Propaganda invades Kenyan TV news

"These guys are spinning so much that it is making me dizzy." that was a comment from a leading media analyst to me last night.

Spinning, PR and media are mighty powerful. Done with the skill that is obviously somewhere in State house, it sways public opinion and turns lies into solid facts and solid facts into unconfirmed hearsay.

I have watched with horror as bloggers and popular columnists have started churning out articles that suggest the crimes against humanity committed in Kenya in 2008 are nothing and are best forgotten. Justice  can be considered another day... maybe.

Recently the ICC judges did an unlikely thing in granting President Uhuru Kenyatta reprieve and excusing him from attending most of the sessions in his trial which starts next month. Already the president had given a strong indication that he would not attend. The news hit the TV stations as breaking news. The same TV stations that have been highlighting the very few voices that are against the trials proceeding and giving the impression that it is the view of the majority worldwide.

But let's cut to the chase and try and analyze the president's game plan. It is clear that what is at play here are delaying tactics. The very opposite of what an innocent person would do. Indeed this is an age old favourite strategy in Kenyan courts. Actually it has not only been used in cases with political implications but also in ordinary criminal ones. For instance some folks in files arrive at some poverty stricken homestead somewhere in Kenya and announce that the land belongs to them. The case goes to court and drags on for decades. Meanwhile the funds of the poverty stricken family (whose financial standing was carefully analyzed before the land thieves moved in) are running out maintaining their lawyer on the case. In many instances they finally give up and hand over their property to the evil but clever land grabber.

The ICC is of course a different league altogether and so the question is what is the end game in getting a one year deferral? Well a lot can happen in a year. Politics can change, terrorist attacks can increase and witnesses can pass on etc.

What was Raila Odinga's involvement in the 2008 post election violence? This explosive article is a wee bit sensitive to publish online but you can see it in a few seconds, please read it in your email inbox for FREE).

What was Raila's role in 2008 post election violence?

His name has been mentioned by numerous Kenyans in connection with the post election troubles of 2008 mostly asking why Kibaki and Raila were not charged as the most responsible. However all indications are that the ICC has not and will never investigate the former Prime Minister regarding the post election troubles and the ongoing Kenyan cases?

Why?

Why, when we know that the the greatest damage done were the atrocities committed by ODM sympathizers at the time in the Rift Valley and more specifically by the Kalenjin community?

Actually this is an extremely difficult topic to discuss anywhere in Kenya because it quickly becomes impossible to say anything without being branded a supporter of either side. But let us forget the politics for a minute and look at the hard facts, shall we?

Raila Odinga won the 2007 presidential elections and by estimates from various parties not by a slim margin but by a landslide. But the loser of those elections was instead declared the winner by about 200,000 votes. Raila was the victim of injustice on a scale that is hard to fathom. For instance a presidential campaign costs an absolute fortune and nobody has ever talked about compensation him for taking part in an election whose winner had already been decided well in advance.

There is plenty of evidence to suggest that those who rigged the election had prepared for trouble and riot police were given careful orders to shoot demonstrators dead so as to quell the violence quickly, which would have worked pretty well except where they were dealing with the Kalenjin militia who have a long history of vanquishing enemies with guns using only their bow and arrows and surprise blitz military tactics (ask the British who were resisted for 11 long years along with their powerful arsenal of canons).

It is also true that the ODM high command planned to make the country ungovernable by sabotaging communications (hence the uprooting of the railway line in Kibera). The truth that nobody wants to talk about is that they also encouraged resistance by the Kalenjin militia in the Rift Valley. That militia ended up committing serious crimes against humanity. Ruto's defenders have always argued that they got the order to unleash their terror from the top echelons of ODM who ended up NOT appearing anywhere on the Waki report. Understandably this is not the kind of argument any sane person would want to argue in a court of law because they would be admitting in the process that they actually committed those crimes (rest of the article is a wee bit sensitive but you can see it in a few seconds, please read it in your email inbox for FREE).
 

Kumekucha tips you can use;

The most enjoyable short weekend holiday ya kumaliza stress that I have ever had and it is shockingly affordable. Just a weekend and you are back fresh in the office on Monday. I highly recommend this Affordable Kenya Holiday

Reach 0.5 million eager Kenyan buyers for FREE (no catch)

Short Kenya dream holiday you should check out. 

