KENYANS AGAINST IMPUNITY. P.O BOX 4636-00200, NAIROBI. 29th October 2009. Press Statement:

The TJRC is not an arena for competing national and global interests. We, Kenyans Against Impunity (KAI), filed a case against the TJRC as formed and composed on 7th August 2009, after noting many anomalies, flaws and inconsistencies in the TJR Act of 2008 and questionable composition of the commission. While concentrating on the law as it is, and the commission as constituted, it is possible to lose sight of conspiracies between and among the three arms of government, which in the end make the laws and appoint the commissions as we know them. Due to this fact and after serious consultations, KAI decided to amend the application in court and include the Attorney General, the Chief Justice, the Speaker of the National Assembly and the Minister for Justice, National Cohension and Constitutional Affairs. The inclusion of these public servants demanded that further affidavits be sought. This has since been done and all the affidavits filed in court. However due to our application to amend the application, the case was stood over generally (SOG), so as to give our side time to serve all the parties. Since the case was stood over generally, we have discovered that the department of the registrar at the high court has maintained two files bearing the same number, JR. 470/2009. Why would this be if it is not to cause confusion and deny us justice? On many occasions we filed documents that missed in the court file; and so our position and that of the presiding judge were at variance. Although this situation has been rectified by the efforts of our lawyers we cannot be sure about what other tricks may be played on this case. A letter will be sent to the registrar to demand an explanation about why and how this happened. We are however concerned about the apparent conspiracy by the three arms on the formation of TJRC that appears meant to serve those whose past is associated with or directly involved in the wanton abuse of human rights in our country. These four servants and heads of the government arms mentioned above can, with respect, be seen as the embodiment of impunity in Kenya. It thrives through and around them. They have used the institutions and their power to resist, fight and oppose any intentions by Kenyans to establish a respected law and a TJRC committed to deal with Kenya’s past, for the sake of our presence and peaceful coexistence of all communities in future. When we say impunity has permeated and penetrated public institutions, this is what is reflected in the High Court’s registrar’s department. On this we squarely accuse the registrar of the High Court in Nairobi. The department must be part of the conspiracy to obstruct justice. Kenyans Against Impunity appreciates the place of the TJRC process as a key turning point in the rewriting our country’s history; a moment and an opportunity that will happen once in our lifetime, for the people to address gross violations of human rights and redefine their relationships politically, socially, culturally and economically, based on values and principles of humanity. Based on this, we strongly feel that the individuals selected to the TJRC were not subjected to a rigorous vetting. Section 10 of the TJR Act of 2008 states that there shall be three non-citizens, at least one of whom shall be of opposite gender, selected by the Panel of Eminent African Personalities. While as KAI, our argument has only focused on the six commissioners selected from the Kenyan short list, we are concerned that strangers were introduced into our system through the backdoor backed by a funny and inadequate law. The three non citizen commissioners are strangers whose backgrounds no Kenyan knows. Who are they? What are their interests in the Kenyan issues and whom do they represent in the issues that Kenyans will be addressing? These are not little matters for a sovereign state like ours and we reinforce our position that we shall not recognize and appear before the TJRC as formed and constituted; as a matter of principle. We raise these concerns early enough because the TJRC process will be like exposing the country’s past and present to strangers! The TJR Act states that the three commissioners once selected were to be scrutinized by the parliament. We take exemption that the National Assembly did not do its work and nominated strangers without explaining to Kenyans who they were; the Minister for Justice, National Cohesion and Constitutional Affairs supported this, the president appointed, and the Chief Justice swore them in without stating who they were. We remind all these offices that lack of concern on their part, about who these foreigners were, is equal to absconding duty. If the trend continues, we may find Kenya ruled by a stranger of no fixed aboard. We have instructed our lawyers to write to the clerk of the National Assembly to avail the CVs and backgrounds of the three for public scrutiny. KAI further wishes to move the country to appreciate that truth of a nation cannot be uncovered by strangers, never. In fact, these strangers unless loaded with other interests, should not have taken their jobs. We advise them to resign and let Kenyans deal with their past, for justice, national healing and reconciliation without a baggage of competing interests on our soil. We invite all patriotic Kenyans to collectively join hands with us, seek justice from all fronts and reclaim our sovereignty based on principles and values of humanity. Signed by KAI Members