Police Spokesman found himself engulfed in the protesting anti judicial killings crowd, splashed with the bloody paint
By Bel Akinyi
Hypocrisy levels in my country Kenya has hit an all-time high, we have a group of special Kenyans dooming one sin and turning a blind eye on the other. It’s unfortunate that Kenya lost a gleaming mind, Willie Kimani who was more than a lawyer but a resolute advocate of human rights with the primary interest on police brutality.
In the rise of the fatal event, conniving, opportunistic, commercial, insincere activists rose from their graves to organise mother of demos countrywide to demonstrate against extra-judicial killings.
While the demos are justified and the agenda of condemning state-owned hit squad rightful, the sincerity and honesty of these money motivated bloggers is nauseating to be least.
Extra-judicial killings, for those of you history students dates back to 1963 during Kenyatta regime. Elimination was used by politicians to square scores. Moi came with unlawful detentions and extra-judicial killings as well to deal with critics.
Muslim Imams have been eliminated in what Al Jazeera and many other outlets attributes to a counter-terrorism strategy by the State. At the far North of the country, young men have been going missing only to turn up dead. Children left orphaned, mothers childless and wives widowed. This hasn’t caused enough commotion and caught the ‘activists’ attention as it has this time.
Most recently, Jacob Juma, a prominent businessman, was assassinated in what is now clear was work of the special hit squad, the now fuming, shouting their lungs out activists did nothing other than making few tweets cover up eyes.
The message sent, simple, it wasn’t okay killing Juma, and it wasn’t wrong either. What a bunch of hypocrites.
During anti-IEBC protests police brutality was caught on camera, in Nyanza police were using live bullets, estimated ten people were killed by the police, a five-year-old kid was shot by police. All these didn’t spark a protest, as usual, few tweets condemning the brutality by police.
The loud silence by these activists who’re more plastic than butt implants sent a clear message, some lives don’t matter.
On the death of Willie Kimani and the other two persons, has caused a never witnessed uproar. Civil Society and Law Society have at last woken up from slumber to realise, the killer police don’t discriminate, anyone is a target.
Protestors in Nairobi streets. (Photo: Getty)
A friend is telling me, the protests are funded by an embassy. Money is said to be a key motivation behind this latest demo. Bluff of activism.
It’s unfortunate that this debate had to come while we’re genuinely mourning the death of a human rights fighter and his two counterparts but the sickening hypocrisy needs to stop.
If you’re going to be a damn activist, then you should treat all. Equally, the only reward should come from God. Most of the great defenders in history died poor but left the rich legacy, from MLK to Malcolm X to Steve Biko even Mandela.
While families are shedding tears, briefcase, motivated cash activists are rushing to the foreign envoys in Kenya with proposals for funding, laughing all the way to the bank. Extra-judicial killings must be halted, the backstops with President Uhuru, who swore the oath to protect lives of all Kenyans. Man up and disband this terror unit.
To the scavenging activists, milking dry cows continue with your evil acts, and time will catch up, and history will judge you by your footprints. Hypocrisy is one of them.
I have deliberately left out names since this will cross with many, and if you are reading this and you’re one of them, you just got served con, now wait for another Kenyan to be killed to add something to your bank account. Rascals.
By Bel Akinyi is a Political Science student at Melbourne University, Australia.
Twitter: @BelAkinyii
ODM Party leader, Raila Odinga met the rebelling party’s Secretary General, Ababu Namwamba over allegations that he was decamping to Jubilee and discussing party issues in the media. The talks don’t seem to have mended emerging rift with some party MPs from Western region threatening to walk out.
Namwamba, for instance, has threatened to quit his post while Paul Otuoma has resigned from the vice-chairperson position but remains a member of the party. Otuoma has complained of being undermined, and Namwamba complained of being frustrated and said there are ‘critical’ issues that should be addressed.
It remains a mystery what the so-called core issues are that party officials at the positions of Namwamba or Otuoma cannot find mechanisms to resolve but instead opt to resign.
Ababu, who is Budalang’i MP, claims he joined the opposition party believing the people’s personal and national dreams would be fulfilled.
“If the goals of the population of Busia are not getting met in this party, we will make a different decision,” he said in Bukalama on Saturday.
What is surprising is their decisions to resign from their party positions and not quit the party immediately. If the party is failing on its agenda, the leadership of that party is to blame; Ababu and Otuoma make that ‘failing’ leadership.
Actual generals fight dangerous wars daily and not quit, Edwin Sifuna a stronger supporter of the Party Leader, Raila Odinga said in an interview. Sifuna, who also stated that Ababu is only a Secretary General on paper is a critic of Ababu and crew, he also added that the team has been ‘bought’ and are headed to Jubilee. There are no serious issues raised by Ababu but mere shenanigans and mind games.
Ababu, who had been criticised as an ‘absentee leader, ‘ has been missing from key CORD events including the protests to reform the current IEBC. He, however, responded that he is an independent thinker who does not believe in the party playing politics all the time.
A classic response of a rebelling politician. They become independent after using parties popular in their regions to get to parliament but never run as independent candidates. Ababu is a hustling politician who doesn’t seem to play his role in the party; before his selection as the secretary general he blackmailed the public and questioned democracy in the party after sensing stiff competition amid claims that he is a Jubilee mole.
He claims that he has been frustrated, and he wants to move where he is appreciated and tolerated. Everyone is waiting to see where he is headed, but the deputy president William Ruto has been linked to a plan by some ODM lawmakers led by Ababu to take over Julia Ojiambo’s Labour Party of Kenya. A source privy to Kenya Insights said that there’s a plan by the DP to have Luhya people decamp from ODM, join LPK and later to deal with Ruto’s URP.
As things stand now, Ababu’s role as the Secretary-General is substantially impaired as he looks headed to Jubilee where he will only be seen as a follower. On his own, he is ‘a small person’ who will only be given a party to bargain with Jubilee.
He was one time ODM’s rising star, but his image was dealt a blow when he was accused of receiving money from corrupt politicians to hide PAC (Public Accounts Committee) reports that he once chaired.
When he wanted to become the Secretary General he claimed to have been with the party since it was founded, he understood the challenges and how to deal with them but what happened after he tasted power and got hungrier for more? He is now more of ‘a political hustler’ looking for means and ways to bargain with those in the authority.
His stake in ODM cannot grant him that. One can hardly believe that the Ababu today is the same guy who once described ODM as their party that he cherished deeply. He claimed to be a battle-hardened individual (valour in a battle) in many ways especially when their victory was ‘stolen’ in 2007. Where is that man to deal with the frustrations or ‘crisis’? Instead, he’s exposing the country to cheap politics of a rebelling politician who can’t officially defect and face the music that comes it.
Nairobi Governor, Evans Kidero, commissions a water vending machine in Mathare slums.
24 pharmaceuticals- the highest concentrations being antibiotics and ARVs, used to treat HIV and malaria are found in rivers, waste and ground water in Nairobi and Kisumu counties.
