Human rights group denies Uhuru claims

A human rights group on Thursday denied claims that it made any findings in relation to a Cabinet minister in a report it compiled on post-election violence.

The Kenya National Commission on Human Rights told High Court judges Roselyne Wendoh and Abida Ali Aroni that it only recorded allegations made against Deputy Prime Minister Uhuru Kenyatta.

As a result, the argument by Mr Kenyatta that the commission made a finding in its report is baseless and ought to be dismissed, it told the court.

The commission said this during the hearing of a case in which Mr Kenyatta is seeking to have his name expunged from the report presented to Mr Justice Philip Waki, who chaired an inquiry into the post-election violence.

Mr Kenyatta, the Finance minister, is also seeking an order for the findings on him in the report to be quashed. He says the report alleges that he organised a pro-Kikuyu funds drive in Central Province.

He adds that the commission compiled the report without giving him a hearing, which is against the principles of natural justice. If he had been given an opportunity to present his side of the story, Mr Kenyatta said, the commission would have arrived at different findings.

And because it did not follow laid down procedures of giving those accused the right to defend themselves, the report is null and void, said Mr Kenyatta. But the commission said Mr Kenyatta was misleading the court by claiming that he was not given a chance to state his side.

The commission said that on April 15, 2008, it wrote to all MPs to present their version of events but none turned up. The commission’s secretary, Mr Mohammed Hallo, also denied making any conclusions in the report which named people who allegedly financed the violence in which 1,133 were killed and 350,000 rendered homeless.

He said the commission recommended that police investigate those on the list. Through lawyer Pheroze Nowrojee, the commission denied treating Mr Kenyatta in a discriminatory manner. The court will decide whether or not to quash the report on May 28.