Former MP pleads innocence against war crimes

A former MP has become the first person to publicly express fear of prosecution at the International Criminal Court at The Hague over the post-election violence.

But former Naivasha MP Jayne Kihara said she was being used as ‘‘a sacrificial lamb’’ and blamed powerful political forces for her ordeal.

“This is political power play. They want to use me as a sacrificial lamb to protect their own,” the former MP told Saturday Nation, apparently alluding to senior people in government.

An estimated 1,133 people died during the violence which ended with the signing of a power-sharing deal between President Kibaki and Prime Minister Raila Odinga in February last year.

ICC judges are expected to give a ruling on whether or not prosecutor Luis Moreno-Ocampo should start investigations into the Kenyan case. A decision is expected before the court takes its Christmas vacation.

Former UN secretary-general Kofi Annan, who mediated the coalition agreement, is currently in the country for meetings with President Kibaki and Mr Odinga.

Mr Annan has supported a local tribunal to deal with suspects, but the government’s position is that emphasis should be placed on reconciliation.

Deputy Prime Minister Uhuru Kenyatta and Agriculture minister William Ruto are in court trying to have their names removed from a report — by the government’s rights body, the Kenya National Commission on Human Rights — of people accused of involvement in the violence.

Mrs Kihara was named in the same report as having played a role in the Naivasha attacks against members of some communities from western Kenya.

But she denies any involvement in the violence. “I don’t know who planned and executed the violence because I was never in Naivasha at the time nor was I in a State House meeting where revenge attacks are said to have been planned.”

Credible evidence

Mrs Kihara also says she will not go court to clear her name because she “does not have money.”

The Waki commission which investigated the cause of the chaos reported that it had credible evidence that political and business leaders from Naivasha mobilised members of the outlawed Mungiki sect to attack Kalenjins, Luos and Luhyias in the area. The commission said the Naivasha violence was planned at meetings held at State House and at Nairobi’s Safari Club.

Mrs Kihara accuses the “powerful forces” of teaming up with her opponents to give “false” evidence before KNCHR, which was later presented to the Waki team and eventually Mr Ocampo.

The Narc-Kenya politician sees the allegations as a plot by the real chief masterminds of the violence to escape justice.

“I don’t fear any court because there is no evidence. But an indictment will finish me,” a shaken Kihara said.

“I am the mother and father of my children and any court action will destroy my family and political career,” added the widow.

The former Environment assistant minister accuses senior politicians, who she “tirelessly worked with”, of abandoning her.

She says that for the past year, she has tried to reach Internal Security minister George Saitoti, Attorney General Amos Wako and the director of Intelligence without success. “I am shocked that nobody wants to listen to me.”

Mr Ocampo has pointed out that the Naivasha, Kiambaa, Kisumu and Nakuru killings will be his major points of focus in the investigations.

Mr Kihara says she was in Nairobi when the January 27 attacks took place. She says she only visited Naivasha twice at the time — on January 4 to pick election results for a court petition and on January 20 for a monthly rotary club meeting.

Mrs Kihara spoke two weeks after Mr Ocampo put out an appeal for witnesses and victims to volunteer evidence to help him solidify his case before a three-judge bench assessing the Kenyan matter.

The Waki commission was told that the violence that broke out on January 27, 2008 in Naivasha was as a result of a growing bitterness caused by the massive arrivals of IDPs from the North Rift.

It said the displaced families brought painful personal stories of ordeals experienced in places from where they had fled and pointed an accusing finger at the Kalenjin, Luo and Luhya.

According to the commission, the National Security Intelligence Service had information as early as January 3, that two former MPs from the Kikuyu community were negotiating with the Mungiki to stage revenge attacks.

Media investigations indicate that Mr Ocampo is zeroing in on four major suspects and the fiery Naivasha politician reckons she could be one of them.

The Waki commission presented 10 names of politicians and business people suspected to bear the greatest responsibility for the mayhem to Mr Ocampo. She reckons that if the commission accepted the KNCHR evidence, then is possible that her name could be among those presented to Mr Ocampo for further investigations.

In the report, the human rights agency alleged that she bought machetes from Kubwa Supermarket and gave out money to gangs involved in attacks.