NAIROBI, Kenya, Mar 14
The African Union (AU) is contemplating withdrawing from the Rome Statute in July this year should a deferral of the cases against Kenya’s Ocampo Six at the International Criminal Court (ICC) fail.
Kenyatta University don Dr Godfrey Musila - who’s an expert in international law - told Capital FM’s Talk 360 show on Sunday evening that the AU was in the process of developing a document which, if approved, will enable the formation of a parallel African court on criminal justice.
“The Kenyan situation is a trap for the ICC. (African countries) will be saying we are withdrawing from the ICC, not because we support impunity, but because we want to form our own institution,” he explained.
Speaking on the show, Ugandan international conflict resolution expert Dr David Matsanga pointed out that veto-wielding states in the UN Security Council would be condemning the ICC should they block Kenya's bid.
“(Kenya) is trying to save the International Criminal Court from collapse. Come July this year, if the Kenyan deferral is not given, the 32 countries of the AU in the ICC will remove their membership,” he stated.
“The (AU) leaders have now vowed; we sent the Sudan deferral case to the Security Council and America played, so now let us send the second deferral from Kenya and see what it will do.”
The two experts made the revelation barely a day after Vice President Kalonzo Musyoka jetted back into the country exuding confidence that his mission to lobby members of the Security Council to support Kenya’s prayers would bear fruit.
On Saturday, the UN decision making organ invited Kenya and an AU representative to an informal meeting where members would hear the country’s argument for a 12-month postponement of the on-going ICC proceedings.
Kenya's permanent representative to the United Nations Macharia Kamau will lead the delegation to meet the UN Security Council for the informal talks.
Britain and America who are part of the five permanent members have expressed their reservation to the deferral bid, but Vice President Kalonzo Musyoka said he made efforts to "deal with the two so that they can abstain from a possible vote."
Dr Matsanga explained that an abstention would be the most logical route for the two countries to take, arguing that Kenya’s support from the African Union was weighing heavily in its favour.
“The best America can do is to abstain, because it has no moral authority to discuss human rights when it is not even a signatory to the Rome Statute,” he said.
The Security Council can issue a one-year suspension if there is a threat to international peace and security. The ICC pre-trial chamber last Tuesday ordered the six Kenyans to appear before the court on April 7 on charges that they masterminded the post-election violence.
Those required to appear at The Hague include Deputy Prime Minister Uhuru Kenyatta, Head of Civil Service Francis Muthaura, suspended Higher Education Minister William Ruto and Tinderet Member of Parliament Henry Kosgey.
Others are former Police Commissioner Mohammed Hussein Ali and Radio presenter Joshua arap Sang.
All six have indicated their intention to honour the ICC summonses.
Source: CapitalFm
Tuesday, March 15, 2011
Monday, March 14, 2011
The Letter by ODM to the UN Security Council
ORANGE DEMOCRATIC MOVEMENT
ORANGE HOUSE
MENELIK ROAD
KILIMANI AREA
NAIROBI
P.O.BOX 2478-00202
NAIROBI
Tel: 020-20253481
Fax: 020 217 7703
11 March 2011
Your Excellency,
RE: PETITION TO THE MEMBERS OF UN SECURITY COUNCIL REGARDING THE KENYAN CASES AT THE ICC
It is my pleasure and privilege to refer to the ongoing International Criminal Court proceedings relating to Kenya and the deferral request made bby a section of the Government of Kenya to the United Nations Security Council.
Background:
The Permanent Mission of the Republic of Kenya presented to the United Nations and to all the Permanent and Observer Missions to the United Nations an Aide Memoire titled “Kenya’s Reform Agenda and Engagement with International Criminal Court (ICC)”.
Kenya’s Vice-President, H.E. Kalonzo Musyoka has led a delegation to the UN Secretary General to discuss the Aide Memoire, alongside the Communiqué of the 17th Extra-Ordinary Session of the IGAD Assembly of Heads of State and Government on Sudan, Somalia and Kenya, and the African Union Decision on the Implementation of the Decisions on the International Criminal Court on the deferral/referral of the Kenyan Cases at the ICC.
It is important for the UN Members, the Security Council and Secretary-General to have a complete picture and understanding of the situation in Kenya before making any determination on the Aide Memoire from President
Kibaki.
This petition presents a set of incontrovertible facts which will assist The Security Council and other interested parties to understand why the Kenyan Cases at the ICC should neither be deferred nor referred. These facts justify why the ongoing ICC process is the best and only means of securing justice to the innocent victims of Kenya’s post election violence of 2007/8. It is imperative to underline the fact that the institutions, groups and individuals that were allegedly involved in the planning and execution of the crimes against humanity during the 2007/8 post-election violence in Kenya continue to operate unfettered and occupy important positions of power within and outside government.
Sixteen Reasons Why the Kenyan Cases at the ICC must neither be
Deferred nor Referred to Kenya:
The prosecution of the Kenyan Cases at the ICC does not pose any threat to international peace and security. To the contrary, failure to bring to justice the perpetrators of post-election violence poses grave danger to Kenya’s internal peace and security.
The ICC process was unanimously approved by the two parties under the Annan-brokered National Accord, and the instruments that paved the way for the process were signed by both the President and the Prime Minister for and on behalf of their respective political parties, which form a coalition.
The great majority of Kenyans (more than eighty per cent) support the ICC process as the most credible method to fighting the culture of impunity in Kenya. Surveys by leading institutions in the country have repeatedly confirmed this position.
Local (Kenyan) trials will be exposed to:
o political manipulation by leaders pleading the ethnic card;
o threats to witnesses, their families and friends. Indeed, many witnesses have been hunted down and killed by State security agents; and
o undue delays engineered by frivolous and vexatious applications.
