A Riposte to a Former Kamiti Comrade...

Onyango Oloo

RESPONDS TO



Peter Nicholas Rateng' Oginga Ogego, Kenya's High Commissioner to Canada


Ambassador Oginga Ogego:

It is a bit weird, to call you "High Commissioner" because I know you as Rateng' from those days in Kamiti Maximum Security Prison. However, this is a formal response to your recent article posted on kco-l discussion group. I will be making a point by point, chunk by chunk running commentary on your piece entitled, "Kenya's Progress in the The Fight Against Graft". I notice that you have lost none of the literary flair and flourish with which you used to contribute to those joint letters to Amnesty International that we used to pen in clandestine conditions in that benighted penal institution that still imprisons the bones of Mzalendo Kimathi wa Waciuri.

Do you remember those nights when I would start with a first draft in my solitary cell on terrible prison conditions- use our "normal" channels to ferret it to your solitary cell, where you would work assidously on it under threadbare, lice ridden blankets in your own cell, before passing it on to Maina wa Kinyatti in his own solitary cell in the block where they kept all three of us- E Block, the Punishment Block where we were held with the "watoro(escapees) and "wakanyuge(the psychiatric inmates)? I still get a rush when I recall the audacity of smuggling out those exposes, past SP Matano, past Cpl Maina, past all those other goons who naively thought they had us under ati "Special Watch" 24/7. It was a bit disappointing later to see Maina publish those collective letters as his own in that controversial book of his which came out in 1996- but that is another story that will not detain us here.

Ambassador Peter RNO Ogego, as you are now known, or Comrade Rateng' as we knew you back then, after working largely along the same ideological lines for decades, our paths seem to have diverged quite a bit- you are now Kenya's chief diplomatic representative in Canada, while I remain Kenya's chief noisemaker in Canada. Your job description includes defending the government of Mwai Kibaki and the NARC administration of which you are a member while my gig includes maintaining a blog which focuses a lot of its ire on the broken promises, the corrupt shenanigans and the shady deals that have become a byword for this regime which is today your employer. As you are well aware, our mutual buddy, Adongo Ogony, who is closer to you even more than Onyango Oloo, is not known to mince any words about the Kibaki regime.

Nevertheless, since your arrival in Canada we have, to use a Dholuo expression waweyo ni kori in other words, we said, hey, the guy is the Kenyan ambassador, let him do his job in peace. You will agree with me that this is my first public response to anything you have said and or written in your official capacity.

It is incumbent on me to engage you on your original intervention- especially since you did consciously delegate one of your staff, the very amiable and professional Julius Bagorett (say hello to him and other embassy staff tafadhali) to post it on the online discussion forum accessed by hundreds, if not thousands of Kenyans living, studying and working in Ontario-Canada's richest and most populous province.

So, it is time to dispense with the diplomatic niceties and cut to the chase. Having known me for close to twenty five years, I am sure that nothing I am going to say below will surprise you greatly.

By the way, ambassador, I am not sure to what extent your piece is a REACTION to the following story that appeared in the March 13, 2005 edition of the Toronto Star...

High Commissioner Ogego Says:


"Kenya genuinely appreciates the support we have received from the Canadian government in restoring our institutions of public governance, rule of law and economic efficiency and growth, which had eroded over a long period of time. We also acknowledge the well wishes by Canadians of good-will in our efforts to consolidate our new found-democratic dispensation and our march on comprehensive sector-wide reforms path."


Onyango Oloo Responds:

Nothing to quibble with here, except to point out that the Canadian government had to be dragged kicking and screaming to the point where today they support human rights and democratic development in Kenya. I remember when we first arrived here in the late 1980s- together with contemporaries of yours like Kamotho Kimani, the late Githirwa Muhoro and others-it was virtually impossible to be taken seriously if you made a refugee claim as a Kenyan. Apart from the handful of Kenyans like ourselves who were airlifted from Tanzania as government assisted refugees, there were virtually no refugee claimaints who dared to identify themselves as Kenyans during those days. Why? Because the Government of Canada largely believed in the tourist image of Kenya as the Land of Hakuna Matata, Simba and Rafiki. It took almost two years(and Adongo did most of this work) of lobbying friends in the Canadian mainstream media like Paul Watson and Olivia Ward to plant searing stories in the Toronto Star and former Trinity-Spadina MP Rev. Dan Heap to ask questions of concern on Parliament Hill, plus, very crucially the presence of Kenyan pro-democracy protestors converging on your embassy offices on Laurier Street East for Canadians to wake up to the oppression of the Moi-KANU dictatorship. Later on in the 1990s- like the time in 1994(or was it'95?) when you were briefly nabbed, it was easier to convince Canadians that there were human rights atrocities going on in Kenya. Sure, the Canadian government has come a long way since its see no evil, hear no evil days of the late 1980s for sure.

