---

---

Kenya: Call for Accountability

11 November 2008

---

analysis

Washington, DC — "We are witnessing a situation where the politicians in government are satisfied that they are now sharing power and that it is business as usual. It is disturbing that they prefer to push all issues that contributed to the crisis under the carpet ... We as Kenyan civil society are certain that the crisis we witnessed is not over. These same politicians will certainly break this country if they go unpunished. We demand the full implementation of the Waki recommendations and immediate disbandment of the Electoral Commission of Kenya." - Kenyans for Peace through Truth and Justice

Millions in Africa and around the world, as well as in the United States, celebrated the election of Barack Obama as a sign of hope for the future. Kenyan President Mwai Kibaki declared November 6 a public holiday, and the Tanzanian parliament passed a special resolution congratulating the U.S. president elect.

[If you have not already overdosed on news coverage of this, see, for example, a google search for "Obama celebration Africa" at http://tinyurl.com/59rcak, or check out AllAfrica's coverage at http://allafrica.com/usafrica, including a photoessay on "Obamamania in Western Kenya."]

Notably, it was Obama's example rather than the prospects of changed U.S. foreign policy or expected benefits for Africa that was stressed by a large number of African commentaries. African leaders, commentators stressed, should follow the example of electoral transparency and inspiration rather than clinging to power and privilege. "True democracy requires tolerance and the ability to give in with grace when we lose a political contest," editorialized Nairobi's Daily Nation.

This AfricaFocus Bulletin contains statement by Kenyan civil society and Kenyan Catholic bishops calling for Kenya's political leaders to be accountable on their own country's political crisis.

For previous AfricaFocus Bulletins on Kenya, and links to additional resources, including recent books, visit http://www.africafocus.org/country/kenya.php

++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++

Many thanks to those subscribers who sent in a voluntary subscription payment to support AfricaFocus Bulletin in response to yesterday's appeal. If you haven't yet sent in such a payment and are able to do so, please send in a check or pay on-line with paypal or Google checkout. See

http://www.africafocus.org/support.php for a form to print out or secure links to pay on-line.

++++++++++++++++++++++end +++++++++++++++++++++++

Kenyans for Peace through Truth and Justice urges full implementation of Waki Report

http://www.pambazuka.org/en/category/elections/51717

Press Statement

Nairobi, October 30, 2008

We note the rare unity of the political class in dismissing the report of the Commission of Inquiry into the Post-Election Violence as inadequate and flawed. We also note the dismissive attitude of the police force towards the findings of the investigation, as well as the faultfinding by the Attorney General. The commission chaired by Appeal Court Judge Philip Waki travelled around the country to visit the theatres of the violence, hear oral evidence on oath from 156 witnesses and take sworn (written) testimony from 144 people over four months.

This is what the commission found:

The violence was initially a spontaneous reaction to the elections results and initially targeted government institutions, such as was the case in Nyanza. The initial intention was not to kill but to expel people and destroy property.

After that, the violence took on a more organised form.

Politicians and businesspeople organised and planned attacks. The evidence of this was in the warnings people received, the numbers of attackers mobilised and moved, the weapons acquired and the secrecy involved in targeting people of given ethnic groups.

The failure by the police to act on intelligence, to be impartial and professional in their work, as well as to respond appropriately only made matters worse. Police used excessive force.

There was a discernible breakdown in the chain of command.

Findings:-

a. Deaths

The violence claimed 1,133 lives. This contradicts the official police figure of 616.

Gunshots were the most frequent cause of death, accounting for nearly four in every 10 deaths (35.7 per cent of total deaths).

Police were found to be responsible for all deaths by gunshot. The commission also found that police response was uneven, even where faced with similar situations. In Nyanza and Western provinces, for example, police response was more brutal and the use of force, excessive.

The highest number of deaths by ethnicity are recorded as Luo (278); Gikuyu (268); Kalenjin (158) and Luhya (163).

b. Rape and sexual violence

Individual and gang rapes, sometimes using objects, were committed in front of families. Men as well as women were targeted based on their ethnicity and political affiliation. Genital mutilation, including castration and forced male circumcision, were rampant.

The police told the commission that there were no incidents reported of sexual or gender-based violence. General Service Unit, regular and administration police were however found to have taken part in the rapes (including gang rape) and obstructed reporting and investigations.

c. Official response

The Government did nothing to ease the tensions before the elections. It posted 1,600 Administration Police officers to Nyanza because, in the testimony of the Head of the Public Service to the Commission, it was hostile territory.

The Commissioner of Police ordered the release of Chinkororo and SunguSungu gangs involved in violence before the elections. Police officers were posted to receive and relay election results in orders clearly outside their call of duty.

The National Security Intelligence Service acted suspiciously outside its mandate by seeking 50 accreditations for election observers and conducting opinion polls in order to provide information to the Head of Public Service.

The police in North Rift and the provincial administration were unprepared for the violence, raising questions about their coordination with intelligence services. Although the commission noted individual acts of personal courage among police officers in saving lives, the police in North Rift participated in the violence, or were just divided and overwhelmed.

The Cabinet security committee never met throughout the election period and after, and there were no joint preparations for what would possibly arise. There were no formal meetings at the national level, raising questions about who was in charge and who was in control of the security apparatus. Variations of this misnomer would be apparent at the provincial level.

The police ban on assembly and the ban on live broadcasting worsened the security situation in the country. Further investigations into police use of force and rape as well as records on the use of ammunition and supplies require independent investigators.

d Impunity

The Attorney General is culpable for promoting impunity. He has been in charge of prosecutions for the entire time that the parliamentary select committee chaired by Kennedy Kiliku and the Judicial Commission of Inquiry chaired by Justice Akilano Akiwumi made recommendations about further investigations and prosecutions for ethnic-based violence. The AG's role in failing to follow up on the Kiliku and Akiwumi reports is stark. For their part, the police claimed they had not even read the reports.

The recommendations

The political class is distorting the Waki Report to appear as if it only recommends their own punishment. Fortunately, it does more than that. Kenya is much bigger than the 10 or so people on the list of perpetrators that the commission has handed to the Panel of Eminent African Personalities. Given a choice between the 10 suspects and the 38 million Kenyans, our choice is obvious.

Read comments. Write your own.

---