This is according to a study, Occurrence Patterns of Pharmaceutical Residues in Waste Water, Surface Water and Ground Water of Nairobi and Kisumu, Kenya, conducted by the University of Eldoret in collaboration with Ghent University, Belgium.
The concentration of these prescription drugs and over-the-counter medicines while minuscule — as they are far below the levels of a therapeutic dose — are worrying scientists like Mr Kenneth K’oreje, one of the authors.
“There is a 70 percent chance that the surface and even treated water may still have traces of the drugs. In fact, some ARVs have resistant products that may be isolated in water long after treatment is done.” He says.
Water flowing from a tap in Nairobi
These drugs, measured in quantities of parts per billion or trillion, include nevirapine and zidovudine (for HIV treatment) and antibiotics like metronidazole, sulfamethoxazole and trimethoprim.
Kisumu has higher concentrations of the antibiotic sulphadoxine, which is a combined drug with Fansidar that is used to treat malaria.
Poorly managed pharmaceutical disposal mechanisms a possible attribute to this hazardous development.
Elsewhere, in 2013 a study on foodstuff had established that farmers in Kiambu and Murang’a counties were using ARVs to fatten chicken. The farmers reportedly added ARVs to broiler feed to ensure they were ready for sale at four weeks.
There has been telltale of the government gagging the internet citing security issues. Most recently, the system has hinted at a possible stiff Internet regulation policies ahead of the 2017 elections.
With internet accessibility in the country continuing to skyrocket and many rely on the web for information, the growing number of users, regulating content is a nearly impossible task.
NCIC has warned that social media is the new platform in which hatemongers propagate tribal hatred and are seeking ways in which to regulate social media use. Initially, oppressive article 19 was used to muzzle voices, but it has since been overruled as being unconstitutional. The government is determined to regulate the internet, and all the signs are in the air.
The move by Kenya in joining other dictatorial regimes in the bid to have the government be a key player in regulating the Internet use is causing fear for the future as Kenya heads to 2017 elections. In Uganda, President Uhuru Kenyatta’s ally Yoweri Museveni shut down the internet and messaging services as the country held their general elections.
The authoritarian president claimed an open internet was a threat to national security during the period.
The United Nations officially condemned the practice of countries shutting down access to the internet at a meeting of the Human Rights Council on Friday.
A resolution entitled The promotion, protection and enjoyment of human rights on the Internet extends human rights held offline to the web. Consensus passed it, but only after a determined effort by some countries, including China and Russia, to pull out key parts of the text.
In particular, some states – notably by their authoritarian stances – were opposed to the resolution’s focus on the need for an accessible and open internet, and its condemnation of violations against people for expressing their views online. A vote planned for Thursday was delayed until Friday after the issue became heated.
Protesters fighting for freedom of speech
Some were surprised by the 13 other countries that lined up with Russia and China to delete the text on ensuring access to the internet. Among such authoritarian regimes as Saudi Arabia and Qatar were also democracies including India and South Africa.
Likewise on a second amendment to remove references to freedom of expression. Russia and China were joined by 15 other countries including India, Kenya and South Africa.
“We are disappointed that democracies like South Africa, Indonesia, and India voted in favour of these hostile amendments to weaken protections for freedom of expression online,” said Thomas Hughes, the executive director of Article 19, a charity focused on protecting free speech. He added: “The resolution is a much-needed response to increased pressure on freedom of expression online in all parts of the world.”
Resolutions
That person has the same rights online as offline, “in particular freedom of speech, which is applicable regardless of frontiers and through any media of one’s choice.”
Those human rights violations enacted against people due to making their views known online are “condemned unequivocally,” and states are held accountable for any such violations.
Any measures to “intentionally prevent or disrupt access” to the internet are also “condemned unequivocally,” and all states should “refrain from and cease such actions.”
In effect, that means that the expanding use of Internet shutdowns by governments claiming national security issues or even, in the case of Iraq, to prevent exam cheating, will now go against formal UN policy.
If all these signs have anything to go by then freedom of expression and access to information on a population that consumes heavily from the internet, Kenyans should look ahead for business unusual in coming days, weeks, months and years.
Following days of the relentless search for the missing lawyer Willie Kimani, his client and a taxi driver, our worst fears were confirmed when their bodies were found decomposing in Oldonyo Sabuk river.
Lawyer Willie Kimani and his client Josephat Mwendwa had filed a complaint alleging that Mwendwa had been shot and injured by police in April. Mwendwa was then charged with a range of offences, including possessing drugs, gambling in public and resisting arrest, Human Rights activists said.
The two went missing along with Joseph Muiruri, a driver who picked them up after a court hearing on June 23.
The 32-year-old lawyer Willie Kimani was admitted to the bar in 2011 in his five-year tenure as an advocate of the High Court; he specialised in human rights organisations and the Independent Police Oversight Authority (IPOA).
Josephat Mwendwa, Willie’s client
Police brutality in Kenya has continued to heighten with the oversight body receiving heaps of complaints from the public on rogue police. As an investigator, according to his colleague speaking to Kenya Insights, Willie had a lot of dirt on rogue cops and was set to release information that would put senior officers, including the one implicated in his fatal end, in deep trouble.
Another complainant contacted K.I lamenting on inaction and treachery at IPOA, he claims some of the officials are easily compromised and would sell out those who lodged complaints against any brutal police officer.
Willie remained a pain in the neck and a stumbling block for most rogue cops, and he couldn’t be compromised. His daring will and dedication towards fighting for human rights and enthusiasm against police brutality put him in trouble and a target for the brutal police force. He was an investigator at International Justice Mission (IJM) for one and a half years before joining IPOA, where he majored in investigations on police brutality and sexual violence against children.
Joseph Muiruri, the taxi driver
The 32-year-old started his career as an intern at Release Political Prisoners, now the Rights Promotion and Protection Center and later took up the position of a legal officer. He was also a board member.
His passion for fighting for the protection of victims of torture and extrajudicial killings drew him to the Independent Medico Legal Unit before he joined IPOA.
His murder now brings to light the elite killer squad that many agree are in the police force. Extra-judicial killings have taken the toll in the near past with the latest victim being businessman Jacob Juma whose shooting was attributed to the killer squad too.
Lawyers and Civil Society have both joined hands in the wake of Willie’s murder and are now not only calling for the disbandment of the killing unit but also the dismissal of top police leadership from the Inspector General Joseph Boinnet and Criminal Investigations Director, Muhoro to the Interior Security CS.
Increasing extra-judicial killings have also rattled the foreign envoys who’ve jointly issued a stark warning to the government to look into the matter which is now getting out of hand.
IG Joseph Boinnet identified the cops being held over the murders as Fredrick Leliman, Stephen Chebulet and Silvia Wanjiku.
On 30th June, in a memo the Nation Media Group announced a bulky lay off the scheme of its staff. Hundreds of employees were caught off guard with the directive that has seen Nation FM, Q FM and TV both shut. The TV stations will be incorporated into one channel. According to the management, the decision to layoff its employees is to harmonize and strengthen its operations.
