ENOUGH IS ENOUGH: OUR SURVIVAL DEPENDS ON US!!
2008
is a year many of us will not forget quickly. It is a year that began with
shocking violence; when Kenyans attacked other Kenyans. Kofi Annan came to
Considering
the great loss of life, limb and property, Kenyans expect the commissions created by the
National Accord to be different. We expect their recommendations to be
implemented. Too many people had lost their lives. Too many Kenyans had been displaced, impoverished by arson, murder and the chaos we
endured. No politicians should play politics this time round. The cost was too
much. It is our last chance to make peace with each other. If we squander the
chance, the future will be more violent, history will judge us harshly.
The
Independent Review Commission (Kriegler) was created
to help us understand what went so wrong with our elections that we ended up
slaughtering each other. Its recommendations were that we need a total overhaul
of our electoral laws, that the Electoral Commission
on
Our
politicians have made garbage out of that report. Both the PNU and the ODM, the
principal antagonists, thumped their chests and claimed victory. Politicians
ignore the core essence of the report; that our electoral laws are so flawed
that we will fight and continue fighting every time there are elections. The truth
is that the laws are cannot deliver a free and fair election. Judge Kriegler may have his shortcomings in diplomacy but he is
right; electoral laws need an overhaul.The Commission
of Inquiry into the Post Election Violence (Waki) had
the duty of finding out who was responsible for the post elections violence.
The commission made a report and gave a list of those implicated as the
organisers and financiers of the violence given to the two principals; the
President and the Prime Minister. Then MPs started holding rallies to condemn
the findings and recommendations. Do our dead children, raped mothers and burnt
homes matter that little to the politicians in PNU and ODM? Thousands of
families lost their worldly belongings when they were uprooted from their homes.
Kikuyus and Luos alike were
evicted from their homes. There are Kikuyus and Kalenjins in IDP camps. Does no politician care about our
well being?
Politicians
are rubbishing the Waki report. It is, in their
opinion, hearsay and rumours. Anyone listed should be given a chance to get
heard. Who heard the thousands that were killed? When the police shot dead the
youth, who heard them? When the Kiambaa church was
burnt, who heard the victims? When 11 members of Mr Ndege’s
family were burnt in Naivasha, who heard them? When
demonstrators were shot in our slums, who heard them? Yes, it is important that
every person accused of committing crimes be given a fair trial. That does not,
however, mean that we look the other way when the reports point fingers at our blood-soaked political
class. There are other commissions that were formed by the National Accord. The
Truth, Justice and Reconciliation Commission (TJRC) that politicians are quick
to mention was included. So was
the National Ethnic and Race Relations Commission (NERC). The TJRC is supposed
to address historical injustices from 1963 to 2007. The NERC is intended to
address tribal issues so that we can avoid violent encounters between tribes in
the future. What hope do these have of ever being formed or of working if we
trash the Kriegler and Waki
commission reports?
We
must remind the political class that it was our children that were killed, our
wives, daughters and mothers that were raped, our homes that were burnt. We
will forgive, but forgiveness is ours. No one, not even the president can
forgive on our behalf. We remind the politicians also that our sons and
husbands have gone missing. Until their safe return to our homes there shall be
no amnesty for anyone. The same razor that shaved our youth shall shave our
politicians. We remind the President and the Prime Minister that they broke
ranks with their party MPs to made a deal. We expect
them to break ranks with their party MPs if that is what it takes to bring to
book the accused. Both President Kibaki and Prime
Minister Odinga were asking for an opportunity to
lead Kenyans. We are asking them to show leadership at this time and to join
the people of Kenya who are demanding that justice not only be done, but be
seen to be done in our country.
The police
and the military are increasingly reported to be abusing human rights of
innocent citizens in Mandera, Mt. Elgon, during the
Post-Election period, against the Mungiki in
2007...We have no objections to reasonable measures taken to restore peace and security.
We, however, object to insecurity, violence and abuse of human rights-
regardless of who is causing it- and demand that claims of such abuses by state
agents, whether police or military, be investigated and stern action taken
against identified perpetrators. We demand that the ongoing military operation
in Mandera that has put innocent Kenyans in
concentration camps where beatings and other forms of torture are reported be
halted with immediate effect, and action taken against any officers guilty of
torturing Kenyans.
We demand
that Members of the 10th Parliament respect all the provisions of
the National Accord that gives the Grand Coalition Government its legality.
Selective application of the provisions of the National Accord is not
acceptable. The National Accord IS the Law. It is a part of our Constitution.
It must be implemented in full. The recommendations of the Independent Review
Commission (Kriegler) and those of the Commission of
Inquiry on Post Election Violence (Waki) must be
fully implemented. Those implicated in the post election violence must be dealt
with decisively, without fear or favour. We
demand that the 1.229 billion allocated to household services of the three top
families be diverted and used to buy relief food for the millions of Kenyans
who cannot afford to buy food.
The Grand
Collusion: Things you should know: Since
January, the cost of food and basic items has quadrupled. The cost of maize
floor- the staple food for most Kenyans- has now reached the Kshs. 100 mark. Kerosene which serves as fuel for poor
Kenyans has more than doubled in cost. The cost of electricity has tripled.
Soap, sugar, cooking oil, fresh produce have all risen
beyond the capacity of the ordinary Kenyan household. Parents have to choose
between sharing pitifully small and poorly cooked meals with their starving
children. Millions of adult Kenyans are now surviving on only one small meal
per day.
Feeding
the President, Prime Minister and Vice-President: The Grand
Collusion Government takes every opportunity to remind us that the rising cost
of living is a global problem. Granted, there is a
problem with the rising cost of food and energy worldwide. But it is also true
that in the 2008-2009 budget, the starving masses of
Kenyans will pay a whopping Kshs. 1.229 billions for
the household needs of the families of the top three leaders- Kibaki, Raila, and Kalonzo. Those three leaders together with their wives and
children will consume from the national budget a total of Kshs
1, 229,000,000.00 (Approximately 16 million USD ).
