By LUCAS BARASA lbarassa@ke.nationmedia.com
Posted Wednesday, September 12 2012 at 23:30
Posted Wednesday, September 12 2012 at 23:30
IN SUMMARY
- Deputy Police Spokesman Charles Owino said police did not want a repeat of the ordeal suffered by former police commissioner Maj-Gen Hussein Ali.
- Charges against Maj-Gen Ali were dropped by the ICC pre-trial chamber, but the experience appears to have sent shivers within the force.
- Mr Owino said police were reluctant to use force on their own to avoid a situation like in the 2007-8 election chaos when they were accused of killings and their boss, Major Gen Hussein Ali hurled to the Hague.
Police have appealed to be given authority to use force to quell the violence in the Tana Delta.
Deputy Police Spokesman Charles Owino said the force needed Cabinet approval to avoid placing themselves at risk of being tried by the International Criminal Court.
Speaking during an update on media monitoring ahead of the General Election, Mr Owino said police did not want a repeat of the ordeal suffered by former police commissioner Maj-Gen Hussein Ali.
Charges against Maj-Gen Ali were dropped by the ICC pre-trial chamber, but the experience appears to have sent shivers within the force.
“The politicians could disown us and use our move for political expediency. We don’t want to be used as guinea pigs. We want a clear direction from the Cabinet, not only the President or Prime Minister, to allow the police commissioner to use force.
"The situation in Tana Delta is simple and can be resolved within a short time but it can be difficult if we don’t speak with one voice, a thing that could result to serious ramifications,” said Mr Owino.
He said police were reluctant to use force on their own to avoid a situation like in the 2007-8 election chaos when they were accused of killings and their boss, Major Gen Hussein Ali hurled to the Hague.
Mr Owino said the force does not want a situation where its head, Police Commissioner Mathew Iteere could be required to face a tribunal for using force to end skirmishes in Tana Delta.
“You took Ali to the Hague. We will not allow you to put Iteere in a tribunal,” Mr Owino said. He spoke on a day when assistant minister Dhadho Godhana was arrested and charged with incitement.
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He was freed on Sh1 million bond or cash bail Sh500,000 while awaiting trial. (READ: Minister Godhana arrested over Tana clashes)
The government announced deployment of 2,000 new officers to the Tana Delta, 1,800 of whom are from the paramilitary General Service Unit.
As a sign of the animosity experienced in the area, some Coast MPs who met with President Kibaki to help end the killings, disagreed amongst themselves with accusations and counter accusations.
In Parliament, MPs debated whether the Kenya Defence Force should be deployed to quell the violence. The debate saw supporters of acting Internal Security Minister Yusuf Haji and those of Mr Godhana trading accusations. (READ: House passes motion to deploy KDF to Tana Delta)
There were few MPs in the House during the debate. Mr Owino said there was no need to deploy the army to Tana Delta as police were able to end the skirmishes that have claimed more than 100 lives if given Cabinet support.
“Why send the army yet we are not at war. We have enough police officers to end the violence. The army could be deployed to construct houses, bridges and roads.
"We have the General Service Unit who can end the mayhem in five minutes,” Mr Owino was speaking during a media monitoring briefing at Teleposta Towers in Nairobi.
Police, he said, do not want to use force on their own “because we don’t have responsible politicians.”
He added: “We have the necessary numbers including regular police and GSU but we don’t want to be accused of being trigger happy and made to face a tribunal.”
Mr Owino warned that if the situation in Tana River is handled with ‘kid’ gloves in the name of democracy, other groups like Mombasa Republican Council, Mungiki and the Sabaot Land Defence Force “could do worse things.”
“Tana Delta is a precedent. MRC, Mungiki and SLDF are looking at action of police. If police fail to take any action the country will burn. It is not time to point fingers at each other. We have the means to end the skirmishes. We must face the situation once and for all,” Mr Owino said.
He described the militia involved in the Tana Delta killings including those of nine police officers on Monday as primitive criminals who did not care about lives.
He said the officers killed during Monday’s attack were duped to believe their attackers were innocent locals seeking help only to be hit from behind.
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