Good people,
Security in general failed Kenya which is the reason for Extra-judicial killings that are taking place in all corners of Kenya.
Security was No. 1 priority in the Reform Accord Agenda that was enacted into policy in the New Constitution, requiring complete overhaul. This did not take place, now those Militia groups of Mungiki and Al-shabaab who were infused into the Police Force during 2007/8 things fall apart are suspected to have been married with the Uganda Army of Museveni and now extended to Boko Haram militia men.
With failed rehabilitation to revolutionalize the Police force, peoples security with intelligence gathering and sharing will continue to be a failed case-scenario no matter what happen. The terror group will move to other financing machinery like poaching when Refugee funds where they get assistance from are frozen.
KWS (Kenya Wild Life Services) will face a worse situation against well armed terrorists and Tourists will be a flop. Terrorists are now engaging in full time poaching, faced with diminished funds in Somalia. Sustained Trading industries e.g. the Kenya Sugar Transportation, Fish with Agricultural produce with Public Natural Minerals will be stolen en-route and ships will be pirated on Board. Peoples cattle's like the Domestic Cows will be taken from homesteads by force which is already happening where these Militia thugs are connected with the Chief of the local area to steal peoples animals and the Kenya Meat Commission are happy to pack those animal meat for Overseas trading. This type of business is not in anyway sustaining and it is what Museveni has perfected in. Remember is father was a cattle hurder and now with his international connection, he ventured further in search for international market.
These irregular trading are tied to smuggling cartels, comprising terrorists in Somalia etc., and why Museveni demands to have both Port of Kismayu with the Port of Mombasa, after taking Migingo…….Connect the dots……..
Lack of lean public servicemen is crucial and it is why, revolutionizing the police force is important.
Although, President Uhuru Kenyatta has announced that a commission of inquiry will be formed to address the security lapses that could have led to the terror; this is not the end game of terror in Kenya. Discipline must start from Leadership and first, he must start with revamping and overhauling the police force and sacking people like Kimemia out and completely from the Government public service. To abstain and distance Uhuru from security failure will be giving him wrong signal, because, he knew where the problem of insecurity was, he aught to have tackled it instantly to overhaul the police force immediately day one he got into power, unless he is incompetent or is in compliance why he did not do that .......... but all in all, he has opened a pandora box why he did not do this.................Most likely that explains why Museveni kept him tight on not complying with ICC, who know ???
People's Government must be able to function to deliver and produce good results, but in this case, Uhuru cannot claim to be rendering good services to the public with insecurity all around biting hard..........more especially with Al-shabaab doing this type of damage sharing with rotten system right inside the Government leadership and the police force.
This is why, even that the NIS got warning report in time, it was still helpless to plan against the attack and this will remain a pain of failed leadership for many more years to come.
The rot must be removed from inside for the Government system to function the way it should.
Judy Miriga
Diaspora Spokesperson
Executive Director
Confederation Council Foundation for Africa Inc.,
USA
http://socioeconomicforum50.blogspot.com
Diaspora Spokesperson
Executive Director
Confederation Council Foundation for Africa Inc.,
USA
http://socioeconomicforum50.blogspot.com
MO, Ninajaribu lakini siwezi vumilia..........niwie radhi tafadhali...........
!!!
!!!CCTV shows Westgate attackers were in no hurry
Two of the terrorists are seen in this CCTV footage walking around in Nakumatt Supermaket. CFM.
NAIROBI, Kenya Oct 5 – Attackers of the Westgate Shopping Mall are seen walking fearlessly with no sense of panic after executing 67 people, in the worst terror attack to have occurred in the country since the 1998 US embassy bombing in Nairobi.
Four attackers, wielding automatic rifles, with ammunition bags strapped on their backs were captured by CCTV cameras, as they walked up and down in the expansive mall while conversing and laughing about while gesturing at one another. One can be seen kicking a mini computer on a teller in the Nakumatt Supermaket.
Four attackers, wielding automatic rifles, with ammunition bags strapped on their backs were captured by CCTV cameras, as they walked up and down in the expansive mall while conversing and laughing about while gesturing at one another. One can be seen kicking a mini computer on a teller in the Nakumatt Supermaket.