Damning conclusive evidence that can only result in GUILTY verdict

Is it fair to hold an entire nation at ransom for a personal offense you allegedly committed? Is it okay for millions of Kenyans to suffer whatever consequences will emerge from the ongoing tussle between the government of Kenya and the ICC and international community at large for the sake of no more than two people?

Or should we throw caution to the wind and sacrifice everything to rescue our head of state and his deputy?

Those are the hard questions that Kenyans need to start asking themselves pronto. The time for tribal euphoria or petty local political contests is long over. The aftermath of whatever honeymoon we were on is the harsh reality that cannot be wished away. It is a reality already facing us squarely in the face.

The latest explosive information that this blogger has received explains a lot of what has been happening over the last few weeks. The information is extremely sensitive and reveals evidence of a conclusive nature that the ICC prosecutors have on the Kenyan cases that can lead to only one verdict if the cases proceed to their logical conclusion.

Still, it is also important to spare a minute for the truth of what really happened in early January 2008 that landed President Uhuru Kenyatta at the Hague. A neutral Kenyan will not help but sympathize with the President who for all intents and purposes received the wrong phone call at the wrong time and ended up being at a very wrong place at a very wrong time. But that's how the law operates in our world and when you are aware of the facts and throw away your political leaning chances are that you will want to sympathize deeply with the president and support his move not to attend his trial at the ICC.

But then you do not need to follow my view blindly. Simply read the facts for yourself and then make your own judgement (more details on how you can do that at the bottom of this article).

The case of William Ruto and former journalist Sang is a completely different ball game. VERY different. It is widely known that Kalenjin youths took blood oaths gladly, fuming with a rage that had been building up within the community for decades. They were then financed and facilitated to go out and exterminate (couldn't find a better word here) or to use the language coined at the time; to remove madoadoa (loosely translated it means to remove the ugly spots).

What happened next is the kind of stuff you cannot even make up in the scariest Hollywood horror movie you can possibly imagine. One woman watched her husband being killed and cut to pieces (mercifully the children were away visiting a relative). She was then raped by several youths until one of them started complaining that the she was "too narrow" and the opening needed to be enlarged. This "sick" enlargement" was done using an already bloody and filthy panga. The rape then continued with the blood flowing. By some miracle of the most high God, that woman survived the ordeal to talk to the Waki commission. I often wonder what kind of "coaching" such a woman would have required from prosecutors to tell her story and what happened to her. Incidentally the same woman must have heard the youth talking amongst themselves and chances are high that they mentioned names that would lead to their source of funding for the ghastly acts they committed.

I will stop there and resist the temptation to reveal exactly what happened at the Kiambaa church in Eldoret where as the women and children screamed in sheer agony and as the terrible terrible stench of burning human flesh rent the air, the warriors danced to the screams and cries of the women and children. Yep oaths do that kind of thing to you. After all oaths were also widely used by the Mau Mau in the 1950s and helped them commit terrible atrocities in their efforts to draw attention to the plight of the land that had been forcefully taken away from them by white settlers in Kenya.

I apologize for bringing a bad taste to your mouth this morning but the Kumekucha blog fully covered the horrors of the 2007/2008 post election troubles and I still have lots of material we were not able to publish even in Kumekucha (because of its' horrible, horrible, sickening nature. It has all refused to leave my mind). In the last few months and weeks I have made a big effort to ignore the horrors and discuss the ICC cases with a straight face and without emotion. But as I write this nobody wants to talk about the victims. Indeed even relatives of those victims have put politics ahead of getting justice for their departed and loved ones. That has provoked me to let out some of what I have been trying so hard to forget, today.

One thing I want to assure you, based on the latest information I have. At the end of the Ruto/Sang trial (if it goes all the way). No sane member of the human race will fail to feel sick right to the pit of their stomach over what happened (mostly to very innocent people). Is it right then to mock God by calling on his name in prayer to make the plight of the victims go away and ensure that they never get justice? How is it possible to even start to say such a prayer while ignoring the voices of the dead and buried (most of whom died terrible deaths not befitting even an animal) crying out to God for justice from the ground?

To receive the highly sensitive information referred to in this article kindly email umissedthis at gmail dot com for an instant response.