Sources privy to the decision divulges to Kenya Insights that the shut outlets have been running at a loss and siphoning the group’s revenue. The situation got so bad that most of the times Nation FM, QTV and Radio would on numerous occasions run dry adverts. Free adverts just to give the impressions that the situation was normal wand they were getting revenue.
The problem extends to NTV as well. “Print unit has been the holding factor,” a senior source at Nation Media Group tells Kenya Insights. Daily Nation remains the most profitable venture in the media group as its electronic media department numbers in losses.
Things couldn’t hold up anymore, and NMG was running at a loss, a crisis meeting that would see his Highness Aga Khan order for immediate deposition of additional employees and shut down of three channels was reached. Aga Khan, who owns preponderance stakes in the media group, was furious over under performance in the City Center’s media house.
Ciru Muriuki, Sanaipei Tande, Antoneosoul who were both Sacked by Nation FM
Nation FM’s downfall started as far as last year when they laid off approximately 50 employees at a go. Celebrity presenters who had shot up the station’s ratings as Singer Anto Neosol, Sanaipei Tande, comedian Obinna, Ciku Muiruri among others were kicked out in what one of them describes as “being chased out like dogs.” The dismissal wasn’t like any other, Nation FM was insolvent and couldn’t manage to pay the high demanding celebrities.
The management with Munene Nyagah as the head of radio coined a scheme to cut down cost and keep the wheels running.
The project, which became popularly known as “Vocal nation,” was packaged as a mentorship course. They drew two students each from campuses with the opportunity to present on the station.
The script sold to participants was that they would compete, and the best would be given employment opportunity at any of NMG’s outlets. Unknown to them, everything would turn out to be a bluff.
The senior source speaking on condition of anonymity to Kenya insights opens up more, “The plan was to target fame hungry guys from these campuses, and DJs were also brought in. Maximize production and minimize expenditure.” The station was breaking into a new audience of young people, so they needed relevant presenters.
Those who were recruited into the Vocal Nation program received zero remunerations. However, they were contented, being fame hungry, the mileage of being on the radio was good enough. This was to the advantage of the management. “We had a variety of content generation, and our online presence went up and above all minimized spending” one of the managers was overheard by a source, during drunk stupors at the Nation Lounge, located only meters away from the central premise.
Being tactful, the management didn’t announce specific timeline that the program would run, and this was meant to drowse on any queries and eyebrows that would become in due course.
As fate would prescribe, the lie suffered sudden death with the indefinite cessation of the station together with its sister station QFM and TV who employed similar tactics. As at the time of closure, there wasn’t a clear winner, neither did any of the Vocal Nation participants get even close to an internship opportunity at the media house. Contrary to other employees, Vocal Nation’s participants will walk out the same way they walked in, with empty pockets.
On the 5th day of May, vocal businessman and new age anti-corruption crusader Jacob Juma was fell in the spray of bullets. The incidence shocked the country, one person who had all the prints and fingers pointing at over the heartless murder was the state. From CORD leader Odinga to friends, the killing was attributed to a lethal police hit squad.
As Kenyans were grasping with the news, one person who thought he was next in line from his intelligence sources or basic instincts, went into hiding. Freelance journalist, Yassin Juma on getting the news of Juma’s death amassed his family, and both went into hiding. He cringed for his life.
Yassin was in January arrested for ostensibly posting classified information on the number of KDF soldiers that were killed in the El Added attack by the Al Shabaab militia group. According to Intel that Juma got, a total of 103 soldiers died in the massacre. He went ahead and posted on his blog, shells of the destroyed KDF armory that were released by the militia’s propaganda unit.
Publishing of this ‘sensitive’ information angered the authority principally Interior Ministry led by CS Nkaiserry. He was later picked up from his house in Nairobi’s Donholm estate. 16 CID officers effected the arrest in what looked like a terror suspect apprehension.
He was accused of posting photos of dead soldiers on his blog, claims he say were being peddled by PSCU based on hearsay. He would remain locked up at Muthaiga police as police embarked on investigations that would yield no fruit, they didn’t find the said photos on his site.
Yassin Juma was a victim of the prohibitive law that has since been disbanded- section 29 of the Information and Communication Act, which prohibits the “improper use of a licensed communications system”. Interior CS Nkaissery warned that anyone publishing any information on the attack without KDF approval is a sympathizer of Al Shabaab and would be treated as one.
After fruitless attempts to have him locked up, Juma would later be released and just before his eyes would pass away, another scheme to have him locked up was in the offing. On leaving the cells, he posed for a picture with his friends outside the police station flashing a one finger salute.
The photos were quickly used in an endeavor of linking him to terror group leaders who often flash similar one finger salute, an attempt to make him look like one of them. Juma said the index finger signified his reliance to one God.
Juma attributes his woes to Mwenda Njoka, Dennis Itumbi (directors at PSCU, who have since been fired) and CS Nkaissery. He believes they are hell bent to see him go behind bars or worse still dead. Juma is a freelance journalist with the specific interest in war documentaries that he distributes to international publications. A course that has seen him travel to Somalia frequently.
He’s also a darling of the KDF troops who bring him on the warfront to cover the war on Al Shabaab. His movements and information sources in Somalia have been a headache to those behind his arrest.
The journalist has dismissed reports that he’s hiding in Somalia insisting he and family are in Kenya to stay despite the death threats. “Yes I have received death threats (including my family members) in the past, and it still continues to date from people who think I am prior to sensitive information that should not be relayed to the public or people who perceive to be more patriotic more than you and me. Yes I’ve been trailed, and my phone calls tapped, but I will continue to do what I do right here in Kenya.” Said Yassin.
He contends he’s in Kenya to stay and will not run away to any country to seek refuge. The defiant journalist is sending a message to his enemies, “to be born by luck but death is definite, I fear the Creator, not the Creations, if my day to die come it will and will be an honor to die a Shaheed if they( in ref to those baying for his blood)decide to kill me.”
In conclusion, Juma firmly say he’s in Kenya to stay and those grumpy by his work which he conducts with set ethics standards, “must be prepared to put up with me, this country is for us all, just because I am a Muslim, doesn’t make me subordinate of a Kenyan.” Declares Juma.
Former Director of Digital communication Mr.Dennis Itumbi
Following consistent complaints from online and offline users over poor communication strategies, President Uhuru has eventually disbanded the Itumbi led a team. According to the memo signed by the deputy head of Public service, the directors were shown red card over concerns of unstructured communication and a series of gaffes.
The affected directors include The Senior Director Public Communications, Minyori Buku, Digital and Diaspora Communications Director, Dennis Itumbi, Head of Messaging docket at the Presidency, Eric Ng’eno and James Kinyua, who handled the Branding and Events Directorate in the Presidential Strategic Communication Unit(PSCU).
Reports also indicate the disbanded team has since been denied access to State House.
Manoah Esipisu retains his position as the State House spokesperson and head of communication.
According to insiders, there has been a mileage disconnection between the Itumbi’s team and Manoah’s. Critics have maintained that PSCU was an amateurish team and often used for pushing propaganda and unjust wars. The latest being the response to NY Times and Nominated senator Njoroge on 2022 COMMENT.
