FULL TEXT OF COALITION AGREEMENT – KENYA

ACTING TOGETHER FOR KENYA: AGREEMENT ON THE PRINCIPLES OF PARTNERSHIP OF THE COALITION GOVERNMENT.

Preamble:

The crisis triggered by the 2007 disputed presidential election has brought to the surface deep-seated and long-standing divisions within Kenyan society. If left unaddressed, these divisions threaten the very existence of Kenya as a unified country. The Kenyan people are now looking to their leaders to ensure that their country will not be lost.

Given the current situation, neither side can realistically govern the country without the other. There must be real power-sharing to move the country forward and begin the healing and reconciliation process.
With this agreement, we are stepping forward together, as political leaders, to overcome the current crisis and to set the country on a new path. As partners in a coalition government, we commit ourselves to work together in good faith as true partners, through constant consultation and willingness to compromise.

This agreement is designed to create an environment conducive to such a partnership and to build mutual trust and confidence. It is not about creating positions that reward individuals. It seeks to enable Kenya’s political leaders to look beyond partisan considerations with a view to promoting the greater interests of the nation as a whole. It provides the means to implement a coherent and far-reaching reform agenda, to address the fundamental root causes of recurrent conflict, and to create a better, more secure, more prosperous Kenya for all.To resolve the political crisis, and in the spirit of coalition and partnership, we have agreed to enact the National Accord and Reconciliation Act 2008, whose provisions have been agreed upon in their entirety by the parties hereto and a draft copy is appended hereto.

Its key points are:
* There will be a Prime Minister of the Government of Kenya, with authority to coordinate and supervise the execution of the functions and affairs of the Government of Kenya.

* The Prime Minister will be an elected member of the National Assembly and the parliamentary leader of the largest party in the National Assembly, or of a coalition, if the largest party does not command a majority.

* Each member of the coalition shall nominate one person from the National Assembly to be appointed a Deputy Prime Minister.

* The Cabinet will consist of the President, the Vice-President, the Prime Minister, the two Deputy Prime Ministers and the other Ministers. The removal of any Minister of the coalition will be subject to consultation and concurrence in writing by the leaders.

* The Prime Minister and Deputy Prime Ministers can only be removed if the National Assembly passes a motion of no confidence with a majority vote.

* The composition of the coalition government will at all times take into account the principle of portfolio balance and will reflect their relative parliamentary strength.

* The coalition will be dissolved if the Tenth Parliament is dissolved; or if the parties agree in writing; or if one coalition partner withdraws from the coalition.

* The National Accord and Reconciliation Act shall be entrenched in the Constitution.Having agreed on the critical issues above, we will now take this process to Parliament. It will be convened at the earliest moment to enact these agreements. This will be in the form of an Act of Parliament and the necessary amendment to the Constitution.

We believe by these steps we can together in the spirit of partnership bring peace and prosperity back to the people of Kenya who so richly deserve it.

Source 

Kenya’s warring political rivals sign peace deal

Kenya’s new President has offered the job of Prime Minister to his bitter rival in order to end the political unrest that has seen more than 1,000 Kenyans die in inter-tribal bloodshed.

President Mwai Kibaki and opposition leader Raila Odinga signed the deal on live television today, watched by Kofi Annan, the former UN secretary-general who has led efforts to mediate between the two men.

As aides leapt to clear the table away on which the deal was signed, the piece of furniture collapsed. Kenyans who have been keenly watching the progress of weeks of tortuous and bitter negotiations between the two political leaders will be hoping that the deal itself does not prove equally fragile.

“For the last two months, Kenyans have known nothing but sadness,” Mr Odinga said after signing the deal. He referred to his rival courteously as “my countryman, President Mwai Kibaki.”

Mr Kibaki added: “This process has reminded us that as a nation there are more issues that unite than that divide us.”

Under the deal, the role of prime minister will be occupied by Mr Odinga as the leader of the largest party in the Kenyan National Assembly. He will have a say in the appointment of ministers, and cannot be removed except by a no confidence vote by parliament.

It is understood that the terms of the deal answer most of the demands of the opposition.

There had been signs yesterday that the two political rivals might be nearing agreement. Mr Odinga’s supporters called off planned protests, and Mr Kibaki offered his first public commitment to creating the prime ministerial post that his rivals have been demanding.

It is not the first time that Mr Kibaki has offered Mr Odinga the job of prime minister, but the last time he did so, five years ago, he went back on his word.

Mr Annan said that there will be international monitoring this time to make sure that the terms of the deal are kept. Further details are expected to emerge later today.

Mr Odinga appeared stern-faced throughout as he sat to sign his name to the document. He nonetheless is the one who appears to have won the greater political concessions out of the wrangling.

Mr Kibaki appeared more relaxed and jovial at the signing ceremony. Mr Annan, who has seemed very stressed in the last couple of weeks, looked more relaxed than before.

Observers say that the fact that a deal has been done at all is largely due to the skilled negotiation of Mr Annan, who kept hopes alive when in reality both sides were intransigent and it was a struggle to keep going.

He made a series of small announcements that gave the impression that the talks had some momentum. He finally became so exasperated by the obstructive attitude of the two negotiating teams that he dismissed them and demanded face to face meetings with Mr Kibaki and Mr Odinga themselves, where he appears to have knocked heads together.

It is understood that there was agreement at the start of the week about the creation of a prime ministerial post – a position previously unknown in Kenya, where the President wields executive power. The final hours of wrangling appear to have been about how much power the post should have.

It was left to Mr Annan to announce the breakthrough. “We have come to an understanding on the coalition agreement,” he told reporters.

“I am pleased to be able to tell you and the citizens of Kenya that the two leaders this afternoon completed work on … how to overcome the political crisis. I commend all those whose efforts have made this possible.”

Mr Annan urged parliament to convene soon to enact the necessary laws to flesh out the deal.

First reactions from Kenyans were cool. Robert Mwaniki, 26, a salesman for a cable TV company in Nairobi, said that a deal between the politicians was only the start.

“Once they sign this agreement, everything will be OK for them, but not for us,” he said.

“Before we get that confidence back of living together as different tribes, it may take time. We have no respect for each other anymore. All you care about is you.”

More than 1,000 people have died, hundreds of thousands have been made homeless and Kenya’s economy has been gravely damaged in the violence that erupted after December’s disputed presidential election.

The killing began amid a government crackdown on opposition street demonstrations, as both men claimed to have won the country’s December 27 presidential election. Election observers have said the results were rigged, making it unclear who actually won.

Much of the bloodshed had an ethnic tinge, pitting supporters of Mr Kibaki’s Kikuyu tribe against Mr Odinga’s Luo. The killing has largely subsided, but the country remains on edge.

The conflict has tarnished the reputation of the once-stable and prosperous East African country.

Source

Which Way Kenya?

It is now exactly two months since Kenyans enthusiastically came out in their masses to cast ballots in favour of their preferred political leaders. What should have been a straight forward electoral process has turned out to be our worst nightmare. The general elections have polarised the country ethnically.