See also; An Open Memo to Kenya Cabinet Secretary – Foreign Affairs

Shebesh seriously ill

One of my regular readers here sent me an email last week expressing great concern for embattled Nairobi women's rep, Rachel Shebesh.

It is interesting how everybody seems to have ignored the fact that Mrs Shebesh suffers from a rare but deadly illness known as Bipolar disorder. We live in the information age and anybody can gain info in a flash about the disease. The truth is that Shebesh is a text book example of the ailment.

Bipolar disorder, also known as bipolar affective disorder, or manic depression, is a mental illness classified by psychiatry as a mood disorder. Individuals with bipolar disorder experience episodes of an elevated or agitated mood which are alternated with episodes of depression.

Mania can occur with different levels of severity. At milder levels of mania, or "hypomania", individuals appear energetic, excitable, and may be highly productive. As mania becomes more severe, individuals begin to behave erratically and impulsively, often making poor decisions due to unrealistic ideas about the future, and may have great difficulty with sleep. At the most severe level, individuals can also experience very distorted beliefs about the world known as psychosis.

Most Bipolar patients also experience Hypersexuality. By definition this is extremely frequent urges to have sex that is way above normal. Or suddenly increased sexual urges or sexual activity. The International Classification of Diseases of the World Health Organization includes “Excessive Sexual Drive” which is divided into satyriasis for males and nymphomania for females, as well as “Excessive Masturbation” in some instances (continued in my current raw notes).

I have a brand new special offer where you can get my raw notes for FREE. Get details now.

Kumekucha tips you can use;

The most enjoyable short weekend holiday ya kumaliza stress that I have ever had and it is shockingly affordable. Just a weekend and you are back fresh in the office on Monday. I highly recommend this Affordable Kenya Holiday

Reach 0.5 million eager Kenyan buyers for FREE (no catch)

Short Kenya dream holiday you should check out. 

An Open Memo to Kenya Cabinet Secretary – Foreign Affairs

To: Ambassador Amina Mohammed

Subject: Response to your Press Statement of 15 October 2013

You said:

“On behalf of the country, let me say from the beginning that we were extremely humbled and are very grateful for the unparalelled, unprecedented and unwavering support that we received from our continent. In one accord, both the Council and the Summit stood with Kenya on the key questions of the day, showing a solidarity and grip of the major issues that Africa must address in its relations with the International Criminal Court as well as other partners.” 

Not accurate! African champions of human rights and Nobel Peace Prize Laureate like Archbishop Desmond Tutu successfully rallied about 1 million signatures in a global petition to oppose this misguided action. The civil society in every African country signed a petition presented at this summit opposing any move for deferral. The Panel of Eminent Africans created by the same AU, led by another Nobel Peace Price Laureate and former UN Secretary General Kofi Annan, and others like Graca Machel, President Benjamin Mkapa, President Chissano, all oppose these justice-subversion shenanigans. Needless to state, and most important — millions of Africans and Kenyan citizens oppose any move aimed at sanctioning impunity for any criminal, be they Presidents, Deputy Presidents, Ministers, MPs, Chiefs, or ordinary citizens alike. There should be no special class of human beings above the law. That’s how genocide can be fertilized.

You said:

Unanimously, the Council and Summit recognized that a sitting Head of State democratically elected, and with a clear mandate from the Kenyan people, must govern. That is what Kenyans expect. That is what Africa expects. It was also clearly stated over and over again that sitting Heads of State and other senior State Officials are granted immunities during their tenure of office. That has always been and remains the practice today even as we speak.

Wrong! Article 143(4) of the brand new Kenyan constitution, specifically prohibits the president’s immunity from criminal prosecution for “crime[s] for which the President may be prosecuted under any treaty to which Kenya is party and which prohibits such immunity.” The Rome Statute is such a treaty and Kenya remains a state party. It is part of our Constitution, and that is why many Kenyans and many across the world are dismayed by Kenyatta’s selfish move to mutilate the new Constitution. Kenyatta has incited the Jubilee-dominated legislature to mutilate this section from the Constitution – by pulling the entire nation (Kenya) out of the Rome Statutes to specifically grant himself immunity from criminal prosecution.

