Last week, hundreds of human rights campaigners passed a vote of no confidence in the Narc Government and vowed to ensure it is voted out in 2007. They said the Kibaki administration was composed of people who had tortured them. People who fought for the second liberation had been discriminated against in appointments while the few in Government positions had betrayed the ideals of the struggle. (02-MAY-05)

This article was written by Lucas Barasa for the 29 April edition of the Kenyan daily the Nation. It has been edited for republication here. 

The broad coalition of well-known human rights defenders, many of whom also involved in the Kenya Human Rights House project, spoke during the launch of the book, ?Never Again: Profiles in Courage?. Subukia MP Koigi Wamwere, who was the chief guest at the occasion at The Stanley hotel, Nairobi, said just like Mzee Jomo Kenyatta appointed homeguards who had assisted colonialists fight the Mau Mau in key positions in his government, President Kibaki had neglected those who fought for the second liberation.

Naming and shaming, so as not to forget
Mr Wamwere named Internal Security minister John Michuki and Trade assistant minister Petkay Miriti as among those who should not be in the Government. “Nicholas Biwott is also now coming back to join his colleagues. The country has forgotten the events of the Kanu era,” Mr Wamwere said. He said Mr Michuki was a district officer in the colonial regime, while Mr Miriti was a special branch officer, a dreaded police unit that clamped down on those perceived to be opposed to Kanu.” The MP claimed President Kibaki did not fight for change but had instead undermined the process while he was in Kanu.

-Sheep and lions, goats and leopards will never work together
“Moi, Kibaki and Kenyatta did not fight for freedom and independence. They all romped to power after everything had been done for them. Kenyatta was in jail when Mau Mau were in the bush fighting,” the MP said. The Narc Government was for the rich and was insensitive to the poor, he said. “There is no coalition of sheep and lions or goats and leopards. This Government must be removed and replaced. Expecting it to change is like expecting stones to produce milk,” Mr Wamwere said, adding that most of Kenya?s wealth was in the hands of a few individuals. The MP accused Justice and Constitutional Affairs minister Kiraitu Murungi of abandoning his crusade for human rights.

-We have failed to learn from history
“It could also be like in Chile where a new government that had advocated for change while in opposition refused to act on looters of the economy for fear of being toppled,” he added. Other human rights campaigners named the failure to establish a truth and reconciliation commission, enact a new constitution, improve the economy, distribute idle land to the poor and compensate those tortured in the past regime as some of Narc failures. Mzee Juvenalis Aoko, who said he suffered for fighting for human rights in the 1970s, said Kenyans had failed to learn from history. The looming famine in the country, he said, was a result of failure to make maximum use of available resources, and gave the example of Egypt, which produced enough food for local consumption and exports although only four per cent of its land was arable.

National Human Rights Commission officials threatening to resign
Mr Patrick Onyango, who was in exile in Sweden for 19 years, said the struggle for freedom was not over. Kenya?s efforts for a new constitution, he said, were being controlled “by those who fought us in Kanu regime.” A Kenya National Human Rights Commission official, Mr Tirop Kitur, said he and his colleagues would resign because of frustrations by the Government. “There?s a problem. We are consulting to see if we will leave,” he added. “There?s a problem. We had thought this is out government but we have been swallowed and are fighting from the stomach. We are consulting to see if we will leave,” Mr Tirop who was jailed in Nyayo House and Naivasha prison by Moi regime said.

Memorising the massacres
Mr Tirop, his KNCHR colleagues, assistant ministers Mirugi Kariuki and Kivutha Kibwana, and Mr Murungi came under criticism for accepting government appointments and “failing to champion for the things they used to.” The 114 page book “Never Again: Profiles in courage,” launched last week gives a profile of some of those who underwent torture and other events in past regime. The group also planted a tree at Uhuru Park in memory of the 1984 Wagalla massacre. They included People Against Torture, Kenya Human Rights Commission, Release Political Prisoners, Citizens for Justice, and National Convention Executive Council representatives.