Kenyan-Iranian cooperation is good but be aware of the Cold war

Political cooperation between Kenya and Iran should not be taken for granted.
Economic ties, on the other hand, though strong, have not been formalised in a manner that would see Kenya benefit from the successful Iranian business experiences.

That is why one is always happy to note any move at strengthening economic cooperation between Kenya and Islamic Republic of Iran. I am talking about the proposed visit to Kenya by Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmedinejad.

One of the things that Kenya has set out to do is to encourage economic ties between the two countries. So, in this aspect, we are quite excited about the coming of President Mahmoud Ahmedinejad to Kenya.

It is obvious that Western investors will continue to shy away from African countries, despite paying lip service to the economic advancement of Africa. Western governments, too, pay only lip service to African development. The disappointing Western reaction to the New Partnership for Africa's Development (NEPAD) is a case in point.

So it would make sense if Kenya turns its attention to Iran for nothing more than economic progress. There were encouraging statements on this issue from a diplomatic point of view. "Iran is very happy to be part of this important process and is ready to share its development with our African friends within bilaterial agreement, which stresses collaboration between African and non-African countries," a high level Iranian official who cited anomity said.

The "Asian Miracle" is well documented globally. Whereas Africa has failed to reach the heights of economic development that was expected of many of the countries on the continent, Asian nations contrived to confound everyone by making spectacular economic progress. It must be pointed out that African countries have done very well in their trade relationship with Asia. According to UNDP associate administrator Zephirin Diabre, exports from African countries to Asia rose from $6.7 billion in 1990 to $17.2 billion in 2000. These exports, one suspects, are made up mainly of primary products while Asian exports to Africa consist totally of manufactured goods.

This is where I believe that the economic relationship between Kenya and Iran should be encouraged by both the West and many in the East. By this I mean an arrangement that will lead to solid investment in Kenya by Iranian businesses and not use Kenya as a platform for economic colonisation or a ground to justify the return of the cold war. According to Kenya’s Government Spokesman Dr. Alfred Mutua, potential for investment is beginning to happen.

There is clear evidence that foreign investment in Africa has been increasing steadily. No matter what the continent's detractors may say, African countries provide a huge potential for investment. Africa has a potential market of 800 million people and one thing an investor can do is to set up shop in one country while producing goods for a number of neighbouring countries. In fact that is what the African Union is all about - creating one huge market.

African countries do need to emulate Asian business and managerial skills in order to make economic progress. One can remember how Asian countries were once described as sweat shops for Western businesses that were setting up cheap plants in the region. But what the Asians did was to learn the good aspects of Western business culture and mould them with the Asian culture of hard work and resourcefulness to work their way out of poverty. Now Asian businesses dominate in the world market. Education and training have played a major part in the Asian development process. Where, for example, you had Americans studying law - to become ambulance chasers - Asian students were burning the midnight oil studying management and technology at US universities. By the time the Americans wised up to this, the Asian countries had become economic powerhouses and were providing a solid challenge to American businesses.

So, it is clear what Kenya need to achieve if it want to play a major role in global business. Kenya needs to create the climate that will promote business, encourage investment that will create employment and, thus, improve standards of living.

Something is wrong with the Lome Declaration

As a soldier who has just ousted another civilian government and is facing international criticism for his undemocratic action, how do you respond to such censure? You hold your hand up and accept that you were wrong to stage the coup but say you had no alternative because the ousted government had been up to dastardly deeds. The chances are that you will be allowed go get away with your illegal act with the undertaking that you will fashion a timetable to return the country to civilian rule. That is what the renged army in Mauritania proves to be doing after they announced the release of ousted President Sidi Cheikh Abdallahi who has been under house arrest.

This is what has become a common practise in Mauritania. After the African Union huffed and puffed over the August 2005 coup that removed President Ould Taya from power, the pan-African body agreed to allow Colonel Ely Ould Mohamed Vall, the country’s strongman, to stay in power for two years.

This is the same AU that says it will not brook any unconstitutional changes of governments. At a summit of the organisation’s forerunner, the Organisation of African Unity, in Lome in 2000, the continent’s leaders decided that they would not recognise military coups.

However, when an AU delegation faced Col Vall in Nouakchott to read him the riot act, the soldier delivered a knockout punch. He catalogued the various violations of human rights by the Taya regime that gave rise to the coup.
This is what the AU’s report said: “The Chairman of the CMJD, while recognising that ‘to change the institutions by force is execrable,’ added: ‘We have not carried out the coup d’état against the institutions. We are rather carrying a counter coup to restore the institutions in our country.’

“These were some of the problems, which confirmed the danger in which the country was sinking. Faced with this impasse, there was only one alternative: allow the authoritarian drift to take root and head for civil war or opt for change.
The armed and security forces, unanimously effected the change, convinced that it was the expectation of the Mauritanian people. As if to convince himself, the Chairman of the CMJD added: ‘You are free to meet all those with whom you want to discuss, they will confirm [this] to you.’”

Indeed, when the delegation met civil society groups, the organisation was lambasted for turning a blind eye to the excesses of the ousted regime and for daring to claim the moral high ground. The AU reported that “the Mauritanian Bar supported the change because it was the expression of the people’s will and that of the civil society”.

And “because the programme put forward by the CMJD met the aspirations of the Mauritanian people”. The lawyers took the delegation to task for “the passive attitude of the OAU/AU to the sufferings of the Mauritanian people”. This was the tone of the other meetings. The report noted that “the condemnation by the AU [of the coup], judged by some as an insult to the Mauritanian people, was the subject of most vitriolic criticisms. The reference to the painful times which marked the political history of Mauritania and the drift of the former regime described by almost all the speakers confirmed the unanimous legitimacy of the use of force, which some called “the coup d’etat of recovery ”.

It was not surprising that after this major setback, the AU delegation recommended that the military be allowed to stay on in power. After all, according to the report, the coup was “peaceful”. So it is obvious that if a coup is “peaceful” and civil society accepts the military rulers, an unconstitutional change of government will be allowed to stand.

However, a more important lesson has been learned from the Mauritania-AU encounter: that is, African leaders are only out to look after their own interests. It is obvious that not all “democratically-elected” governments abide by the rule of law. But when the OAU came up with its unconstitutional change of government declaration, the continent’s leaders were thinking only of their own security.

After the Mauritanian experience, the Chairman of the AU, President Jakaya Kikwete, should call for order in the organisation and take another look at this business of unconstitutional changes of governments. The events in Mauritania underscore the urgency once more, of revisiting the Lome Declaration on unconstitutional changes of government.

The OAU had originally proposed to include in the definition of unconstitutional changes, the situation in which a government in power systematically violates the provisions of the constitution and human rights and impedes all possible democratic change. This proposal has never been adopted as governments in Africa begin to fall.

