War of words as military battles poll rigging storm

The storm surrounding allegations by Nasa that the military was involved in plans to rig the elections intensified on Saturday after Defence Cabinet Secretary Raychelle Omamo appeared to differ with the Kenya Defence Forces (KDF) over the authenticity of documents released by the opposition on Friday.

At a press conference convened in Kisumu, Ms Omamo, in the company of acting Interior Cabinet Secretary Fred Matiang’i, denied knowledge of the documents Nasa presidential candidate Raila Odinga circulated to journalists and which KDF confirmed were authentic but said had been quoted out of context.

 “I have not seen the documents. All we are saying is that KDF has no plans to rig the elections as alleged,” Ms Omamo said.

She added: “We recognise that the KDF has no role to play in the management and supervision of the General Election. This is the sole responsibility of the Independent Electoral and Boundaries Commission.”

MILITARY

The two CSs instead termed Mr Odinga’s allegation that the military was being used to rig the elections “reckless”.

The fate of military spokesman Colonel Joseph Owuoth remains unclear after Ms Omamo appeared to differ with him on the matter.

The spokesman had indicated he recognised the documents but they had been quoted out of context.

On Saturday, Mr Odinga and Nasa co-principal Musalia Mudavadi separately repeated the allegations first raised on Friday.

According to the documents packed with coded language, 36 officers of the rank of Major and Captain were supposedly to be picked alongside 640 other soldiers, a battalion size, to be on “standby”.

R.D MUYE

This is according to a letter, part of the document, sent to the officer commanding the Eastern Command of Kenya Defence Forces.

The letter was signed by Lt- Colonel R.D. Muye on behalf of Kenya Army Commander.

The choice of words in the letter raised curiosity — including choosing soldiers that were “personally known” to be “regime friendly” for “special duties”. 

There are also allegations that 226 new soldiers were to be trained. The letter is titled Operation Dumisha Utulivu. 

It is apparently a follow up of the Dumisha Utulivu exercise which was launched by Interior Cabinet Secretary Joseph Nkaissery, who died suddenly earlier this month, at the Humanitarian Peace Support School in Embakasi Garrison on June 23.

KENYA POLICE SERVICE

The exercise, in which journalists were invited after Mr Odinga alleged it was being carried out in secret, drew participants from KDF, Kenya Police Service, Administration Police, Kenya Wildlife Service, Kenya Forest Service and National Youth Service — commonly referred to as disciplined services.

It was meant to prepare them to work seamlessly in the event they are deployed together to suppress violence.

The document also claimed commanders would map out crowd control and cut out power and water supplies to Kibera and Mathare slums while securing the city centre.

Other allegations contained in the document include issuing of a range of communication gadgets and various crowd control weapons.  

But a source conversant with military affairs told the Nation that preparations for elections and outcome have been the norm since the 1997 General Election even though they have rarely been openly involved in any security operations.

SUSPICION

“The military should never be caught unawares by an election outcome. They make an analysis on possible outcomes of the election and prepare for such outcomes.

For example, what would happen in loss or win for President Uhuru (Kenyatta) and what are likely scenarios in a win or loss for Mr (Raila) Odinga.

They anticipate how their supporters would react in all these scenarios. The military must protect key national installations based on that analysis,” he said.

Internal military communication is often viewed with suspicion once leaked to the public.

For instance, when then military chief Julius Karangi mooted the idea of establishing the Metropolitan Command, politicians opposed it saying soldiers would be allowed to patrol city streets like the police.

In Kisumu, Ms Omamo also denied claims in the Nasa document that KDF would disenfranchise any citizen who wishes to exercise their constitutional right to vote.

MATHARE

 “The allegation that KDF intends to isolate Kibra and Mathare areas by disconnecting power and water is false and ought to be treated as such. We urge the residents to ignore these allegations,” she said.

 Dr Matiang’i too denied there was any plot to rig elections.

“We are coming at a time when our security agencies are being subjected to rumour mongering and gossip which is unacceptable,” said Dr Matiang’i. The government and security agencies, he added, do not conduct elections.

“We have impartial and competent security agencies,” he said.

The two ministers refused to answer questions on the specific details of the operations by the KDF as claimed by Nasa.

OPPOSITION

They accused the opposition of being irresponsible and reckless by publishing names and phone numbers of soldiers set to head planned operations.

“The Ministry of Defence views the public disclosure of the names of officers and their telephone contacts as reckless and unnecessary risks to the safety of the officers and their families.

“Furthermore, such disclosure may be exploited by hostile enemy entities such as al-Shabaab to the detriment of the officers and their families,” said Ms Omamo.

The document gave purported names and phone numbers of commanders in the Engineering Brigade, as the contact persons in Central region.

The duo, however, declined to discuss allegations in the document presented by Nasa, such as planned shutdown of electricity and water supplies, crowd control operations by the military, deployment of new recruits to violence hotspots and use of phone numbers of dead soldiers ostensibly to dodge any tracing after elections.

TERRITORIAL INTEGRITY

But the Defence CS confirmed that the military was being involved in training at KDF establishments “as a matter of routine”.

“The Constitution of Kenya under Article 241 (3) (a), (b) and (c) mandates the KDF to protect the sovereignty and territorial integrity of the Republic of Kenya, assist and co-operate with other public authorities in situations of emergency and disaster and report to the National Assembly and restore peace in any area affected by unrest with the approval of the National Assembly,” she said.

“Section 33 (1) of the Kenya Defence Forces Act, 2012 authorises the deployment of KDF in joint operations with the National Police Service or any other authority in situations of emergency or disaster,” Ms Omamo said.

The people of Kenya, she said, expect the KDF to deliver on the mandate, adding they will fulfill “this expectation without fear and strictly in accordance with the provisions of the law.”

It is the standard practice, she added, by the defence forces world over, to prepare contingency plans with respect to any foreseeable situation that may negatively prejudice national security.

 Reports by Justus Ochieng, Fred Mukinda, Wanjohi Githae and Derrick Luvega