Security forces have been able to profile the attackers Captured by the CCTV cameras, and identified them as notorious terror suspects who were on their wanted persons list.
One of them is Abu Baraal Al Sudani, a Somali extremist with links to Al Qaeda, who is known to be a sharp shooter.
In the CCTV, Al Sudani is clearly seen in a Khaki cream trouser, a dark blue or black jacket, white sports shoes and an ammunition bag around his waist.
Another attacker seen in the CCTV in Omar Nabhan who is thought to have been born and brought up in Mombasa before moving out to Somalia for training.
On the day of the attack, the man believed to be Nabhan who was also carrying a rifle was wore a sky blue shirt and what appears to be brown pair of trousers with a head scarf.
The third attacker identified by security forces so far is a man thought to be Khatab Al Khane who was initially based in Mogadishu.
He is described by police as an extremist who has substantial knowledge of using explosives and all types of rifles. The CCTV footage released to the media is carefully edited to extract unsuitable images, including the real action when the attackers were shooting and tossing grenades at shoppers in the mall.
Inspector General of Police David Kimaiyo says they have since established that the number of attackers who took part in the October 21 siege were between four to six and not ten to fifteen as earlier reported by investigators.
"From what we have now that is coming out of the investigation, the number of attackers was between four to six," police Chief David Kimaiyo told Kenyan television station KTN.
"None of them managed to escape from the building after the attack," he said, implying that they were killed in the confrontation.
During the four-day siege authorities had said that between 10 and 15 gunmen were involved, and later claimed to have killed five of them. 67 civilians and six security forces were also killed in the confrontation with the attackers.
Witnesses in the mall described how the fighters stormed the complex midday on that Saturday when it was crowded with shoppers, firing from the hip and hurling grenades at shoppers and staff.
CCTV camera footage from one part of the mall showed only four young men ambling around with AK-47 rifles in hand.
Kimaiyo also confirmed that wanted British "White Widow" Samantha Lewthwaite — reported to have been one of the attackers — was not involved.
"On Samantha we have also established that she was not part of the attackers in the building. There was no woman."
President Uhuru Kenyatta has announced plans to establish a commission of inquiry to probe the attack.
COMMENTS:
To me it seems strange they could walk around just like that.... The whole story is smelly. I don't thing we will ever hear the real story.
Duncan Muchina
I did not write Kenyan Somalis, because I need to be clear that there are some people who exist on this planet were not Citizens of somalia before the dual nationality clause. There is another facet. They are Kenyans, and there are Somalis. You can go farther, but I do not say Kenyan Kikuyu, Kenyan Maasai, kenyan Bantu, Kenyan European... Etc. You know this because when you are a diplomat from Kenya or have seen/participated in the olympics, you carry the flag of ...Kenya as a Kenyan. To go deeper, means that that I need to balance everything in order to be considerate of every nuance, and I am not writing a thesis or a book.
-------------------------------------------------------
Saturday, October 5, 2013
Security chiefs intensify blame game as probe into attack starts
KDF soldiers entering Westgate mall on September 21, 2013 after terrorists attacked Westgate mall. Photo/JEFF ANGOTE
In Summary
- Sunday Nation has established that the rivalry escalated when KDF reduced internal security units to doing peripheral duties at Westgate
- Technically, the Constitution mandates Inspector-General David Kimaiyo to be in charge of the operation. However, when KDF took over, he was bypassed and all were reporting to the Department of Defence
By ANDREW TEYIEMore by this Author
Rivalry within top security agencies has intensified ahead of the naming of a commission of inquiry to investigate security lapses that may have resulted in the Westgate Shopping Mall terrorist attack three weeks ago.
Top government sources on Saturday told the Sunday Nation that the inquiry is expected to point out who failed Kenyans between the Kenya Defence Forces (KDF), National Intelligence Service and the Kenya Police Service, since the three agencies seem to trade blame for being negligent in their duties to protect Kenyans.
The anxiety within the security agencies also comes ahead of investigations into the matter by a joint parliamentary team, scheduled to start Monday.
The joint team is headed by Defence and Foreign Relations Committee chairman Ndung'u Gethenji and his Administration and National Security counterpart Asman Kamama. The MPs have promised to give a report within 30 days.