High Commissioner Ogego Says:

"Let it be known that the issue of corruption in high office was one of the reasons why Kenyans effected a regime change in the historic election of 2002, and fighting Corruption remains our top priority because corruption has largely been responsible for Kenya's miserable economic performance and the weakening of our institutions of governance and of maintaining the rule of law."

Onyango Oloo Responds:

As we shall soon see, ambassador, mouthing platitudes and recycling rhetoric is very easy- it flows trippingly from the tongue as Shakespeare or some other dead poet used to say...


High Commissioner Ogego Says:

"It is noteworthy that among the first brave acts the Government embarked on as soon as it won the election was a surgical clean-up of the judiciary whereby a large number of tainted judges were sent home and new ones appointed."


Onyango Oloo Responds:

Good start, High Commissioner, but why did those brave acts sputter quickly to a complete full stop? Again in casting a backward glance, assisted by the 20/20 vision of hind sight, one notices ironically that in moving against the judiciary, your government abrogated some of the most basic tenets that guides the smooth operations of that same branch of government-your regime violated due process and the right to a fair hearing in your desperate gambit to garner brownie points from donors barking for tangible results in the fight against corruption. Were all the corrupt judges turfed out? Were all the turfed out judges corrupt? Who knows?

High Commissioner Ogego Says:

"Kenya has also been among the first countries to subject herself to the Africa Peer Review Mechanism(APRM), a self-assessment and self-monitoring system, a NEPAD requirement initiated by Members of the African Union covering areas of democracy, political, economic and corporate governance as well associo- economic development."


Onyango Oloo Responds:

True, ambassador Ogego, but did your government pass the test? I certainly do not think so. On all of those indicators- democracy, economic and corporate governance as well as socio-economic development- I give the Kibaki NARC regime a FLAT F for FAILURE. I have detailed my reasons in close to 200 digital essays that I have composed SINCE the downfall of the Moi dictatorship.

High Commissioner Ogego Says:

"It must also be remembered that the new regime did not round up the officials of the former government and who had by and large been discredited with corruption and abuse of office, some of whom managed to be elected back to Parliament, as this would have sparked off a negative publicity and counter productive repercussion. Instead, the Government decided to adopt the due process of the law to allow justice to prevail while simultaneously revamping the eroded institutions of public governance and accountability. President Kibaki has repeatedly stressed that Kenya respects the rule of law and will follow the law in dealing with cases of corruption to avoid witch-hunting and victimization. The legal process can sometimes be slow, but that does not mean that we are back-tracking on our often stated position that we are fighting the vice."

Onyango Oloo Responds:

Actually, I agree with you that former President Daniel arap Moi, Nicholas Biwott, Julius Sunkuli as well as people like Rashid Sajjad and others should have immediately been arrested and charged with crimes ranging from murder and robbery with violence to rape and theft by public servant.

High Commissioner Ogego Says:

"We as Kenyans, therefore, take great exception to be lectured on the merits and demerits of corruption or even what to do about it, and we consider it a smack of reckless bigotry for the likes of a Mr.Gwyn Dyer, a columnist in local Canadian media, leave alone the ludicrous terminological and informational inexactitudes displayed, to proclaim that we have lost the war against corruption and to advise Kenyans on the course of action to take against the current leadership in Kenya. His suggestion that "the trick will be to get Mr. Kibaki out without triggering a wave of violence that would dothe country grave and permanent damage" not only demonstrates a naive understanding of the challenges of skilfully managing a political transition with weakened and eroded institutions of public governance, while maintaining a delicate balance, especially in ethnically diverse country like Kenya, but also shows how ridiculous it is to perfunctorily dabble in a certain terrain and engage in a discourse clearly beyond one's scope."

