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Top Govt officials differ on security as Michuki admits Mt Elgon crisis
THE STANDARD
20. April 2007
On a day the Government conceded the crisis in Mt Elgon posed a threat to national security, its top brass was once again caught reading from different scripts, sparking off confusion over exactly who is in
charge.
Women and their children next to their burnt houses at Chifiri village in
Bura, Tana River District, yesterday. Attackers set alight the homes on Tuesday
morning.
Picture by Govedi Asutsa |
The Defence minister, Mr Njenga
Karume, Police Commissioner Maj-Gen Hussein Ali, Government Spokesman Dr Alfred Mutua and a Provincial Commissioner gave the impression that the Government was not speaking in one voice on the widespread insecurity in the
country.
Ali and Dr Mutua appeared to be on a collision course with Central PC Mr Kiplimo Rugut and Karume over the Mungiki crisis that has turned Banana Hill, a prosperous township in Kiambu some 23km northwest of Nairobi, upside down.
Ali ruled out the transfer of all police officers at Karuri Police Station
- in whose jurisdiction Banana falls - as part of measures to deal with the bloodletting in the
township.
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This sharply contradicted the PC, who had on Tuesday announced an overhaul of the Karuri provincial administration and police set-up in a bid to gain public confidence and halt the mayhem that has left two people dead, scores injured and several houses burnt amid widespread panic.
But Ali termed the PC’s order unprocedural and hinted that his officers, whom he described as hardworking, would stay put. "Transfers and posting of officers are done according to procedures laid down in the Police Act. People cannot choose whom to police them," Ali stated, even as he urged officers in Karuri to "continue working hard in efforts to address crime in the area".
No negotiations with Mungiki
And in his weekly press briefing that touched on a wide range of issues, Dr Mutua asserted the Government would not negotiate with members of the outlawed sect.
This was again in sharp contrast with Karume, who went to Banana Hill on Wednesday and announced a reconciliatory policy in dealing with sect members.
"Let the members of the sect discard it (read violence and bloodletting) and come for negotiations. We are ready to listen to their grievances once they are reformed," the minister was quoted as saying at a baraza in Karuri.
Karume said the Government was ready for round table talks if and when the sect members "reformed", and even suggested that they could benefit from the Youth Fund.
But Mutua was categorical that the Government treated the sect members as dangerous criminals to be firmly dealt with.
"We are not going to negotiate with the Mungiki sect. Their activities are criminal and we will deal with them according to the law…This is the Government position," said Mutua.
He reminded the public that a special police unit had been set up to crack down on the sect.
The apparent disharmony emerged after seven people were killed within 24 hours in three hotspots, as Tana River erupted to join Mt Elgon and Kiambu as the epicentres of what has become a five-year cycle of election-related violence.
Fear
Bura - the scene of the Tana River attacks where at least 19 people have been killed over the last few days and 300 houses torched
- remained tense amid widespread fear of revenge.
Meanwhile, Kiambu and Mt Elgon areas remained security operation zones.
But as the confusion of exactly who was in charge reigned, the Government admitted for the first time that the Mt Elgon clashes were a threat to national security.
Internal Security minister Mr John Michuki claimed that some politicians, non-governmental organisations (NGOs) and the media had conspired to fuel the violence to discredit the Government.
Michuki also extended an amnesty to members of the Sabaot Land Defence Force, saying that as long they had not committed murder, they would not be prosecuted if they surrendered.
"The truth about Mt Elgon has been completely distorted to show that there was laxity on the part of Government and result to lawlessness in the country,’ said Michuki.
Lands minister Prof Kivutha Kibwana announced that the Government would not nullify the controversial third phase of land allocations in Chebyuk, and would instead come up with a one-month plan to end feuding over the distribution of the 4,000 hectares.
The minister said the Government would set up a committee of about 30 people comprising elders, professionals and religious leaders from the warring clans to
- jointly with the Provincial Administration - identify the true beneficiaries of phase three allocations.
Kibwana said if genuine applicants were too many for the land, the Government would identify an alternative settlement within the district.
Ulterior motives
Michuki said that while only 84 people had been killed since the clashes started, the figure had been exaggerated to 150 for ulterior motives. "I even gave a Ministerial Statement quoting the correct figure, but the media have chosen to ignore it," he said.
But as he claimed the number had been exaggerated, elders told him to his face at a leaders’ meeting in Kapsokwony High School that people were being killed and buried at night while other bodies remained uncollected and were rotting in various part of the district.
"As we speak now Bwana Waziri, there is a young man whose body we found rotting at Kapama," said Mr Julius Kakwenyi.
Michuki and Kibwana defended the Government from accusations that it had turned a blind eye on the Mt Elgon clashes. "I am annoyed with people who say that I delayed in acting when the clashes erupted. Those people are just ignorant of how Government conducts its operations," said Michuki.
"We have been monitoring the situation all this time and finding solutions. We did not need to be here to say we are acting," he said.
Reports by Cyrus Ombati, Kefa Otieno and Vincent Bartoo, Isaiah Lucheli
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