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The report singles out 130 high profile land grabbing incidents that capture the scope of the economic crimes in Kenya that has in many instances left families destitute/PPS

Kenya

Kalonzo, British soldiers among TJRC indictees

The report singles out 130 high profile land grabbing incidents that capture the scope of the economic crimes in Kenya that has in many instances left families destitute/PPS

The report singles out 130 high profile land grabbing incidents that capture the scope of the economic crimes in Kenya that has in many instances left families destitute/PPS

NAIROBI, Kenya, May 22 – Details of how former Vice President Kalonzo Musyoka and others evicted 2,000 Tharaka families from a huge parcel of land at Tholoni and awarded it to themselves before putting up the Mwingi cottages and disturbing details of how British soldiers raped and sodomised 30 Kenyan women are among the damning historical injustices captured in a voluminous report released by the Truth, Justice and Reconciliation Commission on Tuesday.

The report singles out 130 high profile land grabbing incidents that capture the scope of the economic crimes in Kenya that has in many instances left families destitute.

The detailed TJRC report for instance explains how Musyoka and others participated in the funding and facilitation of an illegal group called ‘Kabuithu’ to evict the 2,000 families from their land in 1997 to put up private villas.

And even though Musyoka denies the accusation, the TJRC report notes that the cottages’ vendor appeared before the commission and produced evidence that the property was sold to the former VP.

“He denied the allegation that he sponsored the eviction. The vendor for Mwingi cottages produced evidence of sale of the property to Hon Kalonzo Musyoka,” reads the report.

“Recommendation to the National Land Commission to undertake further investigations in regards to Kabuithu,” adds the TJRC.

While the report touches on every aspect of gross human rights violations including the torture chambers at Nyayo House and several massacres including the Wagalla massacre, it also touches on the roles that security agencies played in these violations.

The report adversely mentions British soldiers for raping Kenyan women in Samburu and Laikipia between the 1980s and 2000s, resulting in the births of mixed race children.

The report notes how British soldiers attacked and raped about 30 women at Archer’s post before sodomising them.

The survivors of the gross sexual violations told the TJRC how difficult it was for them to relive the horrors that befell them with disabilities of various kinds and even children sired as a result acting as constant reminders.

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“Not only the victims but also the children who were born as a result of rape were equally shunned and suffered psychological harm even though they were not the primary victims. Children of mixed race have it worse,” notes the report.

The report recommends that the British government gives these victims an apology while at the same time faulting the Kenyan government for its apparent disinterest in investigating the claims.

Unfortunately the Kenya Defence Forces and even the police have been mentioned for raping the very women and children they were supposed to be protecting in the name of restoring peace and order.

There were also reports of how the Kenya army held women as sexual slaves during the Shifta war between 1963 and 1967 in northern Kenya.

In this aspect, the report demands that President Uhuru Kenyatta issues a public apology to Kenyans as the Commander in Chief of the Armed Forces within three months.

“Sexual violence was not infrequent and isolated as claimed in the official records,” maintains the TJRC report.

The report has made several recommendations all aimed at spearheading the healing process including the creation of a national human rights day on December 10 to coincide with the international human rights day.

One can only hope that the healing process truly takes place for the victims and survivors of such injustices.

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