The three
top families will consume from our national budget more money than is allocated
for building roads (Kshs. 1.2 billion). They will
consume more than the amount of money allocated to the Youth Enterprise Fund
& Empowerment Centres (Kshs 750 million).
Mr and
Mrs Kibaki alone will consume more money (Kshs. 888 million) than the amount allocated to Cooperative
Development and Marketing (Kshs 882 million). Mr and
Mrs Kalonzo will consume more money (Kshs. 231 million) than the amount of money allocated to
Northern Kenyan and Arid Lands where Kenyans, including those in Ukambani in Kalonzo’s backyard
who continue to starve to death (Kshs. 228 million).
Together the Odingas and the Kalonzos
will get more money (Kshs. 342 million) than the
Nairobi Metropolitan Development which is expected to uplift the standards of
living for millions of
The
rising cost of living is a local problem.: The
Grand Coalition Government is spending money that could provide food for
340,000 Kenyans on only 7 people. That’s a very local problem! It involves poor
mathematics, lack of morals, gluttony, selfishness, poor planning,
abuse of office…..There is nothing global about the difficulties we are facing.
Our problem is local. It includes 7 people who somehow find a way of consuming Kshs. 34 million shillings per day on household services
and media! Finding Kshs. 34 million per day to feed 7
people is not a global problem. Kshs. 34 million,
even at the expensive cost of Kshs. 100, is enough to
give a packet of maize flour to 340,000 families every day.
Factories
are closing down because of the increased cost of electricity. “The
government cannot assist, it is a global problem”. The cost of fuel now
stands at Kshs. 100 per litre. Ironically, the
government keeps urging struggling Kenyans to take action against
multi-national oil companies to demand a price reduction. The government
conveniently forgets to tell Kenyans that for every Kshs.
100 spent on fuel, the government collects Kshs. 47
through different taxes. There is nothing global about KRA collecting Kshs. 47 out of 100 from poor Kenyans! All that would be
needed would be for the government to zero-rate fuel- even if just Kerosene
which is used for cooking- to offer noticeable relief. At the current world
prices Kerosene, when zero-rated, would cost less than Kshs.
25 per litre, while petrol would only cost Kshs. 45
per litre.
There are
many reports of Kenyans starving in Northern Kenya, in Eastern, Rift Valley,
Coast and
The Kshs. 1.229 billion we are spending on a few elderly and
post-menopausal Kenyans is enough to drill more than 2,450 boreholes in arid
areas at a cost Kshs. 500,000 per borehole. If the
military is mobilised to drill the boreholes instead of beating starving
Kenyans, the amount may be enough to offer a permanent solution to the water
problems that cause fights to erupt in the arid areas. Kenyans remain silent.
While insisting that it understands the difficulties facing Kenyans, the
government has doubled the cost of parking fees in major towns. Effectively
that translates to an increase in the cost of travel for poor Kenyans since the
government offers no parking for public transport vehicles. An increase in
daily parking fees will be passed on to poor Kenyans through an increase in
fares. Announcing the increase Mudavadi, a Deputy
Prime Minister in the Grand Collusion Government who is also receiving a hefty
welfare cheque from starving taxpayers, said that the increase was made
necessary by a need to raise revenues and the fact that, in his opinion,
Kenyans have a lot of money. Which global problem warrants this unnecessary
assault on the meagre earnings of poor Kenyans? Mudavadi
thinks that the 80% of Kenyans living below the poverty line have money to
spare!
There is
grand corruption in the Grand Collusion Government. Public assets are being
disposed off with wanton negligence. Hotels worth billions are being sold for a
song. Our railway services were given to a company which has never given a
single cent to the Treasury. Kenya Railways generates profits. How can it make
any loss when since 1901
In
January the ODM politicians convinced thousands of Kenyans and the
international community that the judicial system was so flawed that they could
file a petition to challenge the results of the presidential elections at the
High Court in
We are concerned
that ODM politicians have unanimously rejected the results of the Waki Commission which include a recommendation that those
(politicians) suspected of masterminding the wanton carnage and destruction of
property early this year be tried by a tribunal to be created in Kenya for that
purpose or, failing that, to be tried at the International Criminal Court at
the Hague. Reports were that the decision by the ODM gang was unanimous which
would suggest that, contrary to reports in the media to the contrary, the Prime
Minister is included among the ODM politicians who seem to have found new
confidence in the judicial system. If the judicial system in
In an attempt to catch up with the ODM
brotherhood, PNU politicians hurriedly met to discuss the Waki
report. They, too, found it wanting. Some in their ranks are rumoured to be
included in the list of the financiers and organisers of the violence. Urgent
action was needed to protect their own. A few months ago, gangs of PNU
politicians ran helter skelter around the country
insisting that the youths that were arrested for taking part in the violence
should not be pardoned. During this year’s labour day
speech, the President said that those asking for amnesty for the youth must be
insane. When the PNU golden boys are on the chopping block, the President suddenly
wants Kenyans to be more forgiving. Hogwash.
What can you do to change the tide?
Send/give this message to as many people as
possible.
Demand the full implementation of the
National Accord including the Kriegler and Waki commission reports.
Participate in non-violent actions (prayers, processions,
demonstrations,) Communicate your discontent to your MP,
political party, the President and the Prime Minister. Read more to understand what the
politicians are doing, and teach others.
The Partnership for Change is an initiative
of the Kenya Network of Grassroots Organisations (KENGO) and the Mars Group.
Visit our websites for more information: http://www.kengonetwork.org
and http://www.marsgroup.com