Kenya: Hague and Impunity

Are we ticking the boxes for transitional justice, or are we joining the dots against Hague, or are we combating impunity? Are we wrong footed on the underlying differences between deferral and referral? These burning questions trigger deep digging into whether or not modern governments have the legitimacy to hide confidential information from the public indefinitely.

It’s beyond no reasonable doubt that the world is keenly following the ongoing tug of war between the International Criminal Court (ICC) process and the fate of ‘’ the Ocampo 6’’ in Kenya after  the 7^th and the 8^th of April 2011. The Ocampo six who were named by ICC Chief prosecutor, Luis Moreno-Ocampo in reference to the 2007/2008 chaos that left 1 300 dead and over 650 000 displaced are :Uhuru Kenyatta, William Ruto, Francis Muthaura, Hussein Ali, Henry Kosgey and  Joshua Sang.

From a personal point of view, much of the attention has been dilutee deviated onto the fate of the ‘’Ocampo 6’’ rather than proportioning it to the ICC’s credibility and its justifiable accountability to the African nations. When we look back and reflect critically into history; about slavery and colonization, it’s evident that African nations have not managed yet to rise above board from the remnants of the catalytic nature of their colonial masters. This sends a clear signal of a chronicle issue that, the decolonization of many minds remains a deep rooted vendetta which needs to be unmasked and cured.

For example, when we deliberately put so much trust into foreign systems to run the affairs of our own homes; then something is definitely wrong somewhere. I mean, if there is a justifiable and or a proven leakage in our own systems; that needs repair, why can’t we collectively fix it? Can’t the African nations through African union devise means to have their own ‘Hague’? which could be based for example in Arusha, Tanzania. I think Africa needs its innovative think-tank solutions to its dragging problems.

Moreover, the ritualistic attempt to restore the equilibrium between the pursuit for justice and politics in Kenya seems to be an elusive undertaking. It’s for this reason that there has been less focus on the ICC’s questionable procedures and the rights of the ‘Ocampo six’ deeming not to be well adjudicated, but more onto the  opportunistic political wrangling within the Kenyan coalition government on whether to defer or refer  the ongoing ICC process. It’s too unfortunate that this appears to be a deliberate political manipulation and confusion to the public on which way to go, comes the awaited 2012 general election. Then if so, what is the hidden card on the unforeseen Kenya’s legacy after 2012?

The current political climates and fortunes, and the seemingly invincible leaders of today epitomize their possibility of becoming the fugitives of tomorrow if decolonization of their minds about Hague and Impunity isn’t rightly placed. Therefore, the calculated manipulation of fears and tensions unleashed as self-perpetuating spiral of propaganda war in which many Kenyans see themselves becoming victims of drag and drop, as well as unconsciously being swallowed and wallowed into the unwitting instruments of unscrupulous political elites; questing after supremacy at the expense of deferral and referral. I think this requires a wake-up call.

In Kenya currently, there are incremental efforts to reform judiciary, the police force as well as giving teeth to the newly created truth, justice and reconciliation commission (TJRC). However, with the current impasse on both Hague and Impunity, the above mentioned efforts appear to be held hostage to political intrigues. TJRC is currently the only domestic wheel power available to address the post election violence. This is not to mention the 45 years of historical injustices that lead to the 2007/2008 chaos in the first place.

Contrarily to the political turn-coating, the tribunal is up and running. From my understanding, TJRC is already functional and out on duty collecting statements from members of the public and civil society. One thing that goes without say is; why is it that for a few months ago, the Kenyan members of society and the donor community were lured to oppose the functioning of TJRC, but have yet again recently turned to support it. Has this to do with hoodwinking on the issues encapsulating Hague and Impunity?

I strongly believe that in replacement for the ICC, the active efforts of TJRC to provide accountability for the post election violence would be far much reaching, and the best option. This is to cast the shadow on an overall detachment from the belief that the western world has all the answers to the very problems in either Middle-East or Africa. Moreover , even if the government efforts to postpone or halt the prosecutions by the ICC fails, the ICC will only determine the responsibility of six individuals, and of course some of them may be found to be innocent. Therefore, how about the rest?

With over three years since the occurrence of the violence, no major prosecutions and or investigations have ever been mounted apart from the investigations from the Waki Commission. Therefore, this underscores the possibility of prosecuting other individuals responsible for the post election violence having to wait the conclusion of the snail-paced legal reforms. Does this mean-the principles of justice have developed sophisticated, and complicated, rules of evidence and proof designed to minimize the risk that an innocent person will be found guilty?