Local trials are not possible at the moment as there is no national judicial mechanism in place to handle the cases. There have been no investigations and prosecutions since the crimes were committed more than three years ago. Moreover, the criminal justice system has not been reformed to enable it to handle the cases. Although Kenya has enacted the International Crimes Act, it is in doubt as to whether Kenyan courts have jurisdiction over the international crimes committed before January 2009 when the Act became operational.
The judicial reforms contemplated under the new Constitution have not been implemented. The judges and magistrates have not been vetted. There is no independent prosecutorial authority.
The involvement of the ICC was necessitated by Kenya’s rejection to establish a national judicial mechanism to deal with the crimes committed. In fact, the Government of Kenya repeatedly made verbal and written commitments to cooperate with the ICC and indicated that if it was unable to prosecute the perpetrators of the 2007/08 post election violence by September 2009, the ICC should do so. Those written and public commitments were made by the Government to the ICC Prosecutor both at The Hague and during his official visits to Nairobi.
Local trials will be used to shield the suspects from justice. This was recently demonstrated by the nominations of Mr. Githu Muigai and Mr. Kioko KKilukumi to the positions of Attorney-General and Director of Public Prosecutions, respectively, while they are on record as lawyers for two of tthe ICC suspects. In addition, an ICC suspect chaired the Panel that identified and nominated Justice Visram to the position of new Chief Justice. Although President Kibaki was forced to withdraw his nominations through public outcry, a court order and stinging resolutions of the National Assembly Speaker, the Judicial Service Commission, the Commission on the Implementation of the Constitution, the Law Society of Kenya, the Federation of Women Lawyers and nearly all Kenyan civil society groups; it demonstrated the extent to which President Kibaki’s Party of National Unity and the six individuals summoned by the ICC would go to defeat the cause of justice.
The request for a deferral of the Kenyan cases pending before the ICC
has been made by one side of the Kenyan coalition government, namely the Party of National Unity headed by President Mwai Kibaki. The Orange Democratic Movement headed by the Prime Minister Raila Odinga, does not support that request.
Because of the significant positions held in and influence the suspects wield within Government, they are the ones spearheading the deferral request as a means of defeating the cause of justice. Ultimately, the six suspects the ICC has summoned intend to use the deferral, if granted, as the basis of perpetuating the culture of impunity in Kenya.
The deferral request should therefore be seen as evidence that the Party of National Unity and President Mwai Kibaki are both unwilling and unable to prosecute the six suspects for the crimes alleged by the ICC.
Since 1992, each general election has been characterized by state sponsored violence and ethnic cleansings leading to mass deaths,evictions, rapes and arson. While there have been official judicial inquiries on these crimes, no prosecutions have ever been conducted, and no culprits have been punished.
Extra-judicial killings have increased significantly since 2003. The
United Nations Special Rapporteur on Human Rights, Prof. Philip Alst on has investigated and made far-reaching findings and recommendations. However, the Government has not taken any action.
Both the Cabinet and Kenyan Parliament have on more than two occasions rejected Bills for the establishment of a local tribunal for the cases and instead declared that the trials should be held at The Hague.
The ICC process is the only opportunity that Kenyans have to break the culture of impunity and the circle of elections-related violence.
In view of the foregoing the request for deferral does not qualify or merit consideration by the UN Security Council within the provisions of
Article 16 of the Rome Statute, or through any other provisions. This is
particularly the case because the Kenyan Situation at the ICC was not originated by a referral by the UN Security Council. Consequently, the
request for a deferral is an unwarranted interference with the Court’s
mandate, its independence and impartiality.
We therefore submit that the request for a deferral by a section of the Kenyan Government be rejected as being incompetent and frivolous.
On behalf of the Orange Democratic Movement and the Prime Minister of the Republic of Kenya, The Rt. Hon. Raila Odinga, EGH, MP, I would like to request you to bring this letter to the attention of all Council Members of the Security Council and to have it issued as a document of the Council, as a matter of great urgency.
Please accept, Your Excellency, the assurances of my highest consideration.
Hon. Prof. Peter Anyang’ Nyongo
SECRETARY GENERAL
H.E. Mr. Li Baodong
President of the UN Security Council
For the Month of March 2011
c/o The Permanent Mission of the
People’s Republic of China to the United Nations
350, East 35th Street
New York, N.Y. 10016
Cc: THE PERMANENT MISSIONS OF:
Austria
Bosnia
Brazil
China
Gabon
France
Japan
Lebanon
Mexico
Nigeria
Russian Federation
Turkey
Uganda
United Kingdom
United States
Cc:
The African Union
Addis Ababa, Ethiopia
Chungwa Moja, Maisha Bora
ORANGE HOUSE
MENELIK ROAD
KILIMANI AREA
NAIROBI
P.O.BOX 2478-00202
NAIROBI
Tel: 020-20253481
Fax: 020 217 7703
11 March 2011
Your Excellency,
RE: PETITION TO THE MEMBERS OF UN SECURITY COUNCIL REGARDING THE KENYAN CASES AT THE ICC
It is my pleasure and privilege to refer to the ongoing International Criminal Court proceedings relating to Kenya and the deferral request made bby a section of the Government of Kenya to the United Nations Security Council.
Background:
The Permanent Mission of the Republic of Kenya presented to the United Nations and to all the Permanent and Observer Missions to the United Nations an Aide Memoire titled “Kenya’s Reform Agenda and Engagement with International Criminal Court (ICC)”.