After wasting more than 1500 lives and displacing nearly half a million others, the general elections have left many a Kenyan with deep regret as to why they even bothered to vote in the first place and many others are frustrated to the point of vowing never ever to vote again.

Nairobi has now become a global VIP destination with visitors including nobel price winners, presidents, diplomats, peace-makers, etc. The Kenya crisis has also been in the headlines since December. This just goes to say how high the stakes are. Interestingly, few of these high-profile visitors have made it to State House – Mwai Kibaki’s preferred work station. Most have met Kibaki at the official Harambee House offices.

On the other hand, the current political impasse shows just how powerful the so-called old order forces are in this country that claims to have been independent for nearly half a century and that which, as we have always been reminded, is a sovereign state. Threats of visa ban and asset freeze do not seem to be producing any results towards a resolution of the elections impasse.

Whereas the Orange Democratic Movement led by Raila Odinga have made significant concessions in the crisis arising out of the disputed elections, the Party of National Unity led by Mwai KIbaki have made none at all – in terms of acknowledging the concerns of their rivals or even ceding executive powers. Instead, PNU has been changing positions each time they are requested to show commitment on agreed issues and in the process playing deadly political gambling with the very livelihoods of the people of Kenya – all in the name of retaining political power.

Ever since the crisis started, the ODM have played their political cards much better than the PNU. To begin with, PNU forget that this crisis is all about politics and NOT about what the constitutional law says. In any case, everyone is in agreement, it is this very constitution that has led us to this hole we find ourselves in. Secondly, it is clear to all that PNU’s line-up on the mediation table is not what one would call negotiators but ‘defenders’ – no wonder they have failed to reach a compromise! Thirdly, it is PNU that is in control of state instruments and it is them who will ultimately determine whether the crisis will degenerate into anarchy or peace. Perhaps it is this state power that has made PNU become too reckless in its pronouncements and so amateurish in its dealings with people who matter in global affairs.

Whether rightly or wrongly, ODM have managed to depict themselves as the victims and it appears the civil society, the press, the international community and even the majority of the Kenyan population agree that power-sharing as opposed to an MOU-type of arrangement. As a matter of fact, Kofi Annan was taken aback by PNU hardliners who accused him of siding with killers (ODM) something which clearly shocked him and that which prompted him to suspend the Serena talks and opt to engage directly with the principals.

The big question is: After hastily taking oath of office on 30th December, is Mwai Kibaki truly in charge of this country or are there some unseen forces that are actually ruling this country by proxy? Who is holding our leaders hostage? Looking at the history of both ODM and PNU leaders, and the backers they had during their intensive campaign periods; it is easy to tell who between the two is lying in bed with the OLD ORDER and who has been out there advocating for CHANGE. It is also easy to tell who is sweeping historical injustices under the carpet.

Although the country has returned to an uneasy calm in recent weeks, many observers opine that this has only given private militias the opportunity to re-arm because PNU and ODM are unlikely to reach an agreement and therefore matters will have to be sorted out physically.

Sources now say, as a last resort, Kenya’s military is on high alert awaiting orders of deployment to contain civil strife that is sure to follow the failure of Annan’s mediation mission. A strong pointer to this was the unusual attendance of the Chief of General Staff, General Kianga, at yesterday’s meeting between Kibaki together with his PNU team and Kofi Annan with his eminent persons team. In other words, Gen. Kianga was part of the PNU team that met with Kofi Annan who is on a AU sanctioned mission to Kenya.

Source

Kenya: Who owns the land, blood and soil issue

The passion with which millions of wananchi valued their presidential vote in the stolen 2007 presidential elections can be reflected in scenes of the bloody post-election clashes today that engulf Rift Valley, Nyanza, Coast, Nairobi, Western and to a less extent in other parts of the country. Nakuru is now the latest epicenter of inter ethnic murders.

The violent reactions to rigged elections may reflect the pain of deep and historically rooted injustices some of which predate Kenya’s independence in 1963.

They are in fact motivated and exacerbated by landlessness, joblessness, and poverty believed to be heavily contributed towards by the prevailing political status quo that has dominated Kenya since independence. This is a system that has continuously perpetrated, in successive fashion, socio-economic injustices that have been seamlessly transferred from one power regime to the next.

The Land Issue With a fast growing population in Kenya, limited resources including land and jobs, have severely been put in extreme pressure. Responsive political operatives cognizant of this reality have appreciated the importance of incorporating progressive policies that seek to aggressively address poverty, landlessness, unequal distribution of resources and unemployment, as a matter of priority (in their party manifestoes) if any social stability is to be maintained in Kenya. Without doubt, the opposition party ODM sold an attractive campaign package that sought to address historic land injustices, unemployment, inequitable resource sharing and poverty through a radical constitutional transformation, under the framework of the people-tailored Bomas Constitution Draft.

ODM proposed to tackle the land problem through clauses in the Bomas draft, captured under devolution and land chapters, with specific plans to form a National Land Commission to address the issue of landlessness and historic injustices of expropriation of native land by colonial and post-colonial powers.

The roots of the land conflicts in Rift Valley land lie with the former colonial power, Britain; post-independence land policies by the Jomo Kenyatta, Daniel Moi and Mwai Kibaki administrations; and the tendency for ethnic favouritism and patronage by power wielders.

Colonial expropriation of native lands in Rift Valley and Coast

In a nutshell, the British settlers literally grabbed native Maasai and Kalenjin lands in Rift Valley and Miji-Kenda, Taita and Taveta land at the Coast. At the Coast, there was also the added grabbing hand of the Middle-East Sultans who lay claim to another Coastal strip. Millions of voters from these communities (now deeply affected by landlessness and poverty) are today largely drawn towards ODM’s reform policies that seek to address these INJUSTICES.

Long before Independence, vast arable tracts of the Rift Valley were designated as White Highlands, reserved for European settlers. The pastoralist communities, mainly Kalenjin and Maasai, were simply moved away.

The 1904 and 1911 Anglo-Maasai land “Agreements” details the unjust grabbing of Maasai lands in Laikipia, Naivasha, Ngong, Karen, and tracts along the Uganda Railway line whereby uneducated Maasai Laibons either friendly to, or fearful of the British (christened Paramount Chiefs) like Lanana Ole Mbatian, were cajoled and intimidated into giving away native fertile Maasai land to the colonialists.

The words in the “Agreements” read like ……”we the undersigned, being the Laibons of clans of Maasai, have of our own free will, decided that it is for OUR best interests to REMOVE OUR PEOPLE, FLOCKS, AND HERDS into definite reservations away from the Railway line and away from European settlements…..” and “…..In conclusion, we wish to state that we are quite satisfied with the foregoing arrangement, and we bind ourselves and our successors, as well as OUR PEOPLE, to observe them as long as the Maasai as a race shall exist..”

The next thing we knew was that the Maasai were crumbled into arid portions of present day Kajiado and Narok districts. Grazing fields, and the very pastoral lifestyle of the Maasai instantly became threatened and continues to do so as we speak, without any restitution, compensation or pro-active rehabilitation into another life.

