Raila Odinga’s Personal Safety in Focus as Kenya Celebrates 45th Madaraka Day

Kibaki Bodyguards Expose PM at Public Function for hours

It saddens me that I must use this Madaraka Day holiday to take a break from ODM Embakasi campaigns to make a post regarding a threat on the life of Raila Odinga.

Yesterday’s events at Nyayo Stadium brought back memories from a long a time ago. Those of us in their 20s and early 30s (like Vikii and others) are encouraged to read on and build their knowledge……

On October 16 1981 Egyptian President – Anwar Sadat was assassinated by his own soldiers during the annual 6th October victory parade in Cairo. Sadat was supposedly protected by four layers of security and the army parade was supposed to be guaranteed of safety due to ammunition-seizure rules and pre-parade inspections. You can watch the terrible events that were captured LIVE as they happened nearly 27 years ago on YouTube here.

Fast forward to June 1st 2008, and serious concerns are now being raised following the widely reported clash between ‘government’ bodyguards of Prime Minister Raila Odinga and those of President Mwai Kibaki at Nyayo Stadium yesterday.

The scary incident occurred at the Madaraka day celebrations in Nairobi where there was a frightening lapse in security touching on the personal safety of Kenya’s Prime Minister Raila Odinga – the man majority of Kenyans believe was elected as president and who most of the international community perceive to be Kenya’s defacto political leader.

It is an open secret that current fraudulent Kenyan administration has a pathetic record of protecting its own citizens and foreign tourists in this country. Yesterday’s incident should make us all concerned that the same (armed) people charged with safeguarding someone as prominent as Raila Odinga or President Kibaki can clash openly and in full glare of media. This can only make me imagine that there are two or more official (and unofficial) commanders controlling these guards.

It is obvious something is not quite right in Kenya’s security apparatus. (This weekend, armed Somali militia attacked and freed three foreigners from a border town police post in NEP). Of more concern however, is that Raila Odinga was left exposed for more than three hours as his body guards sat in the public stands hundreds of metres away from their boss at Nyayo Stadium because someone issued orders that Raila goes into Nyayo Stadium accompanied by only one aide.

Raila is a shrewd political operative who has escaped numerous assassination attempts including one a few years ago when several rounds were fired on his car from an AK47 assault rifle. Raila was not in the car at that time but the public learnt for the first time that his personal cars are armoured. Indeed, last year ODM-K Presidential Candidate and current Vice President Kalonzo Musyoka revealed that there were plans to assassinate himself or Raila Odinga and then place the blame on one of them. As a private citizen and before accepting a coalition government that spared this country agony, Raila was a man who was known to have an elaborate security network which traveled ahead of him in all public functions including rallies, weddings and funerals.

I am hoping that today’s emergency meeting at Vigilance House (Kenya Police Headquarters) will come up with convincing explanations and enact corrective measures before a preventable and unforgivable tragedy occurs as a consequence of official negligence and party politics.

Picture this: In the US, since sometime early last year, the United States Democratic Party presidential candidate Barack Obama security now rivals that of President Bush, with a dozen Secret Service agents wearing dark suits and earpieces leading bomb-sniffing dogs through event venues, sweeping all equipment brought by journalists and flanking the candidate as he plunges into crowds of supporters. This is a man who is NOT even president yet!

We shall get there, but at what cost?

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The Final Word On Amnesty

Yesterday I watched with amazement as President Mwai Kibaki stood before Kenyans and announced with a straight face that the perpetrators of post-election violence be prosecuted. His chutzpah and continued impunity speaks for the contempt he has for Kenyans. But because of the venue and the importance of the day he chose to spit in our faces, I have to loudly wonder about who makes the list of his perpetrators. About two weeks ago I gave my list. Here it is:

1. Mwai Kibaki

The leading culprit in the election drama is President Kibaki himself. If you wonder what crimes he committed, I'm glad to list them .

a. Mwai Kibaki plotted at the State house and at other venues across kenya to systematically manufacture votes on the 27th of December 2007. That act of vote manufacturing is criminal and should be punished under the statues that govern elections in Kenya.

b. Mwai Kibaki, together with associates, ordered the Kenya Police and other forces under his command to quell post-election fracas by using illegitimate force, resulting in the death of innocent Kenyans. Again, that act of such abuse of authority is punishable under the statues that govern the powers vested on the executive branch of the government of Kenya.

c. Mwai Kibaki, the man Kenyans elected in 2002 to protect them, watched with contempt as Kenya burned. At the very least he abdicated the duty Kenyans gave him to ensure the nation was secure within and without its borders. A competent court of law should try and ascertain whether this man had lost the capacity to govern the nation, leading to the death of thousands of Kenyans or get to the bottom of the decision-making that led to the criminally slow response of the government as the nation went up in smoke.

d. Finally, we all watched the hurried and haphazard manner the swearing-in ceremony was conducted. No national anthem. No ambassadors and representatives from Kenya's friends. If you ask me, these are the actions of a man who has defrauded a nation. That is a crime, last time I checked.

2. John Michuki

This man was the Internal Security minister. We now have indication that he used his powers in a manner that led to the death of many Kenyans. For there to be any semblance of fairness in the way justice is administered, this man should be tried so that the legality of his actions can be put under scrutiny. Moreover, it should be established if the shoot-to-kill order that led to the massacre of Kenyans in Kisumu and Naivasha came from this man. If it did, he has a case to answer.

3. Uhuru Kenyatta

Like I said two weeks ago, there were allegations that this son of the nation's founding father was given the task to fund-raise for the Mungiki. To the extent that such allegations are out there, it is important for those who have evidence against the man to come forward and be given a chance to testify against him. If he is innocent, he should be cleared of these allegations. If he is guilty, the nation has an obligation to its citizen to prove that justice is blind.

4. General M. H. Ali

The cops killed. He was their leader. It's as simple as that.

Again, Fellow Kenyans, that's my list. But to hear Kibaki's utterances yesterday, you'd think some boys from Western Province and the Rift Valley plotted to bring down his government. Has it ever occurred to him that he was the one who plotted to bring down the government these youths voted for? He may have the power to prosecute these youths now, but is that the best way to make us forget about his own crimes? Just like he insists on prosecution for our brothers and sisters across Western Kenya and the Rift Valley, should we insist that one day when he leaves power he must also face the law at the Hague for crimes against humanity?

We all need to come to an agreement that reconciliation is important for the nation. That all are created equal. That we are all in this together. If we can agree on such basic premises, then we can agree as a nation to forgive Kibaki and his murderous gang, just like he must lead the nation in forgiving and cleansing our sons and daughters of their sins. It's as simple as that.

If that can't be achieved, take the bullshit about reconciliation to the dogs.

Guest post by Sam O. Okello

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