Veteran journalist Macharia recently described the unit as forever snapping at its heels. In a punchline directed at them, Gaitho slammed, “there’s more to communications than insults and big words.” PSCU is known for giving anger field statements primarily oriented towards the opposition. Communications analysts have faulted their strategies.
According to a highly placed source, the Presidency was concerned over the increasing cases of unstructured communications that have been sent out in the recent past.
PSCU will, however, according to State House, be reconstituted in the shortest time possible, with emphasis on more organised communication.
Elsewhere, from those close to Itumbi and team, the disbandment has been rushed following their opposition to the recommendations of the National Security Council to have the social media sphere be regulated. The council is plotting on implementing stiff regulations on online users as the country goes to elections next year. Itumbis have been arguing that such policies need public participation to draft contrary to the NSC recommendations.
Those in the circles say Itumbi and PSCU team can come in handy in discharging propaganda agenda a critical campaign tool that will come in handy for the Jubilee team. There are high chances the disbandment is a strategic move to relocate the team to another communication organ in the campaigns secretariat
Every child growing up wants to be a doctor, lawyer or an engineer. These professions have been for a long time been regarded as lucrative, but medicine and law have turned into conmen’s den. Doctors despite being well paid are making headlines for all the wrong reasons.
Coercing with pharmaceutical companies, giving prescriptions of drugs not stocked in their respective hospitals and even writing medical reports to questionable individuals just to make quick bucks unlawfully. Med reps from leading pharmaceutical companies to throng doctor’s plaza to market their products alongside people (mostly of Somalia origin) lining to buy medical reports.
Early this year Kenya Medical Practitioners Pharmacists and Dentists Union (KMPPDU) through its Secretary General Oluga Ouma raised a red flag over doctors referring their patients to India despite treatments being available locally.
In what seems like a cartel made of 15 companies belonging to influential politicians, doctors and even the patients, Kenya is said to be losing 10 billion shillings which can be used to improve infrastructures in medical facilities across the country.
Lobby claimed that over 880 doctors in public and private practice risk losing their licenses if investigations confirm that they intentionally misadvise patients to seek treatment abroad in exchange for kickbacks.
The findings of the investigations have never been made public, and the rogue doctors are still on, fleecing patients millions of their shillings and draining the country’s hard currency reserves.
Busted fake doctor Mugo Wairimu
Doctors are reported to pocket up to Shs. 200,000 for every referral; mainly of kidney, cancer and cosmetic. Health Principal Secretary Dr Nicholas Muraguri noted that Kenyatta National Hospital for instance conducts at least 30 kidney transplants every month and some of Kenya’s private hospitals have the capacity to carry out heart transplants. Meaning that these cases can be treated locally. Only very delicate conditions that local experts can not treat should warrant overseas care.
This fight is made complicated by the fact that top government officials ignore the official policy in favour of local healthcare, opting instead for treatment in Europe and US even for a slight cough. Doctors don’t end their illegal trade of unwarranted medical referrals here; Kenya Insights can authoritatively report that Kenyan doctors provide dubious medical reasons to many peoples of Somali origin seeking travel to Europe or the United States.
It’s no secret that terror activities conducted by ‘Islamic groups’ have proven bigger threats to every nation globally. Groups such as Al Shabaab, Boko Haram, ISIS, Al Qaeda and many more hide behind unsuspicious events to carry out their attacks. Kenya and East Africa, for instance, has suffered numerous attacks due its porous borders, corrupt immigration officials and now doctors are the new entrants into the list.
ISIS militia group
Kenya is struggling in its fight to end terrorism and has for a long time asked for support from other countries to help in the support by sharing intelligence and collaborative reaction. Rogue doctors who are working to make Kenya a terror hub belong nowhere but jail. Foreigners in perfect health without genuine reasons buy medical reports at 2000 dollars.
Al Shabaab is known to have changed its fighting tactic from conventional to asymmetric, a hit and run method that can be best carried out when unethical practices such as these are not controlled.
Ethics and Anti-Corruption Commission, a toothless bulldog with an incredible bark, is doing its best, sleeping with its head buried deep in the sands. Scandals touching on the ‘big fish’ are certified to go scot free.
Terrorism is the greatest threat Kenya is facing at the moment, and Kenya has been accused of sitting on intelligence and in the process suffering severe terror attacks that have had the negative impact on the economy. One of the biggest foreign exchange earners, tourism, is down on its knees and struggling to pick up. Will the country sit back and watch rent seeking doctors aid the movement of questionable characters or crack the whip on the rogue professionals?
Education CS Fred Matiang’i during an assessment of Itierio boys’ dormitories that were burned down
In a single night, Itierio boys managed to reduce to ashes seven of their dormitories and then extend the destruction to public property. Reason? They were denied a chance to watch a Euro match because it was past the time allocated for entertainment.
That would make sense, since we are an intolerant country and deal with vengeance anything that does not favour us, except there are a few questions that beg to be answered.
For one, each day has seen a match being played past 10 pm ever since the Euros started. Why didn’t they go on a rampage to watch these other games that were being played past ‘lights off’? Secondly, and interestingly, you need more than just a box of matchsticks to bring SEVEN dormitories down to the ground in a single night.
We will begrudgingly accept the fact that our children experiment with drugs and therefore would be well equipped with a box of matchsticks for their bhang escapades, but it is almost impossible to raze down seven buildings in a fit of anger if it is not pre-planned. There’s little we can do apart from waiting for the investigations to be concluded.
Thirdly, and upon which this article is based, is that over 10 Kenyan schools have experienced fire incidents in the past three months plus numerous reports of student unrest. Is it a mere coincidence or there is some dark unseen forces inciting our students to turn against their institutions? If we are to go to the second school of thought, there is one fundamental question that must be asked- what do the dark forces stand to gain by having students burn down their schools? Or what message are they trying to send to the major players in the Kenyan education sector?
Let us look at one of the cancerous problems engulfing the Kenyan education system and us as a country are almost accepting and moving on- exam cheating. In 2015, cases of exam cheating rose by over 70% from the previous year and saw the Kenya National Exams Council (KNEC) disbanded. Over 5,000 students had their results cancelled and most of them have re-registered to take the exams this year.
Blame games sufficed and nobody seemed ready to accept responsibility for the scam. We were playing Ping-Pong with a generation’s future. But it would be stupid to claim that there are aggrieved exam cheats out there going around burning schools in a revenge mission. So let’s go deeper into the scam and look at the source of the problem, exam racketeers.
Remains of Iterio Dorms after burning by students
The education ministry has shown enthusiasm in curbing exam cheating and has come up with punitive measures to deal with the menace. Prayer days have been banned, no half-terms in the third term, visiting days are not allowed, and there will be no social activities for boarding schools in the third term.
While this doesn’t bother the big fish in the racket as they deal directly with the schools and teachers, it is atrocious news to the small time crooks (mostly university students) who use such forums to establish links with their targets.
The bans are bad for business. To add salt to an injury, the exam period has been shortened from six weeks to four weeks, thereby giving the little time between papers to look for leakages for the next paper and send it to the candidates.