100 years later, when asked to address this burning Maasai land issue, former Lands Minister appointed by Mwai Kibaki, Mr. Amos Kimunya, once told the Maasai that there was nothing to address since the wise Maasai forefathers had given away their land to the British in a BINDING AGREEMENT which continues to apply to date.

Well, similar horrid but true stories applied in Kalenjin lands of Rift Valley and at the Coast too.Before independence, Kenyan political parties argued over whether the native land should be returned to the indigenous population under a federalist system of government or kept firmly under the control of a centralised state. Needless to add, those who favoured the latter option, in the form of the Kenya African National Union (KANU), which went on to form a government under Jomo Kenyatta, prevailed.

1963 Independence, enter Jomo Kenyatta and GEMA Land-buying companies

Trouble is, we had a majimbo constitution at independence. Jennifer Widner explained in her 1992 book, The Rise of A Party-State in Kenya: From “Harambee!” to “Nyayo!” that KANU “urged central control of all regions in an effort to forestall local majimbo legislation restricting land transfer to those born in the area, and to maintain the foothold of the party’s Kikuyu supporters in the Rift Valley land market”.

Many settlers were returning to Britain. Kenyatta and his cronies quickly formed the Settlement Transfer Fund Schemes (STFS) and asked the British for a loan to the Kenyan government, to buy off land from colonial settlers returning to Britain. Good idea up to this point.

Britain, having been reassured by Kenyatta that those settlers still wishing to stay on in Kenya would not have their land repossessed, advanced the money. This money was used to buy settler land which was officially sold into the Kenyatta initiated Settlement Transfer Fund Schemes (STFS).

Next, Kenyatta began to give away and sell for peanuts, these government (STFS)-acquired, former colonial land parcels, to himself, his family and cronies around 1964 and 1965. This is the point when the rain started beating Kenya. Kenyatta’s then Vice President, Jaramogi Oginga Odinga, cried foul and rejected these acts of wanton land grabbing.

The opportunity to choose nationalism and selflessness over greed and ethnic tendencies was lost. Rather than address this land issue once and for all, Kenyatta opted to REPLACE the settler colonialsist in land they had initially grabbed from natives. We have began harvesting the seeds of the mustard sown by Kenyatta in the 1960s. It will not be sweet at all.

The Seroneys and other Nandi and Kipsigis leaders immediately cried foul when Kenyatta ensued in his land grabbing tendencies. So were many Maasai and Miji-Kenda leaders like Ronald Ngala. Their cries were feeble and over run. Today and tomorrow, their descendants will demand justice and restitution in an exercise that threatens to tear apart Kenya’s social fabric.

Who will shoulder the burden of the fruits enjoyed by Kenyatta and his cronies, Moi and his cronies, and Kibaki and his latter day cronies? Will it be the poor Kenyan taxpayer taking the bill in form of blood, and more taxes?

Going back,…. down memory lane….. in the immediate post-independence era, the moment, the Seroneys and Ogingas started crying foul, and nothing was done, we entered a dangerous phase of our nation’s socio-political path.
The political leadership of Kenya began carving out into two distinct groups. The pro-Kenyatta land beneficiaries, sycophants and apologists where Tom Mboya, Daniel Moi, Paul Ngei and others trooped towards,….and another force resisting the greedy post-Independence governance by Kenyatta which was led by Jaramogi Oginga Odinga, and included several former KADU operatives like Ronald Ngala, Jean Marie Seroney, Masinde Muliro, Martin Shikuku and others.

Kenyatta soldiered on with his grabbing. He concurrently went ahead with the help of Tom Mboya to change the constitution to give immense imperial powers to the Presidency. He further began using such powers to allocate more land to his cronies and sycophants. His salivating appetite for Rift Valley land largely motivated his choice of Rift Valley natives as Vice President after Oginga Odinga.

First he chose a Maasai, Joseph Murumbi, who read the scheme of land-betrayal on his people and resigned in a huff, then Kenyatta selected Daniel Arap Moi, a Tugen not drawn in the Nandi and Kipsigis land battles, as his next loyal VP. He then descended upon grabbing Rift Valley and Coastal land in a business as usual and “mtafanya nini” attitude that Kibaki is trying to emulate today.

Kenyatta cronies including Mbiyu Koinange, Njoroge Mungai and others devised a clever scheme to further benefit themselves from the land transferred from the colonialists. They formed land buying companies through loans which were actually funded with tax-payer money. At the height of land buying companies, most of the power brokers acquired huge chunks of land at the expense of the landless who were meant to be the initial beneficiaries of the scheme.

According to Widner (in her book), by 1971, more than 60 % large-scale farms around Nakuru and 40% of small scale settler farms, were held by Kikuyu, who fared very well from this arrangement, at the expense of other Kenyan communities.

Another scholar noted that “Using the political and economic leverage available to them during the Kenyatta regime, the Kikuyu, took advantage of the situation and formed many land-buying companies. These companies would, throughout the 1960s and 1970s, facilitate the settlement of hundreds of thousands of Kikuyu in the Rift Valley,” wrote Walter Oyugi in Politicised Ethnic Conflict in Kenya: A Periodic Phenomenon.

In 1969, Jean Marie Seroney, a leading Nandi politician and MP, issued the Nandi Hills Declaration, laying claim to all settlement land in the district for the Nandi. His demands went unheeded. Aping the British Kenyatta government used a policy of divide-and-rule to neutralise such opposition by parcelling out land to other ethnic groups and thus winning their allegiance. Daniel arap Moi, the then Tugen vice-president was allocated the settler farms of the Lembus Forest and the Essageri Salient to divide the Tugen from the Nandi like Seroney.

Most of the power brokers in the Kenyatta regime who formed land-buying companies established huge farms in the Rift Valley either jointly or on their own. They included Njenga Karume, the then Chairman of Gema Holdings, who acquired 20,000 acres in Molo where he is growing tea, coffee, pyrethrum and potatoes and 16,000 acres in Naivasha.

GG Kariuki acquired his 5,000 acres at Rumuruti, Laikipia Division, while former Attoney-General Charles Njonjo bought into the 100,000 acre Solio Ranch. Don’t forget, grabbing of settler land in Central by many colonial collaborators, at the expense of the Mau Mau fighters, was part of the scheme. Senior Chief Munyinge from Muiga took 400 acres. Initially, senior chief Munyinge was allocated only 70 acres but with time he managed to acquire 330 more acres.

Mwai Kibaki acquired 20,000 acres in Nanyuki, Former MP Munene Kairu has 32,000 acres at Rumuruti. Mr Isaiah Mathenge, the former powerful Provincial Commissioner under Kenyatta and an MP under Moi, is arguably the largest land owner in Nyeri municipality.

He owns Seremwai Estate, which is 10,000 acres. Kibaki’s friend, Kim Ngatende, a former government engineer, has 500 acres too.Mathenge also owns—jointly with former Provincial Commissioner Lukas Daudi Galgalo—the 10, 000-acre Manyagalo Ranch in Meru.