Kenya’s Vice-President, H.E. Kalonzo Musyoka has led a delegation to the UN Secretary General to discuss the Aide Memoire, alongside the Communiqué of the 17th Extra-Ordinary Session of the IGAD Assembly of Heads of State and Government on Sudan, Somalia and Kenya, and the African Union Decision on the Implementation of the Decisions on the International Criminal Court on the deferral/referral of the Kenyan Cases at the ICC.
It is important for the UN Members, the Security Council and Secretary-General to have a complete picture and understanding of the situation in Kenya before making any determination on the Aide Memoire from President
Kibaki.
This petition presents a set of incontrovertible facts which will assist The Security Council and other interested parties to understand why the Kenyan Cases at the ICC should neither be deferred nor referred. These facts justify why the ongoing ICC process is the best and only means of securing justice to the innocent victims of Kenya’s post election violence of 2007/8. It is imperative to underline the fact that the institutions, groups and individuals that were allegedly involved in the planning and execution of the crimes against humanity during the 2007/8 post-election violence in Kenya continue to operate unfettered and occupy important positions of power within and outside government.
Sixteen Reasons Why the Kenyan Cases at the ICC must neither be
Deferred nor Referred to Kenya:
The prosecution of the Kenyan Cases at the ICC does not pose any threat to international peace and security. To the contrary, failure to bring to justice the perpetrators of post-election violence poses grave danger to Kenya’s internal peace and security.
The ICC process was unanimously approved by the two parties under the Annan-brokered National Accord, and the instruments that paved the way for the process were signed by both the President and the Prime Minister for and on behalf of their respective political parties, which form a coalition.
The great majority of Kenyans (more than eighty per cent) support the ICC process as the most credible method to fighting the culture of impunity in Kenya. Surveys by leading institutions in the country have repeatedly confirmed this position.
Local (Kenyan) trials will be exposed to:
o political manipulation by leaders pleading the ethnic card;
o threats to witnesses, their families and friends. Indeed, many witnesses have been hunted down and killed by State security agents; and
o undue delays engineered by frivolous and vexatious applications.
Local trials are not possible at the moment as there is no national judicial mechanism in place to handle the cases. There have been no investigations and prosecutions since the crimes were committed more than three years ago. Moreover, the criminal justice system has not been reformed to enable it to handle the cases. Although Kenya has enacted the International Crimes Act, it is in doubt as to whether Kenyan courts have jurisdiction over the international crimes committed before January 2009 when the Act became operational.
The judicial reforms contemplated under the new Constitution have not been implemented. The judges and magistrates have not been vetted. There is no independent prosecutorial authority.
The involvement of the ICC was necessitated by Kenya’s rejection to establish a national judicial mechanism to deal with the crimes committed. In fact, the Government of Kenya repeatedly made verbal and written commitments to cooperate with the ICC and indicated that if it was unable to prosecute the perpetrators of the 2007/08 post election violence by September 2009, the ICC should do so. Those written and public commitments were made by the Government to the ICC Prosecutor both at The Hague and during his official visits to Nairobi.
Local trials will be used to shield the suspects from justice. This was recently demonstrated by the nominations of Mr. Githu Muigai and Mr. Kioko KKilukumi to the positions of Attorney-General and Director of Public Prosecutions, respectively, while they are on record as lawyers for two of tthe ICC suspects. In addition, an ICC suspect chaired the Panel that identified and nominated Justice Visram to the position of new Chief Justice. Although President Kibaki was forced to withdraw his nominations through public outcry, a court order and stinging resolutions of the National Assembly Speaker, the Judicial Service Commission, the Commission on the Implementation of the Constitution, the Law Society of Kenya, the Federation of Women Lawyers and nearly all Kenyan civil society groups; it demonstrated the extent to which President Kibaki’s Party of National Unity and the six individuals summoned by the ICC would go to defeat the cause of justice.
The request for a deferral of the Kenyan cases pending before the ICC
has been made by one side of the Kenyan coalition government, namely the Party of National Unity headed by President Mwai Kibaki. The Orange Democratic Movement headed by the Prime Minister Raila Odinga, does not support that request.
Because of the significant positions held in and influence the suspects wield within Government, they are the ones spearheading the deferral request as a means of defeating the cause of justice. Ultimately, the six suspects the ICC has summoned intend to use the deferral, if granted, as the basis of perpetuating the culture of impunity in Kenya.
The deferral request should therefore be seen as evidence that the Party of National Unity and President Mwai Kibaki are both unwilling and unable to prosecute the six suspects for the crimes alleged by the ICC.
Since 1992, each general election has been characterized by state sponsored violence and ethnic cleansings leading to mass deaths,evictions, rapes and arson. While there have been official judicial inquiries on these crimes, no prosecutions have ever been conducted, and no culprits have been punished.
Extra-judicial killings have increased significantly since 2003. The
United Nations Special Rapporteur on Human Rights, Prof. Philip Alst on has investigated and made far-reaching findings and recommendations. However, the Government has not taken any action.
Both the Cabinet and Kenyan Parliament have on more than two occasions rejected Bills for the establishment of a local tribunal for the cases and instead declared that the trials should be held at The Hague.
The ICC process is the only opportunity that Kenyans have to break the culture of impunity and the circle of elections-related violence.
In view of the foregoing the request for deferral does not qualify or merit consideration by the UN Security Council within the provisions of
Article 16 of the Rome Statute, or through any other provisions. This is
particularly the case because the Kenyan Situation at the ICC was not originated by a referral by the UN Security Council. Consequently, the
request for a deferral is an unwarranted interference with the Court’s
mandate, its independence and impartiality.
We therefore submit that the request for a deferral by a section of the Kenyan Government be rejected as being incompetent and frivolous.
