Kenyans fight Western-backed dictator

January 26, 1994
Issue 

Since the government of President Daniel arap Moi came to power in Kenya in 1978, political opposition has been illegal, thousands have been imprisoned, killed or disappeared, and tens of thousands have been displaced from their homes. OTIENO OCHIENG, acting secretary-general of the Melbourne-based Union for Democracy and Development in Kenya (UDD Kenya) spoke to SUE BOLTON of Green Left Weekly.

In 1982, President Moi declared Kenya a one-party state, for his party, Kenya African National Union (KANU). Anyone forming an opposition party would be charged with sedition or treason. Ochieng has known of many instances where people have been executed as a result of this law.

The ban extends to other forms of organisation such as trade unions. Ochieng said, "Workers are not represented at all. The Central Organisation of Trade Unions (COTU) is actually affiliated to Moi's party and it is the only trade union organisation allowed. Moi leads COTU himself and chooses its leaders. Any new union has to affiliate to COTU if it wants to organise nationally. Any genuine trade union has to work underground."

Amnesty International reported in 1993 on the cases of a number of journalists who were arrested and charged with sedition for publishing criticisms of the government.

The Moi government also has other means by which it can stifle potential opposition. Since 1991, thousands of Kenyans have died in what the government describes as tribal clashes.

Ochieng disputes the government's description; he describes it as Moi "practising his own version of ethnic cleansing. The Kalenjin tribe [to which Moi belongs] has been driving the Kikuyu tribe and others out of the Rift Valley, the Burnt Forest area and other areas, resulting in thousands of deaths. People are fleeing for their lives. Independent investigation has shown that the people doing the killing are not tribal warriors but soldiers. Where do you find traditional tribal warriors with access to helicopters?

"It is clear that Moi is carrying out these killings to keep the Kikuyu tribe in check, because it is the biggest tribe, with the most economic power. It is a potential threat to the power of Moi."

To prevent media reporting, Moi has established a security zone in the Rift Valley, where the worst slaughter has taken place. This zone is out of bounds for the media. Journalists and human rights activists have been arrested and charged with sedition for attempting to enter the zone and expose the Moi government's role in the "tribal clashes".

So far, Western media and governments have ignored the killings in Kenya. Only the Nordic countries are taking up the issue, along with Amnesty International and the World Council of Churches.

Corruption

One of the issues that UDD Kenya has focused on is the rampant official corruption. The issue was publicly exposed in 1990 when Moi assassinated his foreign minister, Dr Robert Ouko, who had approached the US State Department with evidence of the Moi government's corruption.

Moi then invited Scotland Yard detectives to investigate Ouko's death. He hoped for a whitewash, but the investigation held him responsible.

Finally, Western governments suspended aid in 1991, until Moi 'established a "multiparty democracy. Moi responded by calling elections for December 29, 1992. This was the cue for Western governments to restore aid; they didn't try to ensure that the elections would be free and fair.

Ochieng says that the situation in Kenya "hasn't changed. Most of the parties which participated in the elections were led by Moi's former ministers, and were Moi look-alike parties, with the same vision of government for Kenya as Moi's KANU party. In that sense, there were no real elections in Kenya.

"By the end of the elections, it had been established that Moi had engaged in vote-rigging and had intimidated other participating parties. However, the Commonwealth countries chose to ignore the irregularities, describing them as due to human error. Arrests, murders and disappearances of people who criticise the government are still occurring."

Investment

Asked to explain why Western countries were so uncritical of Moi, Ochieng described Kenya, a former British colony, as the most important country in Africa for imperialism, especially for Britain, although this may change.

Britain is the imperialist with the biggest investments in Kenya. While Britain is reluctant to criticise Moi, Moi will be safe.

Kenya still carries a big proportion of Western investment in Africa, and it is important diplomatically. Many countries have their only African embassies or high commissions based in Kenya.

Ochieng says, "As far as Britain is concerned, Moi is one of their best assets because he protects their investments. Some British government officials have even been known to say that 'you need a strong man in Kenya', meaning that they want someone who will impose a state of law and order based on suppression and oppression."

Ochieng also pointed to an attitude coming through the Western media that someone like Moi is needed to keep their tourist destination safe by keeping the locals in check.