In Kenya corruption is becoming a national phenomenon and way of life

The menace of corruption rages on in the grand coalition government ten months after both President Mwai Kibaki and Prime minister Raila Odinga promised to stamp out corruption in all government institutions.

In Kenya, human rights and anti-corruption groups are accusing the coalition government of ignoring its own anti-corruption campaign. They say the coalition government, elected on a platform of zero tolerance to corruption, has nothing to show form its ten months after coming to power through a power-sharing arrangement.

"There has been a complete lack of political will, a total lack of commitment on the part of the coalition to uproot graft in this country. The people who were implicated in major corruption scandals are still key personalities in high-level civil service. Nothing is new. These people are still in office. They have not been touched," Maina Kiai, former chairman of the Kenya National Commission on Human Rights said.

The government's campaign message of zero tolerance to corruption has lost steam and has come under increasing attack from the media and civil society groups who are calling on the government to purge itself of corruption. Can corruption ever be eradicated from our society? Corruption can never be eradicated completely, but at least it can be control

Indeed, there is corruption in Kenya and the ramifications of it are continues state of hardships and hopelessness for the poor people of this great nation.

Of course, it is also true that sometimes the stories about corruption in Kenya are heart-renting. How can one explain for instance the corruption of the Kenyan ministers implicated in multi million Anglo leasing, goldenburg and the grand regency scandals, led by formers president Moi's close allies and his son Gideon Moi, his associate Joshua Kulei and Kamlesh Patni who was the architect of the Goldenburg scandal where they were paid over Ksh 38 billion for fictitious importation of gold. Soon after Kibaki summed office, his administration was confronted with another corruption scandal the infamous Anglo Leasing scandal in which senior ministers in his administration were implicated in the scandal.

The ministers were led by Kiraitu Murungi, Chris Murungaru and of course the vice president Moody Awori who looted from the national coffers? The billions that they alone stole and stashed away in British and Swiss banks is staggering. If these monies were to be distributed among Kenyans at home equally, it could have solved a lot of problems for many. In fact, it could have reduced the equality gap to manageable levels. But of course, this is not in line with conventional thinking. Those who dupe people are interested in only their own welfare and that is why Moi's allies have never used the money to help improve the lives of Kenyans.

There are other stories, how government officers engage in fictitious deal that makes the government lose billions of shillings. At least for now, the government is synonymous with corruption and has failed to prosecute those implicated in high-level corruption despite the evidence. Corruption is so rooted in all government institutions and senior officers in this institutions walk free.

In fact, in the military and other state corporations, corruption is endemic and senior officers engage in bribery before issuing tenders to prospective bidders.

In recent years, European capitals applied sanctions against Kenya to ensure that the government particular is forced to adopt democracy as the only credible form of self rule after decades of misrule and state institutionalized corruption, a lot of emphasis has been placed on corruption, so much so that the government have been forced to adopt large scale privatization of state-owned enterprises to avert corruption and in theory make the countries economy more viable confuses the discerning mind.

The reality is that the menace of corruption rages on even after the Government established the Kenya Anti Corruption Agency (KACA). The rise in corruption has been blamed of moving slow on corruption cases involving senior government officials, this has cost the agency its credibility and last week the agency was on the spot over its involvement in the sale of the Grand Regency hotel.

According to critics, the agency's Chairman Justice Aron Ringera has pocketed more than what he has been able to recover despite being in office for four years.

Keeping in office to recover looted monies is costing the government more than what it is seeking to recover.

What is clear though is that corruption causes problems everywhere in the world and attempts to make Kenya and Africa in particular as the stronghold of all things bad is misdirected. Economic crime are more prevalent in the grand coalition government but because of the strong economic growth, the effects of corruption are not felt as much.

Whereas a public servant could be humiliated and sent to jail for soliciting a bribe of less than $10 in the course of his work, senior ministers who loot millions of shillings get away with it.

Junior public servants are always used as experiments with tax payers money to find the best ways to tackle corruption. This is something that leaders must learn to avoid.

Government must act tough on security

It was quite a surprise to see the Prime Minister Raila Odinga extend an olive branch to members of the Mungiki sect and called for dialogue with the sect’s leaders.

Maina Njenga, the self-styled leader of an outlawed sect-Mungiki and its political wing the Kenya Youth Alliance Party (KENDA), said to have met government officials at his prison cell in Naivasha to discuss ways of ending tension in the country. It is obvious that Maina Njenga who is serving a five year prison term at the Naivasha Maximum prison on charges of illegal possession of fire arms is not some kind of idealistic gang leader, according to the various sources on his background.

In short, he is a political opportunist who has hijacked a genuine cause of grievance for his own personal gain. Since that is the case, its imperative that the government and in indeed Prime minister Raila Odinga should have had the “sect leader” compelled to call to end the havoc being caused by his sect members.

Why did Raila call for dialogue with the Mungiki leaders? Was it because Mungiki had publicly supported Raila’s Orange Democratic Movement during the 2007 presidential and parliamentary elections? This is what many locals have been saying about him. So, if that is the case, then the current grand coalition government is equally guilty of fomenting violence in the country. Raila must act tough in order to redeem the name of the government.

The government might argue that the current mayhem being caused by sect members is a storm in a teacup and that it is being blown out of all proportions. This might be the case, but the fact remains that the violence witnessed in various parts of the country has been a hotbed of rebellion for many years because of the way in which people have been systematically excluded by successive regimes.

Its the people that the government should pacify – not a sect leader who says he is acting on behalf of the people. After all, the sect has been hijacked by criminals who, at one time or the other, have been used by politicians to do their dirty work for them. This is what has spawned people like Maina Njenga.

The fact that Raila Odinga deigned to talk to Maina Njenga has given the man the sort of respectability that he does not deserve.

While Maina Njenga and his group were wreaking havoc in the suburbs of Nairobi, the price of essential commodities and even transport jumped on the local market, only to ease after news filtered through to the markets that Raila had called for dialogue with the sect leader.
Some wags have suggested that the antics of the Mungiki could have been aimed at making the government jittery in order to sell its agenda. This is stretching the imagination, but the way the whole affair has panned out, the theory might not be too far-fetched.

But, seriously speaking, Prime minister Raila Odinga has to take robust action not just to deal with the Mungiki imbroglio but also with other organized groups around the country.
This will be his major test as Prime minister. He will have to handled domestic issues with the urgency or seriousness they deserve. He is more of an international man. He is quick to jet off to foreign parts to talk about issues such as the elections in Zimbabwe, which does not appear to be getting the support that was expected from African leaders any way.