On behalf of the Orange Democratic Movement and the Prime Minister of the Republic of Kenya, The Rt. Hon. Raila Odinga, EGH, MP, I would like to request you to bring this letter to the attention of all Council Members of the Security Council and to have it issued as a document of the Council, as a matter of great urgency.
Please accept, Your Excellency, the assurances of my highest consideration.
Hon. Prof. Peter Anyang’ Nyongo
SECRETARY GENERAL
H.E. Mr. Li Baodong
President of the UN Security Council
For the Month of March 2011
c/o The Permanent Mission of the
People’s Republic of China to the United Nations
350, East 35th Street
New York, N.Y. 10016
Cc: THE PERMANENT MISSIONS OF:
Austria
Bosnia
Brazil
China
Gabon
France
Japan
Lebanon
Mexico
Nigeria
Russian Federation
Turkey
Uganda
United Kingdom
United States
Cc:
The African Union
Addis Ababa, Ethiopia
Chungwa Moja, Maisha Bora
Saturday, March 12, 2011
Media Bias and Misinformation ; The Daily Nation a pro-Kibaki and Partisan newspaper
The daily Nation is once again being pro-establishment, at the cost of 'correctly informing its audience.' It's a typical case of misinformation and misrepresentation.
On 11 March, 2011, PETER LEFTIE and DAVE OPIYO of the Daily Nation wrote that 'Kenya (Kibaki and half of the governemnt - PNU) wants the cases facing the Ocampo Six postponed because the trials may lock out Uhuru Kenyatta and William Ruto from the 2012 presidential race, triggering fresh violence.'
They further write that, 'Kenya seems to have Mr Kenyatta and Mr Ruto in mind when it talks of the front-runners in the 2012 presidential elections and Public Service Head Francis Muthaura, whose position puts him at the helm of the National Security Council.'
Surely, on what grounds do they generalise that Kenya is pushing for the postponement of Ocampo6 cases at ICC? It is very clear the Kenyan populace, as statistics from polls indicate, are saying YES to the ICC cases of Ocampo6. Moreover, the other half of government, ODM, has categorically stated that it was not involved in making the decision and described as "futile" the attempts to challenge the lCC decision on the grounds of admissibility and jurisdiction.
As Miguna Miguna wrote in the Star, 'Quite clearly Luis Moreno-Ocampo is not seeking to try the country Kenya. The country is innocent of the heinous crimes committed between 2005 and 2009. The ICC summonses are not issued against the Government of Kenya. They are issued against six individuals who are alleged to be the masterminds of the crimes against humanity that were committed against innocent civilians. The government had a duty to protect those civilians. The fact that senior government officials are facing ICC indictments proves that the government did not just fail; it was part of the conspiracy to commit crimes against its own people. No wonder a section of the same government is now more worried about the six suspects than about the victims who haven’t received justice'.
A warning to Daily Nation...having the highest readership has made you too complacent. And this is the reason most of us are turning to other sources of news and information. Style Up!
On 11 March, 2011, PETER LEFTIE and DAVE OPIYO of the Daily Nation wrote that '
They further write that, '
Surely, on what grounds do they generalise that Kenya is pushing for the postponement of Ocampo6 cases at ICC? It is very clear the Kenyan populace, as statistics from polls indicate, are saying YES to the ICC cases of Ocampo6. Moreover, the other half of government, ODM, has categorically stated that it was not involved in making the decision and described as "futile" the attempts to challenge the lCC decision on the grounds of admissibility and jurisdiction.
As Miguna Miguna wrote in the Star, 'Quite clearly Luis Moreno-Ocampo is not seeking to try the country Kenya. The country is innocent of the heinous crimes committed between 2005 and 2009. The ICC summonses are not issued against the Government of Kenya. They are issued against six individuals who are alleged to be the masterminds of the crimes against humanity that were committed against innocent civilians. The government had a duty to protect those civilians. The fact that senior government officials are facing ICC indictments proves that the government did not just fail; it was part of the conspiracy to commit crimes against its own people. No wonder a section of the same government is now more worried about the six suspects than about the victims who haven’t received justice'.
A warning to Daily Nation...having the highest readership has made you too complacent. And this is the reason most of us are turning to other sources of news and information. Style Up!
How Facebook is changing the face of Kenya Politics
The new marketer has to master a new art –speaking in public. There are close to a million Kenyans in Facebook today and facebook really is about friends and what they are up to,it really is our new baraza. A recently elected MP has 34,000 people on his facebook page, his constituency has 125,000 registered voters and he won by polling 19000 votes in a by election . Is the picture clearer? Well let’s try again . By the next general election it is very likely that more than 10% of all registered voters will be on facebook. In some constituencies that percentage will be higher than others. Thus Facebook and what is said on it will determine the future of the land. This will come with its own complexity too .
For starters establishing facts about what is discussed on facebook will be a lot easier than researching what you see on TV or hear on radio. The typical consumers post a question on their profiles and get a flurry of answers from around their list of pals. These answers carry opinion and fact and provide additional basis for debate. The internet as a platform also ensures that any information on a subject is readily available. That means that voters will verify what they are told by googling articles or statements to fact check.
Even worse, unlike the Good old days of Kenyan politics where a statement on radio could be a misquote, the new age will come with new challenges . Once posted a statement will remain available for generations, it will also be easy to verify what is said by politicians and so the medium that could create them will also be useful in keeping them honest.
I follow the facebook pages of one of Kenyas senior ministers and the engagement with his followers on that page does get bare knuckled. He is often put on the floor to explain decisions and statements and the people he accounts to often rough him up and use very colorful language to express their displeasure with this or that . He also updates them on his activities, functions and events. A great deal of accountability does happen on this page. And this is how Facebook has transformed Kenyan Politics, people hard to reach are an email away and conversations are literally held at the town square as Plato himself intended it .