It is imperative to say that the TJRC just like the Rwanda Genocide Commission will be a benchmark that provides context, history, and understanding rather than the belief that ICC is a cure-all paradigm. What is most important is to provide an opportunity to all Kenyans to speak to each other, to share their stories, to learn from the past and forge ahead. The calls for building bridges of dialogue, recognizing their shared humanity and work mutually together to overcome colossal injustices by building peace in the pursuit for justice while at the same time decolonizing their minds in the belief that the solutions to their problems rests in then, and not necessarily from the western world.

The author of the article is Lesiamito Malino John, from Oslo, Norway. The author is a postgraduate student in Information Systems and Computing, and can be reached on Lesiamito@gmail.com

Lesiamito@gmail.com

By vin Othieno

Residents of Sitatunga area of Trans Nzoia East district in Trans Nzoia county (western kenya) yesterday  morning woke up to a rude shock after a cow delivered a calf that had varying shapes with the face resembling that of a human being.
According to the owner of the cow Ezekiel Kipsang 35, the cow had reached its required time of delivery and was highly expecting to get another good and healthy calf apart from the milk that is a major source of income for the family only to receive a funny creature that left everyone with many unanswered
questions.

He said that the cow had earlier delivered two normal and healthy calves that did not show any signs of abnormality and thus he could not get an exact answer as to why its third calf appeared in that state.

“I don’t know what happened to my cow and in fact I am still confused not knowing what to do in such a case because i had never experienced and witnessed such a case in my life as a farmer,” Kipsang told news reporters in his home in Tafina farm in Cherangani.

The abnormal calf that was brown in colour and had the face resembling a human being, the legs like those of a pig while the tummy was like that of a tortoise or a pig and did not survive more than five minutes after delivery as it died on the spot after a few breaths and kicks on dropping on the ground.

Kipsang dismissed claims that the bull that sired the calf might be the cause insisting that the bull in question had sired very many calves in the area without any problem and hence could not be the cause.

All in all he insisted that despite the bizarre incident that has left his cow calf less, he will not be deterred from milking the cow to get the milk for his domestic use and for commercial purposes.

“I will continue to milk the cow and use the milk for normal purposes despite what happened because that is God’s miracle and there is nothing that I can do but continue with life,” Kipsang noted.

However the incident has raised mixed reactions from the residents with some saying that it was a bad omen that signifies something bad might happen in the area or the entire country according to the Kalenjin community’s believes and traditions hence the elders are supposed to perform a ritual to cleanse the home and the village to evade the looming calamity that might strike later.
others noted that the incident was just like any other incidents that they have witnessed in other regions in that county and had nothing to do with looming disasters and thus it should not cause alarm or fear among the residents urging them to continue with their day-to-day chores as usual.

End

(This report does not necessarily reflect the views of API)

Let me speak as one “outside the basket!” Those insiders “inside the basket” will always see all types of criticism as an attack on their lifestyles because most of them are not up to the job they have, but only there to hive their well-being and get fully fed as they continue to gain weight. Today, I take on the Kenyan parliamentarians and ministers who lust for power.

Most of them are big-mouthing and doing so little for the country and the people who elected them. These leaders must shoulder blame because they use much time masquerading around the country politicking instead of using time on creativity that benefit those who elected them. Instead of going to attend to their constituents during weekends, they roam around in large numbers throughout the country preaching hate while being ferried by helicopters from destination to destination. It is time Kenyans went to the streets to protest misuse of funds by these irresponsible leaders.

When they are blamed for doing nothing, they bribe for love from some few influential individuals in their constituencies who in turn actively silence the constituency electorate.

The behaviour of a number of them has become so disgusting that one does not understand why they are still carrying their so-called honourable titles.

Now we hear that some of them are going to travel to the Hague accompanying the Ocampo six. What a shame. The money they are using on tickets, food and boarding in the Netherlands should be used to aid the poor in their constituencies or help the IDPs. It is believed that those going to accompany the Ocampo six are actually not going there to give them support, but instead, they want to be there because they fear the six may mention them on involvement in the post-election violence. Their presence in the company of the Ocampo six is therefore seen as a spy mission so that they may know everything that will happen at the Hauge. This is a move to save their own skin in case they were involved.

They are lucky if they are not mentioned, because if it happens, they too may be detained soon.

The former justice minister Martha Karua has a point. She has told the suspects to travel to the Hague quietly instead of a instigating a noisy travel with a large group accompanying them as if they are going on a celebrity tour or a wedding.

