One simply can't help but to marvel at Kenyan politicians. Their hard-wired line of response, maybe according to government issued manual 'Government Replies for Dummies', to any issue is 'deny first, ponder over the allegation, if it's the whole truth then claim that it is an attempt by your political enemies to finish you politically. If they persist, state that your tribe is being attacked, and that the tribe will fight by all means. And the options go on till somewhere down the line, the 'manual' advices the concerned to concede there is a problem but state that investigations are in progress to bring the culprits to book, and that once caught they will face the full force of the law. And then cross your fingers praying that everything will go away.
scene 1, act 1;
Minister in charge of Security-''No we are not habouring drugs barons in.........'
.......
scene 1, act 2;
Minister in charge of Security-' No there are no Kenyan mercenaries in Lybia......'
.......
If this honourable professor does not know what is happening within Kenyan borders, how credible is he when commenting on happenings in a distant country? Can he vouch for all Kenyans who reside in foreign countries as far as their innocence is concerned?
Thursday, February 24, 2011
Wednesday, February 23, 2011
The Way Forward...
So President Kibaki has beat a retreat as far as his nominations to the four high offices are concerned. That is rightful and fitting. Now all he needs to do to regain his momentum for a final legacy before he leaves office is to shed his already soiled exoskeleton and show off his 'clean' inner self.
As long as his actions are deemed to be fueled and guided by the 'unholy trinity' of the 'KKK' alliance, he is misguided as far as the majority of right thinking Kenyans are concerned and he will never gain their trust and confidence. This triad is largely seen as mischievous, power-hungry, scheming, and only interested in halting varying legal proceedings against them as individuals-be they corruption, abuse of office on the home front or the ICC driven charges of crimes against humanity.
Conventional wisdom dictates that one is innocent until proven guilty, but when one actively and persistently postpones or frustrates the efforts to be proven innocent, or to be tried, then doubts are cast as to their innocence and what is implied is a self proclamation of a guilty verdict. Fraternise too much time with the guilty and their guilt rubs on you.
President Kibaki, being both a de-facto and de-jure, national unifying figure, and one who once promised zero tolerance of corruption in his administration, should try and spend his administration's twilight moments forging unity in all the ethnic communities and calling out corruption from the grand coalition he is fostering, one of the best ways to go about these tasks is to do just what he did by reneging his infamous nominations and being seen to be doing this in consultation with the PM, not his handlers, apologists and sycophants.
History will judge him very severely despite all the gains and strides he has afforded the ‘mwananchi wa kawaida’, democracy and economic infrastructure have truly thrived under him in scales unforeseen in a long time. History dictates that he pins these up the Notice Board and rightfully claim his task in our national progress.
As long as his actions are deemed to be fueled and guided by the 'unholy trinity' of the 'KKK' alliance, he is misguided as far as the majority of right thinking Kenyans are concerned and he will never gain their trust and confidence. This triad is largely seen as mischievous, power-hungry, scheming, and only interested in halting varying legal proceedings against them as individuals-be they corruption, abuse of office on the home front or the ICC driven charges of crimes against humanity.
Conventional wisdom dictates that one is innocent until proven guilty, but when one actively and persistently postpones or frustrates the efforts to be proven innocent, or to be tried, then doubts are cast as to their innocence and what is implied is a self proclamation of a guilty verdict. Fraternise too much time with the guilty and their guilt rubs on you.
President Kibaki, being both a de-facto and de-jure, national unifying figure, and one who once promised zero tolerance of corruption in his administration, should try and spend his administration's twilight moments forging unity in all the ethnic communities and calling out corruption from the grand coalition he is fostering, one of the best ways to go about these tasks is to do just what he did by reneging his infamous nominations and being seen to be doing this in consultation with the PM, not his handlers, apologists and sycophants.
History will judge him very severely despite all the gains and strides he has afforded the ‘mwananchi wa kawaida’, democracy and economic infrastructure have truly thrived under him in scales unforeseen in a long time. History dictates that he pins these up the Notice Board and rightfully claim his task in our national progress.
Saturday, February 19, 2011
To Hague or not to Hague....That's the Question.
"In my actions as your President, I have at all times acted in accordance with the Constitution and the Laws of Kenya.... However, our primary duty is to ensure we are guided by the Constitution and ordinary law as enacted so as to ensure the smooth and predictable running of our country."-President Kibaki.
This is the crux of President Kibaki's mitigation in his displeasure with the ruling by the Speaker of the National Assembly. He goes on to say that only the judiciary could interpret the Constitution. Already, one learned judge has cast doubts on the nomination process and ruled that there's a case to be heard on monday and that it is illegal for any individual or any state organ to approve any of the nominated individuals for now.
