How Kanu, Kadu started election promises war

The date was May 8, 1963. The General Election was just around the corner and the nervousness was all too obvious as the Kenya African Democratic Union ( Kadu), which had stepped in to form the Government in 1961, now faced the majority party, the Kenya African National Union ( Kanu), at the upcoming polls.
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  Kanu, formed in 1960, had refused to form the country’s first Government, insisting it would only do so after its leader, Mzee Jomo Kenyatta, was released from detention. This refusal had ushered in a brief period of power for Kadu that was now threatened by the re-entry into the race of Kanu, which had the largest following across the country’s political parties, supported by the country’s two largest tribes, the Kikuyu and Luo.

  Kadu, by contrast, was identified with the smaller tribes, as an alliance that included Masinde Muliro’s Kenya African People’s Party, the Kalenjin Political Alliance led by Daniel Arap Moi and Taaita Towett, the Maasai United Front led by J Ole Tips, the Coast African People’s Party headed by Ronald Ngala, and the Somali National Association.

False promises

 Moreover, Kanu was coming to the polls with big names like Mzee Jomo Kenyatta, Jaramogi Oginga Odinga and Thomas Joseph Mboya.

 The only hope was to win the election on issues, which saw, 50 years ago today, East African Standard publish a story: Confidence in Kadu Promises in which Kadu chairman Moi lashed out at Kanu over ‘false promises’ to the electorate. Kadu’s strategy was to poke holes in Kanu’s promises of a better life after the elections. This way, it would drum up support for its own policies and win over the masses.

 According to the story, Moi warned that anyone who voted Kanu was supporting nationalisation. He pointed out that Dr Gikonyo Kiano, who was the then Kanu Parliamentary Secretary for Economic Planning, had called for the nationalisation of property.

 Moi’s jibes were issued at a predominantly Asian meeting held in Nairobi. Asians were the majority business owners at that time and by extension, had a near monopoly over campaign funds. Thus, while the Asian population was insignificant in number compared to the African voters, its ability to finance an election was key.

 Moi assured the audience that Kadu was against nationalisation and that citizens would be treated equally, regardless of colour. In addition, “Mr Moi criticised Tanganyika and Uganda for their interference in Kenya’s politics, and said they were helping Kanu,” reported the paper.

Mislead

 Moi’s attacks were part of a concerted campaign position for Kadu in that election year. Days earlier, the outspoken Minister for Lands and Kadu candidate for Meru South, Mr Bernard Mate had been cited by The East African Standard as claiming that the Kanu manifesto was ‘full of splendid promises but devoid of any indication of how they would be kept’.

Shoot-to-kill order issued against gangs

A shoot-to-kill order was Friday issued to contain rising insecurity in western Kenya and other parts of the country.

Deputy President William Ruto told police to use maximum force in dealing with criminal gangs, pointing out that the government was concerned about the rising insecurity in the country.

“We have instructed police to use force to ensure criminal gangs do not take over the country. There are those who think the guns police have lack bullets. Any person armed to cause mayhem will be shot. The attacks and killing of innocent citizens should be immediately stopped,” said Mr Ruto who flew to Bungoma with top security chiefs including Inspector General David Kimaiyo.

He spoke as President Uhuru Kenyatta warned criminals they would face the full force of the law.

“Nobody will be allowed to threaten the existing peace in the country,” President Kenyatta said in a speech read on his behalf by Senate Majority Leader Kithure Kindiki during a luncheon hosted by the Kenya Private Sector Alliance at a Nairobi hotel.

The insecurity matter has taken an international dimension, with the UN asking the government to stop the attacks and killings.

UN Resident and Humanitarian Coordinator Modibo Toure yesterday condemned recent attacks in Bungoma, which have claimed 10 lives and left more than 100 seriously injured.

“Residents are apprehensive as the motive of the indiscriminate attacks is not known,” he said.

Elsewhere, the Anglican Church of Kenya has urged the government to act to stem the wave of attacks.

“The insecurity and lawlessness has reached state of emergency proportions and should be addressed with urgency. The fact that a few local criminals are mobilised to launch attacks despite a police investigation is a sign of decadence in the country’s security systems,” said ACK Archbishop Eliud Wabukala.

He said the swiftness and coordination of the attacks showed structured planning.

“Whether the attacks are fuelled by local politics, economic interests or cultural intolerance, they display insensitivity to human dignity,” he said.

Speaking in Bungoma, Mr Ruto noted that the government had scaled up its intelligence gathering arm to ensure it gets to the root of the attacks.