Sunday Nation has established that the rivalry escalated when KDF reduced internal security units to doing peripheral duties at Westgate.
At one time, a KDF commander ordered some senior police officers, who were not in uniform, to leave the scene. But one of the police bosses intervened and they resisted the move.
The rivalry started on Saturday, September 21, when a commander of the GSU's Recce squad was killed by friendly fire.
KDF took over from Recce unit in a changeover that is thought to have allowed the terrorists, who were on the retreat in the mall, to gain ground.
Technically, the Constitution mandates Inspector-General David Kimaiyo to be in charge of the operation. However, when KDF took over, he was bypassed and all were reporting to the Department of Defence — an issue that came out explicitly during press conferences held between Interior Minister Joseph Lenku, Mr Kimaiyo and KDF chief Julius Karangi.
A security Consultant with Executive Protection Services, Mr George Musamali, yesterday said there was a breakdown of command structure at Westgate, which has disgruntled respective security agencies.
Mr Musamali argued that the government needs to come up with a paper detailing how KDF can work with the police in future operations to avoid inter-agency rivalry.
"If we continue like this, we will have a crisis in the event that we have another attack. As it is now, no one wants to take responsibility for anything because the change of guard from Recce unit to KDF created a vacuum, which terrorists took advantage of," he said.
He maintained that the Westgate attack was supposed to be handled by police and not KDF.
"The Kenya Police Service has all kinds of officers. GSU, Recce unit, Administration Police among others. This was purely a police matter and not for KDF. That is where the rivalry starts and ends," he said.
However, the inter-agency rivalry happens all over the world, according to the consultant. He wondered why the joint Parliamentary investigation team wants to release its report after 30 days.
"They know that Kenyans have short memories. The heat on who owns the failure would have reduced," he says.
On Saturday, Mr Kamama and Mr Gethenji declined to reveal the security chief they are scheduled to grill on Monday.
CHARM OFFENSIVE
Following a week of bad publicity after their personnel were accused of looting shops at Westgate, KDF on Friday began a charm offensive to win back public trust.
The job was handed to Major Emmanuel Chirchir, one of the force's spokesmen, who took to Twitter to announce that they helped "repatriate" Sh300 million from banks, forex bureaus and the casino at the mall.
Major Chirchir declared that KDF knows its enemies, who "have decided to use propaganda to undermine our public goodwill".
KDF has suggested that their internal security counterparts have been responsible for the now widely held view that the soldiers were involved in the looting of shops in the mall when they kicked everyone out.
Major Chirchir has argued that no shops were looted and demanded a list of the shops involved and their owners.
"It would also be good to list shops that were vandalised out of the over 80 stores. So far, Bata shop has talked of its shop being intact. KDF did a fantastic job, we know our enemies who have decided to use propaganda to undermine our public good will", he said.
The issue is complicated by the fact that police have declared that anyone who looted shops at the Mall will be prosecuted.
They are keen on taking to court even the KDF personnel alleged to have been seen on CCTV footage looting shops.
"Listen to me very well. We have opened a file for anyone who lost property that was not destroyed by fire to record a statement. If we establish that the shops were looted, we will look at the footage and charge those responsible for this criminality," said Nairobi Criminal Investigation Department commander Nicholas Kamwende on phone.
If they are to go after KDF's soldiers and officers, they will need the help of the military police, who ensure law and order in the defence forces, to hand over the suspected rogue personnel to the civilian justice system.
In the event of criminality, KDF initiates its internal system, which could either be a disciplinary committee or a court martial before handing over any rogue members to the civilian justice system.
According to the officers in the know, the battles over alleged looting at Westgate are symptoms of a bigger turf war to win over the hearts and minds of the Commander-in-Chief, President Uhuru Kenyatta.
Reported by ANDREW TEYIE and JOHN NGIRACHU.
---------------------------------------------------
Friday, October 4, 2013
The military lost the plot in Westgate siege, says retired general
Lieutenant-General (rtd) Humphrey Njoroge. For a career soldier who spent a great deal of his time in service, what happened on the unforgettable noonday of Saturday, September 21, when Al-Shabaab attackers stormed a shopping mall in Nairobi, was an unfortunate display of planning and execution lapses by security forces that almost turned tragi-comic.