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It is not enough to simply follow the dictates of the constitution. Justice ought to be seen to be done. The back drop against which these nominations were carried out blurred the clear intentions the President had-if at all he had any, and it is this 'blot' in the picture that the unheard voice-(which seems to be wailing in the distant background but appropriately propagated by the general opposition to the nominations) is shouting about.
Conventional opinion is that the President needed some facts to present to the AU in Addis to prove that Kenya was ready to tackle its own legal problems as far as trying indigenous 'criminals against humanity' is concerned. The mistake he made, prior to the nominations, he had publicly paraded himself without batting an eyelid with the very people suspected of the said crimes and public statements, by two of the principle six, made in his presence were attributed to be his guiding principle when he pored over the nominations.
No one could therefore not jump into the conclusion that the fate of the 'Ocampo Six' was the driving force behind the hurriedly done 'consultations'- if at all they happened, and me believe they did not. The implication he gave the exercise was that machinery was in place to investigate, arrest, try and sentence the suspects of the 2008 PEV . Had he been wiser, he would have avoided the fraternising he so gleefully enjoyed with the likes of Ruto and Uhuru until after the nominations. One of those nominated, the DPP nominee, was/is still representing Ruto in another criminal proceeding! The President completely forgot that 'judges,- or his nominees, like Caesar's wife, should be above suspicion!'
How could he provide the Ocampo Six's wishes; their own prosecutor and their own judge? Which leads me to ponder as I have in the past in this forum, 'just where does the government stand in the 'Ocampo Six vs the victims of PEV'? Does the government really have any 'locus standi' in these proceedings? If yes, then it could fit in as a co-defendant- because there was a 'de facto' government when all these atrocities were carried out. Therefore the government's hand should not be seen to interfere with what the ICC deemed as crimes against humanity. The government abdicated its role when it treated the atrocities as a non-issue until Luis Moreno Ocampo rode into town.
So, Mr President, get your act together and huddle with your Prime Minister and both of you get us a team- clean and spotless, to investigate and prosecute the rest of the PEV suspects. Just let the ICC handle 'the principle six'.
This is the crux of President Kibaki's mitigation in his displeasure with the ruling by the Speaker of the National Assembly. He goes on to say that only the judiciary could interpret the Constitution. Already, one learned judge has cast doubts on the nomination process and ruled that there's a case to be heard on monday and that it is illegal for any individual or any state organ to approve any of the nominated individuals for now.
-------
It is not enough to simply follow the dictates of the constitution. Justice ought to be seen to be done. The back drop against which these nominations were carried out blurred the clear intentions the President had-if at all he had any, and it is this 'blot' in the picture that the unheard voice-(which seems to be wailing in the distant background but appropriately propagated by the general opposition to the nominations) is shouting about.
Conventional opinion is that the President needed some facts to present to the AU in Addis to prove that Kenya was ready to tackle its own legal problems as far as trying indigenous 'criminals against humanity' is concerned. The mistake he made, prior to the nominations, he had publicly paraded himself without batting an eyelid with the very people suspected of the said crimes and public statements, by two of the principle six, made in his presence were attributed to be his guiding principle when he pored over the nominations.
No one could therefore not jump into the conclusion that the fate of the 'Ocampo Six' was the driving force behind the hurriedly done 'consultations'- if at all they happened, and me believe they did not. The implication he gave the exercise was that machinery was in place to investigate, arrest, try and sentence the suspects of the 2008 PEV . Had he been wiser, he would have avoided the fraternising he so gleefully enjoyed with the likes of Ruto and Uhuru until after the nominations. One of those nominated, the DPP nominee, was/is still representing Ruto in another criminal proceeding! The President completely forgot that 'judges,- or his nominees, like Caesar's wife, should be above suspicion!'
How could he provide the Ocampo Six's wishes; their own prosecutor and their own judge? Which leads me to ponder as I have in the past in this forum, 'just where does the government stand in the 'Ocampo Six vs the victims of PEV'? Does the government really have any 'locus standi' in these proceedings? If yes, then it could fit in as a co-defendant- because there was a 'de facto' government when all these atrocities were carried out. Therefore the government's hand should not be seen to interfere with what the ICC deemed as crimes against humanity. The government abdicated its role when it treated the atrocities as a non-issue until Luis Moreno Ocampo rode into town.
So, Mr President, get your act together and huddle with your Prime Minister and both of you get us a team- clean and spotless, to investigate and prosecute the rest of the PEV suspects. Just let the ICC handle 'the principle six'.
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