Understanding The Hague Trials

I will go directly to the point. The Ocamo six are doomed.

It is going to take some time but have no doubt in your mind that it will eventually dawn on Uhuru, Muthaura and Ruto that they have been had. The Osix are victims of a Bunker Syndrome.

A short background may help.

As soon as Kibaki had succeeded in stealing the elections, he and his co-conspirators huddled up in their State House bunker where they plotted the next phase. The plan was simple; Get rid of Raila Odinga at all costs. Yes the curses of the hen may not cause in harm on it but they can be very annoying to a bird that has just eaten to its fill and wishes to take a nap. Thus it is not unusual for a hawk to swoop over a hen that is still grieving the death of a chick it grabbed and ate. Something had to be done and there were few options.  The Hague presented the best option.

Urged on by the hired hands including the many consigliere on the take, they absolved themselves from any blame. They may have looked around the table to see if all the souls there were in agreement. There was indeed no dissenting voice. Thus they established truth by unanimous consent. It is one of the most dangerous of the maladies that afflict those hunkered in the bunker.

So the next logical stage was to work out the practical details of how the disturbing ghost of Raila would be “scientifically” exorcised. They needed a method that would be foolproof with no boomerangs. The usual methods had proved unreliable. Among the past botched up exorcisms that offered lessons in “how not to do it”, were that of  Tom Mboya, J. M. Kariuki and Robert Ouko. In fact the lesson learned is that it is very tricky to exorcise a Luo. All cases had boomeranged as opposed to say Giriamas.

So The National Security Intelligence Service (NSIS) offered to do the job. The trial balloon would be William Ruto who the Kibaki government had come to consider the most dangerous man after Moi. They did a good job of it. Witnesses practically emerged from underground to come to testify to the issuance of hand grenades (Yes Hand Grenades – remember this because you will hear a lot more about it) and guns. That was easier than they thought.

When it came to Raila Odinga it became a little tricky. That was until another “genius” in the bunker outlined a plan that brought new life to the gathered crowd. He may have cleared his throat, adjusted himself in his swivel chair and after a little belch on account of the beer (which he accepted only not to be indecorous  to the Duly Elected President), he began to lay out his blue print.

Getting Raila should not present any difficulties (a few people who had dozed off sat upright in their chairs). The consigliere continued: Everybody knows Raila Odinga called for mass action which led to the deaths of many Kenyans. He called for the country to be ungovernable and those are high crimes. Ocampo would take him away faster than you can pronounce “War Crimes”. He went on and on.

The summary of it is that the entire bunker bought the idea. In fact the NSIS director who was present had a big burden removed from his shoulders. He had been wondering what he would tell the Waki Commission by way of explaining how the spies never captured the simmering trouble. All the doubts he had now disappeared. And so when the time came for him to appear before Waki, he walked to his seat majestically took his oath and this time and for once in his life, uttered to a commission of inquiry what a spy should never speak except under direct orders from his superiors! The Head of Spies in Kenya actually spoke the truth! He went before the Waki Commission he truthfully answered all the questions.

If he appeared to implicate Uhuru he did not quite notice or unduly worry about it. He knew with the sincerity of a monk that whatever Uhuru did was “justifiable”! He had the added opinion of the Bunker consigliere.

I am told the best way to beat a lie detector is to turn reality upside down and believe in it. So if you asked the NSIS director: “Do you think Uhuru conspired to kill people?”, he would give you a nasty look before barking out a Hell NO! That is because in his mind, Uhuru committed no offense. He is not spinning, twisting facts and most certainly and absolutely not lying! He believes it.

If you ask him why on earth did he have to tell Waki that Kibaki’s mistress imported arms in to the country during the violence, he would explain that it was for the “defense” of Nairobi and Central provinces. He believed then and now that “The Activist” was doing good. She was quite “sincere”, he would add.
And so Waki got information he should not normally and freely obtain from the Kibaki government or any government for that matter. It was provided with readiness and alacrity. Let me repeat: It was  not dished out to implicate Uhuru but as part of the Chronicles of the Defense of Nairobi and Central from the Dangers Posed By Mass Actionists.

Nor has Uhuru denied it. Muthaura has not denied it either. During a charged public rally, Uhuru stood up and publicly stated that if he were to do it again he would not change a single dot or should we say a machete! Muthaura has stated on tape that he did what he had to do! He says he ordered Ali to stand aside and let Mungiki murderers through. This he says was his “job”.

What all these people do not understand is why they have been singled out. Quietly, they still wonder why it could go so wrong after a whole consigliere – who in fact teacher Law to consigliere – could get it so wrong! The idea is so preposterous they refuse to countenance it.

Lest we forget the NSIS went in to shock as well and wished they had kept to their old routine of spying on political parties, opposition politicians, DCs, Service Commanders and serving the President the daily dose of luscious, sizzling and somewhat cloying detail of the nightly escapades.  So when somebody came in and whispered that Ocampo has indicted Uhuru; they were naturally wide-mouthed. I hear the Misleading consigliere is no longer welcome in the bunker.