Onyango Oloo Responds:

With all due respect ambassador, please speak for yourself and the government that you serve. Do not deign to speak for Kenyans. The vast majority of Kenyans are disgusted by the stubborn survival of grand corruption in the corridors of power of the Kibaki regime. Anglo Leasing and other scandals is a huge contagion that make a mockery of your flowery words above, High Commissioner. I share your irritation at the supercilious, patronizing and near racist overtones that punctuate the hectorings of the Gwyn Dyers and other so called Kenya "experts" who pontificate on our country from their lairs in London, Ottawa, New York, Berlin, Paris and elsewhere. Thank you for putting them where they belong. In the same breath let me also bluntly tell you to stop spinning impossible yarns on behalf of the Kibaki administration. To touch on just one aspect that you allude to above- ethnicity- notwithstanding the presence of people like yourself in this regime- many Kenyans have openly decried the spate of blatantly tribal appointments by the inner sanctum of the NAK faction around Kibaki that has given currency to the buzzword, the "Mount Kenya Mafia" so please do not stir that hornest's nest Mr Ambassador.

High Commissioner Ogego Says:

"Anybody with average political intelligence would find it utterly simplistic and naive that you only need a trick to effect change of guard in a nation's leadership to solve the problem of corruption.How many inconsequential change of governments both through the ballot box and military coup d`etats were staged in Africa ostensibly against corrupt regimes only to turn around to be worse than the former governments? We wish to state here that fighting corruption is a process and the Kenya Government has long embarked on the war path."

Onyango Oloo Responds:

On the face of it, there is little to disagree with what you say above. Except to say that your regime, the Kibaki government, has YET to start tackling the beast called corruption in any serious manner. Not too long ago, you heard, and possibly read media accounts of your head of state sarcastically quizzing his minister if he had gobbled anyone's goat- in other words, what were people complaining about. Other ministers- including my former lawyer Kiraitu Murungi have tended to downplay the endemic corruption that stalks the NARC regime-while throwing out a few choice sexist bon mots about Kenyan women only too willing to be raped.

High Commissioner Ogego Says:

"Among the actions the Government has taken to combat corruption is the establishment of necessary institutions for public education and judicial action against perpetrators of corruption; the Kenya Anti-Corruption Commission and an Advisory Board which became fully operation in January 2004, and fast tracks the fight against corruption; and the National Anti-Corruption Campaign Steering Committee launched by the President,comprising representatives from the Government, statutory commissions, public institutions, the private sector, civil society,national media associations, women's interest groups and religious organization, to spearhead a national five-year campaign against corruption."

Onyango Oloo Responds:

Ambassador, let me offer a quick quip. Setting up sinecures and eating positions for the Ringeras and Musymis of this world do not a campaign against corruption make. Ringera has said that he will fight to the death to retain his 2.5 million shilling monthly salary while 56% of Kenyans live in absolute poverty. How many cases of corruption have been successfully prosecuted? Why is Chris Murungaru still a cabinet minister? Why is David Mwiraria still in government? How abut Ndwiga? Why did John Githongo take the precaution of first fleeing to London before faxing his terse resignation as Anti-Corruption Czar? Why did Jane Kiragu quit? Why did Tom Mshindi follow suit? How come former rabid supporters of Kibaki like Kivutha Kibwana and Danson Mungatana are railing against corruption? Why is former Kibaki ally Charity Ngilu and loyal minister Anyang Nyongo openly calling for the President to sack their corrupt cabinet colleagues? Why is a well known NAK firebrand like David Mwenje threatening to further expose Chris Murungaru's sordid deals?


High Commissioner Ogego Says:

"In addition, various commissions of inquiry on specific cases of corruption have been set up, and it is now mandatory for public servants to declare their wealth annually under the ethics Act."

Onyango Oloo Responds:

I have a bone to pick with the very idea of commissions of inquiry. Why do we need them? Why is that when a rich man in Kenya is suspected of murder we set up a commission of inquiry whereas an ordinary mwananchi is immediately arraigned on capital charges? Why is it that when a fat cat is caught red handed stealing, the government sets up another tax guzzling commission of inquiry whereas an ordinary mwananchi is immediately shipped to the teeming, filthy overcrowded cells of the Nairobi Industrial Area Remand Home? It is just not fair! Arrest Moi and Saitoti for Goldenberg related offences; charge Nicholas Biwott with the murder of Robert Ouko and arraign Julius Sunkuli on rape charges already!