But action has to be taken to halt the slide into anarchy. Raila’s has accused Kibaki’s first administration of presiding over widespread violence that has left over 8,300 people dead since he came to power in 2002 under a coalition agreement. This figure should be viewed as unacceptably high. Kenyans do not deserve to be going through such a traumatic period now that they have a constitutionally elected Prime minister. We could have been understood this sort of violence under the various dictatorships that have been in charge of Kenya.
This is the reason why we believe that Raila should change tack and try to resolve the Mugiki menace once and for all.

However, a new political chapter has opened in Kenya, whether we like it or not. It is not going to be business as usual and government should be prepared to accommodate opposing views from groups willing to become part of the democratic process in order to make the changes they want to see in the country. Being part of this process might help the rancor to dissipate. It must be said that the previous administrations have been responsible for the evolving of organized gangs, with an estimated 24 outlawed organized gangs operating in the country, to try and improve the lives of the people in the country. Although this will take time, the government should consider it as a positive step to addressing post-historical injustices.

Now its time for Mugabe to leave

The reports coming out of Zimbabwe are not encouraging by any means. Leaders of the country's ruling ZANU-PF, it is reported, are moaning about plans to have foreign intervention in the current political impasse.

These leaders are saying that the international community should do more to ensure that the re off scheduled for June 27,which is supposed to start in the next few days, is free and fair by keeping off.

Their argument is that the international community is not qualified to decide on behalf of Zimbabweans the future of their own country.

According to the ZANU-PF, President Robert Mugabe is still their flag bearer despite having suffered a humiliating defeat in the closely contested polls. The opposition MDC says time has come for Mugabe to exit from power and a moment for a new political dawn is unstoppable.

But a number of SADC member countries led by South Africa, insist that Zimbabwe deserves more time to undertake a peaceful transition.

The leaders contend that this would ensure that their former war veterans are fully equipped for their new lives and, therefore, not turn to the gun again for sustenance after Mugabe exits from power.

I, for one, support the idea of properly equipping these unfortunate young and old men so that they do not fall prey any more to men whose one reason for supporting Mugabe has been survival. It is a pity that when the AU had the opportunity to do a proper job the first time round, after the elections, it failed to do so. The failure of the AU to act provided ample recruits to unleash violence.

Mugabe has failed to come up with programmes to ensure that the young men he has often misled and those that he used as his goons would eventually lead a settled life once jis regime is changed. The problem was that the ZANU-PF "hardlinerS" did not even have a plan for the country as a whole. As I said, they were just interested in looking after themselves. This is the reason why there is lack of an exit strategy for President Robert Mugabe.

One of the major problems is the succession debate within the ZANU-PF over who takes over the party's leadership from Mugabe, whose tribe has controled the bulk of the country's economy for the last seven years.

There were also fights over who would head key portifolios and other money-spinning parastatals. One of the new parastatal heads, I'm told, has said that he has plans to make cash for Mugabe before he steps down! The army commanders, who never did much commanding or fighting any way, are now ensconced in Harare, enjoying the good life. It is therefore not surprising that some of the more restive war veterans, who are not happy with the way their formers commanders are carrying on, went on the rampage the other day before the election and voted for the opposition MDC.

According to reports, former war veterans went berserk in Bulawayo weeks before the polls, complaining that the ZANU-PF leadership had abandoned them. The disgruntled old and young men played their discontent in the open, beat up civilians and looted several properties in the town, which was once their stronghold.

Groups of youth entered into the offices of the NDC compound and started to completely loot the compound in the presence of the police officers.

Essential and sensitive materials had been taken way," one MDC worker said. "We are disturbed by the looting of our offices by angry ZANU-PF youths who were demanding money .

Both the ZANU-PF and MDC leadership also have a responsibility to ensure that law and order is maintained in the country. After all, they were responsible for arming the young men and getting them to fight on their behalf.

Given that the AU's presence in Zimbabwe appears to be running around in circles, it is important that locals who have any clout should be drafted in to help retrieve a situation that is still volatile, no matter what we are being told by ZANU-PF or SADC bureaucrats in South Africa. Those who recruited the youths and commanded them must be read the riot act by the UN. The world body must tell ZANU-PF and Robert Mugabe in no uncertain terms that if he does not help to control their his former combatants, he will be held responsible for any trouble caused in Zimbabwe.

It is easy for Mugabe and his ZANU-PF leaders to complain about UN non-action in other countries. But what are they themselves doing to make the situation less volatile for the international community? There should be no buck passing,

Tthe rehabilitation of former war veterans should be a principal point of consideration for the international community if it must intervene in Zimbabwe.

Kenya army accused of torture and impunity

On Friday the chief of the army defended the military aganist accussions for using torture during interrogation in the on-going operation in Mt. Elgon to flush out members of the Saboat Land Defense Force.

The Kenya National Commission on Human Rights has accused the army for sanctioning the use of torture and other cruel techniques in the wake of an operation in the Mt Elgon area, saying that the military should be held accountable for buse of suspects.

In his most extensive public comments about how the military conducted its operation in Mt. Elgon, and the subsequent arrests of suspects that followed, General Kianga insisted that the military acted proffesionally and as a result many suspects have surrendered volunterily without being subjected to questioning. He maintained that the army acts in complaince with both Kenyan law and its international treaty obligations as expected world-wide.

He challenged the Kenya National Commision on Human Rights to provide conviencing evidence of torture by the army.

However, the army chief acknowledged that the military will act appropriately where there is evidence aganist rougued officers who acted contrary to the law. He maintained that the military will act on case by case after serious investigations in to the alleged cases of torture before taking any appropriate action.

He confirmed that the military high command’s top priority at the time of the operation is to prevent civilian casualties and ensuring that the troops observe fine legal points within the rules of engagement.

"The KNCHR should provide us with evidence and we will investigate, whatever they allege as being torture was legal in the face of not just the operation in Mt. Elgon, but the standard practise of military operations world-wide,we are in a situation where we are dealing with an armed and brutal militant group that has accounted for hundreds of innocent lives," Kianga said. "But even in this circumstance, the military is clear that we were going to live up to our legal obligations and uphold the rule of law".

Another organization- the Independent Medico Legal Unit has cited various forms of violations including the use of harsh interogation techniques that some believe to have amounted to torture, cruel, inhumane and degrading treatment pointing out on various legal restrictions on the treatment of suspects by the military in Mt. Elgon.

In a report released by the human rights lobby dubbed: Operation Okoa Maisha’ at least over 400 people were allegedly torture by military.

According to another report by the KNCHR, the exercise has turned out to be a human rights disaster for the residents who have accused the military of arbitrary arrests and torutre. KNCHR alleges that a systematic pattern of abuse and impunity has evolved since the beginning of March, when the military was deployed to flush out suspected members of the outlawed Sabaot Land Defence Force.