The last contested election outcome should not be used as a basis for rubbishing individual criminal responsibility of the defendants at the ICC. Kenyatta and Ruto campaigned for elected office on pledges to continue their cooperation with the ICC. What was that lie for?

You said:

Africa was unequivocal about its commitment to fight impunity, promote human rights, the rule of law, good governance and democracy on the continent in accordance with the constitutive act of the Union. The continent confirmed its intention to ensure that the Rome Statute, which the majority of its members are party to, is modified by the Assembly of State Parties beginning November, to respond to the aspirations of its largest constituency for a court of last resort of the highest possible standards and standing. Accordingly, and to ensure that the continent rises to its responsibilities and addresses the concerns of its people the AU Commission was mandated to urgently pursue the expansion of the mandate of the African Court of Human and People’s Rights to deal with crimes that fall in the category of International Crimes.

Charity begins at home. What has the Kenya government done to “fight impunity, promote human rights, the rule of law, good governance, and democracy”? In the more than five years since the post-election violence, what has Kenyan authorities delivered in terms of justice – both regarding small fish, medium fish, big fish, and the police who were deeply involved in civilian killings?

There is absolutely no political will to prosecute those who burnt the church at Kiambaa –if the same fella who lit it on fire (Stephen Chemalan) is now a URP elected County rep of the same area. People are not all stupid. There would be no justice if the government’s mantra has been “let’s move on”. Since the Jubilee government is more committed towards withdrawing Kenya from the ICC, why pretend you want to reform/modify an institution you want to move out of? Not all Kenyans are idiots. This misguided attempt to insert political solutions into a judicial process further undermines the interest of victims.

Specifically and in addition, you will be aware that the summit

·       Decided that no charges shall be commenced or continued before any International Court or Tribunal against any serving Head of State or Government or anybody acting or entitled to act in such capacity during his or her term of office

(Thanks for letting the world know Kenyatta will not attend his trial at the ICC). 

·       Agreed that, to safeguard the constitutional order, stability and integrity of member states, no serving AU Head of State or Government or anybody acting or entitled to act in such capacity, shall be required to appear before any international court or tribunal during their term of office. 

 (Thanks for letting the world know about this official embrace of self-entitlement, the big-man syndrome, and impunity).

·       That, accordingly, the trials of President Uhuru Kenyatta and Deputy President William Ruto, be suspended until they complete their terms of office

(In other words, according to this wish-dream Kenyatta would be ready to go to court in 2023, and Ruto in 2033? Then what is Ruto already doing at the Hague? Where do victims rights’ fall in all these? Would there be any surviving witness left to testify for the OTP? )

·       Requested the ICC to postpone the trial of President Kenyatta and suspend proceedings against Deputy President Ruto until such a time as the United Nations Security Council pronounces itself on Kenya’s request for a deferral

(Doesn’t this contradict your earlier statement?)

·       Decided that President Kenyatta will not appear before the ICC until such a time as the concerns raised by the African Union and its member states have been adequately addressed by the Security Council and the ICC.

(Isn’t this even more contradictory?)

You said:

“What does this mean for Kenya and the President and Deputy President? Let me make the following points clear.
First Kenya has from the beginning fully cooperated with the ICC and conformed to the Rome Statute without ever deviating from its obligations. Both the President and the Deputy President have continuously and without fail attended court sessions and argued their cases fully.”

The Office of the Prosecutor (OTP) has repeatedly stated that Kenya has stalled and refused to cooperate with ICC on collecting evidence from police and provincial administration bosses, on accessing security meeting briefs and in asset and property identification processes. It is currently delaying the handing over of Barasa who has an arrest warrant issued by the same court.

You said:

“Second As you know our Deputy President is currently at The Hague to ensure that, even as we await for the processing of Africa’s request for a deferral, due process is not in any affected.”

WE ASK: Why can’t Kenyatta emulate his deputy? Why all this hullabaloo then?

You said:

Third The President’s case is due to begin on November 12th 2013 – in a month’s time. The AU made requests to the Security Council, first under paragraph 9 (iii) for a suspension of the proceedings until the end of the terms in office of the President and his Deputy. The AU asked that the trial of the President and the proceedings against the Deputy President be suspended, until such a time that the Security Council considers the request for deferral. It was also decided that the President should not appear before the court until the concerns raised by the AU have been adequately addressed by the Security Council and the ICC.
Thank you.