When I was a kid I never really understood the meaning of the word scape-goat. I thought it is just another type of goat.  That however is the animal the NSIS went hunting for.
After feeding the line to Ruto for months, they finally decided to spring out. The Kirima Burial marked the time when the Scape Goat would be unleashed.

Since then Uhuru says Raila fixed him. There are no finer details of that happened. Ordinarily when somebody makes a ludicrous claim, the responsible media would be expected to either demand substantiation or exercise their editorial freedom to set the record straight. Thus they can report that Uhuru said Raila fixed him but add a rider – he has not produced any evidence to support that claim.
Ruto too claims to have been fixed; which elicits the same question: Where is the proof?

We all thought Ocampo’s work was wrapped in secrecy until recently when Professor Kagwanja claimed on national television that he knows what Ocampo has. Could it be the same source telling Ruto and Uhuru that they were fixed by Raila?

Whatever the case, it would appear the shock that faced Uhuru and the Bunker Crowd was immense. They embraced the Scape-Goat idea with great intensity and warmth. They needed no prompting at all.
I keep on asking myself what Uhuru’s line of defense shall be.  Will he continue maintaining that he was framed by Raila, which is Dead Before Departure? Or shall he launch a more intelligent and meaningful defense? I have a feeling it still has not sunk in his head that he is a man suspected of some of the most serious offences any human being can ever face. I do not know of anybody who has faced such crimes and gone ahead to win the Presidency. I know that some in the bunker believe the El Bashir example is the way to go. El Bashir was already president by the time he was indicted.

In the meantime Raila and his followers continue to play in to Uhuru’s game. Responding to him in any way is exactly what he wants

Wako at his Old Tricks

Who said an old mongel can ever learn new tricks? Wako is back at his old games. Now we know that somebody plans to replace the Electoral commissioners alone without the PM.

The question is once they have been filled, how do "they" hope to get the positions vacant again? That is when I start thinking of "Scientific Exorcism"

Wako's Tricks

Fraud case: Ruto gave job to key potential witness

This just came up:

Suspended Higher Education minister William Ruto gave a parastatal job to a potential key witness in a fraud case against him.

Mr Ruto appointed Hellen Chege Njue to the board of trustees of the Coffee Development Fund in July 2009. The Eldoret North MP then was the minister for Agriculture under which the parastatal falls.

Ms Njue was the finance manager at the Kenya Pipeline Company (KPC) when Sh272 million was paid out for plots in Nairobi’s Ngong Forest, a case which landed Mr Ruto, former President Moi’s aide Joshua Kulei and former Lands Commissioner and current Baringo Central MP Sammy Mwaita in court.

In acquitting Mr Ruto and his co-accused on Tuesday last week, Nairobi chief magistrate Gilbert Mutembei made it clear that Ms Njue was the missing link in the prosecution’s case.

“The prosecution failed to produce in court the then finance manager Hellen Njue to give her evidence on how she paid out the money. It is, therefore, clear that none of the accused ever received any money from KPC. The prosecution has failed to prove its case thus all the accused persons have no case to answer,” Mr Mutembei ruled.

Mr Ruto’s appointment of Ms Njue to a parastatal under his ministry at a time when he was facing fraud charges will be seen as curious, considering she was one of the witnesses the prosecution would have relied on in its case.

Ms Njue could have testified against the minister had the prosecution sought her statement or called her as a witness, an omission which has been pointed out by lawyers. No explanation was given as to why Ms Njue was not called as a witness.

“Corporate bodies can only act through human beings and no evidence was placed before the court on identity of persons representing the corporate bodies who made false representations to Hellen Njue,” defence lawyers argued.

At the time of the appointment Mr Ruto was facing a charge of fraudulently receiving money from Ms Njue, acting on behalf of KPC, by pretending he could sell to the corporation 1.75 hectares of land in Ngong Forest. The offence is said to have been committed on September 6, 2001.

Ms Njue’s appointment to the parastatal was published in a Kenya Gazette notice (No. 5262) of May 21, 2009 which stated: “In exercise of the powers conferred by section 34 of the Coffee Act, 2001, the Minister for Agriculture appoints …Hellen Chege Njue (Ms), to be member of the Board of Trustees for the Coffee Development Fund, for a period of three (3) years, with effect from 29th April, 2009.”

The notice was signed by Mr Ruto. Ms Njue’s tenure at the board ends in April 2012.

The Coffee Development Fund was established in 2001 to provide credit and advances to coffee farmers.

False pretences

The charge sheet of July 27, 2004 did not list Ms Njue among the 10 witnesses in the case despite the investigating team asserting that Mr Ruto obtained Sh96 million from her by false pretences. This means that she was a complainant alongside KPC, and therefore would have been a prosecution witness

For more: http://www.nation.co.ke/News/politics/Fraud+case+Ruto+gave+job+to+key+potential+witness+/-/1064/1145926/-/t8qmt6z/-/index.html