Many may be in for a surprise. Ocampo may decide to have them arrested while at the Hauge. President Kibaki had better prepare to get a new Finance Minister, a new Secretary to the Cabinet and a new Postmaster General because there is a big possibility this can happen now, soon after or in the very near future.

The six are, however, innocent until proven guilty. Kenyans know well that almost all ODM leaders called for mass action and it is that call on their supporters that engineered the violence that took many lives.

By Chief editor Korir.

By Harrison  Mwirigi  Ikunda, Nairobi

There have been many frequent killings by police officer turning against themselves, against their colleagues, their families or even civilians. The recent one in Nanyuki where policeman Mark Mutwiri Mbogo is alleged to have shot dead the deputy commander of Naromoru police station Mr. Hudson Orwenyo and a senior sergeant is part of the chilling episodes involving police officers in Kenya.

To start with if there is an institution dreaded and mistrusted in Kenya it must be the police force. Their performance since the KANU hegemony in power and recent happenings in post 2002 era, as well as their handling of the post 2007 poll chaos have created a strong antipathy towards them in the fabric of the Kenyan public feelings. Yet this is one critical institution in the country and in any reasonable state.

Corruption indexes have invariably and consistently rated the Kenyan police force as the most rotten of all government institutions in Kenya. It does not help that insecurity remains a great problem and challenge in Kenya. There are always allegations of wanton killings by the Kenyan police force which makes the force an object of hate.

At any rate little positive is spoken of the Kenyan police. However from good knowledge and with careful analysis there are some positives this force has accomplished despite their many failings. This more so for checking the growth of criminal gangs in the country. The gangs are not fully controlled but there is no denial their advancement have been largely curtailed. The only bitterness on the behavior of the Kenyan police is when they turn to what is  alleged to be  wanton killings, which the public so feel is not the best way to approach crime. Indeed arguments favour more investment in intelligence gathering and deterrence measures.

But the recent incidences of police turning against one another, on their families and even themselves must make the alarm bells start ringing. Surely there must be something wrong with the police force. But looked from a wider perspective this is just a symptom of what goes on the lives of common people in Kenya. It’s just that the police are legally armed.

With escalating living costs and the pressures of living engulfing most of the common people this kind of behavior though un-acceptable is a culmination of the social and emotional breakdowns. The police like other public servants and those in private sectors have so many daily demands that put a lot of stress in their daily lives. Like most Kenyans their earnings remain quite meagre in an economy which makes living quite expensive and then in a nation with shameful gaping social and economic inequalities.  This is what makes the police exploit their privileges to dip in corruption at work.

Recently I had a chat with some police officers who did mention that their job is quite stressing that it requires a lot of maturity and determination to cope. They even did mention about some of their colleagues who have gone to almost mental breakdowns after obtaining bank and SACCO loans that they could ill afford. Yet this was all in making themselves and their families enjoy live better such is in accessing better schooling for their kids and in buying plots to put up family houses. This strain in working and living conditions which are generally hard would easily turn those not well nurtured into beasts.

The bottom-line I do suggest is for the government to improve the working conditions such as in providing adequate facilities for their work, life insurance and medical covers for them and their families   to at least ease their burden. I have not mentioned salaries as of necessity there should be always some work in progress on it to keep improving.

Meanwhile like in any institution there are rotten apples in the police force. These should not only be frequently weeded out but also should be regularly checked when they leave the force, for their propensity to turn into criminals is always very high.

The writer is a Consultant and a Researcher working for a Not for Profit Organisation in Kenya.

AID POLICY: Market mapping toolkit to boost emergency response

Photo: Anthony Morland/IRIN

Check here before looking overseas

BANGKOK, 15 March 2011 (IRIN) – Experts have developed an Emergency Market Mapping Analysis (EMMA) guidebook and training programme to improve the humanitarian community’s ability to respond to rapid onset emergencies.

“Markets are critical to how people survive and run their lives. The most important thing to people is to be able to earn a living and get food on the table,” Mike Albu, a market development consultant and EMMA developer, told IRIN. “Ultimately, once the emergency is resolved people need functioning markets to continue on with their lives.”

Since 2007, the US Agency for International Development’s Office of Foreign Disaster Assistance (OFDA) has collaborated with experts from OXFAM, Save the Children and the International Rescue Committee, spending almost one million dollars to develop a 10-step guidebook, and train humanitarian practitioners to be able to conduct a market analysis in rapid onset emergency environments.

Coined EMMA, the procedure they have developed is appropriate for teams of 5-10 relief workers, providing a quick, rough-and-ready picture of the goods and services most critical to the survival of the local economy, in a matter of weeks. This enables practitioners, even those without market analysis expertise, to assess where aid could best support local livelihoods, making aid more efficient and effective.