Nigeria`s President ,Good luck Jonathan has 340,000 people on his fan page , some of his posts receive up to seven thousand comments ,that’s Nigerians talking at the same time to their president . On this page the president makes statements and clarifies positions and gets challenged on those positions.
Brands around the world have learnt how to use the channel. Starbucks the most successful, has 18m people on its page. In a presentation on digital media the company`s digital media director says its about relationships and not marketing. Tell that to people used to delivering ad campaigns in a few days and you will be asking for a lot. Building relationships takes time and effort. Companies with great social media skills spend lots of time listening and that is a bit different from the typical advertising funnel where we do all the talking.
The other admission she makes is one most companies may not quite understand .She says it rather clearly “Don’t outsource your voice!” . A brands facebook fan page is its voice to its consumers and that means that it has to speak in its own tone, manner and voice. That is how consumers differentiate it from others. Outsourcing this creates a spokes person removed from the brand, it’s advisable that the tone set by the brand is established and its value clearly spelt out. So give it a couple of months and we might be able to cross check election fraud by counting facebook fans. That easy? Of course , how likely is it for a guy with 5000 fans to beat one with 200,000/= ?
Frank Maina
The STAR
For starters establishing facts about what is discussed on facebook will be a lot easier than researching what you see on TV or hear on radio. The typical consumers post a question on their profiles and get a flurry of answers from around their list of pals. These answers carry opinion and fact and provide additional basis for debate. The internet as a platform also ensures that any information on a subject is readily available. That means that voters will verify what they are told by googling articles or statements to fact check.
Even worse, unlike the Good old days of Kenyan politics where a statement on radio could be a misquote, the new age will come with new challenges . Once posted a statement will remain available for generations, it will also be easy to verify what is said by politicians and so the medium that could create them will also be useful in keeping them honest.
I follow the facebook pages of one of Kenyas senior ministers and the engagement with his followers on that page does get bare knuckled. He is often put on the floor to explain decisions and statements and the people he accounts to often rough him up and use very colorful language to express their displeasure with this or that . He also updates them on his activities, functions and events. A great deal of accountability does happen on this page. And this is how Facebook has transformed Kenyan Politics, people hard to reach are an email away and conversations are literally held at the town square as Plato himself intended it .
Nigeria`s President ,Good luck Jonathan has 340,000 people on his fan page , some of his posts receive up to seven thousand comments ,that’s Nigerians talking at the same time to their president . On this page the president makes statements and clarifies positions and gets challenged on those positions.
Brands around the world have learnt how to use the channel. Starbucks the most successful, has 18m people on its page. In a presentation on digital media the company`s digital media director says its about relationships and not marketing. Tell that to people used to delivering ad campaigns in a few days and you will be asking for a lot. Building relationships takes time and effort. Companies with great social media skills spend lots of time listening and that is a bit different from the typical advertising funnel where we do all the talking.
The other admission she makes is one most companies may not quite understand .She says it rather clearly “Don’t outsource your voice!” . A brands facebook fan page is its voice to its consumers and that means that it has to speak in its own tone, manner and voice. That is how consumers differentiate it from others. Outsourcing this creates a spokes person removed from the brand, it’s advisable that the tone set by the brand is established and its value clearly spelt out. So give it a couple of months and we might be able to cross check election fraud by counting facebook fans. That easy? Of course , how likely is it for a guy with 5000 fans to beat one with 200,000/= ?
Frank Maina
The STAR
Thursday, March 10, 2011
KENYA: The ' YES to ICC Now, No Deferral' Campaign Update
Progress Summary:
Ken Wafula (NGO Council Chair) confirms that Rift Valley is leading in signature collections with nearly 300,000 collected so far. Overall we are looking at close to 800,000 as we send this out. The extension of the campaign to 31st March 2011 means that we will certainly get beyond the 1,000,000 by end of the campaign period. This does not include the 12,100 signatures online (www.petitiononline.com) and 9,100 on SMS (you can check SMS signatures online on http://smsvoices.com/change).
We are now concentrating on building the SMS platform signatures, where one can sign up by sending
ICC YES Firstname Surname IDNo County to 0716 666333
Key Needs:
The biggest challenge we are now trying to unravel is the logistics of bringing all the physical signatures together. An ideal system is to scan the signed forms & send them to signonemillion@gmail.com.
However, not everyone can do this, so we need volunteers being individuals/organizations with the capacity to receive and/or collect signed forms in certain areas. Please let us know who you are, send us your contacts, and where you have this capacity. Please let us have this information as soon as possible, so that we can map out all the people who can receive/collect signed forms, and start spreading the word out. We will also need assistance to ensure word gets out on the respective drop-off points, as well as on how to then get all these signatures to Nairobi for authentication, copying/scanning, before we send them on to the President's Office, Prime Minister's Office, Parliament, all Embassies, as well as shipping them out to the African Union (AU), the members of the United Nations Security Council (UNSC), and the International Criminal Court (ICC).
One of the organizations we are discussing a regional collection network with is Green Belt Movement. GBM have a presence in 174 constituencies, but we also need to help them along as they mobilize this networks. (They have used their own resources to print signatures books, pay for permits for tents, and allocate vehicles to travel into estates. They have also sustained a team of volunteers who have been transversing across the city collecting signatures ...)
Lessons Learnt So Far:
We have all learnt several lessons ...