There has been a long debate in Kenyan legal reform policy about the use of torture by law enforcement agaents since Kenya ratified the United Nation Convention Aganist Torture (UNCAT) outlawing the use of torture by law enforcement officials during interrogations.

However there are no specific interogation techniques approved by the Law for questioning suspects in Kenya, attempts to introduce an anti-terrorism legislation commonly know as the Supression of Terrorism Act have not been fruitful after human rights groups rejected the proposed bill citing numerious flaws.

The proposed bill has elicted debate over the powers confered to the police to indefinately detain suspects and use interrogation techniques that would violate the rights of the suspects.

"Protection aganist any form of torture have evolved in the context of democracy, and the constant debate on the doctrine to protect citizens aganist human rights abuses by state agents as provided by the law.

At the same time, senior security officials have maintained that security has largely been compromised due to the limitation by the law to extract evidence from criminal suspects making it difficult to conduct interrogations within the existing rules.

l heard them cry for help as the media watched

Under the patronage of a combination of bad governance, terrible politics and shocking neglect, Kenya became hell on earth following the desputed Decemebr 27 presidential polls.

The country broke records. In a space of thirty days, up to one thousand five hundred men, women and children were murdered. The killing as followed, immediately by another three hundred and fifty thousands people being uprooted from their house, making it yet another biggest humaniterian crisis in Kenya.

In the thick of all this, l witnessed how the media promoted tribal chauvinism and undermined national unity by editing messages of hate that were aired on radio stations and on the print media. Long before the elections were held, vernacular radio stations had ignited ethnic consciousness among the listeners making them support leaders from their own tribe and harbour bad feelings about people from other communities who were targets of hate speech.

Reminisent of the notorious TRLM in Rwanda, the media in Kenya is partly to blame for the post-election bloodshed in Kenya. There are worrying echoes of a planned genocide being incited by local radio stations that urged to "arm themselves" aganist their enemies.

Kenya has been convulsed by bloodshed since 1992, which has claimed more than 4,500 lives and estimated 20,000 people live temporarily makeshifts.

The December 27 post-election violence was not a new happening to me as a journalist from my previous understanding and experience that goes back in the early 1990s when the worst episodes of politically instigated ethnic cleansing were witnessed in 1992 and 1998 during the reign of former despotic ruler Daniel arap Moi.

Many people were murdered with machetes and some victims were assaulted with arrows. Often, in the dead of the night, victims were corralled by mobs to forlorn structures where they were executed and buried in full view of the security personnel who were inept and politically compromised.

In the December 27 violence, both the police and militias commited serious human rights violations, the police account for more than 300 deaths while armed militia carried out well planned attacks in some areas, youths belonging to the ruling party were transported under police escort to cause violence in areas that were considered to be PNU’s strong holds.

In one egregious act of cruelty, l witnessed the pro-Kibaki militia commonly known as the Mungiki as they burnt a family of 15 in the town of Naivasha while in Eldoret, a physically challenged elderly woman in a wheelchair had been burnt beyond recognition alongside 34 of her tribal compatriots when youths belonging to the opposition Ornage Democratic Movement (ODM) atacked a church building.

The worst incident that will refuse to get out of my mind is the incident where a Catholic priest was condemned to death by stoning. As a journalist who can you do if you witness someone being led to his slaughter and asks for your help?

The truth of the matter is that Kenya will never the same again despite the current reconcilatory efforts amd messages being spread across the country unless historical injustices are addressed. Proponents of a truth, justice and reconciliation commission have argued that the violence that officially claimed 1,500 lives and displaced tens of thousands of people from their homeland in December 2007 may have been avoided had the government cared to deal with the questions of inequality and historical injustices that have divided Kenyans along ethnic lines.

It imperative to note that even during Moi’s tenure, the country witnessed state institutionalized ethnic division and a high sense of tribal xenophobia pitying the ethnic Kalenjin community aganist the Kikuyu. When in 2000, the elite GEMA community defended their quest for unity of purpose, then President Daniel Moi accused the community of abusing the freedom of speech to ignite ethnic division. The Kikuyu elite had sought to defend the existence of a vernacular FM radio stations arguing that it was meant to unity the community and call for harmony with other communities. Moi however went ahead and banned all venecular FM radio stations forcing him to temporarily suspend the broadcast license for Royal Media Service owned by S.K Machari whom Moi accused of using his media to campaign for the opposition.

Despite efforts to criminalize venecular broadcast in Kenya, proponents of the freedom of the press urged that vernacular is part of the Kenyan cultural and there is nothing we can do about it. In 1996 the government acceded to licensing of independent broadcast stations, the tendency to broadcast in vernacular was adopted and in 2000 the government went ahead to license Kenya’s first vernacular language FM radio station. This however did not go well with Moi who accused Kameme FM of inciting ethnic hate and propagating genocide.

Its the decision by the government to launch a state run venecular FM station, Inooro, that took everybody by surprise. The station which todate broadcasts in the Kikuyu language enjoys a huge following, at least 23% of the entire 34 million populace that cuts across 43 disparate communities the Kikuyu tribe is numerically the country’s largest ethnic community. Today almost all 43 ethnic groups in Kenya have attachments to particular vernacular FM stations.

In another move of ethnic chauvinism that was being played by the media was evident in 2005 when the government temporarily switch off air KASS FM, a vernacular radio station broadcasting in the Kalenjin dialect accusing it of allegedly inciting its listeners to violence days before a historic referendum on the Constitution.

Human rights organizations led by the government-funded Kenya National Commission on Human Rights (KNCHR), published a report titled, "Still Behaving Badly." In which the KNCHR documented human rights abuses in the lead up to the December 27 elections. Emerging on the top of the list of inveterate performers were vernacular FM stations. Regarding these stations, the report stated that the "use of unsavory language continues unabatedly."

At least four FM stations, broadcasting in the Kalenjin, Kikuyu and Luo dialect, were the most insidious. They included the Kalenjin language station, KASS, both the Kikuyu stations, Inooro and Kameme and the Luo station, notably Lake Victoria, FM stations and Ramogi FM.

The Kikuyu stations: "Both Kameme and Inooro FM radio stations played songs that talked very badly about ‘beasts from the west,’ a veiled reference to opposition leader Raila Odinga and his Orange Democratic Movement (ODM) colleagues who hailed from the western part of Kenya."

It was astonishing to witness fellow journalists refuse to attend media conferences called by leaders from communities that they did not support. The media owners were also torn along political and ethnic lines even to an extend where they allowed to publish hate speech as paid-up advertisments in their newspapers and in broadcast stations.

The ethnic hate and political division that the media propagated was so unbelievable. Journalists encouraged their readers and callers to unleaseh their vile and laughed about it with impunity ecouraging communities that had co-existed for over 45 years to raise aganis each other. Neighbours rised aganist neighbours, husbands were forced to turn aganist their families and the entire community was condemned to senseless killings as the media thrived in profits.

