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Thursday, September 10, 2009

Dangerous times for Ali?



There are four key figures who helped Kibaki steal the general elections in December 2007.


1. The chair of the then ECK

2. The head of the intelligence

3. The police commissioner

4. Martha Karua

These are people who know too much. They know enough to put away Mwai Kibaki for the rest of his life as soon as his term at State House ends.

We all know what the ECK chair did and we also know the key role of Michael Gichangi who heads the NSIS. So let me say a little about Martha Karua.

This iron lady is a hero these days. She joined the annals of Kenyan history as the second cabinet minister ever to resign on principal. She has been very busy with her presidential campaign ever since. But I beg to ask a question. If you were Mwai Kibaki would you allow her to walk away knowing what she does. For those who do not know, Martha’s sharp legal mind found the loopholes in our electoral laws that would ensure a second Mwai Kibaki term in State house despite his losing the elections which he knew he would. Michael Gichangi even had the figures of the approximate number of votes he would lose by.

So despite her hot air, did Martha Karua make a deal with Mwai Kibaki that allowed her to walk away with what she knows? You tell me what you think.

Now let us talk about Major General Ali who is the main subject of my post today. I love history, so kindly bear with me. Besides you need history to understand exactly what is going on here.

I followed Mwai Kibaki’s campaign in 2002 very closely. Like many Kenyans I really wanted to believe that he was the messiah Kenya had been waiting for and indeed I voted for him in that memorable 2002 general election. But even as he campaigned I couldn’t help spotting the naivety displayed in his ideas. He kept on repeating that the money the taxman collected then was more than enough to run the country. But he never once gave details of where all the money in the Moi administration was going to. Where was the waste? Just corruption? This is what I assumed he meant and even I observing things very far from the centre of power knew better. That is the cash the president needs (playing Moi and Kibaki politics) to remain in power. Indeed Kibaki quickly changed his mind within a few weeks of living in State house and that is why Anglo Leasing happen.

But I digress. I was talking about Ali. The other thing I found Mwai Kibaki very naïve in was in his ideas for fighting crime. Listening to him it was clear that he thought that a few simple moves would quickly rid the country of crime. You will remember that one of his first actions as chief executive of the nation was to request a written report from the country’s security kingpins. Kibaki’s plan soon emerged. The idea was to increase the number of policemen and women in the country and to get a couple of helicopters hovering over crime prawn areas at night. Had he listened to a few pumbavus then, he would have saved himself a lot of trouble and the taxpayer a lot of money.

Admittedly I was even more naïve. How did I expect a man who has always kept his distance with the common man and the riff ruff (pumbafu in his dictionary) to understand the problems on the ground?

So back to my story. To carry out these new ideas the president needed a new man at Vigilance House and that is how Maj Gen Ali ended up there. To the president’s credit Ali was promised immunity against politicians and this promise was generally kept.

If there is anything a soldier hates it is a job that is left undone. And so when it became clear that crime was never going to vanish because of helicopters in the air and more officers, other options were looked into. The Alston report told Kenyans and the world in detail what other methods Ali oversaw at Vigilance house. I remember the first time I broke that story here (long before the 2007 debacle and long long before Prof Alston), many of my readers just laughed me off. Admittedly Ali’s methods were very effective and the security situation improved dramatically. The only problem is that these methods are NOT acceptable in a civilized society.

We are told that pride comes before a fall. And so by the time December 2007 arrived, police commissioner Maj Gen Ali was riding high. He had proved time and again that he was immune to being sacked (and to noisy annoying politicians). I don’t want to repeat what I have said here before many times so let me just cut to the chase concerning the police commissioner’s role in the election theft of 2007.

I want to focus on the press conference the police commissioner held at KICC on the eve of the announcement of the presidential elections outcome. Indeed Kenyans were puzzled why Ali should hold a press conference to “lecture” Kenyans on keeping the peace whatever the outcome of the elections and yet the elections had already happened and the ECK was just too quiet on the outcome of the presidential elections. In retrospect it is rather clear why this was done. It is evident that as Ali talked that day and laughed at his own jokes with angry journalists stared at him in disbelief, he already knew what the outcome of those elections were. His job was to maintain law and order. Or to put it another way, to ensure that Kenyans accepted the election results at all costs.

So you can see folks that Ali knows too much because the election theft has to be covered up. Nobody must know the truth. Now the tricky situation here is that most legal experts see Ali ending up at the Hague to answer charges of crimes against humanity. Now, how is he going to defend himself? One way is to tell the truth. But we know the truth cannot be told under any circumstances. So will Ali go down alone like a good soldier? But even more important; will the relevant handlers at State House trust him to keep his mouth shut to the end? Is the appointment as Post Office CEO enough to ensure his silence? You see Ali is not Martha Karua. Martha is a seasoned politician and politicians make deals all the time. It is the way of politics. Besides it is unlikely that Martha will end up at the Hague for her role in 2007.

While he was police commissioner, Ali was meticulous about his personal security. If I were him I would double my personal security.

