Truth commission ready to give Uhuru report

By Abdikadir Sugow                  

NAIROBI, KENYA: The Truth, Justice and Reconciliation Commission (TJRC) on Saturday assured members of the public that its report will remain protected until President Uhuru Kenyatta receives it before end of this week.

Speaking to the Standard, TJRC Chief Executive Officer/Secretary Tom Aziz Chavangi dismissed rumours being circulated that the report will be tempered with as baseless.

Aziz said the commission will wait until the President returns from overseas trip, noting that section 48 (1) Act 2008 of the Commission states that the report shall be handed officially to the President.

“It is a constitutional mandatory to hand over the report which was ready long ago to only the President. It is in a very secure place and no one can temper with it,” said the official.

The eagerly awaited report inquired into and investigated historical injustices and gross human rights violations, including violation of socio-economic rights that occurred between 12 December 1963 and 28 February 2008.

The commission, under the chairmanship of Ambassador Bethuel Kiplagat, beat the deadline of May 2, 2013 to compile the report and now awaiting official communication on when they will be invited to formally hand to the President.

And former Prime Minister Raila Odinga, speaking in the UK, where he was on a visit, said the President will be under obligation to quickly make the TJRC Report public so that Kenyans can digest its contents, get to know the truth and come to terms with it.

“Once the report is handed over to the President, I think he is under obligation to publish it so that the public can get to know the truth, since many Kenyans believe that the Truth Commission has carried out a very comprehensive investigation in the country going back to immediately after independence,” he said in an interview with the BBC Africa Service in London.

When asked by the BBC interviewer if Kenyans are expecting a bombshell from the report, Raila answered: “No…No….No… people are not expecting bombshells, people are expecting the truth. As you know sometimes the truth is bitter…. but the Bible says the truth shall set us free.”