In an ‘eye for an eye’ move, this group of people are travelling around the country inciting students to go on a rampage at the slightest provocation by their institutions. They do this during visiting days when schools open their gates, and there is little or no regulation as to who gets in.
On the eve of Butula Boys’ visiting day for this term, a guy posted in a Whatsapp group- SONU Secretariat, that he was going to incite the students to strike the prayer day ban and wanted to know if anyone else would be going. There may be no hard evidence (for now) to prove this trail of thought, but it is a trail worth investigating.
When people call themselves names such as ‘Bishop of Violence’, you must not underrate the extent of the damage they can cause.
We can only speculate on how many schools have been checked into. For now, let’s hope that Education CS Fred Matiangi’s ban on transfers will be a deterrent on any yet to be carried out an arson attack on our schools.
Director of Digital communication Mr.Dennis Itumbi
Following the New York Times article that the Statehouse fiercely criticised for painting the President in the wrong image by linking him to Mungiki network that led to the Post election massacre, Itumbi has not been left out.
The Government’s Digital Strategist has threatened to sue the international publication for naming him in the article in a bad light. In the item, Dennis was mentioned as having been part of a network that ICC prosecution accused of interfering with witnesses.
In the collapse of all the six cases, the prosecution argued their investigations and evidence collection was dealt a blow with massive witnesses’ interference.
Most witnesses recanted testimonies either from intimidation, bribery and some disappeared mysteriously while some died in unexplained circumstances, this is according to the ICC prosecution.
In his defence to New York Times, Itumbi argues he was given a clean bill of health by the ICC over witnesses’ interference, and the prosecution accused and filed for his arrest for the same offence but he was exonerated. In the onset of the circus, Itumbi was alleged to have hacked the ICC portal and gained entry into the witnesses’ database and used the obtained information to coordinate witness interferences.
President Uhuru and his Deputy Ruto were amongst the six suspects accused of orchestrating the 2007/8 Post Elections Violence that left nearly 2000 people dead and hundreds of thousands persons displaced.
In a research conducted by Kenya Insights online, we managed to retrieve some posts made by Itumbi that dates back to 2011 when he allegedly revealed identities of witnesses publicly contrary to international standards of witness protection and right to remain anonymous.
Meshack Yebei was found dead under unclear circumstances, Prosecution said he was a crucial witness
Luis Moreno Ocampo the former Prosecutor of the ICC
New York Times’ James Verini did a month’s long investigated story looking into how International Criminal Court (ICC) embodied the hope of bringing warlords and demagogues to justice. The story then goes to see how the then Prosecutor Luis Moreno-Ocampo took on the heir to Kenya’s most powerful political dynasty. The article, which has since gone viral, is causing stomach upsets amongst those severely mentioned. President Kenyatta has bashed the magazine for being inconsiderate terming the publication a falsehood and done in bad faith.
President Kenyatta from the onset has been a fierce critic of the court where he was charged alongside the famous Ocampo six for crimes against humanity. All the suspects have since been exonerated with the last defendants to escape noose being his counterpart in Jubilee government Deputy President William Ruto and radio presenter Joshua Sang.
Uhuru Kenyatta’s rise coincided with the rise of Mungiki, the group Moreno-Ocampo would later accuse him of conspiring with in the post-election violence, writes James Verini. Started as a tribal revivalist movement, Mungiki grew into a militaristic political fraternity and then into a criminal gang. Around the time Mungiki fought to take over the lucrative private bus lines that are the primary form of transport in Kenya, in the early 2000s, the gang staged a massacre in northern Nairobi that left severed heads scattered in the streets.
Uhuru Kenyatta Follows proceedings at the ICC
By then, Mungiki was being described as a “state within a state,” with up to two million members, according to reports. They swore an oath of loyalty to the Kikuyu tribe and the Mungiki leader, a charismatic, ruthless man known as Maina Njenga. According to the ICC, new recruits “were told they would be killed if they violated the oath or left the organisation.” When clashes broke out between Kikuyu and other tribes, Njenga dispatched his men to fight.
He also persuaded politicians to take the Mungiki oath. Paul Muite, a Member of Parliament at the time and now a lawyer who represents Njenga and other members of Mungiki, which is still active, told me that almost every Kikuyu politician of consequence he knew during that era took the oath. For Njenga, it was “a way of collecting” power, Muite says. According to Muite and a former lieutenant of Njenga’s with whom NY Times spoke to, one of the politicians who took the oath, before becoming president, was Kibaki.
Some Mungiki members, including Njenga, supported Kenyatta’s 2002 presidential campaign. Kenyatta denounced the group and would later tell Moreno-Ocampo in court that “I have always publicly condemned and stated that I have no association whatsoever with Mungiki.” Njenga’s former lieutenant, however, described to me a series of meetings he attended with Kenyatta and Njenga in 2002, saying that Kenyatta was friendly with Mungiki. But, he added, Kenyatta didn’t like or trust Njenga.
In the 2007 election, Kenyatta did not run, instead supporting Kibaki in his race against Raila Odinga. By the close of Election Day, two days after Christmas, the vote was too close to call. The count was delayed. The tally centre in Nairobi was mysteriously broken into. Then on Dec. 30, the government suddenly announced Kibaki had won. He was hurriedly sworn in, and a media blackout was imposed. Odinga instructed his followers to protest. By New Year’s Day, Kikuyu were being slaughtered. Mungiki began striking back in January.
Former Mungiki Leader Maina Njenga
The government did little to stop the post-election violence, but afterwards, it set up a commission of inquiry. Known as the Waki Commission, it issued a 529-page report in October 2008. The Kenya National Commission on Human Rights, an autonomous government agency, published a comparably exhaustive report.
Each was damning. Officials in Odinga’s party had planned violence months in advance, while envoys of President Kibaki met with Mungiki to plan retaliatory attacks. Security agents and the police had conspired with the gang. “There were no good guys,” a Waki commissioner, Pascal Kambale, told me. “There were only bad guys.”
Moreno-Ocampo, who monitored the violence as it was happening, travelled to Nairobi to speak with Kibaki. He encouraged Kibaki to refer Kenya to the ICC, as Congo and Uganda had made referrals. Government capacity wasn’t the problem, Moreno-Ocampo knew. Kenya was capable of trying the suspects.
Uhuru Kenyatta in one of his ICC appearances at the Hague Court
The problem was as it had been in Argentina: The government was the criminal. And not only the government. The National Commission on Human Rights report listed more than 200 suspected inciters and funders of the violence, including presidential cabinet members, legislators, businessmen, shopkeepers, farmers. In a moment of collective insanity, Kenyan society had turned on itself.
Still, Moreno-Ocampo continued to press Kenyan officials to begin prosecutions. In 2009, the Kenyan Parliament voted against a tribunal — unsurprisingly, as the Parliament itself was full of suspects — and Moreno-Ocampo requested that the ICC judges allow him to open an investigation. They did. It was the first time he invoked his power to seek charges on his authority, without a referral.
In a part, the magazine reflects back to Kenyatta senior reign, After Jomo was freed and elected president of an independent Kenya in 1964, his revolutionary impulses didn’t persist. He stocked the government and businesses with family members and fellow Kikuyu.