P.S. Remember the former CID chief who fell out with Ali? His name was Joseph Kamau. A few months ago the authoritative Indian Ocean newsletter claimed that Kamau had been appointed as special advisor to the president’s security team. I have since established from my impeccable sources that this is NOT true. So who fed those lies to the Frenchman at the Indian Ocean newsletter? And what was their motive? Well, the truth is that Kamau landed at a major local bank as head of its’ security and anti-fraud unit. He has done an excellent job there I am told. But some people think that now that Ali is a postman, Kamau may just re-appear on the scene. Who knows?

18 comments:

  1. For his unwavering loyalty and a job well done during the bungled 2007 election, me thinks Ali has been given a raw deal. Posta-wallah? They should have sent him to Geneva as a special envoy to something related to ICC.

    And to think that his appointment is mired in legal impropriety, hot in the heels of the much hyped Ringera's forceful appointment? God save us!

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  2. Ali asked for it. May he go hang in Hague. He is a loothless killer for hire.

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  3. Onyango Oloo9/10/09, 7:39 AM

    Chris,
    Where on earth did you learn writing? I would suggest you google and find free writing guides that will enable you to focus on a subject and explore it in depth. I am getting tired of your recycled, meandering pieces that completely lack direction. In this post for example, you should discuss Ali... any stories about other characters (Karua, Kibaki, Kamau) must be introduced only if they heighten your central theme. But when you mix everything up, and throw us to Karua, Kibaki, Hague, ECK... blah blah blah...the result is first class creative garbage.

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  4. Very well put Chris:

    "There are four key figures who helped Kibaki STEAL the general elections in December 2007.

    1. The chair of the then ECK

    2. The head of the intelligence

    3. The police commissioner

    4. Martha Karua

    These are people who know too much. They know enough to put away Mwai Kibaki for the rest of his life as soon as his term at State House ends.
    "

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  5. Anon 7:41 AM,

    I shall add this: SIKU ZA WEZI NI 40.

    Mwai "pumbavu" Kibaki, Samuel Kivuitu, Gichangi of the NSIS, Ali and Martha "Father Wamugunda's Kamugunda" Karua and their associates in the STEALING of the elections of December 2007 will pay for their theft. Mungu halali. Their punishment will come in due course. It is unavoidable.

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  6. Chris:

    This is trully mumbo jumbo. First, you start from the wrong premise that Kibaki stole the elections. Please, start by showing us how Kibaki stole the election, then give us specific affirmative acts of participation by those whose names you have mentioned.

    Secondly, your stream of consciousness approach is not fit for writing on a political issue; it result in a mchanganyiko maalum of misplaced words, names, and ideas.

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  7. If these are the people who helped Kibaki steal the elections, then who helped Molasses Raila rigg the elections in Nyanza and parts of Rift Valley????

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  8. There are so many wonderful topics to write about, yet these Kumekucha writers keep on bottom feeding!!

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  9. there are no loopholes in our so called electoral "stealing" laws, but it is a well known fact that there have been "huge rift valleys" in the electoral laws for years.

    We don't need a "legal mind" to figure that out in 2009. Why? Our grandparents were very much aware of the gaping holes in the electoral systems since the late 1960s.

    so, what is knew with your so called "i told you so" or "i was the first to tell you so"?

    i always wonder why you have become one of the busiest regurgitation pumping stations for low level political rumour mills in kenya as well as in the diaspora?

    ahaa! and don't tell us that the little tumbo kubwa aka wannabe kenya's next [tom amollo] to somewhere in the world, the same person who still based (wasting away/pushing papers/talking big) in washington dc is your so called reputable source?

    Or the other drunk from some where near forodha house in nairobi, who keeps reading his boss's private emails?

    btw, follow onyango oloo's tips on how you should improve on your wannabe michela wrong's ('it's our time to eat') writing skills.

    lol! your journalistic skills are no better than my std eight level skills. why am i not so shcoked at all?

    here you go! stick to the following:

    what, when, where, who, why, and how.

    then pen your own analytical understanding of the subject matter in question.

    as opposed to dishing out the usual "first class creative garbage" aka "i was the one who first mentioned it here several years ago."

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  10. Please give us something more intelligible.

    This article and its prose is horrible.

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  11. wewe Chris
    what do you have against NAIVETY?stop abusing more than 90% of KK readers please

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  12. what were the legal loopholes that martha karua used to ensure Kibaki came into power in 2007?????

    Kibaki coming into power in 2007 -that was a civilian coup which followed gross election fraud and irregularities.

    4 weeks before the Dec 2007 elections the rumour here was that elements in the armed forces would not let Odinga be president.

    At least Ali cannot bully nation journalists now....

    tell us who was behind Kibaki's auto accident before Dec 2002..

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  13. Seems Chris has reached his menopause and Sam Okello has lost his head. With Taabu stuck in his old Moi record of Tribalism, i wonder who will save KK from sliding to oblivion. It seems to have accelerated to that direction of late with below gutter listings and raw tribal garbage from Okello's.