On whose blood are we championing human rights?

Kenya ratified the United Nation Convention against Torture, Cruel, Inhuman or Degrading Treatment or Punishment in 1997. However, the convention is yet to be domesticated eleven years since Kenya acceded to the convention. Government has a duty to protect it citizens aganist organized crime and safeguard life and property of all Kenyans. However, this has to be done within the premise of law and order and without violating human rights.

Report release by human rights organisations in Kenya point out to torture as still prevalent in police stations; police officers subject criminal suspects to torture in order to extract confessions. In an attempt to address the “systematic” practice of torture, the government has introduced legal provisions that outlawed torture: The Criminal Law Amendment Act, 2003. This Miscellaneous Criminal Amendment Act 2003 seeks to, inter alias, to make inadmissible any confessions made by persons in police custody, unless made before a magistrate-thus making the prospect of torture of an accused person in custody improbable was enforced by the amendment to the Evidence Act, Chapter 80 Law of Kenya by adding the new Section 25A. The amendment states, “a confession or any admission of a fact tending to the proof of guilt made by an accused person is not admissible and shall not be proved as against such person unless it is made in open court. It is imperative to know that both the Kenyan constitution and the Police Act outlaws torture and grantees every citizen the right to be free from torture and other cruel and inhuman treatment.

Section 71 (1) of the Constitution of Kenya provides that no person shall be deprived of his life intentionally save in execution of the sentence of a court in respect of a criminal offence. Police Act, Cap 84, Stion 28 (c): Any persons who by force prevents or attempts to resists lawful arrest of himself or any other person; Sec 28 (i): Use of fire arm upon giving a warning that he intends to use arms and the warning is unheeded. Throughout this report, the term "excessive force" refers to abuse occurring both during apprehension and while in custody.

However, a report released by the Independent Medico Legal Unit alleges that various detachments of the Armed Forces used excessive force exceeding what is objectively reasonable and necessary in the circumstances confronting them in the course of their duties.

The human rights watchdog draws it findings to the infamous military operation in Mt Elgon area aimed at wiping out members of the rag-tagged militias of the Sabot Land Defense Force (SLDF) who has presided over a reign of terror in the disputed Mt. Elgon settlement scheme.

The operation dubbed ‘Operation Okoa Maisha’ was a joint operation bringing togethe units from Kenya Army, Kenya police, Administration police and the General Service Unit.

According to the IMLU, the officers contravenued Article 3 of the U.N. Code of Conduct for Law Enfor ement Officials which provides that: "Law enforcement officials should use force only when strictly necessary and to the extent required for the performance of their duty." UN General Assembly resolution 34/169 passed on December 17, 1979, and in the U.N. Basic Principles on the Use of Force and Firearms by Law Enforcement Officials, which stipulates that, "Whenever the use of

force and firearms is unavoidable, law enforcement officials shall exercise restraint in such use and act in proportion to the seriousness of the offence and the legitimate objective to be achieved." UN Doc. A/CONF.144/28/Rev.1 (1990).

What has shocked every one is the assertion by IMLU that over 400 people where subjected to toture and other cruel, inhumane and degrading treatment by the military during its operation in Mt. Elgon.

Although l agree with the IMLU report and join in the call for quick and fair investigation in to this allegations with hope that those responsible for perpetuating the alleged violations will face justice, my heart also goes to all those innocent Kenyans who were subjected to the brutality meted by the militias of the SLDF.

Indeed, its the actions of the SLDF which prompted the military operation. The terrorist-style attacks aganist civilians by the SLDF militias called for tactical and decisive approach that would break their cells and end years of terror in Mt. Elgon.

The need for a Military approach aganist members of the SLDF was vital and according to internal security minister the approach was ‘neccessary to the circumstance’

Innocent Kenyans should not be held custody to a a criminal gang that subjects them to extortion, rape, murder, toture and execution. This are the kind of normalicy that have been displayed by the SLDF and the Mungiki.

Human Rights should apply to all and in a country where inequalites and class diffrence rein, human rights remain relative to the advantage of the majority.

What is disturbing to me and to many Kenyans who firmly believe in human rights and justice, its the mere fact that human rights activists always miss the point or get excited by the problem that is confronting them. After reading the IMLU report, l agree with their findings and concure that a culture of impunity still reign s deep within the law enforcement agents in Kenya. However, after seeking answers, l came across the follwing extract which explains why justice and human rights will never be understood.

Yesterday Gladys and I went to Kakamega for a meeting with CAPP (essentially peace committee members) and AVP members from the various yearly meetings. During this meeting a woman from Chwele Yearly Meeting, which is right below the fighting on Mt. Elgon, told us that the previous night a member of one of the Quaker meetings was attacked by the Sabaot Land Defense Force (SLDF) which is responsible for much of the destruction and death on the mountain. His head was cut off and has not yet been found. (Note: Is it more "civilized" to attack people, say in Iraq, with heavy weapons so the body parts are all over the place?) Most of the Sabaot, who live higher up on the slopes of the mountain, have been displaced, so the SLDF is now moving further down the hill to steal cattle and goods killing people in the process. This area is very heavily populated by Quakers; every mile or two is another Quaker school. As the violence increases--and the current political crisis has been a great "cover" for increased attacks and ethnic cleanings in the area.

We should also agree that small arms must be considered as a security problem, but quantifying the public response to the impact of small arms is difficult and studies carried out in areas of conflict are indicative of wide spread human rights abuses. Considers the remote cross border area between Kenya and Uganda where pastoral conflict in the form of cattle raiding with the use of small arms has escalated in recent years, and where security personnel are scarce. Statistics showed that most gunshoot injuries are sustained during raiding, though worrying incidences of injury among noncombatants and young children occure. Many serious injuries and limb fractures are common, causing some long-term implications for pain, growth, disability, and livelihood. Deaths and injuries are likely to be significantly underestimated by statistics obtained from human rights organisations, due to problems of transport, insecurity, deaths prior to arrival, admission fees for some facilities, and fear of reporting injuries due to the criminal element. Police statistics support this conclusion. The situation appeared to have been worse in Mt. Elgon where the direct impact of the SLDF on the civilian population remains undocumented.

We need someone to talk to Robert Mugabe

South Africa is sticking to its policy of “quiet diplomacy” as it tries to persuade Zimbabwe’s President Robert Mugabe to respond to the country’s political and economic turmoil, even after the push by the European Union to have the 14 member states of the Southern African Development Community (SADC)to take firmer action on Robert Mugabe over the desputed March 28 Presidential election.