EMMAs have already been conducted in 10 different countries around the world, including the recent Haiti earthquake (2010) and cyclone Nargis (2008) in Myanmar. By the end of 2011 almost 200 relief practitioners will be trained to use the toolkit, train others to use it, and to lead an EMMA mission in a rapid onset scenario.

More efficient aid

The knee-jerk response of the humanitarian community to a natural disaster or sudden onset emergency is often to immediately ship or airlift in commodities such as food, clothing and shelter, said Tony Stitt, a regional adviser with OFDA. But that response ignores local capacity and can lead to more expensive and less effective aid.

“In post-Nargis Myanmar, it cost around US$35 to ship a single plastic tarp from overseas, but only $60 to make a house locally out of thatch materials,” said Stitt, who conducted market analysis in Myanmar following cyclone Nargis.

“Our analysis revealed that housing materials were readily available; people just needed money to buy them.”

EMMAs can point out when a cash-based initiative (giving loans or vouchers to buy local goods) could be more effective, allowing relief organizations to spend less money and ultimately giving the local population more choice as to how they re-build.

Reducing dependency

Understanding the local market better also ensures that aid does not put local providers out of business, ensuring long-term economic recovery.

“Understanding the market helps us come up with not only a cost-effective and more efficient response but also gives us a better exit strategy,” said Emily Henderson, an EMMA specialist and regional coordinator with OXFAM who led an EMMA mission in Haiti following the 2010 earthquake. “By providing aid through local food and shelter suppliers rather than simply replacing them, you reduce the dependence on foreign aid in the long-run.”

In the future, EMMA reports of past disasters could be useful for disaster preparedness.

“Having a baseline analysis of critical markets, particularly in recurrent places like Haiti and Vietnam would make us better off the next time it hits,” said Albu.

With that in mind, the developers have created a website where all EMMA reports will be posted and freely accessible.

cm/cb

source http://www.irinnews.org

VIETNAM: Religious persecution intensifies, study says

Photo: Contributor/IRIN

A hill tribe girl in northern Vietnam

BANGKOK, 31 March 2011 (IRIN) – Ethnic minority Christians in Vietnam increasingly face charges of national security crimes, severe abuse, property confiscation and forced renunciations of faith, according to Human Rights Watch (HRW) and US parliamentarians.

Vietnamese law requires all religious groups to register with the government and operate under government-approved religious organizations.

Phil Robertson, HRW’s deputy Asia director, questioned the legality of such registration as well as its application to indigenous communities, known collectively as the Montagnards.

Robertson said the government had long considered Montagnards “a national security threat” intent on “subverting the state”. The HRW report released on 31 March, links increased government crackdowns on unregistered indigenous religious groups in the Central Highlands to their growing calls for more land rights and religious freedom.

“Why are they [Montagnards] being forced to register in the first place? Freedom to practise religion doesn’t set out [that groups] have to register with a state-controlled… group to be considered legitimate… [The government is] making broad-brushed claims that religion is a cover for an attempt by the Montagnards to break the Highlands away into an independent country.”

According to the most recent government census in 1999, Vietnam’s ethnic minorities, who mostly reside in the interior mountainous and highlands areas, comprised close to 14 percent of the country’s population, or about 10.5 million people.

Pendulum of persecution

In 2005, Vietnam passed comprehensive religious freedom legislation, outlawing forced renunciations and permitting official recognition of new denominations.

In November 2006 the US removed Vietnam from its blacklist of “Countries of Particular Concern”, determining that the country was no longer a “serious violator” of religious freedoms as defined by the US 1998 International Religious Freedom Act.

But a Vietnam Human Rights Sanctions Act submitted in January 2011 to the US Congress noted that “despite reported progress in church openings and legal registrations of religious venues, the government of Vietnam has halted most religious reforms since the Department of State lifted the ‘country of particular concern’ for religious freedom violations designation”.

The situation is particularly grim for unregistered ethnic minority Protestant congregations, noted the bill’s authors, involving forced renunciations of faith; pressure to join government-recognized religious groups; arrest and harassment; the withholding of social programmes provided for the general population; destruction of churches and pagodas; confiscation and destruction of property, and severe beatings.

However, HRW noted in its report a decade-long cycle of government repression that interspersed “arbitrary arrest, imprisonment and torture” with public works, land allocation and improved educational opportunities to address Highlander grievances.

pt/mw

source http://www.irinnews.org