1. 'We Can Do It!' Obama used this phrase as his campaign but I personally did not understand how powerful those 4 words are ... until now! As I have watched a small idea grow into a powerful campaign against impunity, and saw the reaction to the campaign being copying of our our campaign (!) ... I felt it ... we can do it! ... beyond how flattering it feels, we are setting the agenda for a change, & it feels good!
2. 'It does not take much to get it done' ... this campaign started as a discussion between me and a certain lady who also really loves this country. She asked whether it was possible to collect 1 Million signatures in support of the ICC process ... I sent the message out, & voila! ... & all that most of us have had to do is sign up on an online site, or send an sms, or update a status on FB, or send a tweet, or circulate an email, or share out a form ... as we did other things .... & look at what we have achieved! ... less than 60 days later we have close to 1 Million .... & we have had some amazing moments.
3. 'The power of an Idea' ... we know there are a lot of people there who believe Kenyans cannot unite across tribes, religions, political parties, etc ... well, you only need to look at the sms platform, or the online signatures. There has also been an issue of who will unite Kenyans .... the lesson learnt from this is that we do not need a person, we just need the right idea ... and we can lick anything/anyone ... so politicians be warned, we can unite against you, without you!
4. 'The power of Radio/Media' ... a special mention for Kiss FM ... Caroline Mutoko, Larry Asego & Jalango owned the online petition campaign, & without getting a single penny for it talked it up so much that we are sure over 60% of the signatures on that site are because of their deep conviction ... Radio Africa, Nation Media, Royal Media, the Standard Group, etc have all stuck to an editorial policy that complimented our campaign, as have a lot of the community radio stations ... this has proven that media is Kenyan, and reflect the voice of the people .... they can step up when they encounter the right idea, and they can speak out as Kenyans, for Kenyans ... reminds me of the day of the universal headline ... kudos guys
5. 'Kenya has changed, positively' ... without a doubt we have moved on ... who ever thought to see the day when a campaign against a government (1/2) would succeed without politicians being involved ... now we are living under our own homegrown constitution for real ... sovereignty belongs to Kenyans, and we are exercising it directly when our elected representatives fail us (before we change them!)
Ngunjiri Wambugu, Executive Director,
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Change Associates Trust, P O Box 55589-00200
Nairobi, Kenya
Ken Wafula (NGO Council Chair) confirms that Rift Valley is leading in signature collections with nearly 300,000 collected so far. Overall we are looking at close to 800,000 as we send this out. The extension of the campaign to 31st March 2011 means that we will certainly get beyond the 1,000,000 by end of the campaign period. This does not include the 12,100 signatures online (www.petitiononline.com) and 9,100 on SMS (you can check SMS signatures online on http://smsvoices.com/change).
We are now concentrating on building the SMS platform signatures, where one can sign up by sending
ICC YES Firstname Surname IDNo County to 0716 666333
Key Needs:
The biggest challenge we are now trying to unravel is the logistics of bringing all the physical signatures together. An ideal system is to scan the signed forms & send them to signonemillion@gmail.com.
However, not everyone can do this, so we need volunteers being individuals/organizations with the capacity to receive and/or collect signed forms in certain areas. Please let us know who you are, send us your contacts, and where you have this capacity. Please let us have this information as soon as possible, so that we can map out all the people who can receive/collect signed forms, and start spreading the word out. We will also need assistance to ensure word gets out on the respective drop-off points, as well as on how to then get all these signatures to Nairobi for authentication, copying/scanning, before we send them on to the President's Office, Prime Minister's Office, Parliament, all Embassies, as well as shipping them out to the African Union (AU), the members of the United Nations Security Council (UNSC), and the International Criminal Court (ICC).
One of the organizations we are discussing a regional collection network with is Green Belt Movement. GBM have a presence in 174 constituencies, but we also need to help them along as they mobilize this networks. (They have used their own resources to print signatures books, pay for permits for tents, and allocate vehicles to travel into estates. They have also sustained a team of volunteers who have been transversing across the city collecting signatures ...)
Lessons Learnt So Far:
We have all learnt several lessons ...
1. 'We Can Do It!' Obama used this phrase as his campaign but I personally did not understand how powerful those 4 words are ... until now! As I have watched a small idea grow into a powerful campaign against impunity, and saw the reaction to the campaign being copying of our our campaign (!) ... I felt it ... we can do it! ... beyond how flattering it feels, we are setting the agenda for a change, & it feels good!
2. 'It does not take much to get it done' ... this campaign started as a discussion between me and a certain lady who also really loves this country. She asked whether it was possible to collect 1 Million signatures in support of the ICC process ... I sent the message out, & voila! ... & all that most of us have had to do is sign up on an online site, or send an sms, or update a status on FB, or send a tweet, or circulate an email, or share out a form ... as we did other things .... & look at what we have achieved! ... less than 60 days later we have close to 1 Million .... & we have had some amazing moments.
3. 'The power of an Idea' ... we know there are a lot of people there who believe Kenyans cannot unite across tribes, religions, political parties, etc ... well, you only need to look at the sms platform, or the online signatures. There has also been an issue of who will unite Kenyans .... the lesson learnt from this is that we do not need a person, we just need the right idea ... and we can lick anything/anyone ... so politicians be warned, we can unite against you, without you!
4. 'The power of Radio/Media' ... a special mention for Kiss FM ... Caroline Mutoko, Larry Asego & Jalango owned the online petition campaign, & without getting a single penny for it talked it up so much that we are sure over 60% of the signatures on that site are because of their deep conviction ... Radio Africa, Nation Media, Royal Media, the Standard Group, etc have all stuck to an editorial policy that complimented our campaign, as have a lot of the community radio stations ... this has proven that media is Kenyan, and reflect the voice of the people .... they can step up when they encounter the right idea, and they can speak out as Kenyans, for Kenyans ... reminds me of the day of the universal headline ... kudos guys
5. 'Kenya has changed, positively' ... without a doubt we have moved on ... who ever thought to see the day when a campaign against a government (1/2) would succeed without politicians being involved ... now we are living under our own homegrown constitution for real ... sovereignty belongs to Kenyans, and we are exercising it directly when our elected representatives fail us (before we change them!)