In Summary
- The first hard question: What was the chain of command during all these change-overs? In a military operation, when you pin down an enemy, you do not break the fire-fight, says Lt-Gen Njoroge.
By ROY GACHUHIMore by this Author
Lieutenant-General (rtd) Humphrey Njoroge, once Commandant of Kenya's National Defence College, is a worried man.
For a career soldier who spent a great deal of his time in service, what happened on the unforgettable noonday of Saturday, September 21, when Al-Shabaab attackers stormed a shopping mall in Nairobi, was an unfortunate display of planning and execution lapses by security forces that almost turned tragi-comic.
The terrorists' objective was to seize Westgate Shopping Mall, and they did it, he says, by employing the age-old tactic of surprise.
Once this happened, a succession of lapses ensued. Those who arrived first were police on patrol, who thought they were dealing with an armed robbery.
When the magnitude of the problem dawned on them, reinforcements were brought in the form of the General Service Unit's Recce Company, the para-military police's most elite squad.
It is unclear how smooth the change-over from the patrol police to the GSU was, but even the Recce Company would not finish the job and was relieved by the Kenya Defence Forces.
The first hard question: What was the chain of command during all these change-overs? In a military operation, when you pin down an enemy, you do not break the fire-fight, says Lt-Gen Njoroge. You must continually reinforce it no matter what else you do until you completely subdue the enemy. If you break it, you give your enemy a chance to recover.
"This kind of thing requires a rehearsal," he says. "It won't happen as if by accident. Training in peace-time is done so that in war you react automatically. There is no time or space to argue about 'how do we pull out' or whatever. If this doesn't happen, that is not a military operation as far as I am concerned."
But the biggest lapse of the operation, for which the country could yet pay another bloody price in future, was the handling of people coming out of the building. Even Kenyans not schooled in security matters were aghast at testimonies of terrified survivors, lamenting how they pointed out attackers who had changed clothes to police and were now mingling with them — only for the officers to order them: "Get out! Get out!"
It sounded incredible, but that is actually what happened, which begs the question: Did some of the security personnel know exactly what they were doing there?
The real possibility of catching a terrorist alive should have made them drop everything else. The horrific reality is that we now have terrorists among us, probably planning another atrocity.
"The military in peace-time is always training," says Lt-Gen Njoroge. "We simulate a multiplicity of scenarios... I will be surprised if they did not train in a basement area, on a building with three storeys or more where there are civilians. And, of course, if they did, they certainly should have known how to handle people coming out of the building.
"Quite simply, those people should not have been allowed to go home just like that. In any military operation where you have prisoners, there are procedures to release them. You take them to a safe area, you separate officers and civilians, and then you do a thorough, unhurried screening.
"Quite obviously, the biggest failure at Westgate was not securing all people emerging from the building, including those who were taken to hospitals. They all had a story of interest to security personnel. Everybody at Westgate — if not all of Nairobi — should have been regarded as a suspect. All exits and entrances to the city, all airports and border points should have been sealed for as long it was needed to screen people."
A recent example of this kind of ruthless police efficiency was the aftermath of the bombing that took place at the end of the Boston City Marathon in the US. Immediately after the explosions, the entire city was put on a virtual lockdown, and police arrested suspects who were far from the scene of crime.
"To do this kind of thing," says the retired officer, "you must have drills during peace-time. Regrettably, some people committed mass murder here and then ran away with the survivors, past security personnel."
He points out that the National Security Intelligence Service as presently constituted legally does not have arresting powers.
Unlike other intelligence services, such as Israel's Mossad, Russia's KGB or America's CIA, which are mandated to act on the intelligence they gather, Kenya's spying body can only pass on that information to another authority. Whether that authority chooses to act on it or not is beyond the NSIS.
As far as he is concerned, this is an anomaly that must be corrected as soon as possible, for it is fodder for a frustrating blame game. The NSIS, therefore, should have arresting powers.
This, though, would require a great shift in the psyche of Kenyans, more so those old enough to remember the Kanu era.
The NSIS, in those days called the Special Branch, was the most notorious security arm of the government in making dissidents disappear — to their graves or to exile. Mindful of that, framers of Kenya's current Constitution went out of their way to make the NSIS as unthreatening as they possibly could.
