Uganda Gun Men Shot Kenya Rioters
>> Thursday, January 10, 2008
RODNEY MUHUMUZA, EMOJONG OSERE & RISDEL KASASIRA
KAMPALA
KENYAN opposition leader Raila Odinga said on Tuesday that he had called President Yoweri Museveni to protest what he called the presence of Ugandan gunmen in the lakeside city of Kisumu, where riots erupted in the aftermath of a disputed presidential election.
The gunmen "have killed quite a number of civilians in Kisumu", Mr Odinga said during an interview on KFM's Hot Seat show on Tuesday evening.
The opposition leader, who claims to have won the disputed December 27 presidential election, said Kisumu residents had variously reported seeing armed men driven in vehicles with Ugandan registration numbers. But the men were dressed in civilian attire, the Orange Democratic Movement party leader said.
Mr Odinga revealed that President Museveni had denied knowledge of the Ugandan military's presence in post-election Kenya.
"What happened is that there were vehicles with Ugandan registration numbers. They were seen in Kisumu and the occupants were wearing civilian clothes. They have been shooting and they have killed quite a number of civilians in Kisumu…" Mr Odinga said.
"But I had occasion to speak to President Yoweri Museveni who assured me that there are no Ugandan forces in the country, and I have reason to believe what he was saying."
It is possible that the suspected Ugandan gunmen could have been Kenyan police officers using vehicles from Uganda, he said without citing a possible motive.
At least 600 people were reportedly killed in post-election violence in Kenya. Mr Odinga himself says close to 1,000 Kenyans died in ethnic battles. Nyanza Province, Mr Odinga's backyard, was seriously hit by the post-election violence. About 300 of the victims were residents of Kisumu, the province's headquarters.
There has been suspicion, especially among the border communities, that Uganda may have played a silent role in events that led up to bloody turmoil following Mr Kibaki's swearing-in ceremony on December 30.
While campaigning in the border town of Busia last Saturday, Mr Museveni faced questions from a crowd attending a rally at Madibira Primary School in Busia, where he was campaigning for NRM parliamentary contestant Sarah Wasike.
Some members of the crowd interrupted Mr Museveni's speech, asking to know whether he unduly influenced the Electoral Commission of Kenya into announcing President Kibaki as the winner.
But the President dismissed the allegations. "I did not make Kibaki the president. It was the chairman [of the] Kenya Electoral Commission that made him the president," he said.
It appears Mr Museveni's rush to congratulate Mr Kibaki upon his re-election, the first and only message to have come from an African leader, could have raised suspicion. Some analysts have condemned the message, saying it was reckless.
It was not possible to independently verify claims of the Ugandan military's participation in post-election violence in Kenya. But a reliable source who was among the security personnel deployed in Nyanza Province, which takes in Kisumu, said a curious Kenyan army officer identified two Ugandans clad in the Kenya Police uniform.
The duo communicated in Luganda, the source claimed, a language not used in Kenya's armed forces. After a brief interrogation, one of the two gunmen allegedly admitted that he was a Ugandan, before being whisked away by security.
An outspoken cleric based at the Katakwa Diocese in Kenya's Busia District also suggested in an interview with Daily Monitor that Ugandan soldiers could have crossed into Kenya in the wake of post-election violence there.
Rev. Phillip Mwakio said last week that a convoy of six vehicles bearing Uganda government registration numbers were seen crossing the border into Kenya after the Kenya government had closed its side of the border.
"It was at around 8p.m. that these vehicles crossed," the cleric said. "We were surprised that vehicles would be allowed to cross when the border was closed? It was unusual."
Rev. Mwakio said the tinted four-wheel drive vehicles sped past the Busia border gates without the usual security checks and took the Busia-Kisumu road amidst heavy deployment of security.
But the Busia RDC, Ms Robina Nabanja, said the claims were baseless reports being touted by "prophets of doom" intent on souring relations between the two neighbours. The Coordinator of Uganda's Intelligence Services, Gen. David Tinyefuza, described the claims as "rubbish" and an insult to both Kenya and Uganda.
"It is the opposition [who are propagating the claims]," Gen. Tinyefuza said yesterday. "They are trying to incite the Kenyan population against us."
Another knowledgeable source said Ugandan troops deployed to Kotido and Moroto usually enter and pass through Kenya because of the bad roads in eastern Uganda, and that the movements have nothing to do with Kenyan affairs.
Relative calm has returned to Kenya after Mr Odinga called off massive protest rallies in preparation for talks with the government. But Mr Kibaki's formation of a new cabinet, announced before the start of the talks, has not been welcomed by Mr Odinga, who says he will not give up the presidential battle just yet.
