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Kenya: The truth about the
Naivasha killings
by Jared Odero
February 10, 2008
As the repercussions of inter-tribal clashes dawn upon Kenyans,
more light is being shed on how they were planned and executed.
One of the worst revenge attacks which left dozens dead and maimed,
was experienced in Naivasha town in the Rift Valley. Using
eyewitness accounts from survivors, Odhiambo T. Oketch writes
about the horror faced by victimized residents before and after
the attacks.
I have been to Naivasha on two occasions to help evacuate some of
my relatives who were victims of the violence that took place in
Naivasha.
The first time, we did not get the gory details of what took place,
and I bet, the press is afraid of bringing some of these planned
murders and killings in Naivasha to the fore.
We must have the courage to face the truth and confront the same,
then talk of the healing process. If we sweep this under the rug,
we are doing nothing.
Politicians and administrative officers involved
The
Naivasha Massacre was planned in complicity with government
agencies. The police were informed, and they only brought officers
who were not armed to confront the murderous Mungiki (banned
militia) team.
The DC (District Commissioner) was in the picture, as some of the
politicians who had lost in the recent general elections. They
were well coordinated by donations from some current cabinet
ministers and the pangas (machetes) that they used were bought at
the Shamba Hardware store in Naivasha town.
When the Mungiki were to strike on the January 27, 2008, the
prison warders came out and thwarted all their moves. They
retreated so that orders could be made to bar the prison warders
from coming out in support of non-Kikuyus who were the target.
When they struck the second time, they were under police escort,
and they specifically killed Luos, in a systematic way. They
torched their houses and chased them like rats in town.
When the Luo organized themselves to hit back, the police shot at
the them instead. This went on for three days. Within this time,
the Mungiki murderers were housed at LakeSide and Silver Hotels.
They used to come to town at 6:00 am, reign terror until 6:00 pm
when they retreated to their hotels to brief their paymasters,
chief among them former and current MPs.
The Naivasha Massacre of the Luos was well planned in a meeting
attended by politicians like Uhuru Kenyatta and Jayne Kihara among
others, and top businessmen such as Chris Kirubi, Jimna Mbaru, and
George Muhoho.
They were annoyed that it is the Luo who had made things elephant
for them. They hence came up with a plan that hitting at the Luo
would be the best thing. They did not look at the fact that it is
the Kalenjin who removed them mostly from the Rift Valley. They
thought that it was the Luo who had made the Kalenjin do that.
Biased Red Cross and Mungiki paymasters
The Kenya Red Cross Society that has been acclaimed as one of the
best relief support agencies, did not come to the aid of the
internally displaced persons (IDPs) at Naivasha Prisons for a
whole 3 days, yet, they were in Burnt Forest and Eldoret within
hours of the fracas breaking out.
It came out that the Red Cross, just like the government, was
partisan in addressing the problems. In the case of Naivasha, the
Red Cross and the government were looking at it as a Luo affair,
not a Kenyan affair.
This partisan approach to the massacre has exposed the Red Cross
as a dishonest agency.
When the Mungiki youths went to Kabati cemetery for oath-taking,
the police were very much in the picture. When they ransacked
Kabati Estate, the police looked helpless. When the people ran to
Naivasha Prisons for safety, the police moved in on the road,
armed and ready to shoot at anyone who dared come out of the
prison.
I reckon they should have been engaging the Mungiki so that they
could save non-Kikuyu property, but they only escorted them on the
macabre mission.
The world must know the truth. And it is this truth that will set
us free.
Why were Kikuyus hell bent on eliminating Luos from Naivasha, when
it is a known fact that Luos never killed any kikuyu in Nyanza at
the beginning of the evictions?
Why were Kikuyus in Naivasha cheering and telling Luos that they
wanted Majimbo (regionalism), yet now had to be evicted?
Why were the police under instructions to safeguard Mungiki, and
to shoot to kill at any show of resistance, people who stood
helpless as their houses were being burnt and their people killed
as they watched?
It is time to make clear distinctions; those who shout loudest
about crimes against humanity, are the main paymasters of the
murderous Mungiki sect.
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