Back in Rift Valley, as Jaramogi and the rest of Kenyans were saying, Not Yet Uhuru, it was land grabbing business as usual. Land-buying companies were heisting big. There result was big acquisitions, for instance, Munyeki Farm—which stands for Murang’a, Nyeri, Kiambu – (4,000 acres), Wamuini Farm (6,000 acres), Amuka Farm (2,000 acres), Gituaraba Farm and Githatha Farm (1,000 acres each) and GEMA Holdings 12,000 acres. A few of them are being utilized, today with the owners growing various crops ranging from coffee, tea, maize and dairy keeping.

The other big farms include Chepchomo Farm (18, 000 acres), owned by the former Provincial Commissioner Ishmael Chelang’a. The family of the late Peter Kinyanjui, who was a close friend of President Mwai Kibaki and a former DP Chairman in Trans Nzoia between 1998 and 1999 owns 1,800 acres.
In Nakuru, several politically connected individuals have acquired many acres of prime land within the town—they include lawyer Mutula Kilonzo, who owns an 800-acre farm for dairy farming. The immediate former Auditor General, D S Njoroge, owns 500 acres, while Biwott’s Canadian son-in-law & co-owner of Safaricom (Mobitelea) a Mr. Charles, boasts a 100-acre piece where he is growing roses.

D. S. Njoroge also owns the extensive Kelelwa Ranch in Koibatek, which is less than 10km from Kabarak, where he rears cattle and goats. The 10,000 acre Gitomwa Farm—acronym for Gichuru, Tony and Mwaura—is owned by the family of the former Kenya Power and Lighting Company Limited (KPLC) managing director, Samuel Gichuru. Tony and Mwaura are his sons.

Another 10,000 acre farm in Mau Narok belongs to the family of the late Mbiyu Koinange, Kenyatta’s side-kick and powerful minister of state in the Office of the President. His Muthera Farm (4,000ha) is leased to different people to grow wheat, while a group of squatters is demanding a piece of it. The owners are yet to clear the Sh7 million Settlement Transfer Fund loan.

Ford-People leader Simeon Nyachae’s Kabansora Holdings owns 4,000ha in the area. Former Rongai MP Willy Komen’s family owns 10,000 acres — 5,000ha adjacent to Moi’s Kabarak Farm and another 4,800ha near Ngata in Njoro.

Coast Province was not spared. Kenyatta family owns almost 15% the prime resort land in the province, besides a huge sisal plantation spanning both Taita and Taveta districts, safely watched by his son-in-law and former MP Marsden Madoka, and another close friend to Uhuru Kenyatta, and current Minister in Kibaki’s illegitimate government, Naomi Shaban.

Kenyatta, Moi and Kibaki land holdings

Kenya’s two former First Families and the family of President Mwai Kibaki are among the biggest landowners in the country. The extended Kenyatta family alone owns an estimated 500,000 acres — approximately the size of Nyanza Province — according to estimates by independent surveyors and Ministry of Lands officials. (This report first appeared in the Standard Newspaper report by Mr. Otsieno Namwaya)

The Kibaki and Moi families also own large tracts, most held in the names of sons and daughters and other close family members, all concentrated within the 17.2 % of Kenya that is arable or valued. Remember that 80 per cent of all land in Kenya is mostly arid and semi arid land.

According to the Kenya Land Alliance, more than a 65% of all arable land in Kenya is in the hands of only 20 per cent of the 35 million Kenyans. That has left millions absolutely landless while another 67 per cent on average own less than an acre per person.

The building land crises in the country, experts say, will be difficult to solve because the most powerful people in the country are also among its biggest landowners.The tracts of land under the Kenyatta family are so widely distributed within the numerous members in various parts of the country that it is an almost impossible task to locate all of them and establish their exact sizes.

During Kenyatta’s 15-year tenure in State House, he used the elaborate STFS scheme funded by the World Bank and the British Government, to acquired large pieces of land all over the country. Other tracts, he easily allocated to his family.

Among the best-known parcels owned by Kenyatta’s family, for instance, are the 24, 000 acres in Taveta sub-district adjacent to the 74, 000 acres owned by former MP Basil Criticos.

Others are 50, 000 acres in Taita that is currently under Mrs Beth Mugo, an Assistant minister of Education and niece of Kenyatta, 29, 000 acres in Kahawa Sukari along the Nairobi—Thika highway, the 10, 000 acre Gichea Farm in Gatundu, 5, 000 acres in Thika, 9,000 acres in Kasarani and the 5, 000-acre Muthaita Farm.

These are beside others such as Brookside Farm, Green Lee Estate, Njagu Farm in Juja, a quarry in Dandora in Nairobi and a 10, 000-acre ranch in Naivasha. There is another 200 acres in Mombasa, and 250 acres in Malindi.

Other pieces of land owned by the Kenyatta family include the 52,000-acre farm in Nakuru and a 20,000-acre one, also known as Gichea Farm, in Bahati under Kenyatta’s daughter, Margaret. Besides, Mama Ngina Kenyatta, widow of the former President, owns another 10, 000 acres in Rumuruti while a close relative of the Kenyatta family, a Mrs Kamau, has 40,000 acres in Endebes in the Rift Valley Province.

Uhuru owns 5,000 acres in Eldoret, 3,000 acres in Rongai and 12,000 acres in Naivasha, 100 acres in Karen, and 200 acres in Dagoretti. A 1,000-acre farm in Dagoretti is owned by Kenyatta’s first wife Wahu.

It is also understood that part of the land on which Kenyatta and Jomo Kenyatta Universities are constructed initially belonged the Criticos family. The government bought the land from him in 1972 under the Settlement Transfer Fund Scheme and transferred to the Kenyatta family the same day Criticos sold it to the government. Land for the two universities was subsequently sold partly and a portion donated by the family.

One of President Kibaki’s earliest grabs is the 1,200-acre Gingalily Farm along the Nakuru-Solai road. And in the 1970s, Kibaki, who was then the minister for Finance under Kenyatta, via STFS transferred to himself, 10, 000 acres in Bahati from the then Agriculture minister Bruce Mckenzie.

Kibaki also owns another 10, 000 acres at Igwamiti in Laikipia and 10, 000 acres in Rumuruti in Naivasha. These are in addition to the 1,600 acre Ruare Ranch.

Just next to Kibaki’s Bahati land are Moi’s 20, 000 acres although his best known piece of land is the 1,600 Kabarak Farm on which he has retired. It is one of the most well utilised farms in the area, with wheat, maize and dairy cattle.

The former President owns another 20, 000 acres in Olenguruoni in Rift Valley, on which he is growing tea and has also built the Kiptakich Tea Factory (recently torched). He also has some 20, 000 acres in Molo. He also has another 3, 000-acre farm in Bahati on both sides of the Nakuru/Nyahururu road where he grows coffee and some 400 acres in Nakuru on which he was initially growing coffee.

The former President also owns the controversy ridden 50, 000 acre Ol Pajeta Farm—part of which has Ol Pajeta ranch in Rumuruti, Laikipia. Some time in 2004 Moi put out an advert in the press warning the public that some unknown people were sub-dividing and selling it.

