The Fundamental Rights Of All Kenyans As Guaranteed By The Constitution Of Kenya And The National Accord Must Be Respected By The Grand Coalition Govt

The Fundamental Rights Of All Kenyans As Guaranteed By The Constitution Of Kenya And The National Accord Must Be Respected By The Grand Coalition Government!
Monica Achode..attorney at law.

Feb 14th, 2009 by Mars Group

Partner for Change Rosemary Otieno arrested by the City Council police, held at Central Police Station for sharing information on Grand Corruption with fellow Kenyans.

Barely a week after the Grand Coalition Government held a tax payers funded “Kenya We Want” conference where Government Ministers admitted failure to deliver on promises to Kenyans, and where the Government requested all Kenyans to do their bit to fight Corruption in Kenya, the Grand Coalition Government is arresting Kenyans who innocently are responding to this call against Impunity.

On Friday 13th 2009, the Partnership for Change distributed anti-corruption flyers to members of the public in Nairobi. Under section 79 of the Constitution of Kenya Kenyans’ freedom of expression is protected, so Partnership for Change volunteers assembled around Nairobi went to work to inform Kenyans of an ongoing fraud. Incredibly, Nairobi City Council askari officers, claiming that Kenyans require permission from City Hall to express themselves in writing, arrested Rosemary and two other Partners for Change for distributing flyers to draw public attention to an ongoing corruption scandal by which Kenyan taxpayers funds are to be paid to a company called Midland Finance & Securities for one of the Anglo Leasing type projects. On February 28th 2009, the anniversary of the signing of the political settlement between Mwai Kibaki and Raila Odinga, over Ksh 275 million will be payable to a Swiss bank account in the name of Midland Finance & Securities Limited.

Kenyans do not owe this company any money at all according to the Controller and Auditor General, and there is no law Rosemary or her colleagues have broken in saying so to merit harassment, arrest or detention. This scandal is the epitome of the “Kenya We Don’t Want” and it is sad that public servants can muzzle patriots who point out crime rather than pursuing Midland Finance and its corrupt counterparts in the Government of Kenya. Kenyans want to know who Midland Finance & Securities Limited is so that they can recover the billions of shillings this company has been paid on the strength of a legal opinion by the Attorney General and a credit contract signed in May 2003. Kenyans want to know why on February 28th 2009 over a quarter of a billion shillings (Ksh 275 million) will be paid to this company. Kenyans want to know why the Attorney General is refusing to cooperate with the Serious Fraud Office of the United Kingdom.

At the end of the day, the Partnership for Change has had to spend dear resources in paying Ksh 15,000 cash bail to the Nairobi Central Police Station and Rosemary has to waste her time, and that of her volunteer lawyers Harun Ndubi and Mugure Gituto, in attending court on Monday February 16th 2009 to answer bogus and unconstitutional charges. Agenda One of the National Accord demanded the immediate restoration of the civil and political liberties of Kenyans, and Rosemary’s arrest shows how the Government has failed to communicate to its officers the fact that Kenyans rights are sacred.

It doesn’t appear that the Grand Coalition will ever respect the rights of citizens to protest the misappropriation of the precious resources of Kenya. As we approach the first anniversary of the signing of the National Accord, isn’t it time that Kenyans had the opportunity to elect a Government that will respect their rights and implement the National Accord? And a Government that won’t steal taxpayers money or condone theft. There is a case for prioritizing the implementation of the Kriegler Commission Report so that the infrastructure for a democratic election is immediately put in place. The country cannot wait indefinitely. The truth is that Kenyans have had ENOUGH of the Grand Coalition Government.