accusations thus: "No serious politician will seek a partnership with someone associated with corruption or violence. I will not carry excess baggage now or in the future. We should have an independent probe into the issue (maize scandal)".

After arrogantly refusing to pay tax, Right Honourable Prime Minister Raila Odinga has asked MPs and civil servants who earn more than Kshs 100,000 to pay tithe in March 2009. The 10% salary contribution will be towards alleviating the food crisis and famine in Kenya.

Anyone in Kenya who gets a salary of Kshs 100,000 and above pays 30% of this salary back to the government as tax. With the exception of MPs. So, in March civil servants will pay a tax of 40% on their salaries while MPs pay a voluntary tax of 10%.

If our 210 MPs paid tax on their income averagery 30% of Kshs 800,000 like the rest of Kenyans, the government will have an extra 2 million bags of strategic reserves to alleviate famine.

Raila Odinga is slowly becoming a student of Kibaki, wasting every opportunity begging and absconding.

Jeff Koinange of K24's Capital Talk is back, on the bench.

William Ruto, the embattled Minister for Agriculture is all over the media giving interviews to all who care to listen.

Puzzling is Ruto's allegation on Capital Talk that the witch hunt to finish him is orchestrated by one Martha Wangari Karua and it is all about 2012 politics. Ms Wangari allegedly met with Ruto at one of her friends place where she advanced the idea of cooperating for with Ruto to secure the 2012 elections. Ruto had not time for such nonsense. Wangari is avenging and clearing her way to succeed Emilio Kibaki. What better way than to use the maize scandal and current famine to finish off this "front runner". For this reason among others W. Lord Ruto will not resign or step aside to facilitate investigations.

Martha was also accused of orchestrating a finishing-off netball for Amos Kimunya.

The more W. Lord Ruto denies his hand in the maize scandal the more he makes us believe that where there is smoke there is fire. His picking of Martha Karua is bound to generate heat in the coming weeks. the fact that he did not refer to Oburu Odinga, Raila's elder brother, whose viewpoint is close to Martha's on the maize scandal is telling. Neither did he go vicioulsy for Dr Khalwale's jugular as he did for Martha.

But Ruto is one of the sacred cows in this coalition who must be handled with extreme care for he is brittle. He is not any other sacrificial lamb entwined in a bush waiting to secure Isaac from the Abraham's knife. Some councillors from Nakuru made this point clear last week. So has a large section of Rift valley allied MPs.

Raila knows all to well who holds him by the balls. He has not moved with spped to investigate the maize scandal the way he did with the Grand Regency saga where he formed a committee at 4, committee met at 5 and by 7 the report and verdict was ready for the 9 o'clock news. Orengo, the accuser chaired the committee. You would expect him to appoint Dr Khalwale to chair the maize scandal committee. No, the investigations will be done by an international forensic expert to peruse all NCPB financial transactions, not a boardroom consensus like the Grand regency one. Whether the forensics scope will include Public Ethics Act provisions is another issue.

Ruto does not mind the Hague or the tribunal. Any of those is game for him, he says. As long as there is no selective justice. That means he must be taken with the clear label of "This side up". Selective justice will be applied if he is taken to the Hague or tribunal while those who stole the election or manipulated the process or the outcome or whose inaction caused the violence are not apprehended as well. Going by Ababu's allegations last week, it is easy to guess what Ruto is implying. Afterall Ababu is now available for higher, isn't he?

Drive into Kenya's National Cereals and Produce Board (NCPB), the government body in charge of maize/grain storage.

Order 100,000 bags of maize at a cost of Kshs 1,750. Make a call to a maize miller and offer to sell 100,000 bags of maize at the price of Kshs 2,600. Advise the miller to make two cheques, preferably bank transfers. First, a cheque/transfer of Kshs 85,000,000 to you and another Kshs 175,000,000 to NCPB. Do not waste energy pondering how come the government through the NCPB bought the maize at more than Kshs 2,600 per bag.