Can solutions can be offered to address these land problems? This is clearly a socio-political problem that requires a political solution. It involves digging up the archives, consulting experts, policy makers, local politicians and community elders to find a comprehensive solution.

Such formulated blueprints can then be sold to Kenyans of all creed, race, religion and ethnicity in a publicity campaign that seeks to draw in as many supporters as possible. A responsive political party genuinely keen to tackle this tough problem can actually sell a comprehensive and just land reform policy as part of its manifesto.

These must be cognizant of the constitutional implications concerned in addressing past and present land issues.

Guess what. This incidentally happened already. ODM party, using the Bomas draft constitution which proposes to establish a National Land Commission sold this idea to Kenyans during the referendum campaigns and at the 2007 General election campaigns.

Many Kenyans especially those directly affected by landlessness chose to give this idea a test. That party attributed to ODM’s resounding win over Kibaki’s PNU which prefers to sleep over the land issue quietly.

But before the coronation of ODM into government, Kivuitu and his ECK had other ideas. Blatant and daylight robbery of an outright electoral win by ODM was executed by Kivuitu and ECK to illegitimately hand over power to Kibaki.

None of the confident voters who were determined to start demanding results and accountability with regards to land and other biting issues such as unemployment and poverty, from the NEW government they elected seem ready to take Kibaki’s attempted robbery lightly.

What we are witnessing in Rift Valley, lately in Nakuru, may just escalate to new heights considering the fundamental weight of the underlying blood and soil issue of land.

Reaping Fruits of Political Dishonesty

The genesis of all head and no light at the PNU-ODM mediation talks can be squared traced to our past that is replete with political dishonesty. No deal will be binding unless it is felt watertight, structured and documented in front of the whole world.

Our Nobel Laureate Wangari Maathai saw it coming long time ago. Politicians all over the world make deals to survive. But trashing all your agreements once in power is the height of costly expediency. Now we are all roped in this ugly journey to political abyss.

Proclaiming sanctity to Kenya’s tattered constitution is to continue the destructive bumpy ride along the deceptive path. You cannot partially acknowledge a crisis and premise your pledge to resolve it on the same empty edifice you abused to cause the crisis in the first place. There are no half measures here and time is of essence too. Human patience is no elastic and Kenyans are threatening to snap soon.

You can’t rule unwilling people
You cannot fool a country and the world all the time. Kibaki’s buying of time will be very costly to all Kenyans in the long run. In the minds of his handlers he has succeeded in weathering the global pressure and can now revert to old and time tested Kenyan gimmicks of grandstanding and brinkmanship.

Tomorrow AU boss Jean Ping is coming to town. See the world is not giving up on Kenya. Not just yet. Collaterally we must not abuse not betray their concern and reduce it to patronage. Our immediate neighbours have left us to stew in our own oil thanks to brand of cheap capitalism doled I primitive material accumulation.

You CANNOT rule an unwilling population. Not in the 21st Century, never. Kibaki must move in haste to politically resolve the present crisis. Failing which even him he will not be spared the resulting devastation. Time is running out and Kenyans’ patience is no rubber band. We cannot lose our beautiful country to a bunch of old tribalists.

The embers are menacing glancing at the Kenyan fabric. The inferno is eminent and it is not a matter of if but when. We want our country back NOW. And that is no just a wish. It is a right for which more than 1000 Kenyans have already lost their lives for. Enough is enough. No more red herrings and splitting of hairs please.

Why Has Salim Lone Fled From Kenya?

Famous Veteran Kenyan Journalist, ODM Communications Chief And Former United Nations Media Director Tells Friends That He Feared For His Life…Sometime today (Monday Feb 18th 2008) some top ODM officials will get a little surprised when the party communications chief Salim Lone fails to return from what was supposed to be a brief trip to New York hurriedly taken last week.The truth is that Salim Lone has been telling close friends abroad that he fled for his life from Kenya after threats from PNU. However a few things do not add up. Why keep everything secret from the ODM top brass? And if it is true that he was threatened, why has he still not gone public with the story that he has told many close friends?

Actually Lone’s action has caused lots of anxiety amongst close analysts and observers of the Kenyan situation but before I tell you why, a brief introduction of Lone to those who may not know him is in order.

Salim Lone is a Kenyan by nationality, a veteran journalist, and former Director of the News and Media Division, Department of Public Information, of the United Nations. He has also been a rather prolific columnist for the Daily Nation and also writes regularly for The Guardian in the UK.

Salim Lone was director of the news and media division (1998-2003) during his twenty one year career at United Nations headquarters. His last assignment was as spokesman for the UN mission in Iraq immediately after the US-led 2003 war and occupation.

Lone was the founding editor of the pioneer woman’s monthly in Kenya, Viva in the 70s and was in fact forced to flee the country during the early Moi years fearing arrest for some of his political pieces in Viva a magazine. That was what led to his arrival in New York and a 21 year career at the UN. Still he is no stranger to harassment from Kenyan security agents in those terrible years of limited press freedom where numerous activists disappeared and brave writers disappeared without trace.

So the truth is that Lone does not scare easily. That is why analysts are ev en more worried and are wondering what exactly caused the ODM communications director to suddenly hop onto a plane and flee.

Admittedly, it seems clear that Lone no longer felt safe in Kenya. But what is this threat which ODM and Raila Odinga could NOT adequately protect him from? And why keep his intentions secret by telling ODM colleagues that he was away briefly and would be back by Monday (today)?

Clearly Lone knows something that many of us do not know yet. One theory is that he was made aware that President Kibaki is about to arrest and detain without trial, all top pentagon members and their close associates. (Yes, the constitution still empowers him to d just that). The information that Kumekucha has from impeccable sources is that the Kamikaze-like Kibaki administration has been agonizing for weeks now over this decision. Hardliners within the Kibaki camp favor such a move and have been pushing for it. Those who know the president are well aware of his weakness of avoiding to make decisions until it is too late. He delayed his exit from Kanu until the very last minute and even waited until Christmas day December 1991 to announce his defection from Kanu to form his own political party, DP (Democratic Party).

Again, during his first term as president, Kibaki delayed making a decision about the LDP rebels within the Narc coalition and as a result allowed the rebellion to spread and the popularity of the rebels to rise to the detriment of his own. And when he finally got rid of them, he did it by dissolving the entire government. He however got a rude shock when for the first time in Kenya’s history a number of politicians rejected their appointments to the cabinet. Only a last minute desperate deal with Ford Kenya ad Musikari Kombo as well as Charity Ngilu, saved his government.

True to form, those who know the president well are predicting that he is about to make a drastic belated step in restoring order and stamping his authority as the “duly elected president.” Never mind about the Anan talks.

Another theory to explain Salim Lone’s decision to flee Kenya so suddenly is the much-talked about second wave of violence, which the Kalenjin community has called the “coming war,” which is widely expected to beak out if and when the Anan talks fail to reach an agreeable conclusion. It is possible that Lone felt that it would be difficult to leave the country then and therefore opted to flee early before the human waste hits the fun, as some people say.