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  14. The idea was to increase the number of policemen and women in the country and to get a couple of helicopters hovering over crime prawn areas at night. Had he listened to a few pumbavus then, he would have saved himself a lot of trouble and the taxpayer a lot of money.

    If this were his idea, then it would have been a very good one. There have been UN reports pushing for a massive increase in police numbers across Africa: the recommended ratio is 1 officer for every 400 citizens. Kenya, with 35,000 for 39 million, is well short.

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  15. I support the central thesis of thi article 100%.

    1. Kibaki and his CABALOCRACY thought they were too smart, but several things will work against them- aka vendetta. Karua and Kivitu.

    2. Ever heard of honor among thieves? Just doesn't exist folks.

    Folks, you heard it here first. As for Kibaki and his thieving, venal corrupt mbeca boys, they who will steal elections, steal your tax-payers money (AngloLeasing), heck, they will steal anything they can get their grubby hands on, I have the following message for him (them): You demented man in power- your time is up.

    Parliament has already started undressing you: The Emperor has no clothes!

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  16. Poverty is the real issue fueling Insecurity- A time Bomb


    Urban dwellers in Kenya are slipping deeper into poverty, creating a ‘crime time bomb’, an international aid agency has warned. Oxfam GB says urban poverty in Kenya is so severe the Government, donors and NGO’s cannot afford to ignore the phenomenon anymore. In a new report, Oxfam says more than a third of the country’s urban population live in poverty. The report paints a grim picture of how nearly two million of Nairobi’s population live in slums with limited or no access to water, sanitation, housing, and education and health services. The report, ‘Urban Poverty and Vulnerability in Kenya’ says falling household income, rising prices and poor governance are making life a misery for the poor in Nairobi. "An increasingly disenfranchised and poverty stricken urban class is set to be the country’s defining crisis over the next decade, unless the Government and international donors act urgently," said the head of Oxfam GB, Kenya Philippa Taylor, in Nairobi Thursday. The report says this is linked to rapid urbanisation, warning the trend is likely to increase, unless sufficient measures are put in place. The report faults the Government for ignoring the growing urban crisis and called for more funds to improve their livelihoods.

    "Just a few miles away from Parliament and State House, poor families are living in abject poverty, scouring streets for scraps of food and queuing for water they can barely afford. If the Government does not address this crisis it will get worse, said Ms Taylor. She added: "Having enough food to eat and clean, safe water is a basic human right, yet in Nairobi it is increasingly only for the rich minority. Nairobi is one of the most prestigious cities in East Africa, yet it is crumbling before our eyes." The report says a high proportion of the urban poor live in unplanned informal settlements. It says the global economic crisis and the current drought is not making life easy for city dwellers. Oxfam says more urban dwellers are now earning less, but forced to pay more to survive. Because of the rising poverty in the city, the report says, the gap between the rich and the poor is widening. As a result of the huge urban inequality, Oxfam says, the struggle to survive has forced some into commit crime and prostitution. "With Kenya still extremely politically volatile following last year elections, the risk of ethnically linked clashes in Nairobi’s slums is exacerbated by the growing resentment over inequality and desperate living conditions," the report adds. - The Standard.

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  17. Anonymous:

    Poverty is the real issue fueling Insecurity- A time Bomb

    Our views:

    As usual the useless NGO's and the UN (useless as well) are very good in describing social facts. Anyone can do that. What about real causes and real solutions?

    We propose that if Kenya is to avoid self destruction, a few things must be done urgently:

    (a) The colonial land tenure must be overthrown. The existing land tenure allows privatization of public asset by a few people just as colonialists wanted.

    (b) The land tenure reform must be accompanied by serious taxation/public funds reforms.

    (c) There must be an end to monopoly in money and credit creation.

    We are of the view that, these issues are the REAL CAUSES of social disorder in Kenya. If these NGO's want to get a bit serious, let them engage on how to implement these changes instead of wringing their hands while the ship is about to hit rocks.

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  18. Anon 8:20 AM,

    Wewe ni pumbavu sana. You are living in serious DENIAL.

    You allege that Chris "starts from the wrong premise that Kibaki stole the elections..." Anon 8:20 AM, that is a very pumbavu allegation on your part.

    The truth will always remain the truth and this is it: Mwai "pumbavu" Kibaki did not win the elections of December 2007. HE LOST THEM. He then, with the aid of his cabal of elections thieves - Gichangi, Ali, Michuki, Karua et al proceeded to STEAL them. Get that thru your thick PANUA skull that is still living in denial, very pumbavu denial. I shall repeat it for you once again: Mwai "pumbavu" Kibaki did not win the elections of December 2007. HE STOLE THEM IN BROAD DAYLIGHT. Only numskulls, twits and twats like you would think otherwise.

    You are the kind of people with fraudulent perceptions of reality plus pumbavu values that Kenya can do without. The lesser they are Kenyans of your type, the more prosperous and developed Kenya will be.

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