NAIROBI, Kenya, Dec 8 – Details have now emerged within diplomatic circles in Nairobi showing among other things, a plot to discredit President Mwai Kibaki\’s allies after the 2007 disputed election and also insights into Raila Odinga\’s possible civil service line-up in case he assumed power at the time.
The dossier is contained in cables in the possession of diplomats in Kenya, but have not been published on the WikiLeaks site yet.
By 1500GMT on Wednesday, WikiLeaks had released 1,060 out of 251,287 cables from United States embassies across the globe, but none have come directly from the American embassy in Nairobi. Issues touching on Kenya have so far been gleaned out of cables emanating from other diplomatic missions.
WikiLeaks has directly released the cables to a number of newspapers in the United Kingdom and the United States, which could also come into the possession of diplomats.
On Wednesday, Capital News learnt that cables directly touching on Kenya were in the possession of European diplomats in Nairobi.
We ascertained that the cables speak about an attempt by President Kibaki\’s political rivals to discredit some of his allies soon after the disputed 2007 general election.
Among those who were targeted in the scheme were Justice and Constitutional Affairs Minister Mutula Kilonzo, Environment Minister John Michuki and former Foreign Affairs Minister Moses Wetangula.
Details of particular schemes to discredit them remained sketchy.
The leaked cables also make reference to the Kenya National Commission on Human Rights Report On the Brink of the Precipice: A Human Rights Account of Kenya\’s Post 2007 Election.
They also focus on the report by the United Nations Special Rapporteur Philip Alston, who compiled a dossier on extra judicial killings in Kenya.
Another aspect covered in the cables touching on Kenya that Capital News has learnt about, include an email written by a top official in Prime Minister Raila Odinga\’s office titled: Ng\’oa (Remove) Project/Civil Service that was written on April 7, 2008 that US diplomats got hold of.
It lists individuals who were serving in key positions and their possible replacements. Top among them was the Head of Public Service Francis Muthaura, whose possible replacement was listed as the current Chief of Staff in the PM\’s office Caroli Omondi.
Next in line was the Permanent Secretary in the Office of the President in charge of Internal Security Francis Kimemia, whose likely replacement was Mohammed Isahakia. His name was however crossed out.
The then Police Commissioner Major General Mohammed Hussein Ali was targeted for replacement by Edwin Nyaseda, who is now deceased. A tick was marked against his name.
Thuita Mwangi who recently stepped aside as Permanent Secretary in the Ministry of Foreign Affairs was listed for replacement by a former senior editor at The Standard Chaacha Mwita or the PM’s Constitutional Advisor Miguna Miguna. Prof Miguna’s name was circled.
The possible replacement for the Director General of the National Security Intelligence Service Michael Gichangi was indicated with a question mark in the quoted email.
Also marked with a question mark was the possible replacement of the Chief of General Staff Jeremiah Kianga.
The name of the Vice Chief of General Staff Julius Karangi also had a question mark against it. The title "Brigadier" is written against it but cancelled.
One-time PS and Kenya Commercial Bank CEO Martin Oduor-Otieno is touted as a possible replacement for Finance PS Joseph Kinyua.
Under the Ministry of Communications the names of political activist Tony Gachoka and a senior editor at the Standard Ben Agina are marked as possible replacements to PS Bitange Ndemo. In this case, Mr Agina\’s name was underlined.
Government spokesman Dr Alfred Mutua’s possible replacement was touted as Dr Salim Lone, according to diplomatic sources privy to the cables.
The cables also speak of land grabbing in Kenya with specific reference to a litany of land grabbing that was witnessed in Kenya in the 1970s. Influential figures in the Moi and Kibaki regimes are mentioned as spearheading the land grabbing.
Details of these cables are expected to be published when the controversial website starts releasing the dossier on Kenya.
Other cables that have already been released by www.wikileaks.ch that touch on Kenya include one from the London embassy titled: The British ask, is our special relationship still special in Washington? Another is from the Ukrainian embassy on the purchase of T-72 army tanks that reportedly ended up in the Sudan.
In the cable sent in February 2009 from the US embassy in London, reference is made to fears of a break, in the special relationship Britain enjoys with the US, because of Barack Obama’s personal history.
The cable said many UK commentators had concluded Mr Obama had no "natural" link to the UK, perhaps even an antipathy, and this would weaken US-UK ties due to his relative youth (which gave him no historical experience of the WWII and Cold War alliance with London), his formative years in the Pacific rather than in Europe, and his Kenyan grandfather\’s treatment at the hands of British colonial forces in Kenya (where he was imprisoned).
The cable said: The Times correspondent in Washington, summed up this view: "Mr Obama…has no personal experience of our shared World War II experiences and little of our Cold War alliance. In his memoir, \’Dreams from My Father,\’ he described his trips to drink \’tea on the Thames\’ before flying away from a Europe that \’just wasn\’t mine\’ to discuss his Kenyan roots with British passengers who displayed arrogant attitudes to the \’Godforsaken countries of Africa."
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