This is the kind f speculation that has kept most analysts on their toes, even as Lone sticks to his story that he was threatened by some sympathizers of PNU. Whatever anybody wants to believe, it is clear that something very major is about to happen in Kenya.

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Next Steps for Resolving the Crisis in Kenya

Secretary Condoleezza Rice
Nairobi, Kenya
February 18, 2008

SECRETARY RICE: Good afternoon. I’ve just completed discussions first this morning with former Secretary General Kofi Annan, who is on behalf of the African Union and the international community here to try and help the Kenyan people and their leadership come to an end to the stalemate and the crisis that has been at the core of difficulty for this country for some time now. I then had an opportunity to speak with President Kibaki and then later on with Mr. Odinga. I’ve also had a chance to speak with several members of civil society and the business community.

And my very clear message has been that it is extremely important that this country be able to move forward. That means that the political leaders from all persuasions, all sides, need to come to an agreement. They need to have a power-sharing arrangement which will allow the governance of Kenya to go forward. Kofi Annan has made good progress in working with the parties to close several outstanding issues. There is the remaining issue of governance, and that structure needs to be decided. There needs to be a coalition. They need to share power and share responsibility for the governing of this country.

I was especially moved to listen to the members of civil society and the business community talk about the impatience, frankly, of the Kenyan people that this be resolved. And that is because this is a country that is and has been on the road to more democracy and to better governance, and it needs to return to that road. This is not a time for personal agendas. This is a time for putting at the forefront the good of Kenya and the good of the Kenyan people.

I know that Kofi Annan is going to continue to conduct his mediation. The teams for the parties are going to continue to meet. And I am really here to say that the United States, as a friend of the Kenyan people, as the United States respecting the Kenyan people and their traditions and their desire for progress, will obviously continue to follow the situation, to do what we can to assist Kofi Annan as he moves forward.

But again, just to strongly underscore that this is a crisis that needs to end and needs to end soon. Thank you very much, and now I’ll take a couple of questions. Is there a Kenyan reporter from whom I can take a question? Yes.

QUESTION: Beatrice Marshall, KTN. Now, Dr. Rice, President Bush has said there must be a full return to democracy. What does the U.S. envision as the necessary steps and signs to make this happen in Kenya?

SECRETARY RICE: Thank you. Well, first of all, I think that the four items that Kofi Annan and the parties have agreed to in the framework – that is, first of all, that there must be an end to violence, a total renunciation of violence as an option, a refusal in any fashion to return to the violence that took the lives of so many innocent Kenyans – that is, first and foremost, the most important plank of any platform to move forward.

Secondly, there needs to be agreement that the parties are going to allow a electoral truth to be found, which means that a commission that can look into what happened in the election, which clearly was not a good day for Kenyan democracy although Kenyans obviously tried to exercise their democratic rights and we congratulate them on having done so. There does need to be an understanding and accounting for what happened in the elections.

Third, there needs to be a way to govern Kenya now, and that is going to require political compromise on the part of the major parties so that Kenya can move forward.

And then finally, there needs to be, as there was supposed to have been over the last several years, constitutional reform, electoral reform, a number of other reforms that really need to be made so that this country has a firm foundation for democracy moving forward.

And so that is really what’s meant by returning to the democratic path. I think it’s been laid out. But sometimes in democracies, there are crises, and the key is to use any crisis as an opportunity to put the country on a firmer footing. And that was the message that I gave and talked with the parties about and that I just talked also with civil society, the business community. And indeed, I think the role of the press here has been similarly supportive of a return to the democratic enterprise.

MODERATOR: Reuters, Bryson Hull.

QUESTION: Good afternoon, Madame Secretary. You’ve said that the United States is willing to take some steps to make sure that a solution is found, power-sharing goes forward. Can you elaborate on what those steps would be and under what timeframe you would be working?

SECRETARY RICE: Well, I frankly believe that the time for a political settlement was yesterday. It is really important that this be done and done urgently. Now, not everything can be done very quickly. Obviously, some of the reforms are going to take some time, and that’s good. But Kenyans, I sense, need to believe that this country is moving forward, that it is not locked in a political stalemate, that the parties are prepared to make the necessary compromises so that the country can be governed after the events of the elections.

And so that is why I’m here is to support that mediation. Kofi Annan talked yesterday with the President. The President again offered that we are prepared to help in any way that we can. I also have talked to a number of my colleagues around the world who are prepared to do the same thing.

But the United States is ready, for instance, to support civil society in making certain that there is accountability as constitutional and other reforms go forward. There is no greater accountability for democratically elected leaders than to have a civil society that is strong and mature and able to keep check on what’s going on. And so we’ve been supportive of civil society. We’re prepared to do more.

We obviously are very concerned about the displaced people and the need to take care of people who have been displaced from their homes. The United States has already helped with humanitarian assistance. We are prepared to do more for reconstruction, for resettlement of peoples, for the rehabilitation and reconstruction of the infrastructure. These are the kinds of the things that the United States, in conjunction with the international community, could do for a government that is moving forward.

But I want to be very clear: The current stalemate and the circumstance are not going to permit business as usual with the United States or, I think, with any other part of the international community. Kenya must be moving forward. We have been good friends with Kenya and we will be good friends – the United States – with Kenya and the Kenyan people. That requires now that this country be put on a firmer footing. And so that’s how – those are some of the things that we can do to help. But I’m here principally to lend our support and our voice to the importance of getting this done and to Kofi Annan in particular.

Thank you very much.

QUESTION: Can we have one more question?

SECRETARY RICE: Yes.

QUESTION: What was the reaction that you received today when you delivered your message about the power sharing (inaudible) two main individuals?

SECRETARY RICE: Yes.

QUESTION: And you said this morning you were talking about real power sharing. What does that mean? What is real power sharing and what isn’t real power sharing?

SECRETARY RICE: Well, real power sharing means to me that the parties that come to any kind of coalition have to actually have responsibilities and authorities that matter. It can’t be that there is simply the illusion of power sharing. It has to be real.

I do believe that I heard from both parties a well understood need to get an agreement, a desire to get an agreement. These are – all of them, I think – Kenyan patriots. They want to see this country move forward. It won’t surprise you that there are differences about how that might go forward, but I’ve had very detailed and in-depth discussions. I’ve passed on to Kofi Annan some of my hearing, some of what I heard, and he can now take that and reengage the parties to what I hope will be a solution that really does recognize that there are parties here who are going to share in the power and share in the responsibility of governing this country. And by the way sharing in the responsibility also means putting aside forever, for good, all means of violence, any claim to violence. And that perhaps is the most important message.

Thank you very much. Thank you.

QUESTION: One local?

SECRETARY RICE: All right. Local question, really quick.

QUESTION: Will the U.S. be prepared to impose sanctions, first of all? And number two, your counterpart here in Kenya said that, in his own words, outsiders should not dictate to Kenya; in other words, don’t hold a gun to our heads in, you know, moving forward. What do you say?