The Waki report didn’t name Kenyatta, but the National Commission on Human Rights report did, saying that he reportedly “attended meetings to plan for retaliatory violence by the Kikuyus” and “contributed funds.” Kenyatta was considered by many Kikuyu, including many Mungiki, to be their leader, and was understood to be the richest man in the country. If anyone had the motivation and funds to back an ethnic war, Moreno-Ocampo’s investigators reasoned, it was Kenyatta.
Maina Njenga in company of CORD lEADER rAILA oDINGA SHOWING HIS WOUNDS AFTER A FAILED ASSASSINATION ATTEMPT ON HIS LIFE THAT LEFT HIS AIDES KILLED
The court considered charging Maina Njenga, the Mungiki sect Chairman. When Njenga was questioned by Kenyan investigators, he pleaded ignorance. But to the ICC investigators, he came clean. He detailed the structure of his organisation and its role in the violence. Njenga claimed to his lawyer, Paul Muite, that he had personally administered the Mungiki oath of loyalty to Kenyatta, though whether Njenga told this to ICC investigators is unclear. Njenga was “very forthright,” Muite told NY Times, and he later agreed to testify in The Hague.
In a punchy conclusion, the writer notes having spoken to a former Mungiki high ranked leader, like many Kenyans he was talking with, says he regrets the violence but believes it was necessary. The Kikuyu, his tribe, faced a massacre, he is convinced. The last time we met, I asked if he thought Kenyatta was guilty of the ICC charges.
A Luo PEV Victim displaying his wounds to a NY Times photographer
He recounted a meeting he attended in January 2008, in the midst of the postelection violence, where Kenyatta was the chief guest and Mungiki were present. In the meeting, Kenyatta was careful never to mention violence explicitly nor the gang by name. But he collected cash donations. I asked the former lieutenant if it was possible Kenyatta did not understand violence was being planned.
Fly 540 Aviation Company yet again finds itself in the wrong spotlight following discrimination claims by a physically handicapped client. Mr Muhib Noorani, the proprietor of Rocky Driving School, is the latest victim of a worrying trend of disdain for Persons with Disabilities (PwD) by the airline. Mr Muhib says that the airline’s staff in Eldoret denied him access to the aircraft because of his physical condition.
“I booked Fly 540 as I had been told there was no other flight. I checked in at 6.35pm, but they wouldn’t let me aboard. They didn’t give any explanation for the refusal. I was asked to look for other means to get to my destination and let the other passengers behind me check in,” he narrated in an emotional testimony.
“This is the first time I’ve been made aware of my disability. I had to speak out so that other citizens in a similar condition don’t have to go through such trauma. Disability is not inability, and we didn’t choose to be this way.”
Unpleasant history
This is not the first time a complaint has been lodged against the low-cost aircraft. A few months ago, another PwD- a paediatrician at Nyeri Provincial Hospital, complained of a ‘dark-skinned, very tall and intimidating’ Fly 540 pilot who had kicked her out of the aircraft claiming that she was going to delay everyone.
Dr Agnes Mithamo said that the pilot wouldn’t even let some volunteers help her up the stairs of the plane. “The pilot told me that he had the powers to decide whether I was going to use the aircraft or not. He ordered the men who had volunteered to help me aboard to take me back to the lounge. It was humiliating.”
In 2014, Bishop Jackson Kosgei, the current chairperson of Kenya Film Classification Board and father to musician Emmy Kosgei, was forced to crawl his way out of the aircraft after the staff blatantly refused to help him disembark.
The chairperson of Kenya Disability Parliamentary Association (KEPIDA), nominated MP Isaac Mwaura, has condemned such incidences and said that they will call for sterner actions such as suspension of the airline’s license since even parliamentary summons has failed to tame the practice. “We cannot allow systemic discrimination of Kenyans with disabilities,” Mr Mwaura has warned.
A Fly 450 response to a client on Facebook stating their policies on persons with disability
Juma’s car that he’s body was recovered at Karen Police Station
The Director of Criminal Investigations Ndegwa Muhoro has recommended that there should be a public inquest into the death of prominent business person Jacob Juma. This seems to indicate that the investigations by police have hit a dead end hence a public hearing to gather more information.
Given that the death of the business person is of public interest, the inquest that will be done in public will gather questions and possible answers to unravel the mysteries behind the killing.
Juma’s body was recovered in his car around Lenana School along Ngong Road on the 6th of May. Initial police reports said the businessman’s car was blocked by a car in front before assailants riding a motorbike sprayed his car with bullets that killed him.
This theory has since been dismissed with glaring facts that the bullets impact on his body and the vehicle state couldn’t add up. According to postmortem results, Juma was killed with two bullets to his chest, and his car windscreen couldn’t support the theory of assailants shooting in his vehicle. General view from several analyses seems to endorse the theory that he was killed elsewhere and body later on planted at the scene.
The slain businessman Jacob Juma
Historically, in Kenya public inquests have been put on controversial murders, and there’s yet a positive result from the investigations that can be written home. Most have only served as grounds for innuendos, dramas, washing of dirty linen. In the case of Juma, you can anticipate seeing his love for women overshadow the course.
From Robert Ouko, Julie Ward and recently Mercy Keino, public inquests haven’t led to a positive end, closing in on murders but avenues for push and pull dramas. The police managed to capture Juma’s last movements using the Automated Number Plate Recognition cameras, and video clips from the Intelligent Surveillance cameras.
The cameras were however suspiciously off at strategic points which would’ve helped majorly in revelation. Cameras are off at Trattoria Restaurant, here there are ten cameras, Juma allegedly dropped the woman Cheryl Kitonga he was last seen with here.
Police said they had recovered AK47 rifle that was used to kill Juma. Four thugs were gunned down during the incident.
Will Juma’s public inquest be different from the rest that has been established before? The ODPP is reviewing the files from the CID and will give the decision later. He made a name for being the most vocal and powerful anti-corruption crusader something that made him create enemies in high places. Jacob was a fierce critic of the Jubilee government whom in his Twitter rants he accused of being behind his assassination plot. His close ally and CORD leader, Raila Odinga has publicly accused the state of being behind the assassination.
In his latest appointments, President Uhuru Kenyatta has revoked the appointment of Kenya Airports Authority (KAA) Chairman David Kimaiyo. In a gazette notice dated June 24, the President appointed retired Chief of Defence Forces Julius Karangi to replace the former police boss. Mr Kimaiyo has held the position since December 31, 2014.
Former legislators have also been rewarded with positions in state corporations. Former Changamwe MP Ramadhan Kajembe, who has since fallen out with ODM and Raila, has been rewarded as the new Kenya Ferry Services chair. Former Rarieda MP Raphael Tuju will now be the head of Lake Basin Development Authority a position that he takes from TNA’s Secretary General, Onyango Oloo.
Ronald Osumba, who contested the 2013 elections as the running mate of Kenya National Congress’s Peter Kenneth, has been appointed Youth Fund board chairperson.