Give instructions to NCPB managers to release to the miller the 100,000 bags of maize you have just ordered and bought.

Drive out of NCPB and enjoy your hard earned sweat money.

For the plan to work effectively, ensure there is a call from the Ministry of Agriculture to the NCPB managers prior to your arrival or arrive armed with a hand written note on the Ministry of Agriculture's letter head.

Why are you poor, oh ye Kenyans of little ideas.

What would you do if you cross the line first, but the victory belt is awarded a non-participant athlete or just a person in the crowd? Would you stand humiliation?

In the political screens of a sovereign East Africa nation, there are developmental changes in the power of deciding and saying. Those who decide would only be affixed the seal of a machete better known as dagger or ‘Panga’ while the announcer stand behind the seal of an elected government to address the citizens.

It is worth wondering how a machete seal would look like. Not too long into the future, Kenyans might be surfacing into the reality of this unfamiliar but probable expectation. Over the past three decades, Kenyans have seen terror evolve from the era of possibility to certainty; only these terrorists are bombing their own houses.

I wonder if Kenyans know which sector of the economy is growing at the highest rate. Well, it is the outrageous ‘blood’ department. The only difference being that no donor is ever willing to drain his red body fluid in to the earth. It is no wonder that every Kenyan now need at least a body guard to walk through every dark corner.

Although our men in uniform are well armed, they are crippled by a very miraculous but dangerous disease, corruption. No wonder they spend most of their day in the armory while citizens are being slaughtered. I wonder how much they are paid. All because of one name that has no place in the dictionary at its tribe of origin, but has managed to earn worldwide popularity.

Imagine a whole town at stand still, just because a two year old has learned the first name in life - mungiki. One mention and the whole town’s businesses close for the night, even though it is barely midday. To me, it seems like Kenya is operating on a curfew lottery with a ‘new’ government so powerful that a baby might opt to stay put in the womb at delivery. I do not say this for granted, but if I were given an option at birth, I would not have dared venturing into the world of manslaughter, period!

Looking at the Kenya of today, the elected office has been turned into a ‘spokesman’ institution while authority lies in the hands of terror gangs. Do Kenyans really know how many killers are on the loose? Mungiki alone has at least a million of them. Add ‘taliban’, Kamjesh, and the rest and you will be amazed by the number.

Looking at one side of the problem, the fertile hills at the heartland of Kenya have seen the better part of its population owing loyalty to the Mungiki gang. A simple but complicated oath is turning kikuyu households into butcheries with a whole population being trained to be human butchers. It does not end there but goes on to cannibalism.

While the government is doing nothing about this, the ‘Mau Mau’ of the 20th century are filling their bellies with human fresh with genitals forming the sweetest part- or maybe nutritious. Blood has now become a common ingredient among the million plus ‘human’ butcher whose only identity is practical misery.

With the alarming growth of the Mungiki, human steak might just be a favorite among patrons at the many restaurants in Kenya. While the administration ought to be fighting the growing cannibal ideology, the big men are part of the count in tasting the new item in the menu. That is where Kenya is, and I do not know where it will be tomorrow.

In less than a generation into the future, Kenya might just be an epitome of agony, time in which the color at the center of their flag will be evident in rivers as they wind their way from the hill at the heartland of Kenya to spread influence in to the now almost conquered territories. Dreadlocks will be a trademark identity, sniffing tobacco a bus ticket, machetes a part of dressing and murder a daily chore with the high court closing, since no one will get to the bar, criminal or suspect. Grave yards will close and the normal RIP being change to ‘See you steak at my dinner plate’.

There will be no postmortems, since all death will be a result of the death game, a chore of that generation. Death is already being a penalty for members of the Kikuyu community who are not willing to join the ‘Mungiki’. How many more people are yet to die? Where is the future of Kenya?

It is time the world chipped in. I do not know how long the world will take to understand this, but if it so believes in humanity, then let no more people perish in the misery and agony of a murderous death. Let there not be another al-Qaida born in Kenya.