CONCLUSION: The salient point of Kenyatta’s planned absconding can’t be clearer than this.

By Dr. Job Oduor http://deepcogitation.com/2013/09/10/icc-trial-thread/#comment-8637

Crazy Shebesh, crazy Ruto

Since the inception of the Kumekucha brand I like to keep my hand pretty close to the pulse of Kenyans on the ground. This has helped me a great deal. More recently I have found social media ideal, although it covers only the middle class and omits the vast majority of Kenyans on the ground. Reading through social media yesterday one thing struck me.

Kenyans do not realize or at least some of them have forgotten that a court of law is very different from the court of public opinion. The fact that Ruto and Sang' defence lawyers poked holes into the testimony of the current witness on the stand does not mean that Ruto "is winning" his case. However when you look at the Sonko/Shebesh photos, it hardly matters whether the photos were "photoshoped" or not, irrepairable damage has been done so much so that the truth is now completely irrelevant.

The said witness at the ICC mixed up a few things BUT that does not mean his whole testimony will be disregarded. Remember that in the successful prosecution of Liberian Charles Taylor in the same court it took only ONE woman's testimony to sink the former president/war lord. Bottom line is that Ruto's supporters should not get the champagne out yet, let alone try to pop it open. Getting the handkerhsiefs out would be much more prudent.

Remember also what I said earlier here. All the prosecution has to do is prove that Ruto was influential enough amongst the Kalenjin community to have ordered or even partly financed the astrocities. Most Kenyan lawyers can do that in their sleep and so if the ICC prosecutors have the right counsel (and I am persuaded that they do), this is an open and shut case. Ruto supporters can continue enjoying their court of public opinion victories in court but sadly  they will not count when it comes to the final verdict.

Shebesh and Sonko are finished for all intents and purposes. But it gets worse for Shebesh

Impeccable sources involved in the negotiations (ordered by the President) between Shebesh and Kidero after the slap told me that Shebesh had asked for a huge sum of money as compensation. Kidero is an extremely wealthy man who would have gladly paid the double digit million figure to ensure that his moment of fury does not bury his political career. However if the Kidero cheque to Shebesh has not cleared by now, it never will. The kinky photos have changed everything and it will be difficult for any judge in the country to rule anything in her favour. Indeed the cock and bull story of Shebesh assaulting Kidero in "his lower abdomen" can now be easily sold and bought by anybody including a court of law. It matters little that it is NOT true. That is how serious dear madam Shebesh's problems are.

Sizzling, HOT and NOT recommended for people with weak hearts... introducing the brand new Kumekucha real time intelligence reports 

Too many times something big has happened in Kenya only for me to realize later that I had the advance warning information all along. For instance I received info 6 months before the Westgate attack that there was a possibility of a Mumbai-like terrorist attack on either the Village Market or Westgate shopping malls. This info was not used in my raw notes because we were not able to verify its' authenticity (we like to confirm info from, at the very least, one other independent source before we publish anything in these raw notes.) However I am sure some of my very well informed regular readers here would have easily digested it based on how familiar they were at the time on developments within the al-Shabab high command.

Again on Monday (after black Saturday 21st September 2013) at the height of of the Westgate siege I received information that the terrorists had escaped. There was no way I was going to publish that at the time. It did not make sense even though it came from a highly reliable source. More so because gun fire and explosions could still be heard inside Westgate.

Again almost two days after the siege ended another bizarre report came in to the effect that there was still a lone terrorist firing at the KDF from the Westgate ruins. This info has still not been verified to date.

These are just a few of the most recent examples.

Without sounding defensive, it is NOT that I am sleeping on the4 job it's just that with the huge number of contacts I have managed to build over the years, there is too much info flowing ion my direction.

To partly solve this problem, I have decided to give you my readers, access to these raw intelligence reports. I wish I could give it out for free but as you all know gathering this info is not FREE and neither is it easy, otherwise I would have already had dozens of copycats doing this all over the web already as we like to do things in Kenya.

The new product will be called Kumekucha real time intelligence reports and features info in its' raw form (not yet processed and analyzed by me or my team). My Raw notes will continue as usual with improvements that are ongoing.