But, in light of Westgate, it may become necessary to make a U-turn.
Lt-Gen Njoroge, an alumnus of Army War College in the US, among, other institutions, was a long-standing military theorist and trainer in the KDF. His career stretched from 1969 to 2004, most of it as a trainer, save for a few command postings.
He taught weapons and tactics to lower-cadre soldiers, operational art to middle-level officers and strategy and policy to colonels and generals. In 1981, he penned a detailed paper on urban warfare while at the Defence Staff College, and reading it today must make any Westgate witness wince.
In the paper, he strongly advocated joint training of the Army and the Police since in situations such as Westgate, they would be required to work together. It still does not happen, and this is thought to have resulted in a friendly fire incident during the siege.
"At the moment," he wrote in 1981, "there is no joint training that is carried out between the GSU and the Army in dealing with urban violence, and since we shall come to aid them in case of failure, we must train together for the sake of command and control. This will make us know their capabilities and limitations. The Joint Headquarters would also practise the aspect of command control, and I feel this aspect is very necessary.
"The Army must also be trained to be able to live and fight under urban conditions to avoid undue harassment of children, women and the aged and the looting, which comes about when an inexperienced Army is exposed to these things."
The paper delves into the concept of Fighting in Built up Areas — known as FIBUA in military jargon — and describes the scenarios as the most complex and most challenging any soldier could face.
Every room and every corner, every corridor and stairway, is a front. These fronts keep changing because your enemy keeps moving; one moment the front is in front of you, the next moment it is behind. The streets outside are fronts as well. All this requires intelligence gathering, training and equipment altogether different from standard military training, where the front is manned by another army.
Illusions are the truths
Writing two years after September 11, Nancy Gibbs, the noted TIME Magazine journalist, said: "Illusions are the truths we live by until we know better.
Americans certainly know what it feels like to watch them explode: this week, two years ago, the US lost for good the sunny sense that the world is safe, that the oceans protect it, that there are rules even among the hateful against mass slaughter of the innocent."
Westgate, on September 21, is Kenya's version of the destruction of America's symbols of economic might and military power.
And our illusions that those bleeping metal detectors and mirrors under our cars operated by receptionists in uniform offer us security must be replaced by a new truth — that they are deterrents to just the most amateur of thugs amongst us.
Given the current status of our security, a determined terrorist will simply laugh them off and proceed to unleash mayhem on innocents.
Lt-Gen Njoroge is certain that the terrorists who authored the carnage at Westgate had been stationed in the building for quite a while, and that the ones who were seen coming in were just the triggers. It is impossible, he says, to hold the fire of the police, the GSU and the Army for four days with the handful of weapons that they were seen getting into the building with.
You needed a truck to carry that amount of weaponry, he says, and high grade explosives are carried in parts and then assembled on site. Somewhere inside the mall was the assembly point.
This took days or even months of planning and work. That it all went undetected represents a great indictment on the country's security authorities.
As a result, Lt-Gen Njoroge worries deeply about two things regarding terrorism in Kenya. One is corruption, the other idle and highly trained former soldiers and policemen.
Corruption is at the heart of every Kenyan failure, and in this case it may emerge that the source was at the Immigration Department.
To resolve these, he urges rearmament of Kenya's moral fabric, and re-engagement of retired military and police officers.
Extradition case against Kenyan activist kicks off Monday 
The former journalist is wanted in The Hague for witness tampering charges. CFM.
NAIROBI, Kenya, Oct 6 – The government will on Monday commence formal extradition proceedings against activist Walter Barasa who is wanted in The Hague for allegedly trying to interfere with witnesses testifying in the ICC trial against Deputy President William Ruto.
A source at the Interior and National Coordination ministry has told Capital FM News that extradition proceedings documents drafted by Attorney General Githu Muigai are ready to table at a magistrate's court on Monday morning.
A source at the Interior and National Coordination ministry has told Capital FM News that extradition proceedings documents drafted by Attorney General Githu Muigai are ready to table at a magistrate's court on Monday morning.
"The AG's office has been working closely with the Director of Public Prosecutions and the matter is ready to go to court now because that is the legal process required in this matter," a government official said, speaking on condition of anonymity not to compromise his position.