SECRETARY RICE: Well, first, as to what other things the United States might do on the other side, you know, I’m not going to speculate. I do think that we’ve made clear that we would not countenance people who have been involved in violence against innocent people or manipulations of certain sorts. That is – that’s something that the United States maintains worldwide. And of course, we’ll look at the issues here case by case in that regard. And I think the Ambassador has been clear on that and he’ll continue to be clear on that.

As to the international community, look, Kenya is a friend and I want to underscore again that Kenya is a friend. Kenya is also an independent and proud country with independent and proud people. And so this is not a matter of dictating a solution to Kenyans. But what I hear is the impatience and the insistence of Kenyans that this be resolved. I have been very impressed in my discussions with civil society, with the business community, in what I’ve read in your editorials and what I’ve seen in your headlines, that it’s Kenyans who are insisting that their political leaders, their political class, find a solution to this crisis so that Kenya can move forward.

So to the degree that the international community, through Kofi Annan or through visits like my own, can help, we should, because we are after all one international community. There are certain standards concerning democracy that we all understand. And that’s what I’m here to do. But I would just object to the word “dictate.” I don’t think anybody is trying to dictate a future to Kenya. But I do think that the Kenyan people, supported by the international community, are insisting that there be a political resolution of this so that Kenya can move forward.

Thank you.

Statement by Dr Kofi Annan on 15-2-2008

OPENING STATEMENT BY H.E. KOFI ANNAN

PRESS CONFERENCE

Serena Nairobi Hotel, 15 February 2008

Good afternoon, Ladies and Gentlemen.

We have just returned from 48 hours of intense and fruitful negotiations at a secret location outside of Nairobi, which all of you now know was the Kilaguni Lodge in the Tsavo West Game Reserve.

I want to thank you for letting us work there in peace, even after you discovered where we were.

The parties worked well together during their two days at Kilaguni– often in mixed groups and by themselves – showing their strong commitment to peace and reconciliation in Kenya.

They reached agreement on a range of issues, and narrowed considerably the options for a governance structure.

Some of the points of agreement are:

–The creation of an Independent Review Committee.

–This Committee would be mandated to investigate all aspects of the 2007 Presidential Election and make findings and recommendations to improve the electoral process.

–The Committee will be a non-judicial body made up of Kenyan and non-Kenyan recognized electoral experts of the highest professional standing and personal integrity.

–The Committee will submit its report within 3-6 months and it should be published within 14 days of submission. It should start its work not later than 15 March 2008.

–The findings of the Independent Review Committee must be factored into the comprehensive electoral reforms that are envisaged.

Through the discussion, it became apparent that there is no viable way, either by re-count, re-tally or any other measure, to determine the outcome of the 2007 election in a way that would be expeditious and that would not further divide Kenyan society..

However, the facts have to come out and Kenyans have to know what happened. We agreed that the system must be reformed so that such a crisis never happens again.

The Independent Review Committee will allow for this to take place in an environment of tranquility and transparency, thus contributing to further healing and reconciliation of the country.

We did consider the options of a re-count or re-tally and concluded that:

–A delay of the several months needed for a recount could significantly increase existing tensions and delay resolution of the current crisis, and we recognize that the result of a re-count might not further Kenyan unity.

–A re-tally could not determine the correct result in stations or constituencies where problems or irregularities were identified.

On the need for a political settlement to resolve the current crisis, we agreed on the following:

–Recognizing that there is a serious crisis in the country we concluded that a political settlement is a necessary and effective way to promote national reconciliation and unity.

–We also agree that such a political settlement must be one that reconciles and heals the nation and reflects the best interests of all Kenyans. A political settlement is necessary to manage and implement expeditiously a broad reform agenda and other mechanisms that will address the root causes of the crisis and deepen and broaden Kenyan democratic foundations.

Such reforms and mechanisms will comprise, but are not limited to, the following:
Comprehensive Constitutional reforms;
Comprehensive electoral reform – including of the electoral laws, the electoral commission and dispute resolution mechanisms;
A truth, justice and reconciliation commission;
Identification and prosecution of perpetrators of violence;
Respect for human rights;
Parliamentary reform;
Police reform;
Legal and Judicial reforms;
Commitment to a shared national agenda in Parliament for these reforms;
Other legislative, structural, political and economic reforms as needed.

On the issue of governance arrangements, the parties discussed the matter intensively and have developed a number of options, on which they have agreed to consult their principals and leadership and come back to continue negotiations on Monday, with the hope that a final conclusion will be reached shortly after that.

This is the only outstanding issue on Agenda Item 3—How to Resolve the Political crisis. In summary, we have defined the reform agenda for a new government and are now discussing the “how” and the mechanisms required for implementation.

While we are making considerable progress on Agenda Item 3, we have also agreed that settlement of the issues in Agenda Item 4—Long-Term Issues and Solutions–are fundamental to a viable long-term solution of the crisis.

The implementation of the following reforms should commence urgently in concert with reforms of Agenda Item 3.

· Consolidating national cohesion and unity;
· Land reform;
· Tackling poverty and inequity, as well as combating regional development imbalances, particularly promoting equal access to opportunity;
· Tackling unemployment, particularly among the youth;
Reform of the Public Service;
Strengthening of anti-corruption laws and public accountability mechanisms;
Reform of Public Finance and Revenue Management Systems and Institutions;
· Addressing issues of accountability and transparency.

The parties agreed that this settlement is not about the sharing of political positions but about addressing the fundamental root causes of recurrent conflict. Therefore, the parties have reaffirmed their commitment to address the issues within Agenda Item 4 quickly and comprehensively.

Milestones and benchmarks for the implementation of the reform agenda will be defined in our continuing discussions.

I know that many of you have been eager to write the headline, “We have a deal” on all the political issues. But I again advise patience. The issues are complex; reaching compromise is difficult. But let me assure you that there is real momentum. We are at the water’s edge and the last difficult and frightening step will be taken. I am confident that, in the interests of Kenya and its people, the parties will show the wisdom, flexibility and foresight to conclude an agreement.

Let me now say a word about my own involvement in this process. [ad lib]

I will now take your questions.

* * *

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EXCLUSIVE: Raila’s letter to Ban Ki Moon, UN Secretary General

H.E. Ban Ki Moon
UN Secretary General
Nairobi, Kenya

1 February 2008

Republic of Kenya

It is with utter sadness that I welcome you to Kenya. Our country, whose enduring stability made it a host for mediating conflicts in so many neighbouring countries, has now itself been plunged into chaos, bringing death and untold suffering to hundreds of thousands. Your presence here is an immense source of hope for our terrified people, and provides reassurance that the world is united in wanting the bloodshed to end and democracy restored in Kenya.

Your own concern over our crisis has been evident from the moment it erupted, when you issued a strong statement about the imperative need to end the violence that followed what every national and independent monitoring group termed as a deeply flawed election. Enclosed please find a dossier that summarises details of the fraud.