High Commissioner Ogego Says:

"In this regard, special courts have been set up to specifically try corruption-related cases. The Government is also stepping up efforts to trace and recover monies looted from the government coffers and stashed away in foreign bank accounts."

Onyango Oloo Responds:

I would like to see Murungaru and Mwiraria hauled to these special courts. What exactly has happened to the Nyayo era swag sitting in the financial institutions of London? Is Kibaki afraid of Moi?

High Commissioner Ogego Says:

"The current smear campaign against the two year-old Government of Kenya as a den of corruption, therefore, does not go down well with majority of Kenyans, who are now more vigilant and vocal against acts of corruption than ever before and who are positive that although corruption has not been wiped out completely (and it could never be in such a short while, otherwise we would never hear about corruption scandal cases in developed countries) they are confident that we are on course and that the end of the era of grand corruption is nigh. If this were not the case then the majority of Kenyans would have long gone to the streets to protest."

Onyango Oloo Responds:

Get real ambassador, and get a grip while you are at it. "Smear campaign"??! What smear campaign? Kenyans in their thousands are protesting loudly against grand corruption in Kenya. Under which rock, ambassador, have you been residing lately? Ministers in your own government- Vice President Awori, Health Minister Ngilu, Works Minister Raila, Environment Minister Musyoka, Planning minister Anyang Nyongo have all been quoted in the country's press denouncing corruption. Civil society organizations like Transparency International, Law Society of Kenya, Kenya Human Rights Commission, FIDA, NCEC, Release Political Prisoners within the country and activist collectives like the Kenya Democracy Project and the Kenya Socialist Democratic Alliance in Canada and Sweden respectively have issued scathing, detailed and prolific exposes of these ills. So there is no smear campaign Ndugu Balozi.

High Commissioner Ogego Says:

"They would not need the uncalled for advisory services of outsiders, who unfortunately,may not be able to grasp the complexity of the current Kenyan political dynamics. The problem of fighting corruption is not as simple as writing a newspaper column and dispensing unfounded platitudes or even as giving a position statement as this one. It is a complex puzzle to fight a systemic vice with tentacles spread internationally. Most of the cases of corruption being dealt with include the monumental Goldenberg scandal which has a strong foreign network and fraudulent networks. As a matter of fact the western business community stand accused for offering our officials and politicians bribes to secure lucrative contracts."

Onyango Oloo Responds:

Like I said previously, ambassador, the voices of Kenyans are louder than any "outsiders" in demanding an end to grand graft and the prosecution of the masterminds of the Anglo Fleecing scam.

High Commissioner Ogego Says:

"In a recent edition of the UK publication "The Observer", Mr. Gordon Brown, the UK Chancellor of Exchequer seemed to have finally come to grips with understanding the complex nature of grand corruption in Africa by warning that fears of corruption should not become an excuse to do nothing, because it takes two to tango, and there is always an international dimension to these scandals.It is our sincere hope that this new-day realistic interpretation of corruption in Africa by leading British officials as an intricate mixture of manipulative and condescending blackmail by the Western bureaucratic, business/ Media complex and their unscrupulous running boys in Africa would bring sanity in devising mechanisms for fighting the vice of corruption."The Observer" says that "tens of billions of looted African cash is estimated to pass UK each year" and that "precious little money identified by British banks has been returned to African nations".It adds that London is at present delaying the release of a damning and damaging report from OECD expected to be highly critical of Britain's record in combating bribery to overseas Government officials."


Onyango Oloo Responds:

Balozi, I know that diplomatic decorum precludes you from commenting adversely on the controversial sponsorship scandal that forced Paul Martin to seek a fresh mandate. We all know about Dick Cheney and the Haliburton kick backs and of course Britain has long been a den of corruption. So you are spot on, in skewering the imperialist and racist hypocrisy when it comes to fighting corruption in Kenya and other African countries. As the wahenga walivyosema, Nyani haoni kundule. Having granted you that much, I am disturbed by the almost sycophantic veneer with which you cloak your words. I thought NARC was a bout ZERO TOLERANCE when it came not only to TKK but also Toa Kitu KUBWA? Why is it so hard for Kibaki to fire Murungaru and Mwiraria from his government? What stops him from dropping Saitoti and other Moi era officials indicted on Goldenberg related suspicions?

