A
day after President Uhuru Kenyatta blamed Mpeketoni attacks on local
politicians, CORD leader Raila Odinga today called a press conference at
Serena and made the following remarks.
The President made a statement yesterday
to the effect that the perpetrators of the massacres in Mpeketoni were
not Al Shaabab. He declared that the attacks were politically
orchestrated and blamed what he termed as ‘heightened political rhetoric
of leaders and local political networks’ who were involved in the
planning and execution of the killings.
This statement was unfortunate and
unjustified for several reasons. More importantly it is likely to
compromise the investigations to be conducted to determine and establish
the masterminds behind these brutal attacks. It may be a case of a rush
to judgement.
The President’s statement ignores the
position taken by other countries and experts that the Al Shabaab were
indeed responsible for these attacks and that Al Shabaab never claims
responsibility for attacks it has not carried out.
It also defeats logic that NIS had
information on the attacks which suggests that there was knowledge of
those planning them yet no decisive or concrete steps were taken both at
the local or national level.
In the last eight months or thereabouts
there have been widespread and systematic killings, some bordering on
genocide, in several parts of the country including Bungoma, Busia,
Samburu and Tana River. The same reasons and motives have been given by
the Government and political leaders have been blamed for the incidents.
In the end there never have been any serious and successful
prosecutions.
The Government has completely failed to
bring to book the killers of the Imams and other Muslim leaders in the
Coast region. The victims are now more than twenty one. Passengers in
buses and matatus have been attacked and slayed on highways and streets
in Nairobi and Mombasa. Hotels and restaurants and markets like Gikomba
have been targeted with tragic consequences. Churches have not been
spared and priests and ordinary Christians have been murdered in cold
blood. The killings have been endless and the pogroms carried out with
impunity.
The President is the head of the National
Security Council which exercises supervisory control over national
security organs. The national security organs are the Kenya Defence
Forces, the National Intelligence Service and the National Police
Service. The primary role of the national security is the protection
against internal and external threats to Kenya’s territorial integrity
and sovereignty, its people, their rights, freedoms, property, peace,
stability, prosperity and other national interests.
The President and the Executive,
including the national security organs have been given the power,
instruments and competence to ensure there is peace and security
prevailing in the land. They should not be heard to be complaining in an
unending vilification of leaders or be engaged in constant blame games.
Nobody is the above the law. No Kenyan
other than the President enjoys immunity from criminal prosecution. The
law should take its course and nobody should be spared in the hunt for
and prosecution of criminal gangs and terrorists who have compromised
the safety and peace in the Republic.
There is a lot of pending work for the Government in the security sector which include the following;
There is a lot of pending work for the Government in the security sector which include the following;
1) Define and limit Kenya’s military
objectives in Somalia and to make sure that the war on terror is not
fought on Kenya’s territory and to ensure that our engagement in Somalia
is time bound and does not mutate into a military occupation.
2) Overhaul and reconstitute Kenya’s
security organs so that they can promote and guarantee national security
and ensure that recruitment by the national security organs reflect the
diversity of the Kenyan people in equitable proportions.
3) Establish a competent and independent
judicial commission of inquiry to investigate and establish the
circumstances surrounding and leading to the Westgate terrorist attack
and the Mpeketoni massacres with a view of prosecuting the perpetrators
of these heinous crimes.
4) Replace the Cabinet Secretaries and
the principal secretaries for Defence and Internal Security and the
heads of intelligence, police and criminal investigation as they have
exhibited incompetence and dereliction of duty in the performance of
their responsibility under the law.
5) Establish a blueprint on national
security policy that clearly spells out objectives and guidelines on
questions of peace and security and law and order within the context of
the Constitution of Kenya.
CORD condemns the massacres in Mpeketoni
and states categorically that violence is not a means of achieving
legitimate political aims or objectives.
RAILA A. ODINGA
JUNE 18, 2014.
JUNE 18, 2014.
No comments:
Post a Comment