Judging from past events the Kenya administration has proved unable to contain its own crisis therefore giving the world an upper hand to come in and pluck the young group before it develops leaves in other parts of the world. What does the world say? May the answer be practical.

A. INTRODUCTION

1- The Kenya National Commission on Human Rights (KNCHR) welcomes the efforts by both the executive and parliament to establish the Special Tribunal for Kenya through a constitutional amendment and enactment of the Statute Establishing a Special Tribunal for Kenya, 2009 to try alleged perpetrators of the 2007 post- election violence. We therefore expect that recent developments during the Parliamentary debate are not manifestations of a lack of commitment to enact these important laws as recommended by the Waki Commission.

2- The Waki Commission recommended the International Criminal Court (ICC) only as a fallback mechanism in the event that the local process fails; KNCHR holds the position that creating an effective Special Tribunal for Kenya is the more appropriate option for a country intent on restoring faith in its institutions.

However, trying the perpetrators at the ICC is more appropriate only if Parliamentarians are unable or unwilling to establish an effective Special Tribunal properly insulated from political manipulation.

3- KNCHR also observes that not many stakeholders have had time to provide input into the process. Owing to the significance of the issues at stake, it is crucial that views from other stakeholders be considered in the on-going debate.

B. ISSUES AND RECOMMENDATIONS

(I) Possible Constitutional Challenges

4- The proposed Tribunal raises a number of constitutional issues which if not addressed are likely to lead to incessant litigation. The specific sections of the Constitution that may be a source of legal battles include: Section 14 (Immunity from prosecution of a sitting president); Section 26 (Powers of the Attorney General to continue or terminate criminal proceedings); Section 27 (Powers of the President to grant pardon); Section 60 (1) (High Court as superior court); Section 62 (2) (Powers of the President to appoint judges on advice of the Judicial Service Commission); Section 77 (4) (No prosecution of offences that did not legally exist at the time of commission or omission)

5- The proposed Section 3A (2) of the Constitutional of Kenya (Amendment) Bill, 2009 states that "For the avoidance of doubt, the provisions of the Statute shall not be deemed to be inconsistent with this Constitution." There are those who hold the view that the provision is adequate in safeguarding the Tribunal from constitutional challenges. But other experts think that the provision is weak and does not give any guarantees. Therefore, KNCHR proposes that the proposed Section 3A (2) should read: "For the avoidance of doubt, the provisions of the Statute shall not be deemed to be inconsistent with Sections 14, 26, 27, 60 (1), 62 (2) and 77 (4) of this Constitution."

(II) Fallback mechanism

6- The Waki Commission proposed the International Criminal Court (ICC) as the fallback mechanism in the event the process of establishing the Special Tribunal or its operations becomes ineffective. The proposed Statute is silent on what happens if it is rendered ineffective or otherwise the Tribunal fails to deliver. KNCHR proposes that a clause be included in the Statute to permit the ICC to intervene in the event that the Tribunal is rendered ineffective for one reason or the other.

(III) Jurisdiction

7- Crimes under international law: Section 5 of the Bill limits the definition of crimes to the "this' Statute. However, the crimes set out are those under international law. KNCHR recommends that Section 5 should be recast such that the crimes referred to are those committed in accordance with the provisions of "this" Statute or international criminal law.

8- Referral of cases before courts: Section 7 (3) only anticipates the Tribunal to request the court to defer cases to it. However the provision does not contemplate that courts may on their own defer cases to the Tribunal where they believe those cases fall under the jurisdiction of the Tribunal. KNCHR recommends that Section 7 should be amended to include this latter possibility.

9- Temporal jurisdiction: KNCHR also considers the temporal jurisdiction under Section 8 (2) (Dec 3, 2007 - Feb 28. 2008) as limited in scope. KNCHR proposes that the period be backtracked to January 2007. This period marks the beginning of the election year and is sufficient if prior events leading to post-elections violence have to be considered as suggested in sub-section 3.