Original Source: Monitor (Kampala, Uganda)
Museveni briefed on country’s poll crisis
Published on January 10, 2008, 12:00 am
By Samson Ntale and Maseme Machuka President Kibaki has sought the intervention of his Ugandan counterpart in Kenya’s political unrest. Kibaki wants President Museveni to use his position as chairman of the East Africa Community (EAC) and the Commonwealth to involve the Government and Opposition to get a solution to the post-election crisis. Museveni, the only African leader who endorsed Kibaki’s re-election, asked whether the EAC could help quell the unrest that has claimed more than 500 lives and left close to 500,000 people displaced. Foreign Affairs minister, Mr Moses Wetangula, delivered the message to Museveni on Tuesday at a meeting in Ntungamo, Uganda. "The dispute over the elections is neither on civic or parliamentary level, but tallying, which could have been handled without violence," said Wetangula. He added: "Some political actors who incited the masses worsened the situation, leading to ethnic tension and failure by those disputing the elections to follow the judicial channels." In response, Museveni condemned the post-election violence, saying, "instability and ethnic violence would not only hurt the region, but also Kenyans." "Violence must be dealt with and stopped as it destroys the lives of people who have nothing to do with governance or the electoral authority," the Ugandan president said. Last Sunday, in a speech on the fuel shortage and stifled flow of imports due to the post-election violence in Kenya, Museveni claimed that he had appealed to the Kenyan Government and Opposition leader, Mr Raila Odinga, to find political and judicial ways to solve the stalemate. "Uganda itself suffered such tensions for a long time. But using the legal, political and administrative measures, the problems can now be handled," Museveni said. As the chairman of the East African Community, Museveni said he was deeply concerned and was in touch with East African leaders to ensure that the situation would never happen again. Meanwhile, the National Convention Executive Council (NCEC) has condemned President Kibaki for his "implacable dictatorial actions against the legitimate right of Kenyan people and their sovereignty in naming of a Cabinet." NCEC co-ordinator, Mr Ndung’u Wainaina, said Kibaki had obstructed political will to find peace and engage in positive negotiations to put an end to the post-election conflict. He said: "We are dealing with a dangerous cabal of political leadership and technocrats, who are conveniently turning a blind eye to factuality that something is horribly wrong and that the truth must be exposed." Wainaina said Kibaki had taken the country backwards in its search for democracy. "Kibaki’s appointment of his illegitimate Cabinet is a slap on face to the international mediation and out-rightly forestalls any meaningful political settlement," he said. "These outrageous undemocratic acts that Kibaki is hell-bent and persistently implementing are not only illegal and illegitimate, but will be fought from every corner," he added. Wainaina said the President and his new Cabinet were responsible and answerable to the bloodletting and wanton destruction of property across the country. Kibaki on Tuesday, named half of his Cabinet awaiting the outcome of peace and reconciliation initiatives aimed at broadening his government to accomodate ODM members. The move has since elicited mixed reactions from wananchi and leaders across the country. Violence broke out in some parts of the country moments after the announcement made on the State-owned Kenya Broadcasting Corporation. Some leaders, however defended Kibaki’s Cabinet appointments.
Alarm Over Alleged Presence of Ugandan Troops
The East African Standard (Nairobi)
NEWS
13 January 2008
Posted to the web 12 January 2008
By Sunday Standard Team
Nairobi
Armed Ugandan soldiers are allegedly crossing into Kenya.
Busia residents told The Sunday Standard that some Ugandan troops have been sighted in town and in Port Victoria along River Suo.
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"They are scattered all over along the borders with some patrolling along Lake Victoria," said a secondary school teacher in Budalang'i District.
According to Nambale MP-elect, Mr Chris Okemo, some of the soldiers have reportedly crossed "no-man's-land" borderline to Busia town on the Kenyan side.
"We have received reports that a number of strangers, whose mission is unknown, have been spotted in groups. We are still investigating the claims," he said.
Bondo MP-elect Dr Oburu Oginga also claimed that people in Ugandan military gear docked at Mageta Island last evening in batches.
"The first batch of 12 soldiers who spoke strange Kiswahili arrived at Mageta Island past 5pm on Friday and asked for directions to Usenge and Uhanya beach," Oburu said.
Oburu said he informed police in Bondo after more soldiers allegedly landed at Mageta two hours later.
"We are concerned with these strange military personnel in the area. The residents are worried," Oburu said.
However, Nyanza PPO Ms Grace Kaindi denied the claims.
"That is nonsense. There is no way foreign troops can be sneaked into the country since we are not at war with anybody," she said.
"We have laws that can help us deal with any security threat in the province. Residents should ignore rumours about Uganda soldiers taking positions on Kenya borders along Lake Victoria," she said police investigation showed no foreign troops.
Similar strange military arrivals were reported in Bungoma, where they allegedly boarded six buses.
Suspicion has been high in Uganda over President Yoweri Museveni's possible role in the Kenyan presidential poll fiasco.
Museveni was the only Head of State in the region to congratulate Kibaki for being re-elected.
Ugandan authorities have denied that its soldiers had crossed into Kenya.
Museveni's Media advisor, Mr John Nagenda, on Sunday denied the claims.
Uganda's Army spokesman, Captain Paddy Ankunda, also refuted the claims.
He said the only Ugandan soldiers in Kenya are training at the Karen Defence College in Nairobi.http://allafrica.com/stories/printable/200801120040.html
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