As per the provisions of Kenyan laws set out under the International Crimes Act 2010, the government is required to submit international warrants to the Magistrates court which makes a determination after examining the extradition documents and hearing from the accused.
"These procedures require the minister in charge of the Interior upon receipt of the formal warrant of arrest to present it to the Judiciary for enforcement," Attorney General Githu Muigai said on Wednesday after receiving the warrant for Barasa's arrest.
The warrant was issued in August but remained sealed until Wednesday last week when it was made public.
ICC Prosecutor Fatou Bensouda last week said she expects authorities in Kenya to urgently arrest and send Barasa to The Hague to face relevant charges where he is accused of trying to influence three witnesses with up to Sh1.5 million.
"We expect the Kenyan government to arrest and surrender Barasa to ICC without delay. I believe that executing this warrant to Kenya is an opportunity to demonstrate its co-operation which they say they have given to the ICC. It is an opportune moment for them to arrest Barasa and surrender him to the court," the prosecutor said at a press conference in The Hague.
The warrant was issued on August 2 by Judge Cuno Tarfusser who said the OTP had provided sufficient evidence on the matter.
"Allegedly, he has been and is still acting in furtherance of a criminal scheme devised by a circle of officials within the Kenyan administration."
Barasa has however, denied the accusations that he attempted to bribe three witnesses only identified as P0536, P0336 and P0256 and has in turn accused the OTP of victimising him for his refusal to testify against the Deputy President.
"That man (an ICC investigator) was telling me to admit that I am being used by Ruto to get to witnesses but I told him that I have never even met the Deputy President. So I told him to go and issue that warrant of arrest," Barasa told Capital FM News.
Barasa has already instructed British-born lawyer Nick Kaufman to represent him on the matter.
---------------------------------------------------------------
ICC wants Kenyan arrested over witness 'bribery'
Among the witnesses who were allegedly offered bribes is P0536 – who is the first to testify against Ruto and his co accused Joshua arap Sang/FILE
NAIROBI, Kenya, Oct 2 – The International Criminal Court (ICC) has issued a warrant for the arrest of activist Walter Osapiri Barasa, accusing him of bribing Prosecution witnesses with between Sh1mn and Sh1.5mn for them to withdraw their evidence in the case against Deputy President William Ruto.
Among the witnesses who were allegedly offered bribes is P0536 – who is the first to testify against Ruto and his co accused Joshua arap Sang.
Among the witnesses who were allegedly offered bribes is P0536 – who is the first to testify against Ruto and his co accused Joshua arap Sang.
A document from the ICC shows that she was offered Sh1.4 million to recant her evidence while another witness only identified as P0336 was offered between Sh1 million and Sh1.5 million to pull out.
The 41-year old former journalist is also accused of organising a meeting where another witness, only identified as P0256, could be bribed in order to withdraw her evidence.
Judge Cuno Tarfusser issued the warrant against Barasa on August 2 but it was unsealed on Wednesday. The court wants him arrested to ensure that he does not obstruct justice any further.
"Walter Barasa is criminally responsible as a direct perpetrator for the crime of corruptly influencing or, alternatively, attempting to corruptly influence witnesses by offering to pay them to withdraw as ICC Prosecution witnesses in the context of the Kenyan cases before the ICC," said the judge.
Barasa is accused of committing the crimes on diverse dates between May 20 and July 21 this year but he has vehemently denied the accusations saying that an official from the court has been threatening him.
Speaking to Capital FM News, he said that he was not afraid of being arrested because he had nothing to hide.
"That man was telling me to accept that I am being used by Ruto to get to witnesses but I told him that I have never even met the Deputy President. So I told him to go and issue that warrant of arrest but I'm on my way to Nairobi (from Eldoret) to come and address a press conference," he said.
"I have not committed any crime and I did not play any role in the post election violence so I will not hide myself. I am coming to Nairobi."
The judge said that the Prosecution had provided sufficient evidence to show that Barasa corruptly influenced Prosecution witnesses and has been working in cahoots with other officials within the Kenyan administration.
Barasa, who is also an activist in Eldoret, becomes the first suspect to be charged by the court with an offence against the administration of justice.
He faces three counts – two accusing him of corruptly influencing a witness while the third accuses him of attempting to corruptly influence a witness.