10- Personal Jurisdiction: Section 5 states that the Tribunal shall have jurisdiction over natural and artificial persons. For the avoidance of doubt, KNCHR proposes that organised criminal gangs be included in the
definition.

(IV) Crimes Against Humanity

11- Section 2 defines crimes against humanity to include systematic attacks against any civilian population on various grounds such as national and ethnic or religious grounds. According to international standards, crimes against humanity are committed against any civilian population regardless of the stated grounds. The key element in crimes against humanity is demonstrating that the criminal activity was "systematic and committed against the civilian population." KNCHR recommends the adoption of the international standards by deleting the grounds of attacks from section 2.

(V) Appointment Procedure

12- Judges: The appointment procedure of judges under Sections 16, 17 and 18 of the proposed law relies mostly on the goodwill of both the President and the Prime Minister. The proposed law also gives powers to the President and the Prime Minister to appoint the Chairperson of both the Trial and Appeal Chambers. KNCHR proposes that in the appointment of the two chairpersons, the Judicial Service Commission and the Law Society of Kenya may play an advisory role to both the President and the Prime Minister. Alternatively, the President in concurrence with the Prime Minister may nominate judges but the nominees are later confirmed through Parliamentary vetting.

(VI) Registry

13- The Registry is one of the organs of the Tribunal (Section 3 (3)). Section 31 establishes the Registry. There is some inconsistency between Section 3(3) and Section 31 in terms of whether the intention is to establish the Registry or Office of the Registrar. KNCHR proposes that only one should be chosen. Comparatively, other jurisdictions establish the Registry before appointing the Registrar.

(VII) Parliamentary Veto

14- Parliament has been given powers under various provisions in the proposed Statute especially where there is a gridlock between the President and the Prime Minister. KNCHR considers that the proposed threshold vote (50% of all MPs) is a bit high and MPs who prefer the status quo may absent themselves deliberately to ensure that the 50% is not arrived at. Further, the provision does not state what happens if the 50% is not achieved.

15- KNCHR proposes that in the event of a gridlock between the President and Prime Minister, there should be a possibility of two rounds of voting. In the first instance, the 50% threshold should apply. However, where the 50% is not achieved, a second vote should be taken within 7 days where a simple majority of all members present should be able to pass a resolution.

(VIII) Investigations and Indictment of Public Officials

16- Section 35 (8) has been controversial because of its requirement that names of the suspects under investigations remain secret until the persons have been indicted. KNCHR holds the view that the presumption of innocence should remain the primary reason behind keeping the names secret until someone has been indicted. This also will ensure that the witnesses are protected against any threats that may arise at the initial stages of investigations.

17- However, in the event that it is established that a suspect has or is likely to interfere with investigations, the Prosecutor should be able to request the appointing authority to relieve the public official of his duties even before indictment. KNCHR also proposes that that Section 36 be amended by adding a sub-section requiring a person holding public office at the time of his indictment to step aside.

(IX) Pre-Trial Hearings

18- Section 38 of the proposed Statute does not anticipate the pre-trial proceedings to be held in public. KNCHR recommends that a sub-section be added under Section 38 to allow the pre-trial hearings to be in public unless otherwise necessitated by the need to protect the process.

(X) Penalties

19- Death Penalty: Section 53 does not contemplate death sentence against person(s) found guilty of serious crimes under the Statute. This is consistent with the international criminal practice such as the ICC. However, this is clearly inconsistent with the Kenyan Constitution where offences similar to those under the Special Tribunal e.g. murder is punishable by death. If the two laws are retained, this will amount to discrimination against those tried by the ordinary courts vis-vis those tried by the Special Tribunal for similar offences. KNCHR proposes that Parliament should amend the Constitution and the Penal Code (Cap 63 Laws of Kenya) by expunging the death sentence.