Some of the first reports you will receive as a subscriber to Kumekucha real time intelligence reports are puzzling meetings between some shady characters and highly placed members of the Supreme court in the ongoing power struggle there and some sizzling new info about a well known female MP (all yet to be processed but from proven and reliable sources). And much more. If you are interested send an email now to umissedthis at gmail dot com for an instant response.

I have a brand new special offer where you can get my raw notes for FREE. Get details now.

Kumekucha tips you can use;

The most enjoyable short weekend holiday ya kumaliza stress that I have ever had and it is shockingly affordable. Just a weekend and you are back fresh in the office on Monday. I highly recommend this Affordable Kenya Holiday

Reach 0.5 million eager Kenyan buyers for FREE (no catch)

Short Kenya dream holiday you should check out. 

High wire ICC drama plus who released Sonko/Shebesh photos and why?

Some years back I used to work for a company that had a draconian mzungu CEO who micro-managed everything. He had many highly qualified managers but he never allowed us to make any decisions, no matter how small or how petty. There was even a time when this CEO went on holiday in Europe for 2 long months and STILL micro-managed the company via sms replying in minutes even to queries from sales reps on the floor like; "Can we give this customer a 5% discount he has given us business worth Kshs 4.5 million over the last year alone." He would then place calls at the end of the day to key managers usually after he had gone through the sales and expenditure figures for the day (the man had access to the company computers via his laptop wherever he went).

The point I am trying to make here is that the President of the Republic of Kenya does not have to be in Kenya to govern and he does not even need Skype to keep his administration running smoothly. But yesterday the media reported that Deputy President William Ruto was returning to the country over the weekend so as "to allow his boss, the president to travel to Addis for an extra ordinary African Union summit. Somebody somewhere is working very hard to convince anybody gullible enough that the country cannot run when both the President and his deputy are away, even if it is to neighboring Ethiopia where any Kenyan can cross on an old Black Mamba bicycle and still stay in touch with their family in Kenya.

Get this right; Presidential authority is NEVER EVER transferred, NOT even to the deputy president. What happens is that the president delegates various tasks now and then. And so this issue of the Deputy president being in the country to allow the president to leave is pure hogwash. These are NOT class prefects we are talking about here.

Ladies and gentlemen, what we have here is a very well choreographed script playing out and the title of the movie is "ICC siege." The current high wire suspense scene started with the foreign secretary Amina Mohamed reading out her lines the highlight of which was "no seating president in history has ever had to go through the indignation of being tried in a court anywhere in the world while still in office." blah blah blah. We will always fully co-operate with the ICC blah blah.

Now one of my sources has delivered a bombshell on my desk this morning about what will happen next (details in my latest raw notes).
Saturday's scene of this ongoing movie should be most interesting. In all likelihood the AU heads of state in their extra ordinary session will pass a resolution that will legalize Uhuru's skipping of his trial at the ICC. After that it will become all politics. Why issue an arrest warrant for a sitting African head of state? Would you do that to a head of state in the West? Is there a precedent? How legal is such an arrest warrant? What legal basis is there to enforce a Western arrest warrant on African soil? blah blah.

==============================One of my raw notes readers sent me the following question this morning;
Is it a coincidence that nude photos of Sonko and Shebesh in a compromising position came out just days after Sonko hinted on a motion to push out NSIS Chief  spook Gichangi over Westgate attacks and same week with his testimony on parliamentary committee on security? Could it be that Sonkos phone and online activities are under constant surveillance ? Comment on that.

My answer; All politicians and prominent Kenyans are under constant surveillance and the closer the said persons are to the president the more serious that surveillance is. This is standard procedure. Having said that your theory about the timing of the release of the nude photos cannot be ignored. More so when you know from these raw notes that there is a very serious survival campaign that has been launched to keep the said chief spook in office and enable him to weather the current storm over Westgate-related security lapses.

The bottom line is that somebody released those photos and you can be sure it was not for the purposes of entertaining the Kenyan public. Some people think that it is Sonko himself who released the photos (notice that most of them are posed rather than surveillance photos. However the NSIS can also easily gain access to photos saved in computers or even cell phones). Still, Sonko releasing the photos which would also damage him does not make sense.

Some highly sensitive additional info may either prove to be useful or confuse things further...(continued in the current raw notes).