Ngunjiri Wambugu, Executive Director,
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Change Associates Trust, P O Box 55589-00200
Nairobi, Kenya
ICC launch Kenyan-wide TV Channel "Ask the Court"
ICC-CPI-20110310-PR638
Today, 10 March 2011, the Outreach Unit of the International Criminal Court (ICC) is launching the Kenyan TV series Ask the Court.
Ask the Court answers the most frequently asked questions raised by the Kenyan population on the Court’s mandate and its work. The TV series has been designed to foster interaction between the Court and the national population, in particular with those most affected by the post-election violence. It explains judicial developments as they unfold, clarifies the next steps in the Court’s procedures, and enhances transparency and understanding of ICC proceedings.
Today’s episode is the first in a series of programmes that will follow the developments of the Court’s judicial procedures in the Kenya situation. It explains Pre-Trial Chamber II’s recent decision to issue summonses to appear for six suspects and provides further explanations on the judicial steps following this decision.
The programme will be broadcasted today on Kenyan television stations including KTN, Citizen TV, KBC, NTV, K24 and Sayare.
The programme will be further translated into four local languages and broadcast on 13 local radio stations. Each episode will also be available on the ICC’s YouTube channel.
Other TV and local radio stations are also encouraged to broadcast the programmes; no further permission is required.
ICC explain's Ocampo Six summons
Today, 10 March 2011, the Outreach Unit of the International Criminal Court (ICC) is launching the Kenyan TV series Ask the Court.
Ask the Court answers the most frequently asked questions raised by the Kenyan population on the Court’s mandate and its work. The TV series has been designed to foster interaction between the Court and the national population, in particular with those most affected by the post-election violence. It explains judicial developments as they unfold, clarifies the next steps in the Court’s procedures, and enhances transparency and understanding of ICC proceedings.
Today’s episode is the first in a series of programmes that will follow the developments of the Court’s judicial procedures in the Kenya situation. It explains Pre-Trial Chamber II’s recent decision to issue summonses to appear for six suspects and provides further explanations on the judicial steps following this decision.
The programme will be broadcasted today on Kenyan television stations including KTN, Citizen TV, KBC, NTV, K24 and Sayare.
The programme will be further translated into four local languages and broadcast on 13 local radio stations. Each episode will also be available on the ICC’s YouTube channel.
Other TV and local radio stations are also encouraged to broadcast the programmes; no further permission is required.
ICC explain's Ocampo Six summons
Monday, March 7, 2011
Is There a Media Divide Between Mideast Tremors and Sub-Saharan Africa?
The mass protests across North Africa in the past few weeks have highlighted a major difference between North and Sub-Saharan Africa - access to media and communication technology. This may be critical in determining whether long-serving leaders south of the Sahara face the same challenges Qadhafi is now battling.
This week, as mass protests continued to sweep across North Africa and the Middle East, observers keep asking, “Where will be next?” Colonel Muammar Qadhafi, currently under siege, has campaigned throughout his long tenure for African unity, arguing that the similarities tying the continent together outweigh the differences. The events of the past few weeks have highlighted differences between North and Sub-Saharan Africa, however, including one which may be critical in determining whether long-serving leaders south of the Sahara face the same challenges Qadhafi is now battling: access to media and communication technology.
This issue of basic access to media and communication technology was strikingly evident in Zimbabwe on Saturday, when police arrested nearly 50 people who had gathered to watch videos of international media coverage of the events unfolding in Tunisia and Egypt. As reported in the New York Times, the gathering “allowed activists who had no Internet access or cable television to see images from the uprisings in Tunisia and Egypt” and was intended to start a discussion on the implications of these events for Zimbabwe.
The fact that access to international news is harder to come by in Zimbabwe and many other Sub-Saharan African countries is related to the myriad other differences (particularly economic ones) that may prevent popular opposition to long-serving leaders from coalescing. The average Zimbabwean has far fewer options for getting news than the average Egyptian. Local media are tightly controlled by the state, and international news is fairly effectively blocked as well. Granted, Zimbabweans still find many ways to get uncensored news from around the world, including short-wave radio, low-cost satellite dishes and decoders that receive free-to-air programming from South Africa, and DVD (or VCD) recordings such as that shown at the gathering last Saturday. But the costs (time, money, effort, risk) are high, and beyond the means of many citizens.
In addition to limited or difficult access to news, many in Sub-Saharan Africa have fewer communication tools in general than their neighbors to the North. Leaders need not worry about shutting down internet access to prevent the mobilization of opposition forces in places where fewer than 10 percent of the population uses the internet anyway, such as Ethiopia, Togo, or Angola, according to the most recent estimates from the International Telecommunications Union. While low-cost mobile phones are fairly widely available, governments’ hands are in several countries deep enough into the entire telecommunications sector to cast doubts on the privacy of communication over mobile phone networks. Outside of organized political parties, there may be limited communication infrastructure to support mobilization of public calls for change.
These differences in the media and communications environments will not necessarily keep long-serving leaders in Sub-Saharan Africa in power any longer than their North African or Middle Eastern counterparts. The barriers to gathering and sharing the types of information that fuel popular movements are by no means insurmountable, but they do help to explain why the current wave of protests has been slow to cross the Sahara.