Excellency, you have now rightly warned that catastrophe looms, and that both leaders must act together to restore security for our people. I would like to assure you that my colleagues and I have repeatedly condemned the violence, asserting that no grievance, no matter how legitimate, can be justified, and that violence in any event is fruitless and counterproductive, since it only begets more violence. Mr. Kibaki has also condemned the violence.

But the fact remains that however categorical each side’s commitment to restoring peace, it is only those who control the instruments of state who can end the murderous rampages and provide security for all our people. Indeed, there is ample evidence that sections of the security forces are themselves abetting this violence, including through supporting a much-feared militia which relentlessly pursues communities which supported ODM.

So insecurity, rather than being contained, is actually growing, with the murders of two elected ODM Members of Parliament heightening fears that others are targeted as well. Indeed, a number of international groups have asked that government ensures the security of Mr. Maina Kiai, the government appointed Chairman of the Kenya National Human Rights Commission. There have been death threats against journalists and other civil society actors, as well as other political leaders.

H.E. Kofi Anan’s mission has given Kenyans great hope that violence will end and the political crisis, centred around the fraudulent presidential election, resolved rapidly. Your own presence to show full support for this mission and for Kenyans has further boosted the people’s resolve.

But the fact remains that even since Mr. Anan’s mission started, intense new violence has been initiated. These included last weekend’s attacks in Naivasha, in which scores were killed, some in full view of the police and television cameras. One ghastly attack saw 19 people, mostly women and children, burned alive, with 11 members of one family wiped out. A similar horific incident took place in an Eldoret church nearly a month ago.

So even as we remain firmly focussed on ensuring success for the mediation mission, we clearly cannot await its successful conclusion before the attacks and assaults Kenyans are suffering are brought to an end. The security forces clearly are not capable of providing security to the people.

We therefore appeal to you to use your good offices to find a way to provide such protection to the people of Kenya, too many of whom live in dread of being attacked and murdered every night. We are pleased that this crisis has engaged not only you but the entire international community and world leaders. We particularly welcome the African Union’s serious concern over the situation, and also the new proposal by France to engage the Security Council more fully in our crisis.

We sincerely hope that within these various international efforts, a way can be found to provide protection to threatened Kenyans.

We again thank you for your personal visit to Kenya, and assure that we will leave no stone unturned to reach a peaceful settlement.

Accept, Excellency, the assurance of our highest consideration.

Eng. Raila Amolo Odinga
Leader,
Orange Democratic Party
Nairobi, Kenya

What Happens Next After PNU Hardliners Render Annan Peace Mission Stillborn?

It can be authoritatively revealed that three members of president Kibaki’s part cabinet and his two close advisors have made it their business priority to ensure that the Annan  led mediation to resolve the post-election crisis is still-born. Sadly, one of the cabinet ministers is the PNU Team lead negotiator of what is now known as the Kenyan National Dialogue and Reconciliation Team. These unpatriotic individuals represent the interests of powerful business cartels which supported Kibaki’s re-election campaign and those which dread the prospects of transferring government operations into the office of the yet to be created Prime Minister, even worse when the holder of this office is one Raila Odinga. What is interesting is that some of these hardliners including the cowboys in cartels whose interests they represent form up to two thirds of those who have received letters from the US State Department about imminent asset freeze and visa bans.

The Minister for Justice & Constitutional Affairs Martha Wangari Karua and her Transport and Finance colleagues, John Njoroge Michuki and Amos Kimunya respectively are the main stumbling blocks in the mediation efforts. Unlike other members of cabinet who have to seek appointments before seeing President Mwai Kibaki, these three individuals have unhindered 24-7 access to Kibaki and have variously advised the president to adopt uncompromising positions that end up undermining international attempts at mediation. To begin with, after ODM rejected their insistence on local mediation, they are said to detest use of the term ‘mediation’ and prefer ‘negotiation’. Secondly, they are directly responsible for the failure of President Kufuor’s mission earlier in the crisis to bring the two protagonists together. Other efforts they have successfully frustrated include that of retired African heads of state as well as that of Desmond Tutu. Kimunya is so confident that he has dismissed threats of donor aid freeze by assuring kibaki ‘over 90% of the Kenyan budget is financed internally and our Chinese friends will never let us down in our time of need’.

The other two individuals responsible for the deepening of Kenya’s worst quagmire in independent history are his long-time golfing buddy , Joe Wanjui as well as the State House based PS in charge of Strategy, Stanley Murage. The former is the ‘general’ who brought in Amos Kimunya into Kibaki’s inner circle and campaigned for his appointment as Daudi Mwiraria’s replacement at the Finance ministry. On his part, Murage has in recent weeks had ‘minor’ problems with respect to fighting his detractors at the hill, but that appears to be water under the bridge as the man has outmaneuvered his and still remains in his influential position at state house. These two individuals have repeatedly urged Kibaki to totally reject all international intervention aimed at resolving Kenya’s political crisis saying that there is a government in charge and it has everything under control. They opine international intervention is akin to admitting that PNU government lacks legitimacy and to an extent allowing foreigners take control of Kenya’s sovereignty. International pressure and the fact that government has not had total control in the country appears to have forced Kibaki to accept Annan’s mediation mission, but that now seems to be under serious threat from the hardliners.

After half-heartedly accepting Kofi Annan’s mediation mission, the PNU have adopted a strategy in which they intend to concede as little ground as possible to ODM in the on-going talks least of all agree to a transitional government under a grand coalition.

This probably explains why Martha Karua was quick to send a protest letter to Annan after he told Parliament that a “grand coalition” could oversee reforms in Kenya to pave the way for elections in two years. Karua’s letter went on to say “My team is alarmed at some serious inaccurate statement made by your excellency.” Forming a transitional government to prepare elections “has not been discussed or agreed upon” in the mediation talks, now in their third week and nearing the deadline fixed by Kofi Annan at the start of the talks.

In other words, political observers and diplomats are interpreting the protest letter by Martha Karua that PNU are not ready to make any concessions and still stand by their belief that Kibaki is the duly elected president of Kenya after having won presidential vote fairly and having been constitutionally sworn-in, and should therefore not have to share power with ODM under whatever circumstances. So what is next for this country?

While Annan sees a grand-coalition as the only workable political solution to Kenya’s crisis, PNU are trying to push the argument that the move is like introducing single-party dictatorship through the back door.

Meanwhile, interesting news from Kilaguni Lodge (unknown location my foot!) where the mediation team is based, say that ODM have demanded that the coalition be crafted in terms of parliamentary strength and that ODM should therefore have 55% of cabinet seats while the rest share 45%! Interestingly, Kibaki’s heir apparent and the hardliner’s choice to inherit Kibaki’s mantle KANU’s Uhuru Kenyatta has been quoted as saying he does not have any qualms with a grand coalition government arrangement.

Anyone with their ears to the ground in Nairobi must have heard that the mediation talks are doomed to fail and residents are being urged to stock-up now to avoid next week’s violence and inconveniences of street protests that will break-out following the announcement of the postponement (diplo- speak for failure) of the mediation talks.

What follows after this announcement will disappoint a lot of people…….

(to be continued as we monitor events and pray for this country)

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