Former NACADA Chair, John Mututho was transferred to Transport Licensing Appeals Board. Former Committee of Experts chairman Nzamba Kitonga as the chair of Council for Legal Education. Suspended Labour Cabinet secretary Kazungu Kambi appointed as the chairperson of the National Government Constituency Development Fund (NGCDF). Kambi was linked to corruption deals at the National Social Security Fund (NSSF) and the EACC recommended for him to be charged withgraft. He’s yet to clear his name.
Former Bumula MP Bifwoli Wakoli
Former Bumula MP Bifwoli Wakoli, who had earlier declared his support for Jubilee, has been named to chair the Agricultural Development Cooperation while Patrick Osero, a close ally and business partner to Deputy President William Ruto is the new Tourism Finance Corporation Board chairperson.
Patrick Osero is implicated in a land grabbing scandal of 1200 acres in Ruai meant for Nairobi County Gov’t Sewerage using a company called RENTON Co. LTD. Osero is also listed as one of the directors of Weston Hotel and at a point during the helm of Langata Primary School land grab fiasco, he was named as the ‘owner’ of the hotel. The Deputy President after vehement denials later owned up and admitted ownership of the hotel.
Appointments to state corporations as country gears for the next general elections in months, couldn’t have happened at a better time when the president and the opposition are strategizing on how to capture votes. Historically, such appointments have been used to gain political favours, rewarding friends and not awarded necessarily on merits since the appointed are meant to return hand by campaigning in favour during the elections.
Trouble has once again caught up with Kenya’s most controversial blogger. Nyakundi was arrested on Friday at Galleria Shopping Mall on Friday evening while in the company of a friend. The incident where over twelve CID officers were involved caused a major stir and standoff at the venue.
He was later transferred to CID headquarters in Kiambu for questioning before being put under custody in Muthaiga Police Station where he is still being held. While the initial reason for the arrest was unclear, Kenya Insights can now authoritatively confirm that leakage of KPMG report online and sustained campaign, serialising the report by the blogger held the bulk of arrest.
The damning dossier by accounting firm KPMG — which is now the subject of a parliamentary investigation — details a review of 23 questionable tenders awarded between September 2013 and August 2015.
The telco hired KPMG to do an in-depth audit of the two-year period following concerns about integrity and value to shareholders.
Safaricom Chief Finance Officer John Tombleson(has since been recalled by Vodafone following the allegations) and four other senior executives are named as having influenced the purchase of a Sh1.15 billion five-acre piece of land at Garden City, where the telco plans to build its headquarters.
KPMG auditors also questioned payments of Sh1.2 billion to seven firms for marketing activations that promote the Safaricom brand and its products.
Safaricom CEO Bob Collymore
The report also examines the company’s procurement of corporate promotional merchandise worth Sh201 million from Vajas Manufacturers Ltd, Chinese technology firm Huawei’s Sh1.25 billion contract to upgrade the M-Pesa platform and payments of Sh1.2 billion to media services company Scanad, which is a subsidiary of WPP Scangroup.
Doubtful deals include South Korean firm Kaon Media’s Sh161 million contract to supply set-top boxes, My 1963 commuter card project with Fibre Space (Sh15 million), purchase of network spares management from GSM Systems (Sh201 million) and a billing system from Huawei (Sh839 million).
Safaricom’s CEO had earlier tasked the CID to investigate those behind the leakage of the KPMG report. He exonerated his staff of any wrongdoing saying the report was still in its draft form and not conclusive.
Ironically, Nyakundi started serialising the report on his website days after some other blogs had already begun doing it. He then followed up with a series of sustained Twitter campaigns highlighting the scandals poked in the report. The other main outlets as Nation Media Group have also steadied their serialisation on the report. From the information available, Safaricom has reviewed their adverts contract with large outlet following the serialisation of KPMG report.
Bob Collymore and Michael Joseph have also sued the blogger for defamation and due for a court appearance on 28th, June. The Safaricom CEO sued Nyakundi for calling him corrupt and one without moral integrity, MJ sued because he was called Mr Ten per cent a reference to taking tips over any tender issued during his time at Safaricom.
However, it’s not only Safaricom who are the bloggers case but currently, National Bank and Bidco also have ongoing cases with him over posts that he made on his popular site and social media outlets. Bidco is under probe by the UNDP following claims that the company was involved in land grabbing and environment destruction in Uganda. Bidco has also been sued for tax evasion in Kenya amounting to Sh.5.7BILLION.
The blogger who has made a name out of exposing scandals in the major sectors, a course that has since gained him high profile enemies amongst them Chris Kirubi, William Kabogo, Hassan Joho amongst others.
Today Friday the 24th of June controversial blogger Cyprian Nyakundi was arrested at Galleria by 12 CID officers for unclear reasons.
The blogger has a case in court against Safaricom Limited CEO BOB COLLYMORE. According to what we know, Nyakundi was tracked using a friend’s phone and automatic car number plate detector electronic system along the way.
Blogger Cyprian Nyakundi
Nyakundi was going to Galleria Shopping Mall and at the gate while taking a parking ticket he was called by someone nearby ”Sasa Nyakundi?” and he thought it was one of his followers but to his surprise, 12 CID Officers pounced on him and arrested him.
They took his MacBook and an iPhone 6, adding to the list of his gadgets being held without clear reasons at different Police Stations.
Safaricom CEO, Bob Collymore the latest executive to sue Blogger Nyakundi for defamation.
Civic gadflies and self-styled watchdogs in Kenya who accuse local politicians and companies are getting slapped with lawsuits. Safaricom’s current and former CEOs suing blogger Cyprian Nyakundi for defamation over articles in which he said to accuse the telecommunications giant of exploiting Kenyans is nothing but a motivating factor to him.
I have known Nyakundi for years. He is an introvert who would rather tweet a girl that he likes than talk to her in person. “[As] a personal blogger, when the only readers are you and your mother, you don’t think that someday you are going to be hearing from law offices,”
Web sites and other entities do not want to be tasked with having to weigh the facts of any situation and making a judgment call.
Therefore, most will not delete content just because a party alleges a post is false.
Most websites will, however, remove content declared false by a court, even though court orders are typically against the actual posters of the content and not the websites themselves.
In short, the court ordered removal involves obtaining a judgment against the poster of defamatory content online and then presenting the court order to the sites (or, when relevant, Google) on which the malicious content is appearing.
Of course, obtaining a judicial decision involves filing an actual lawsuit with legitimate claims and pursuing the authors of the harmful content. When a defendant is known (or can be identified and later named as a defendant), the parties might settle and each sign an agreed order, which can be presented to the court to grant the requested judgment.
Blogger Cyprian Nyakundi
Be it real-life or a Blog, controversy is one of the best way to start a debate and raise some eyeballs. Especially, when you have a new blog, and you like to get mass social media attention, a perfect controversial blog post is your best friend.
It can do wonder and might take your blog to next level. But is it that easy and is it ethical to create controversy to get attention and popularity? We will look into some of these topics below, and you can add your suggestions and ideas for creating perfect controversial posts via comments.
