According to the report, “On the brink of a precipice” re-launched by the Kenya National Commission on Human Rights on Friday, top politicians, including Cabinet ministers, MPs and former ministers, actively mobilised, incited, organised and even bankrolled tribal militias to unleash terror against members of rival communities during the violence.
The report details how the politicians held meetings during which organised attacks were planned and money provided to ferry youths to targeted areas. It also names senior provincial administrators and police officers who issued orders to security forces to use live bullets on demonstrators in the aftermath of the disputed elections. Some senior officers are accused of taking sides during the violence, or even actively leading the attacks on members of unwanted communities in the Rift Valley, Nyanza, Western, Nairobi and Coast provinces, where the worst forms of violence took place following the announcement of the presidential election results on December 30, 2007.
The report lists dozens of chiefs, assistant chiefs, former military and para-military officers and serving police officers who, instead of helping quell the violence, actively took part in the attacks. Also included in the list of alleged perpetrators or financiers of the poll violence are religious leaders and vernacular radio stations. The religious leaders are accused of using the pulpit to preach ethnic hatred while the radio stations are accused of inciting their listeners to acts of violence. One of the radio stations is accused of exploiting call-in programmes to air hate messages. Another station is accused of making references to “beast from the west”, targeted at then ODM presidential candidate Raila Odinga.
According to the report, wealthy businessmen and politicians hosted raiders in their homes during which attacks were planned and executed. Also named in the report is a musician who allegedly composed a derogatory song insinuating that Mr Odinga was a killer and power hungry. The report alleges that a former Cabinet minister provided money to aid in the eviction of non-Kikuyus from Central Province at the height of the clashes. A former female MP from Rift Valley province is also accused of soliciting funds to facilitate attacks on members of the Luo community, who she accused of failing to vote for her, thereby causing her defeat in the 2007 polls. The report also details how a Nakuru businessman is alleged to have been overheard promising to pay Sh25,000 for every Kalenjin killed and Sh18,000 for every Luo killed.