High Commissioner Ogego Says:

"The Government has told both the diplomatic and donor community to their face that much as they appreciate their concern on the issue of corruption, the Government and the people of Kenya have embarked in earnest on reform including anti-corruption measures not just to please the international community but we do it because it is the right thing to do and it is for the benefit of Kenyans."

Onyango Oloo Responds:

Actually, this is NOT TRUE, Ndugu Balozi. The Kibaki government HAS NOT "embarked in earnest on reform". Where is the Katiba that NARC promised millions of wananchi who voted for them overwhelmingly in December 2002? Where is the Truth, Justice and Reconciliation Commission? Where are the 500,000 annual jobs? Where is the so called "free primary school education"? Where is the Gender Equality? Where is the central role of the country's youth? Where are the convictions from Goldenberg? Where are the sackings of the cabinet based masterminds of Anglo Leasing?


High Commissioner Ogego Says:

"And it has always been a popular Kenyan desire to have a democratic Government free of corruption and for almost 40 years Kenyans have been waging relentless wars against corruption and abuse of office. This battle against corruption has been waged by Kenyans and occasionally with the support of a few genuine international friends,first and foremost for their own good."

Onyango Oloo Responds:

Talk is cheap, ambassador. What has Kibaki's regime done for Kenyans lately. Your regime is NOT free of corruption-indeed, some of the people closest to the head of state are DOGGED by consistent accusations of being corruption lynch pins. Some are even tagged as drug barons. Who were the ministers who ended up with chunks of worthless fake US dollars recently? Ndugu Ambassador, Kenyans are fed up with your regime and do not be surprised if you see some of your former Kamiti comrades and Kenyan patriots resident in Canada converge once more outside 415 Laurier Street in Ottawa with placards, inviting you and other Kenya embassy staff to purchase a one way ticket back to Nairobi pronto.


High Commissioner Ogego Says:

"Finally, how do you fight corruption without institutional measures and mechanisms put in place, including reform of the police force and other law enforcement agencies?How do you succeed in wiping out systematic corruption by relying on the support of bureaucrats retained from the former regime and who were schooled in the environment that condoned and perpetuated corruption before embarking on major civil service reform programs?How do you dispense justice with a discredited judiciary before carrying out necessary institutional surgical measures and retraining of the judicial and paralegal officers?Kenyans would welcome individuals or organisations, local or foreign to support us in whatever way they can to help us revamp our institutions of public governance and accountability in order tosustain the fight against corruption, rather than shouting from theroof tops."-Peter N.R.O. Ogego High Commissioner of Kenya to Canada.


Onyango Oloo Responds:

Let me also end by giving you this message to pass on to President Mwai Kibaki and the rest of the cabinet:

Kenyans are tired of the NARC government and can hardly wait to kick it out of office. Kenyans are angry at Chris Murungaru and wish they could skin him alive. Kenyans want Moi, Biwott, Saitoti, Sajjad and a whole bunch of KANU era political thugs to be arrested immediately and made to legally account for their misdeeds against the Kenyan people. Kenyans want Kenyan women to be respected. Kenyans want a new democratic constitution now. The Kibaki regime has proved to be the biggest obstacle to good governance, accountability and transparency. Without a new constitution based on the wishes of the wananchi there will be more Mai Mahius, more Manderas, more Kwanzas, more Laikipias and the re-emergence of the politically motivated ethnic clashes that claimed so many innocent Kenyan lives in years past. Our expectations on the Kibaki regime meet a litmus test higher than the previous regimes chiefly because of the huge popular mandate which was granted to NARC from every corner of the republic with the expectation it would be a government which would usher in a new era of trust between the leaders and the electorate. That is why the sense of national disappointment is greater when it comes to Kibaki.

By the way Rateng, is your Canadian piece in ANY WAY PART of the following media blitz by the Kenyan government ahead of the UN hearings in Switzerland?


Onyango Oloo
Montreal