He criticises Western media for often only reporting government statements, and either ignoring or downplaying independent reports. An example of this was in 1982 when a small group of soldiers wanted to overthrow the Moi government, and the government responded by killing 10,000 people. The international media reported it as 3000 deaths.

Mass graves were discovered by Mwa Kenya, the main opposition party (which has to operate underground), but no foreign government, no international human rights organisation and no international media organisation have ever attempted to investigate.

The United States also has a military base in Kenya. Ochieng described Mombasa, where the US base is situated: "You can walk into Mombasa and it's totally dominated by US soldiers. There is a part of Mombasa where no Kenyan is allowed to go, where the only people allowed are the US military. We have no idea what happens there. The United States will support Moi because he allows them to have a base in Kenya.

"In the eyes of many Kenyans, the British and United States governments are also accountable for the killings, because they turn a blind eye and continue to support Moi regardless of what he does. They have the power to stop the killings by withdrawing foreign aid."

According to Ochieng, it is obvious why Western countries have chosen Kenya as a base for investments. It has a good economic infrastructure compared to the rest of Africa, and it has a government which will prioritise investment over the needs of the population.

Poverty

The Kenyan economy is mainly farming-based, but this is changing. Tens of thousands of people are being forced off their land and are moving into the cities. At the moment in Kenya, there are 30,000 displaced people. Some are living in unofficial refugee camps. Ochieng described them as "migrants in their own land".

The two main causes of the displacement are "people being pushed off their land because of corruption and land grabbing by government ministers and senior government officials, and being forced to flee for their lives because of the so-called tribal clashes".

Life for most people is very hard. Unemployment was 40% several years ago, but it might be more now. Social services are deteriorating, and there is no social security for the people who have been displaced from their land.

The poor are very poor, and the rich are very rich. President Moi is reputed to be one of the richest people in the world. There even used to be a joke in Kenya that there are more Mercedes Benz cars in Kenya than there are in Germany, but such wealth is only for a tiny number of people.

More than half the population lives below the poverty line. It is estimated that one tenth or more of the population has AIDS, but the government refuses to admit that AIDS exists in Kenya. This means that the government is not educating the population about how to prevent AIDS.

Ochieng says that more people than ever before are coming forward to criticise the government about what is happening. The response from the people is very positive. This may be the reason Moi has initiated the "tribal clashes" — to try to intimidate his opposition.

Despite so-called multi-party democracy, it's hard to engage in open political struggle, because Moi sets the limits of the "open struggle" that will be tolerated.

Growing opposition

In 1993, a number of human rights groups developed in Kenya. This has been a very positive development, although Moi has tried banning them and arresting the individuals involved.

Mwa Kenya is the leading opposition party. According to Ochieng, "It decided not to participate in the 1992 elections for three simple reasons. It did not believe that elections with Moi in power would be free and fair, the institutions to ensure fair elections were not established, and to participate under those conditions would have only served to legitimise Moi's regime of murder and terror".

In the lead-up to the elections, Mwa Kenya was still suppressed, having to maintain its operations underground.

Mwa Kenya is described by Ochieng as "more like a broad opposition movement than a political party. It has a mass base. While its orientation is left-wing, it is moving away from defining itself by any particular label. Instead it defines itself as wanting to create a Kenyan solution for Kenyan problems. The solution which is needed in Kenya isn't necessarily the same as the solution which is needed in Somalia, Namibia or South Africa.

"Mwa Kenya was the organisation which pushed for a multiparty democracy, but that project was hijacked and distorted by Moi.

"The approach adopted by Mwa Kenya is that the only way out is to empower the people, to allow the people to make decisions for themselves. At the moment in Kenya, Moi considers it almost a sin to think for yourself."

One of the biggest issues that Mwa Kenya concentrates on is the question of Kenya's military independence, economic independence and an independent foreign policy. This means no foreign bases on Kenyan soil, and Kenyans having more of a say over investment projects. With Mwa Kenya pursuing these sorts of policies, it is easy to see why foreign capital and its representatives in the governments of Britain and the United States continue to back the repressive Moi government.

More recently a UDD Kenya was set up as a legal opposition group. It has set up a number of departments to develop policies in key areas. The most important are those dealing with finance and economic policy, and with women's issues. UDD Kenya is the first organisation in Kenya to prioritise women's issues. Other issues to be addressed are the environment and social justice.

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