20- Bar from Public Office: Section 53 (5) bars persons convicted of crimes under the Statute from holding any public or elective office. Due to the different levels of gravity of crime under the Statute, it may not be necessarily in the interest of justice to bar all convicts from holding public office. KNCHR proposes that those to be barred from holding public office completely are those convicted for crimes under Sections 10, 11 and 12 of the Statute.

(XI) Minister

21- Section 2 defines "Minister* under the Statute to be the Minister for the time being responsible for matters relating to justice and constitutional affairs. Owing to the political nature, and possible perception of partisanship on the operations of the Tribunal, KNCHR recommends that the Minister under the Statute should be the Office of the Attorney General.

(XII) Special Reports

22- Section 62 (1) obligates the Tribunal to make annual reports of its activities. However, it does not contemplate other reports. KNCHR recommends that a sub-section be added to allow the Tribunal to make other special reports on its activities where need be to the Panel of Eminent Personalities. These reports may relate to the challenges the Tribunal might be facing in discharging its mandate.

(XIII) Amnesty: Tribunal Vs TJRC

23- KNCHR foresees a situation whereby suspects who have been granted amnesty under the TJRC become immune to the jurisdiction of the Tribunal. KNCHR recommends the inclusion of a provision linking the provisions on amnesty in the TJRC Act 2009 and the process of indictment and conviction in "this" Statute.

(XIV) Gender, Children and Sexual Offences

24- KNCHR is concerned that the Statute is NOT gender sensitive and this may be replicated at the implementation stage. KNCHR proposes that the Statute should be engendered across provisions including but not limited to appointments. The Registrar and the Prosecutor should establish units with personnel who are experts in trauma management, gender-related crimes such as crimes of sexual violence and violence against children

The Statute should also expressely state what, if at all, should happen to children who may face allegations of participating in crimes under the jurisdiction of the Special Court.

FLORENCE SIMBIRI-JAOKO
CHAIRPERSON KENYA NATIONAL COMMISION ON HUMAN RIGHTS

Our attention has been drawn to various allegations that were made on the floor of Kenya's Parliament on Wednesday, February 4th 2009; by the Member of Parliament for Budalangi Constituency.

We wish to enlighten the public on the nature of the activities undertaken by Gingalili (1968) Limited. Gingalili is a farm situated in Subukia, Nakuru District.

The farm is jointly owned by H. E. President Mwai Kibaki, H.E. First Lady Mrs. Lucy Kibaki, and their children.

The farming activities include dairy farming and vegetable farming. Gingalili (1968) Limited IS NOT AND NEVER HAS BEEN IN THE BUSINESS OF BUYING AND SELLING MAIZE OR ANY OTHER COMMODITIES.

We therefore take great exception to the allegations made in Parliament on February 4th 2009 by the Member of Parliament for Budalangi. Even going by the current low political standards that exists among certain politicians in Kenya today, the attack on the First Lady from the floor of the National Assembly is unprecedented, undignified and exceedingly shameful.

Indeed, it is a sad day for Kenya when an MP can use his parliamentary privilege to cast DISHONEST aspersions on the character and dignity of innocent Kenyans who do not have the opportunity to defend themselves in Parliament.

We humbly request the Speaker of the National Assembly to give the nation direction on this issue, as it is not the first time a Member of Parliament is maliciously maligning Kenyans from the floor of Parliament.

We also challenge the Member of Parliament for Budalangi to repeat these allegations outside the sanctuary of Parliament, where he cannot hide behind "parliamentary privilege."

Our immense encouragement goes to the First Lady of the Republic. We urge her to continue to remain steadfast and strong in her service to the nation, and to continue speaking out for the many Kenyans whose voices are never heard.

Given her known attributes of tremendous integrity, courage and determination, especially in the face of adversity, we are certain that she will prevail. The Bible tells us that goodness will always triumph over evil.

God bless you, Mum.

Thank you Kenyans for your kind words of support and encouragement.

God bless Kenya.

Judith Wanjiku Kibaki
James Kibaki
David Kagai Kibaki
Anthony Githinji Kibaki