The Office of the Prosecutor has time and again expressed concern that its witnesses were being threatened and coerced to withdraw their accounts in the Kenyan cases.
"Allegedly, he has been and is still acting in furtherance of a criminal scheme devised by a circle of officials within the Kenyan administration," observed Judge Tarfusser.
Prosecutor Fatou Bensouda wants Barasa to be arrested immediately and transferred to The Hague-based court for prosecution.
Barasa faces up to five years in prison, a fine, or both if he is found guilty.
"There is evidence to suggest that Walter Barasa tried to bribe someone he thought was a Prosecution witness in the case against Mr Ruto," said Bensouda.
"We expect Kenyan authorities to arrest Walter Barasa and hand him over to the court."
Barasa previously worked as a journalist for the Daily Nation before joining the People Daily.
---------------------------------------------------
Was Museveni voicing real African dislike of ICC?
The Ugandan president was among 11 heads of state who attended Kenyatta's inauguration
NAIROBI, Kenya, Apr 20 – Uhuru Kenyatta was sworn in as Kenya's new Head of State on April 9, but it was Yoweri Museveni – the longstanding president of neighbouring Uganda – who stole the headlines at the two-hour ceremony in Nairobi.
During a speech delivered to a packed stadium on the edge of Nairobi, Museveni congratulated Kenya for "rejecting blackmail" by the International Criminal Court (ICC). He went on to accuse western leaders of using the Hague court to "install leaders of their choice in Africa and eliminate the ones they do not like".
During a speech delivered to a packed stadium on the edge of Nairobi, Museveni congratulated Kenya for "rejecting blackmail" by the International Criminal Court (ICC). He went on to accuse western leaders of using the Hague court to "install leaders of their choice in Africa and eliminate the ones they do not like".
Museveni was speaking on behalf of 11 African Heads of State and other foreign representatives who attended Kenyatta's inauguration as Kenya's fourth president.
Kenyatta and Deputy-President William Ruto, who was also sworn in, both face trial at the ICC – along with a third suspect, Joshua arap Sang – on charges of orchestrating the violence that engulfed Kenya following the last presidential election five years ago.
Between December 2007 and early 2008, more than 1,100 people died as supporters of the Party of National Unity, PNU, and the Orange Democratic Movement took up arms over the disputed poll result.
Kenyatta is the first individual to become head of state while facing trial at the ICC. His case is scheduled for July, while Ruto's is due to start in late May.
Analysts are divided on the significance of the Ugandan leader's remarks. Are they a genuine reflection of growing African opposition to the court, or should they be seen simply as an attempt by Museveni to win political support across the East Africa region?
The Hague court responded by emphasising that its investigations are entirely independent from any political process, and are based solely on evidence.
"The ICC has continuously ensured that it does not seek to have any influence in the political sphere," Maria Kamara, the ICC's spokesperson in Kenya, told IWPR.
Others argue that Museveni's new stand against the ICC is disingenuous. After all, in 2003, Museveni was the first national leader to refer crimes in his country to the court.
He invited the then ICC prosecutor, Luis Moreno Ocampo, to investigate the long running conflict in northern Uganda. As a result, the international court issued an arrest warrant in 2005 for five members of the rebel Lord's Resistance Army, LRA—including its leader, Joseph Kony.
"Museveni's remarks are totally hypocritical because he invited the ICC to pursue Kony in his country," Godfrey Musila, an international criminal justice lawyer in Nairobi, said. "He cannot come out and attack the ICC now."
Nevertheless, some would say Museveni's outburst does reflect a sense that African leaders are uniting behind Kenya, and that hostility to the ICC is growing. Critics point out that all eight of the full investigations that the court has carried out to date have been in African countries.
Professor Macharia Munene, a lecturer in history and international relations at the United States International University in Nairobi, said African states feel targeted by the court, and may wish to turn their backs to it.
"They are now seeing the ICC as a tool out to punish Africa and they want to take control. There are leaders out there who have done much bigger things but nothing has been done to them (by the ICC)," Munene said.
For Munene, Museveni's strong criticism of the court leads to the conclusion that "Africa may end up uniting to find solutions to their (own) problems".