Emerging from an extraordinary session of SADC, Zambian president Levy Mwanawasa failed to affirm SADC’s position on Zimbabwe. Indeed, the meeting in Lusaka reached a deadlock over how todeal with Zimbabwe’s president Robert Mugabe, South Africa President Thabo Mbeki who held a separate meeting with Robert Mugabe has warned aganist external interferance into the internal affairs of Zimbabwe.

After the meeting in Harare, President Mbeki said: “on the question of Zimbabwe, it’s an internal problem which requires patience and time. Lets give them more time to resolve the despute.” In diplomatic terms, that terse line in the lengthy statement clearly indicating how deep the differences between South Africa and SADC over Zimbabwe really stands. Both regional and international powers led by AU, EU and the US wants the SADC to act firmly against the Mugabe government, which it they say has clung to power through fraudulent elections.

The world powers also fear that the Zimbabwean regime is blocking food aids to the regions of the country dominated by supports the opposition Movement for Democratic Change (MDC). Zimbabwe has been hard hit by famine, caused by drought and the disruption of the country’s agricultural sector by controversial land reform program which has seen mainly white farmers being driven off their farms, with minimum compensation.

The land was to be distributed to Zimbabwe’s peasants but instead only supporters of the government were allocated. The division between South Africa and its patners in SADC has calledinto question whether South Africa President has the leadership required in mitigating the Zimbabwe crisis.

The EU and the US has barred Zimbabwean government officials to enter member states of the union; it has imposed travel sanctions, among others restriction. South Africa has failed to act as international mediator to assist the people of Zimbabwe in their endeavour to find national reconciliation,economic reconstruction and sustainable development. Now, South Africa is in an awkward position.

It lacks the support of the AU, EU and its SADC partners. The program to build political stability and kick start social and economic development in Zimbabwe is on a head spin to disaster. The other set back is the failure id the NEPAD initiative which is actively promoted by South African President Thabo Mbeki and promises better political and economic governance by African countries in return for better trade and aid deals from the advance economies: and for better or worse the international community sees Mugabe as a test case for both Africa’s leaders.

While south African officials have been quietly been making it clear that Mbeki is opposes to the way land reforms were carried out in Zimbabwe and the way the government is holding onto power.

The South African president has avoided getting in slanging match with the Zimbabwean government. After his meeting with Robert Mugabe, Mbeki expressed optimism in the political future in Zimbabwe underlining the fact that the results of the desputed presidential elections are a ‘small set back’ in the Zimbabwe transition. Speaking in Ghana after meeting UN Secretary General Moon, Zimbabwe’s opposition leaders warned of looming political crisis in Zimbabwe.

The MDC leader said that Zimbabwe needed assistance from the UN to deal with some of the challenges that had arisen following the delay in releasing the results of presidential elections. The MDC leader said that the UN should work towards the normalization of democracy in Zimbabwe and persuade president Robert Mugabe to concede defeat.

We should stop young Africans from dying to enter Europe

In the past twelve months, news papers around the globe have painted a gloomy picture on the plight of young African immigrants who die while trying to enter parts of the European Union in search of better paying jobs. The statistics provided paint a stark picture, some 6,000 young African men have died on the dangerous journey across the Mediterranean trying to enter Spain enroute to countries in the European Union.

This comes as last week, Britian announced new immigration rules to control the influx of ilegal immigrants who have complicated the social service order making it a burden to the commoners.

The pressure on unemploymenet among the youth in Europe is also under threat of this young African who have been escaping from their countries because of bad leadership. At least 140,000 Kenyans are reportedly living in the UK, mostly are providing cheap labour in factories and in the hospitality industry. Thanks to the UK.

Yet many more young Africans are still prepared to pay the massive sum of £3,000 for the short but risky trip from North Africa to the Canary Islands.

Why are these young men ready to fork out the equivalent of 14 years’ salary to travel to Europe, when there is no guarantee that they will make it there? Is it because there is something fundamentally wrong with the countries from which they are running away? is obvious that these young men do not have any confidence in the present or future state of their countries.

How else can one explain their actions? Take the case of Zimbabwe where Mugabe's own dictatorship has forced millions of educated Zimbabweans to migrate to South Africa where they are offered jobs to work as 'servants' . This is self impossed slavery. In Botswana the story is the same with low salaries and poor working conditions. Ghana has lost its educated young youths to firms in europe and America . While the instability in Somalia, Rwanda, Burundi, Sudan continues to force millions of young Africans to self exile in europe.

Let’s face it, £3,000 is a hell of lot of money in Africa and it could go a long way in making the difference between living and merely surviving. But these desperate young Africans don’t see it that way. And those who make it good (relatively speaking) in Europe don’t help matters either.

They only work as alternative labour in europe hired for convinence and for low pay often meant for up keep.

When they return home on holidays, flushed with money earned through menial jobs, they tend to spend it like drunken sailors on shore leave. They give a totally wrong impression of life in Europe to impressionable young African men who are only too willing to listen to tall tales – until they themselves arrive to find out that the reality is completely different.

It was with this in mind that sometime ago Alioune Tine, the secretary general of the Senegalese human rights body, RADDHO, spoke out against visiting young Senegalese men driving around Dakar in flash four-wheel drives. It is not surprising that Senegal provides the bulk of these young illegal immigrants trying to make it to Spain. There is indeed a major problem with regards to the state of young people in West Africa today. This has occasionally highlighted in UN reports, which speak of the high rates of unemployment among young people in the region, and their feeling of despair.

As reports note, the situation is a ticking bomb. But it seems that it has already exploded – and the effects are being felt in the entire Europe.

Dear, President Mwai Kibaki

Dear Sir, After Kenya emerged from the repressive and dictatorial regime under former despotic ruler Daniel Moi, bringing to an end his 24-years of misrule, the country has disintegrated further into a state of political apathy. This time you, yourself have decided to supervise increased state institutionalised corruption, repressionn and other related human rights abuse. The country has been subjected to increased tribalism, individualism with your full knowledge.

Sir, its my honest believe that your administration is evading a historic responsibility by failing to resolve issues that are pertinent to a peaceful transition and the very future of democracy, human rights and transitional justice in Kenya. Sir, l wish to remind you and your fellow members of the infamous ‘Muthaiga club’ that the power-sharing deal reached upon under the National Accord and Reconciliation Act, 2008 was primarily because your government was regarded as unpopular, deceptive and undemocratic by majority of Kenyans. Undemocratic because the disputed Dec 27 Presidential polls were characterised by violence and claims of malpractice; the state instruments were partisan; your government was intolerant to divergent opinions; and was insensitive to popular demands.

However, since the power-sharing deal was reached, there have been undercurrents that your administration is no different from its predecessor after all.