One of the things I found most interesting during a visit to Kenya this month was the active debate in Kenyan media about whether the “domino effect” would travel to neighboring Uganda. The answer? Not yet, and probably not anytime soon, for a variety of political, conomic, historical, and social reasons. Voters in Uganda went to the polls February 18, and (according to the electoral commission) reelected long-time incumbent President Yoweri Museveni with nearly 70 percent of the vote. Few experts outside his government would argue that President Museveni, after 25 years in power, genuinely enjoys the deep approval of 70 percent of the population. Local media are already questioning the results, and opposition parties are calling for peaceful protests, but there is little hope that any real change will come about.
Another dynamics that is different in this case, compared to Tunisia, Egypt, Libya, Yemen, etc. is the lack of attention and support from outside of the region. While prominent international media outlets (including Al Jazeera, CNN, and others) have closely documented - and helped to build solidarity for - the public movements in the Middle East, there has so far been only bare-bones coverage of the Ugandan election – certainly not enough to focus global attention on Ugandans’ choices (or lack of choices) in the presidential polls.
When we think of the catalytic role of media, it can include this aspect – the sense that the world is watching, and will be forced to react in one way or another. For Ugandans, that feeling seems to be missing. Other long-serving leaders in Sub-Saharan Africa may also be calculating whether global media (or their own citizens via social media platforms) will draw external attention or support for calls for change. For now, the coverage of political events in Uganda, Cote d’Ivoire, and elsewhere suggests that global media will not be tipping any dominoes in Sub-Saharan Africa anytime soon.
Hannah Bowen, InterMedia Project Manager
This week, as mass protests continued to sweep across North Africa and the Middle East, observers keep asking, “Where will be next?” Colonel Muammar Qadhafi, currently under siege, has campaigned throughout his long tenure for African unity, arguing that the similarities tying the continent together outweigh the differences. The events of the past few weeks have highlighted differences between North and Sub-Saharan Africa, however, including one which may be critical in determining whether long-serving leaders south of the Sahara face the same challenges Qadhafi is now battling: access to media and communication technology.
This issue of basic access to media and communication technology was strikingly evident in Zimbabwe on Saturday, when police arrested nearly 50 people who had gathered to watch videos of international media coverage of the events unfolding in Tunisia and Egypt. As reported in the New York Times, the gathering “allowed activists who had no Internet access or cable television to see images from the uprisings in Tunisia and Egypt” and was intended to start a discussion on the implications of these events for Zimbabwe.
The fact that access to international news is harder to come by in Zimbabwe and many other Sub-Saharan African countries is related to the myriad other differences (particularly economic ones) that may prevent popular opposition to long-serving leaders from coalescing. The average Zimbabwean has far fewer options for getting news than the average Egyptian. Local media are tightly controlled by the state, and international news is fairly effectively blocked as well. Granted, Zimbabweans still find many ways to get uncensored news from around the world, including short-wave radio, low-cost satellite dishes and decoders that receive free-to-air programming from South Africa, and DVD (or VCD) recordings such as that shown at the gathering last Saturday. But the costs (time, money, effort, risk) are high, and beyond the means of many citizens.
In addition to limited or difficult access to news, many in Sub-Saharan Africa have fewer communication tools in general than their neighbors to the North. Leaders need not worry about shutting down internet access to prevent the mobilization of opposition forces in places where fewer than 10 percent of the population uses the internet anyway, such as Ethiopia, Togo, or Angola, according to the most recent estimates from the International Telecommunications Union. While low-cost mobile phones are fairly widely available, governments’ hands are in several countries deep enough into the entire telecommunications sector to cast doubts on the privacy of communication over mobile phone networks. Outside of organized political parties, there may be limited communication infrastructure to support mobilization of public calls for change.
These differences in the media and communications environments will not necessarily keep long-serving leaders in Sub-Saharan Africa in power any longer than their North African or Middle Eastern counterparts. The barriers to gathering and sharing the types of information that fuel popular movements are by no means insurmountable, but they do help to explain why the current wave of protests has been slow to cross the Sahara.
One of the things I found most interesting during a visit to Kenya this month was the active debate in Kenyan media about whether the “domino effect” would travel to neighboring Uganda. The answer? Not yet, and probably not anytime soon, for a variety of political, conomic, historical, and social reasons. Voters in Uganda went to the polls February 18, and (according to the electoral commission) reelected long-time incumbent President Yoweri Museveni with nearly 70 percent of the vote. Few experts outside his government would argue that President Museveni, after 25 years in power, genuinely enjoys the deep approval of 70 percent of the population. Local media are already questioning the results, and opposition parties are calling for peaceful protests, but there is little hope that any real change will come about.
Another dynamics that is different in this case, compared to Tunisia, Egypt, Libya, Yemen, etc. is the lack of attention and support from outside of the region. While prominent international media outlets (including Al Jazeera, CNN, and others) have closely documented - and helped to build solidarity for - the public movements in the Middle East, there has so far been only bare-bones coverage of the Ugandan election – certainly not enough to focus global attention on Ugandans’ choices (or lack of choices) in the presidential polls.
When we think of the catalytic role of media, it can include this aspect – the sense that the world is watching, and will be forced to react in one way or another. For Ugandans, that feeling seems to be missing. Other long-serving leaders in Sub-Saharan Africa may also be calculating whether global media (or their own citizens via social media platforms) will draw external attention or support for calls for change. For now, the coverage of political events in Uganda, Cote d’Ivoire, and elsewhere suggests that global media will not be tipping any dominoes in Sub-Saharan Africa anytime soon.
Hannah Bowen, InterMedia Project Manager
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