David Smith, writing in South Africa's Mail and Guardian newspaper, said Museveni's speech had increased the pressure on the ICC, particularly in terms of how it is perceived in Africa.
"So far, it is not Kenyatta on trial in the court of world opinion but the International Criminal Court, ICC, for which this (case) is seen as a defining moment," Smith wrote. "(Museveni) highlighted a stain that the ICC seems unable to wash away – the perception that it is an instrument of the West that is inherently biased against Africa."
The Ugandan president's comments came amid simmering tensions around the whole ICC process in Kenya. Before the March 4 elections, foreign diplomats, including from the United States, warned Kenyans that there would be "consequences" for their country if they elected ICC suspects to high office. The UK said it had a policy of "non-contact" with state leaders facing trial at the ICC.
Despite their imminent trial for crimes against humanity, the election result was a ringing endorsement of the level of support that Kenyatta and Ruto enjoy at home. Kenyatta won the presidency with more than 50 per cent of the vote in the first round.
The new president used his swearing-in speech on April 9 to repeat his pledge to cooperate with the ICC. But he also gave western governments an indirect caution against meddling in Kenya's handling of the ICC process.
"We must remember that no one country or group of countries should have control or monopoly on international institutions or the interpretation of international treaties," he said.
In similar vein, Ruto used his speech to refer to the "consequences" cited by foreign diplomats in the run up to the elections.
"Many of you did not believe that we will win this election, because it was said that choices have consequences, and that if you vote for Uhuru (and) Ruto there will be consequences," he said to rapturous applause. "But look at what happened – people of Kenya did not just vote and make us win, but they did it in round one."
Despite the negative rhetoric about the ICC in Kenya and other parts of Africa, some analysts believe Museveni was really pursuing a different aim.
Moses Chelang'a, a lawyer and political analyst in Nairobi, said that rather than taking Museveni's words at face value, they should be seen as reflecting an aspiration to position himself as statesman for the whole East Africa region.
"Museveni was endearing himself to President Kenyatta by placing himself as a friend in time of need, but in essence he is interested in his position in the East African Community," Chelang'a said. The community is a regional inter-governmental bloc consisting of Burundi, Rwanda and Tanzania as well as Kenya and Uganda.
After 27 years at the helm in Uganda, Museveni is keen to flex his political muscles and show he can represent the interests of Kenya and other East African states on the international stage.
"He (Museveni) has always wanted to be seen as the one with the clout in the (East African Community), and now he wanted to demonstrate to Uhuru (Kenyatta) that he has that clout," Chelang'a said.
While Kenyan leaders old and new have pledged to cooperate with the ICC, they have made no secret of their opposition to its investigations in their country. Since the ICC began its investigations in 2009, Kenya has petitioned the United Nations Security Council to defer the cases, and applied to The Hague for them to be referred back to the national judiciary.
During campaigning for the March election, Kenyatta described his election bid as a referendum on the ICC.
While the ICC's critics are keen to portray it in a negative light, Chelang'a points out that African leaders do not share a uniform position on the merits of the court. Instead, their view of the institution seems to depend on whether it is they or their opponents who face charges.
"(President) Joseph Kabila of the Democratic Republic of Congo is happy to have the rebels at the ICC, and (President) Alassane Ouattara of Ivory Coast will tell you it was the best thing to have former president (Laurent) Gbagbo face charges in ICC, while Kenyatta and (Sudan's president Omar) al-Bashir will have no kind words for the court," Chelang'a said.
Although it sometimes looks like the ICC has focused solely on African countries, analysts point out that those states that signed up to the court did so voluntarily, and in most cases they themselves invited the ICC to come in and investigate conflict situations.
The cases of Sudan and Libya came to the ICC by another mechanism, referral by the UN Security Council.
It was in fact only in the Kenya case that the ICC intervened of its own accord.
"There is some truth in it, that the ICC has focused on Africa, because all the situations are from Africa," Musila said. "(But) African leaders seem to be unaware that each and every action they take has consequences. Like when they sign treaties."
Bernard Momanyi is a reporter for ReportingKenya.net and News Editor at Capital FM in Nairobi.
This article was produced as part of a media development programme by IWPR and Wayamo Communication Foundation in partnership with Capital FM.
0 comments:
Post a Comment