Firstly, though your government appeares more tolerant to different opinions, recent events indicate that the your regime is growing increasingly sensitive by the day. Indeed, like the Moi dictatorship of early 1980s, your administration is eager to use the oppressive tools of the state, including the provincial administration, to muzzle opposing opinions. Sir, recent attempt by your administration to bar members of the civil society to freely hold peaceful protests and the forceful repatriation of internally displaced people back to their ancestral homes has been interpreted in this light.

Paradoxically, while you were in the opposition, you vigorously campaigned for the dismantling of the provincial administration. Your then official opposition party, Democratic Party of Kenya, indeed presented a memorandum to the constitution of Kenya Review Commission calling for the scrapping of the provincial administration. However, on assuming power, you have not only defended the administration, but ministers in your government have been quoted as vowing to weed out those sympathetic to the opposition and in fact they have engaged in a systematic conspiracy to victimise those who served in the previous government.

Secondly, your leadership has increasingly been using the same old methods. In the Dec 27 election, ministers allied to your-the Party of National Unity, were criss-crossing their strong holds using the trappings of power, state resources and promising largesse from the state. Yet, when they were in the opposition six year ago, they constantly accused KANU, which was in power then, of using state resources for partisan gains. Closely related to that, of course, is the old tactic of divide and rule and the mentality that only those who support your government will benefit from government resources. Week after week, your ministers are quoted exhorting the various ethnic communities to support the your unpopular regime if they hope to benefit from its largesse.

Sir, it worthy to note that not even yester-years’ democracy and human rights crusaders are immune from this anachronistic thinking being perpetuated by your regime. Indeed, remember when you visited the violence prone districts of Rift Valley, members of your Kikuyu tribe expressed fear of how they had been exposed to a ‘systematic genocide’ targeting to wipe them from parts of the Rift Valley. They alleged a deliberate conspiracy to isolate and condemn them for voting for you. Apparently, the right to an opinion and association has lost meaning now that you are in power courtesy of a flawed and fraudulent process.

Thirdly, the old issue of selective application of the law has reared its ugly head again. There are increasing concerns that the war against corruption is turning out to be a mirage under your leadership. Your have perfected the selective and targeted conspiracy at specific individuals and families in the name of fighting corruption. The refusal to prosecute known perpetrators of the infamous Goldenburg and Anglosleasing scandals are just but examples of your government’s ineptness to deal with graft.

Sir, many key members of your government were in fact stalwarts of the previous administration. It’s therefore highly inconceivable that they were not involved in the corruption of that era. Indeed, their names appear in several public accounts and public investment committee reports. Others were mentioned in the various human rights reports as players in various human rights abuses, including ethnic violence that was witnessed in 1992, 1997, 2002 and have also played an active role in planning and bank rolling of the post-election violence witnessed after the December 27 disputed vote.

Yet, today, they continue serving in the cabinet as ministers, assistant ministers and others as influential PNU members of parliament, while your close allies continue making allegations against certain families and individuals. Again the old adage that charity begins at home appears to have lost its meaning under your leadership.

And fourthly is the question of the current coalition’s internal democracy. As it were, a political party cannot give a country what it lacks internally. Thus, PNU and ODM cannot entrench democracy in the country if they cannot grant the same to its members and more primarily to the Kenyan people. One measure of a party’s attitude towards democracy is its capacity to subject its leaders to popular mandate, which is through party elections and the respect to multi-party democracy. Yet, this is the most divisive issue in your coalition arrangement.

The established tradition worldwide is that parties, whose ideological persuasions are close, form coalitions after elections in order to constitute a government, where no single party wins a majority. For PNU and ODM, political parties and amorphous groups have yet again formed the coalition regardless of their political persuasions after the disputed Dec 27 polls. Thus, the coalition lacks clear structures and leadership, has no quantifiable membership, lacks unifying ideology and, much worse, has not agreed whether to be one party or to retain its current amorphous state. The persistent war between factions of the coalitions over cabinet positions means that the coalition will take sometime before it can guarantee its membership internal democracy. And that undermines the capacity of the coalition to entrench democracy in the country.

On the human rights front, the coalition government must do better than what your previous NARC and Daniel Moi’s KANU did. On assuming power, the NARC government accorded human rights campaigners positions in its ranks, opened torture chambers - among them the famous Nyayo House - and cautioned the security organs against abusing suspects’ rights. However, there have been genuine concerns that the country may have slided back into the days of torture and a culture of impunity. In recent weeks, there have been complaints that police officers are perpetrating arbitrary arrests; extra-judicial killings are still prevalent while the security officers have been accused of torturing suspects, notably during and after the post-election period.

Moreover, the government recently initiated a security operation in Mount Elgon district, which continues despite fierce battles between the residents and the security forces. While the number of the dead remains unknown, there are fears that the operation will leave behind trails of human rights abuses, which will never be documented.

Sir, there are also expressions of genuine grievances arising from the recent efforts to form a Truth, Justice and Reconciliation Commission. The concerns are that the proposed commission is a tactic to witch-hunt and humiliate certain individuals and communities, and not an effort to promote national reconciliation that is badly needed to heal the scares of the Dec 27 post-election violence.

The old tactic of destroying people’s income basis in an effort to remove them from certain areas, which was perfected in the 1990s, has been brought back. In the last few weeks, your local government Minister, Uhuru Mwigai Kenyatta, in conjunction with the Nairobi City Council, has been demolishing informal business structures in order to remove those businesses from supposedly the Central Business District and road reserves. The problem is that this destruction, which has only been conducted in upmarket areas, leaves many people without an income and thus compromises their economic rights.

More importantly, the recent sale of Safaricom IPO to offshore foreign investors by your finance minister Amos Kimunya has sent shock waves into the spines of many Kenyans and human rights activists. Indeed, the sale has met resistance from many quarters including members of parliament.

Sir, the resistance has its roots in two areas. Firstly, the government announced the sale without consulting with stakeholders, and appeared to be bowing to pressure from foreign individual and companies. Indeed, despite protests against this sale, the government has indicated its resolve not to withdraw the sale. Secondly, and much worse, the identity of the directors of Mobitelea- a major shareholder in Safaricom-with a 5 per cent stake in Vodafon Kenya Limited remains unknown, this runs against the national spirit and militates against our national sovereignty and economic interests in favour of the interests of foreign masters and a few selfish fraudsters working on behalf of your government.

Sir, it’s embarrassing that a number of your senior ministers are engaging in a conspiracy to blackmail and implicate you in their failed schemes to defraud the tax payers. Recent events where you have been appearing in prearranged photo sessions with them has been used to blackmail you in the face of the media. In fact, the media bears the brunt for openly criticising this clique of good for nothing ministers.

You will remember that even in the face of international pressure for you and Raila Odinga to cede ground and enter a compromised political solution and save the country from sliding the Rwanda way, some of your ministers led by Justice and Constitutional Affairs minister Martha Karua held a ‘dangerous hard line’ position. In fact, she even verbally engaged the former United Nations Secretary General Kofi Annan and dared to face off with the US Secretary of State Condeleza Rice. It took your own heart and mind to resolve the stalemate that had played at Serena.

