By JIBRIL ADAN

Just who were the Arturs and what was their mission in Kenya?

Five years since they literally burst on to the scene, no one really knows who they were.

A Parliamentary report detailing part of the truth about their activities was yesterday re-introduced for debate in Parliament, but the House probe does not conclusively say what their real mission was in the country.

A report by a presidential commission formed to inquire into the activities and illegalities committed by the two brothers is yet to be made public five years after it was produced.

But the report tabled in Parliament yesterday gives a glimpse into two foreigners for whose sake many laws were broken by the high and mighty.

The two were allegedly involved in the raid on the Standard Group and Parliament says the raid was part of a conspiracy to conceal the activities of the Armenians.

However, then Internal Security Minister John Michuki told the parliamentary committee that The Standard was raided because it allegedly planned to publish stories that would have impinged on the integrity of President Kibaki.

The Arturs were also allegedly involved in importation of illegal goods and tax evasion.

The report cites two containers that the Arturs imported through two companies named as Kensington Holdings and Brother Link International, which later disappeared from police tracking.

The two lost containers were loaded on two lorries, KAG 813 P and KAP 238 F, which delivered boxes and other items wrapped in gunny bags to a godown. "Given that Kenya has become a leading drug centre, it is possible that the two containers may well have contained drugs. No efforts have been made to arrest or prosecute the owners of the godowns."

The mystery about the Artur brothers is also clear from the political connections they had. "The Artur brothers were clearly and obviously politically connected at the highest level of Government," says the report.

The committee says the political connection explains why Kenyan passports were issued to the two foreigners, and their appointment into the police force at very high ranks of deputy police commissioners. This also explains their VIP treatment at the JKIA.　

"A stronger connection of the Artur brothers to the political class and protection revolved, among other grounds, on the question of the blank passport books that had disappeared which were later found in the house the Arturs were staying in," says the report.

The report also lists the administrative lapses described as "glaring conspiracy" from the administrative structure wherever the Artur brothers visited.

"That conspiracy was well coordinated and intended to help the two brothers in doing what they were doing in Kenya," says the report.

After the scandal came into the open, the Arturs were deported, but the report says the powers that were behind them became busy to cover up.

Interestingly those who tried to scuttle the Parliamentary probe include Gichugu MP Martha Karua, who was then the Minister for Justice.

The committee did not also get cooperation from the police and the committee says that it appeared to be an official policy.

They were connected to the highest level of Government, which begs the questions, what was the real mission they had in Kenya.

Some of their acquaintances also included a Nyeri political activist Mary Wambui and her daughter Winnie Wangui.

Just who were these people?