Dark Past Of The Man Expected To Handle Prison Warden’s Crisis

Can Kalonzo Handle Catastropic Prison Warden’s Strike As Gunshots Are Heard Inside Kamiti Maximum Security Prison?

It is very normal in Kenya for people not to ask too many questions about a politicians’ past. As long as they are bwana kubwa nothing else seems to matter. For instance while covering a confidential report for my subscribers on the subject; The Stephen Kalonzo Musyoka that Kenyans don’t know in this week’s raw notes, this blogger was reminded of the bizarre circumstances under which Kalonzo first entered parliament.

The facts are that the immediate former MP for Mwingi North was killed under very mysterious circumstances that have never been explained to this day.

It happened in the 1980s when the then area MP Peter Manandu was shot dead in a bar by a rogue administration policeman under some very strange and yet to be explained circumstances.

The now deceased, Mulu Mutisya is said to have traveled all the way to Mwingi and met Musyoka, then a young lawyer who was trying into make inroads into politics. Mutisya was impressed by the young man's demeanor and his patience even for someone illiterate as Mutisya who never saw the inside of a classroom.

It is said that prior to the by elections that followed, Mutisya informed Musyoka that one had to seek supernatural protection from witchdoctors so as to avoid being bewitched by rivals during political campaigns. Musyoka understood this only too well partly because of his father’s occupation (more details available in my raw notes this week).

This is now the same man who has to deal with perhaps the biggest crisis to hit Kenyan armed security personnel in the history of these shores. Kalonzo as Vice President has the home affairs docket which covers the prisons department. This is certainly not going to be as easy as jostling to be seen as the second most powerful man in the land.

Already a committee he appointed headed by former Vice President Moody Awori to probe into the warden’s complaints has been rejected by the striking wardens. The wardens are threatening to free criminals on Wednesday if their grievances will not have been addressed by then.

As you read this, the latest reports indicate that gun shot fire has been heard outside Kamiti Maximum Security prison earlier today and GSU personnel have been dispatched and took their positions surrounding the prison.

There are a number of factors that make this crisis extraordinarily dangerous and a threat to the very internal security of the nation.

Firstly armed security forces never go on strike. Just like you can never say that the Kenyan military has gone on strike. The correct word to be used here is “mutiny.” Fellow Kenyans what we have in our hands now is a mutiny within a section of our armed security personnel.

Secondly thanks mainly to modern technology and things like the cell phone the wardens have managed to organize a countrywide mutiny, meaning that virtually every prison in the land has been affected. The seriousness of this rebellion amongst our armed prison forces is not something that can be overstated.

News just in as I was completing this post is that the government has bowed to the demands of the wardens. In a statement issued by Musyoka himself from his Jogoo house office moments ago, the VP accepted virtually all the demands of the wardens. This includes a kshs 10,000 payment for their work during the elections, a kshs 5,000 risk allowance as well as a Kshs 5,000 medical allowance.

It will be interesting to see how this story develops because some senior prison wardens were arrested yesterday after being tricked into attending a crisis meeting in Nairobi, instead CID officers pounced and arrested them at venue of the meeting. In fact already 9 of the officers have appeared in court this morning and the rest are still being held at Muthaiga Police station. It is likely that the 9 officers will be charged with mutiny which is punishable by a jail term not exceeding 10 years.

It is widely expected that all the other prison wardens in solidarity with their arrested colleagues may not go back to work until their leaders are released and the charges dropped.

All in all this is a deadly situation that could easily plunge the entire country, still bleeding from a stolen election, into total chaos. Not to mention the fact that the government is a little cash-strapped just now.

I will keep you updated about developments as they unfold.

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