Is Africa a case of a failed democracy

In Africa coups and countercoups have remained in the political menu as electoral fraud and brutal civil wars become the order of the day. The political and civil gains that ordinary people had died for in order to wrest freedom from long entrenched oppressive governments appears at times to have been in vain, especially for countries consumed by fresh onslaughts brought about by some African leaders obsessed with power. These are the topics the media and human rights groups in Africa have been addressing. It does not help to blame the ordinary folk for the tragic human rights record that Africa carries as the century dawned.

The blame in many ways lies with the continent’s political leaders and their foreign allies who do not seem to have come to terms with the order. It took demonstrations and wars to democratize these countries, yet some leaders have chosen to ignore this.

Additionally, the obtaining concept of politics in Africa is largely borrowed from the residues of the western political culture and norms, and therefore its destructive to the greater vision of a liberated, independent, prosperous and a human rights responsive Africa. The need to design a new concept a homegrown concept of politics remains is a priority agenda for Africa.

The Genocide

These leaders seem to think it was a mistake to grant their countrymen their rights and political freedoms. They claim to be representing their countries and people, yet it is not lost to many and should not be to them that such loud claims are being met by even louder and bolder statements from their citizenry who have not hesitated to let it be known that their patience is running out.

A case in point is the 1994 genocide in Rwanda in which over 800,000 people were slaughtered in 100 days. The killings went down in the annals of history as the most catastrophic phenomenon in the African continent in the millennium. The genocide can perhaps only be compared to the holocaust, the slaughter of 6 million Jews by Hitler and his sympathizers and the slave trade of the 17th century in which millions of Africans were uprooted form their homes and shipped to foreign land to start a life of slavery. The Rwanda Tribunal in Arusha was set up by the United Nations to try the perpetrators, but no one can really get the full reprieve of the horror that left millions scared and traumatized for life.

Four years ago, I visited Rwanda to report on the memorial of the genocide and to follow up on the elusive search of Rwanda’s most wanted genocide suspect Felician Kabuga who remains at large. I used the opportunity to make a visit to the Gisozi Memorial site, which lies at the center of the genocide and symbolizes Africa’s darkest moments; about 250,000 people were buried in mass graves at this site. The site carries with it the memories of a forgotten genocide and a haunted nation. Inside the site is a storage facility where human skulls, clothes and crud weapons used in the genocide have been stored for historical purposes.

Rwanda stands between a fragile transition and a conceptual reconciliation period. The memorial sites both in Kigali and in Gisozi represents a wounded generation. According to Mrs. Murebwayihe Alphousine, the site was built in 2002 significantly to the healing and reconciliation process and plays a central role to the genocide survivors. The occurrence of the genocide goes way back in 1957 to 1994. The genocides used savagery methods to attack, both the Tutsi-led Banyamulenge and the Hutu-led Interahamwe militia shoot, clobbered and hacked to death many innocent civilians. The guerrilla-styled attacks organized against women and children were the most degrading form of human treatment ever perpetuated by human race. Tutsi pregnant mothers were attacked, brutally beaten and subjected to gang rape; in the process most of the Women miscarried.

My visit to Rwanda was a soul-searching one and carries with it great lessons for Kenya. The current transition needs to be reconciliatory with the past human rights violations and a culture of impunity.

Troubled region

In the troubled great Lakes, genocide minded-armed faction and militias have not given any indications that they learnt any lesson from the genocide in Rwanda and Burundi. The armed factions that continue to roam this troubled area have left no doubt that they have unfinished business and they will not rest until they annihilate certain ethnic groups. On the other hand, the national armies in these two countries in the course of their duties and out of ethnic concern have not hesitated to show their displeasure. The number of internally displaced persons in this region has continued to rise over time to become the highest in the continent. Thousands have been forced out of their homes due to insecurity and fear of recurring attacks. The Gisozi memorial site is significantly symbolic to the region if peace is to become a reality.

Human rights groups have confirmed that the interahamwe and their counterparts, the former soldiers of the Habyarimana regime, the ex-FAR, have now settled in refugees camps in western Tanzania having disguised as genuine refugees fleeing the conflicts in Burundi. But while these killers and torturous may have decided to change their bases, their mission remain the same- kill all Tutsi even if that involves destabilization of the whole region.

It seems now that after many years of ineffective attacks on Rwanda, these death squads have now decided to switch to Burundi, a country that in recent weeks has been tethering on the brink. Since last December, Hutu rebels allied to the Foreces for National Liberation (FNL) have stepped up their attacks in Burundi. They haved accused the CNDD/FDD wing of President Pierre Ngurunziza of undermining the Arusha Accord and staging attacks aganist opposition figuires in Bujumbura. The recent power sharing deal is acting as a catalyst. The rebels have taken advantage of the deal and have opted to mount attacks on government forces and innocent civillians. Burundi’s Tutsi –dominated army has not taken these lightly and is now squaring with some of the internally based rebel groups who continue to run the power game.

The consequence of this increased turmoil is a rise in civilian toll and serious human rights violations. By the end of December 2007 the rebels had step-up their onslaught to an ethnic protracted war thus threatening the peace process. At the same time the power sharing government in Burundi ticks as the rebels continues to mobilize hundreds of thousands of its supporters to scuttle the transition arrangements. Even President Pierri Ngurunziza onslaught on his persived enemies within the party has refused to bore fruits and has continued to push him into politcal wilderness.

Though it is easy to understand why the militia has turned its attention on derailing the deal, ethnic persuasions remains a factor in the conflict. It only needs the correct timing and willing ethnic demagogues. Like elsewhere in the continent, the latter are in abundance and one of these, the interahamwe, has offered to inflame the conflict in Burundi once again.

Refugees
This turmoil has precipitated an unmanageable refugee crisis aptly described by the United Nations High Commission for Refugees; the fate and conditions of refugees and internally displaced persons remain pathetic. Refugees continue the exodus from their countries of origin and settle in hostile environments, most of them are housed in shabby shelters that lack basic amenities. The conflict in the Great Lakes Region and the fragile peace in the Sudan, the absence of a central government in Somalia, the failed democracy in Kenya and repressive regime of President Robert Mugabe of Zimbabwe have compelled hundreds of thousands of refugees to settle almost permanently in neighboring countries as the situation in their own countries continues to deteriorate. From the dismal performance of president Joseph Kabila of the Republic of Congo to the armed skirmishes between foreign troops in Congo to the eruption of a brutal border clash between Eritrea and Ethiopia, a consensus seems to have emerged among the populace and human rights activists that will have a long way to go.