BY THE WAY, IF YOU STILL HAVEN’T READ THE WAKI REPORT, PLEASE SEND ME AN E-MAIL: SIASADUNI@GMAIL.COM AND I WILL PROMPTLY SEND IT TO YOU. I COULD HAVE UPLOADED, BUT BLOGGER DOESN’T ALLOW PDF UPLOADS. - EDITOR.
Dear reader, welcome to a simple exercise in reading between the lines. For our text today, I've picked excerpts from the
Daily Nation article entitled
"Violence: Debate rages on Kibaki amnesty hint". I'm sure the good folks at NMG won't mind; please support them by reading it
here in full.
Ok... let us start with what is known: there are 6 cabinet ministers on that list. Hence,
"Top Grand Coalition leaders were on Tuesday divided as debate on whether to charge those behind post-election violence raged on. While some called for full implementation of the Waki report, others trashed it. Members of the Cabinet also appeared to be split on what exactly should be done, with some backing the proposal to temper justice with forgiveness and others saying that those named in the secret list handed over to Peace Mediator Kofi Annan should face the law."Then:
"Deputy Prime Minister Musalia Mudavadi and Cabinet ministers Martha Karua and Mutula Kilonzo cautioned that the decision to inject bits of forgiveness in the implementation should be handled with a lot of care because it could encourage impunity."Explanation: Uncertainty is gripping the cabinet, but these three seem to be pushing for full implemantation of the reports. The "handled with care" talk is a bit confusing, but maybe it is a plea for forgiveness. Not for them, but maybe for some colleages who they may have grown to like during these 8 trying months of coalition.
Verdict: All three not guilty.
Moving swiftly onwards:
"Meanwhile, panic among bigwigs in ODM and PNU is reported to be behind the apparent change of heart by President Kibaki and Prime Minister Raila Odinga over the full implementation of the Waki and Kriegler reports. Reality on the seriousness of the issue began to dawn on the politicians after Appeal Court Judge Philip Waki presented his report, which proposed that those behind the post-election violence were either to be tried before a local tribunal or at the International Criminal Court."Explanation: Like we said
yesterday, Kibaki's change of heart is suspect; he has just realised the gravity of the situation. It is now evident that
the Naivasha killings between January 27 -30 were pre-planned in State House, Nairobi, and executed by
Mungiki members who received the support of Naivasha political and business leaders. The article continues:
"The report, it is understood, brought to the fore evidence, which some PNU and ODM leaders realised could easily go beyond the jurisdiction of Police Commissioner Hussein Ali and Kenyan courts, and land key politicians into the hands of the International Criminal Court prosecutors at The Hague in The Netherlands ... It is significant to note that once a politician is accused of committing crimes against humanity, the issue of pardon or forgiveness does not arise, since International Law does not provide for amnesty in such matters ... For instance, sources said, President Kibaki was approached by a number of politicians during last weekend’s peace rally in Nakuru, where they prevailed upon him not to expose some leaders to the international experts at the Hague."Verdict: Kibaki is the first to enter Siasa Duni's "Waki List".
The article continues:
"However, Cabinet ministers Kiraitu Murungi, Najib Balala, Soita Shitanda, Fred Gumo and Paul Otuoma said although justice should be pursued to some extent, it was important to forgive for the sake of reconciliation in the country. But Foreign Affairs minister Moses Wetang’ula said the Waki report should be implemented as much as possible to the extent that it addresses justice for the victims as well as ensuring the country did not slide back into anarchy."Explanation: Wetang'ula's attempt to seem pro-implementation is watered down when he call for the report to be implemented "as much as possible", as opposed to full implementation.
"Mr Wetang’ula said if implementation of the report meant healing of the nation then it should be implemented, however, if its implementation would cause more divisions and portend danger, then caution should be taken and the country should weigh what was good for it." The rest are outright fighting for "no implementation", with threats on top. Quoth the sage:
"Mr Shitanda, Mr Otuoma and Mr Gumo said if the report was implemented in full, the country should be prepared to face the consequences ... 'If you try to implement the Waki report in full you will burn the country,' Mr Shitanda who spoke to the Nation from South Africa where he was on official duty said ... Dr Otuoma said even as Kenya needed to get away from impunity by ensuring justice to the victims, reconciliation was more important for the country ... Mr Balala said it was difficult to implement the Waki report because all Kenyans played a role in the mayhem."Verdict: Suspects two through six emerge.
Then, the last suspect, true to character, emerges in flamboyance:
"Agriculture minister William Ruto dismissed the report describing it as a 'sham and a waste of time'. Speaking on arrival from The Netherlands, Mr Ruto said that Mr Justice Waki had failed in the mandate the mediation team had given him and had instead thrown the country into unnecessary anxiety. Instead of the Waki team completing the work, he said, it had delayed it by recommending the formation of a tribunal, which will take a long time. Mr Ruto said that Justice Waki had already incriminated individuals who were in the secret list despite not having evidence against them. “(Justice) Waki says clearly he had no time to investigate these people and therefore he has no evidence, but at the same time, he is including them in the list instead of completing investigations,” he added."So, our list is complete. Anyone want to add or subtract from it, please feel free to leave a comment.
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