He said additional GSU and Administration Police officers had been deployed to the affected areas to contain insecurity.

“We have also provided five additional vehicles to intensify patrols and response in addition to adding the number of officers to ensure normalcy is restored in affected areas so that Kenyans go on with their daily lives,” he said.

He urged governors and county commissioners to cooperate and ensure service delivery to residents.

Meanwhile, Bungoma Senator Moses Wetang’ula said leaflets had been circulating in various villages warning of further attacks in the area.

“Such leaflets should be investigated so that their source is known. In most cases, the attacks have been carried out following the circulation leaflets,” said Mr Wetang’ula during a public rally at Bungoma Posta grounds.

Jubilee now takes over Senate seats

Jubilee Alliance on Thursday took over the leadership of Finance, Commerce and Economic Affairs committee in the Senate, ending a stalemate over the chairmanship of the key team.

Mandera Senator Billow Kerrow and his Kajiado counterpart Peter ole Mositet were elected chairman and deputy respectively of the powerful committee unopposed.

Mr Kerrow’s easy election to the helm of the committee was as a result of Wednesday’s ouster of Kakamega Senator Boni Khalwale from the team after he refused to toe the alliance’s line.

Dr Khalwale, who was also kicked out of the Implementation Committee, had been accused of failing to back Jubilee’s activities, a requirement for all partners. He was replaced by Majority Chief Whip Beatrice Elachi in Finance and Mr Ali Abdi Bule of Tana River in the Implementation Committee.

Dr Khalwale and Mr Kerrow’s bid to take over the leadership of the committee last week hit a snag after the two contestants tied in three rounds of voting.

The stalemate arose because Kisumu Senator Anyang’ Nyong’o was out of the country and did not vote, leaving the committee with eight members who did not want to cede their position.

But on Thursday, it was a smooth ride for Mr Kerrow who was now unopposed. For Mr Mositet, his main challenger Senator Harold Kipchumba, did not have anyone to second his nomination as stipulated by House rules.

It also emerged that Dr Khalwale, who had the backing of the Cord Coalition, could have easily won the chairmanship had they taken advantage of a provision in the Standing Orders, which allowed them to temporarily replace Prof Nyong’o.

Article 194 states that when one member of a committee is absent, the party whip of that Senator may with the permission of the Speaker, appoint another Senator to represent them during the period of such absence.

Uhuru can now name senior secretaries

President Kenyatta can finally name his nominees for the positions of principal secretaries after a list of 66 people was recommended to him last night.

They were picked from a list of 155 shortlisted candidates following a 10-day interview by the Public Service Commission.

Chairperson Margaret Kobia Friday said the commission was ready to hand over the list to the Head of State, who is however on an official trip in South Africa.
President Kenyatta will be expected to pick a suitable number for the 18 ministries he created last month.

Prof Kobia said those picked were rated top based on merit, gender balance, regional representation and special interests.

She said the commission will ensure that the one third gender rule was complied with meaning the list would have at least 21 women.

The PSC boss said at a news conference announcing the end of the exercise, that the candidates were asked to indicate preference for the dockets they deemed most suitable for them.
“Some candidates expressed preference of up to three different dockets,” she said.

“We want to make it easier for the President to look at their profiles as he nominates them to various dockets,” she said.

A part from merit, the commission also considered ethnic diversity, gender, persons with disabilities and marginalised communities while shortlisting.

She said the commission had first ranked the candidates from each county based on performance at the interviews before making a pick on the suitable ones to be recommended.

Prof Kobia said Kenyans submitted many complaints against the interviewees.

More than 90 per cent of those interviewed had various allegations levelled against them touching on corruption, nepotism and tribalism.

Mystery of ICC letter as prosecutor answers Uhuru

The mystery on a letter petitioning the United Nations to terminate the ICC charges facing President Uhuru Kenyatta and Deputy President William Ruto threatens to be the biggest test to face their Jubilee government.

The chief government legal adviser could neither deny nor confirm if the President was aware of the letter.

Said Attorney-General Githu Muigai: “We were not aware the letter had been written… we have been pursuing the case with the court and worked closely with the president of the court, the registrar and the prosecutor.”

Multiple sources told Saturday Nation the letter by Kenya’s ambassador to UN Macharia Kamau on May 2 was traced to senior civil servants in the Kibaki administration.

Last evening, questions were still lingering on who authorised Mr Kamau to write the letter and whether Mr Ruto’s denouncement signified a split between the two men over the strategy of handling the cases facing them at the International Criminal Court.

While Mr Ruto has unequivocally denounced the petition through lawyer Karim Khan, President Kenyatta had not commented on the matter as we went to press.