Nyakundi has perfected the art of blogging too well to understand each and every situation he puts himself in. Which ingredient makes a simple post a controversial one ?? Controversial blog posts are the ones that are not expected to be written.
Like say, that Facebook hasn’t yet launched the “Dislike” button and if you publish a post about “Facebook launches a dislike button” which is not at all true, but then also people will rush in to see how to use it and will only get fooled.
Not just that, you can create controversy targeting any particular product or any famous personality. Writing stuff about people that no one knows, and no one even expects it to go public are referred as “Controversial Blog Posts“.
You can pick any trending debatable topic and choose one side and create a buzz with your writing.
So basically suing Nyakundi is the same same as multiplying traffic to his blog times 1000 the regular he get per day which translates to so much money regarding Google Adsense.
Maybe Bob should have just invited it for some traditional ugali at some restaurant in town, if it worked for Raila Odinga and Moses Kuria, it doesn’t hurt to behave like an ostrich and bury your head in the sand at times.
Operation Linda Nchi launched in October 2011 with Kenya setting its military boots in Somalia to combat and wipe out Al-Shabaab, a terror group which kidnapped several tourists within the Kenyan borders bringing one of the country’s top foreign exchange earner (Tourism) to its knees.
As the operation progressed, Kenya pushed Al Shabaab militants away from its borders taking over Kismayu; a Somalia town whose ports Al-Shabaab used to generate revenue to funds its operations across East Africa.
Kenya seemed to have weakened the terror group, but its celebrations were short-lived when Al Shabaab changed its style from conventional warfare to asymmetric; hit and run tactic through its cells. Al Shabaab launched several attacks within the Kenyan borders, and Westgate siege was the worst just months into Kenyatta’s administration.
The attack saw 67 people losing their lives and property worth millions destroyed. The government only blew hot air which never spared the country more attacks. The Minister of Interior then, Joseph Ole Lenku’s inability to man the docket was in broad public glare and so was the lack of coordination between the police and the military handle the rescue operation.
Ignored Intelligence
With the hot air having been blown for a few days, the nation forgot and heads were again buried in deep sands then came the Mpeketoni attack. The assailants attack the coastal town for hours setting two hotels on fire and killing dozens of innocent Kenyans.
The strategy to deal the camouflaging terror group still seems unchanged even when the enemy had set foot within our borders again and torching villages. Rumours of ignored intelligence have never missed after any attack.
Garissa University attack came days after Britain, the United States and Australia warned their citizens of visiting Garissa and Mombasa among other areas for fear of terror attacks.
The government came out strong to tell off the west on the travel advisories. “…..I have not heard British issue travel warnings against other European capitals. We want to send a strong message that they will not intimidate us with these threats” President Kenyatta said.
The Al Shabaab militants in Somalia
Foreign embassies had known that attack was imminent, but these advisories were ignored because Kenya loosely thought that Britain was hitting back because of the stalemate with the British training programme.
British foreign secretary Phillip Hammond criticised Kenya for sitting on intelligence information making it hard to review the warnings. It’s the duty of the government to protect its people and property, continuous and similar attacks claiming lives have no place but dangerous security strategy that would checkmate the enemy.
Al Shabaab has now resorted to attacking the countries security forces. The worst being the January 15 attack in Kenya’s defence camp in El Ade, Somalia. The attack that saw over a hundred soldiers killed and several captured was also blamed on ignored intelligence.
Kenya is becoming a place where things happen, and people move on. The recent attack on five police officers by Al Shabaab in El Wak, Mandera County as they escort a bus is a clear indication that the strategy to deal with Al-Shabaab is failing.
Kenya is fighting a war whose end is not known but what is ailing its counter-terrorism strategy is known. Ignorance of intelligence reports has seen even the National Intelligence Service (NIS) on the back foot, corruption, majorly in police and immigration departments and weak anti-terror strategy despite having a competent force.
Corruption
Police are one the most corrupt institutions in Kenya and some of its senior officers have been suspected of rocking the anti-terror boat from within. The military incursion whose aim was to create some buffer state to keep Somalia’s instability away from Kenya has achieved the opposite. No buffer state has been established through Jubaland bringing Somali chaos closer to home. The militant group in their propaganda videos have often reinstated that penetrating into Kenyan borders are the easiest since the poorly paid security officers quickly take up bribes, this allows them to roam freely.
In the case of Mpeketoni, the killers were said to have penetrated through from Somalia passing untouched despite the numerous police blockages, reports of bribery to facilitate the movement was reported. Ignoring intelligence is the greatest failure that is costing the country. Evidently, theres a poor coorporation between the Nation Intelligence Service and law enforcement officers or pure broadcast of incompetence.
Talking openly and critising the loopholes in the security system is quickly silenced with muzzling arrest of those who are brave enough to speak up. For how long as a country will we be silent while the problems we’re facing can be prevented by pushing for the security organs to tighten the noose and be more competent? Will this article be the ignition of an arrest warrant on the writer? All said, Kenya need to be more secure, the law enforcers need not to perish but the enemies.
National Security Advisory Council had in a report on the cancellation of CORD’s scheduled Madaraka Day rally in Uhuru Park, alleged that the opposition was working with two neighbouring countries in a bid to stage a coup to oust the Jubilee government from power.
Emerging details points at a possibility that the Council relied on a statement that made by a University of Nairobi student, Wyclef Ouma Ochieng. On February 1st, Ouma reported to Langata DCI that Nairobi’s ODM Chairman together with Raila’s former aide, Caroli Omondi had recruited him to be trained as a militia in South Sudan.
Giving more details, Ouma revealed of a plot that Dagorreti’s MP Simba Arati, George Aladwa and Caroli Omondi were doing massive recruitment of youths especially from Universities for training in South Sudan. The young people, he says are to be trained in South Sudan with Riek Macha’s forces to form a lethal militia that will stage a coup to overthrow and install Raila as the president after 2017 elections.
Before Senior Magistrate Joyce Oluoch, Ouma, charged with giving false information to the police, implied that the ODM brigades were conspiring with Riek Machar, who has a rebellious history forcing a joint government with Salva Kiir, to being in a joint mission with ODM to overthrow the government.
The magistrate ordered for Ouma be subjected to a psychiatric checkup at Kenyatta National Hospital where he was found to be of sound mind.
Wyclif Ouma appears in a court charged with giving police false information.
The mentioned leaders, Aladwa, Caroli and Simba Arati, have since been summoned to appear before the DCI to record a statement on the allegations. They will be on Tuesday morning at eight record their statements at the DCI headquarters in Kiambu.
Summons are coming only days after Aladwa and Simba Arati led the charged CORD’s supporters in celebrating the release of their MPs charged for Inciting. The two gave a fierce address outside the Milimani Courts on Friday.
Elsewhere, the security council also pointed fingers at Odinga’s ally, Tanzania’s president, Magufuli as the other party that is working together with ODM to overthrow jubilee. These claims caused the diplomatic uproar that would later see, Tanzania envoy to Kenya embark on talks with the Statehouse. Details on his involvement still scanty. The Security Council promised a detailed report on the claims of the coup and are yet to release.
