They are defiling history to steal your vote

OKECH KENDO

Real-time history never lies. Not when right thinking citizens know the facts.

The Hague, Luis Moreno-Ocampo and the International Criminal Court – scary words for the power elite – entered the local political parlance with the mangled 2007 presidential election.

Because local institutions could not handle the mayhem, eight politicians sitting at the Serena Hotel under the chairmanship of Kofi Annan, decided on the alternative route to justice. They did this to reclaim the country from the stranglehold of impunity.

‘The Serena Eight’ underlined causes of post-election violence. Mwai Kibaki’s PNU was fighting to retain power. Raila Odinga’s ODM wanted to acquire power, with Kalonzo Musyoka’s ODM-Kenya storming the party.

‘The Serena Eight’ identified causes of the violence as including historical injustices. Land ownership, particularly in the Rift Valley, fuelled the fire. But now land clashes have been forgotten. Skewers of history insist PNU was fighting for Kibaki, while ODM was shooting for Raila.

The National Accord negotiators included Musalia Mudavadi, Sally Kosgei, William Ruto and James Orengo for ODM. Martha Karua, Sam Ongeri, Mutula Kilonzo, and Moses Wateng’ula represented PNU.

This group ordered the probe of the conduct of the 2007 General Election. Retired South African judge Johann Kriegler chaired the commission that investigated the integrity of the elections.

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‘The Serena Eight’ also ordered for the appointment of a commission under Justice Philip Waki to investigate post-election violence.

It is Justice Waki who originated the ‘Envelope of Ten,’ which The Hague edited to become ‘The Ocampo Six’. But no one is talking about the ‘Waki Envelope’ anymore. It is a convenient omission.

It is also the Waki Commission that suggested the establishment of a special tribunal to prosecute suspects of post-election violence. The commission also suggested The Hague if local institutions refused to grab the bull of impunity by the balls.

But the lie now is how some people want to take out some ‘popular’ presidential aspirants to The Hague to make it easy for them to get to State House.

History distortion

The distortion of real-time history is not a result of memory failure. The events are still live. Some victims of the violence are still in refugee camps. Suspects, the low and the high, are still at large. The Serena Eight are in town. Justice Waki is still on the Bench, and wananchi are still waiting for justice.

A local tribunal has not been formed because vocal and vacuous MPs loved The Hague for its ‘independence’. But now they are saying Moreno-Ocampo is campaigning for a local presidential aspirant.

Justice is in jeopardy. It is being compromised at the highest levels of Government.

In December, MPs passed a Motion to pull Kenya out of the Rome Statute that establishes the ICC. A section of the Executive is also lobbying to defer justice.

They are trying to rewrite history. The PNU DVD shown in Addis Ababa during the African Union Summit two weeks ago is a callous attempt to restructure history.

They say they have the numbers to rewrite history. The ICC pullout Motion came from the delusion of numbers. The current bravado about amending the National Accord is also inspired by the illusion of numbers.

Those numbers can also be exploited to subvert the new Constitution, even by repealing Chapter Six that demands integrity of State Officers.

This chapter has retrieved ‘The Flag’ from three Cabinet ministers – Ruto, Henry Kosgey, and Wateng’ula. Sally Kosgei wonders why her flag cannot be reclaimed.

The Serena Eight wanted justice for victims of post-election violence. Some of the negotiators have forgotten, but Karua, Ongeri and Orengo should put these contradictions in perspective. They may be beholden to partisan interests, but it is treasonous to allow individuals to defile history at whim.

To say Moreno-Ocampo and Chapter Six are cleaning up politics for some presidential aspirants is propaganda. Hawkers of ‘alternative truth’ are manipulating wananchi to perpetuate impunity.

It is a lie to sell the notion ‘The Hague’ is a ‘presidential strategy’, when the victims and beneficiaries of this history are still alive.

These lies underestimate the intelligence of wananchi. Kenyans should see through the lies that seek to confine them to perpetual victims of a mendacious power elite. For it is only in Kenya where a presidential aspirant dines with victims of abuse of political power, and then soups with lords of impunity.

The VP question

The case of Kalonzo taking tea with refugees, and then flying out to persuade Libyan Strongman Muammar Gadaffi that Kenya can deliver justice is contradiction without limit; impunity without frontiers.

The vendetta among the power elite is not merely about PNU and ODM. With the delusion of numbers, the impudent could come for your rights; even amending Chapter Six that takes away ministerial jobs.

It is a call to vigilance. We must learn from the afterthought of anti-Nazi pastor Martin Niemoller.

"First, they came for the communists, and I didn’t speak out because I wasn’t a communist. Then they came for the trade unionists, and I didn’t speak out because I wasn’t a trade unionist. Then they came for the Jews, and I didn’t speak out because I wasn’t a Jew. Then they came for me and there was no one left to speak out for me."