Prof Muigai said the government wanted the matter settled expeditiously by the court, but added that ambassadors had an independent mandate.

“The government applied to co-operate with the court and we were granted. In pursuit of this, a high powered government delegation will be at The Hague next Wednesday to meet court officials,” he disclosed.

On Wednesday, a letter sent by Mr Kamau to the Security Council became subject of debate with Rwanda’s amabassador to the UN accusing the International Criminal Court of bias in execution of its mandate.

The strongly worded 13-page letter was circulated among members of the United Nations Security Council ahead of the visit by the ICC prosecutor Fatou Bensouda, who was before the Council to brief it on a Libyan case.

“We thus ask the UN Security Council to take the much-needed political stance that Kenya must be given the time and opportunity to apply the principle of pre-eminence of national courts. The security council has a duty and obligation to assist Kenya overcome this serious politically sensitive and potentially destabilising and disabling situation,” the letter said. It then concluded that the Kenyan delegation was not asking for a deferral, but the immediate termination of the case at The Hague.

Saturday Nation has learnt that Ms Bensouda did not meet the Security Council to talk about the Kenyan cases but was briefing the Council on the Libyan case when an impromptu exchange on Kenya came up from Rwanda’s intervention.

Rwandan envoy Eugene-Richard Gasana had remarked on Wednesday’s Council meeting that the letter made “a compelling case against the methods of work of the office of the prosecutor on the Kenyan cases.”

He accused the ICC of being “selective in its methods of investigating and prosecuting perpetrators of serious international crimes as it has failed to prosecute similar crimes committed in other parts of the world.”

Sources told Saturday Nation that Mr Khan on Thursday called Mr Ruto and advised him that the petition could be injurious to their cases.

“It was then that the Deputy President okayed him to send out the denouncement distancing himself from the letter,” said an MP, a close ally of Mr Ruto.

Mr Khan said: “I have spoken to my client, Mr William Ruto, and I can confirm and he has made it clear that he was not consulted on anything to do with New York. A letter being circulated is not government policy,” Mr Khan said in a telephone interview.”

He said that Mr Ruto believes in the rule of law and in Kenya observing its international obligations.

How poor planning of estates and bad roads let criminals thrive

Kenya’s runaway crime rates could be greatly reduced, without necessarily raising the number of police officers meant to keep law-breakers at bay.

If all dark places could be lit and neighbourhoods well-designed, there would be remarkably fewer muggings, rape and even carjacking, surveys suggest.

The reports imply that poor planning of settlements, like narrow pathways, lack of lighting, single exits and entry points, encourage crimes to an extent that even the police would find it difficult to fight crime.

Findings from two separate surveys, by the Saturday Nation and the government, confirm that most crime dens are those without proper lighting.

In Kisumu, Eldoret, Nakuru and Mombasa, crime is minimal in areas with electricity while dark corners are good attractions for sexual crimes, muggings and pick-pocketing.

Dark areas

In Nairobi, a police report released recently identified the crime hotspots and pointed out that dark areas attracted criminals.

According to the Nairobi Region Annual Crime Observatory report 2011/2012, Kenyans believe police can provide the much needed remedy to the upsurge of crime besides the fact that the officers themselves appear to be troubled by hardened criminals.

“Moreover, trends in crime are frequently evolving, giving law enforcement authorities the difficult task of keeping abreast with new and emerging crime challenges,” says the report of the National Steering Committee on Peace Building and Conflict Management made public last month.

It warns that there has been an upsurge of crime in the country, with rape and carjackings topping the list.

On Tuesday, Nairobi police chief Benson Kibui spelt out new measures to curb the high rates of crime, announcing that undercover police officers posing as commuters would start escorting matatus to protect passengers from carjackers.

Mr Kibui said the officers would be posted at night and concentrate on routes where cases of carjacking are prevalent.

“Hijacking happens mostly at night and in some cases, we’ve lost lives,” he said, confirming the “darkness” effect in rate of crime.

Nairobi governor Evans Kidero, who had called a meeting to discuss strategies to make Nairobi safer and attractive to investors, supported the move.

“Investors do not want to put their money where there is insecurity, which is a big menace in Nairobi,” Dr Kidero said.

According to the government report, most of the crime hotspots, especially in Nairobi, were in slum areas but also extend to other residential estates.

Well-designed neighbourhoods

Notably, however, the Saturday Nation report brought out the fact that most crimes were committed after dusk and stopped at around 3am, largely in areas where there is no lighting or where people have to walk long distances to bus stations.