The gross brutalities Kenyans have endured and seen lately in Nyalenda area in Kisumu are beyond definition. People are being bludgeoned to death in broad daylight. The actual murder of these people is on live videos many of which are on Twitter.
Some have their private parts mutilated by the police who are not just happy to kill them but want to inflict the most horrific pain possible. We know William Ruto loves this kind of mayhem and murder and has praised the police for doing what he wants them to do but this is heading to the ICC.
Here is the problem. The ICC is not going to come to Kenya to investigate and record the murders and atrocities that President Ruto is committing in Kenya today. Ruto is committing crimes against humanity and must be held responsible.
The collection of evidence including names of people killed, video evidence, names of all the people shot and brutalized and all atrocities being committed by the Ruto regime have to be collected now when all that is raw on the ground.
Already there is very hard work done by health workers just to save peoples’ lives. There are some real horrific videos compiled about the whole brutality of Ruto’s crackdown and attack on Kenyans in the last three days, but a whole lot more need to be done. The best way to do that is for Azimio and the human rights groups like the KNCHR to compile all that data together and then have it filed with the ICC at The Hague.
Each group can do their own independent data collection. KNCHR can do their own investigations and collect information. Amnesty International Kenya co do their own work and other political groups can do theirs too. In fact, Ruto and KK working with IG Koome can also collect their own information about the wonderful work the police are doing during the rallies and let the ICC decide.
This is a 19-year-old form 4 student, Fidel Castro Ochieng’ who had 9 bullets pumped into him by the Kenya police. That is a great job by the police for William Ruto but is a crime against humanity and just an insane level of disregard for human life. Kenyans cannot let these crimes by Ruto go unpunished. Ochieng has 8 bullets lodged in his chest right now as he awaits surgery at a hospital in Kisumu.
In a Daily Nation story, Ochieng’ recalled how he was playing cards with a group of friends in Nyamasaria when a group of police officers invaded the compound and just opened fire on them.
Ochieng’ managed to get up after getting eight shots in the chest and was lucky to get a motorbike rider carrying him to the hospital and was shot again while on the motorbike. One of Ochieng’s friends succumbed to the shots and died on the spot.
“The pain is unbearable, I have not been able to sleep and the bullets in my chest are uncomfortable” says the young man to DN reporters who talked to him. This maybe fantastic job as far as Ruto is concerned but this boy’s life is ruined forever. Let the ICC deal with this kind of madness which has been all over the country in the month of July 2023.
Amnesty International-Kenya has condemned excessive use of force by police in containing protestors.
In a statement, the human rights defender stated that “the continued attacks, use of excessive, unnecessary and unlawful force, including lethal force, is leading to increased deaths and injuries of both adults and children.”
The organization’s Executive Director Irungu Houghton said police killings from the demos have cumulatively clocked 30.
He said March protests led to 12 deaths while Saba Saba and Wednesday’s killings leading to 18 deaths. Others are yet to be tallied.
According to Houghton, most victims succumbed to targeted shootings, brutal beatings, and suffocation from teargas.
“Preliminary investigations have revealed that the police have used beatings, arbitrary arrests and detention of protestors, indiscriminate and disproportionate use of tear gas and water cannons, and other serious rights violations to police the protests,” said Houghton.
Amnesty has urged restraint from criminalising protests and use of excessive force against unarmed protestors.
“The Inspector General of the Police, Japhet Koome and the Cabinet Secretary of Interior and Administration of National Government, Kithure Kindiki must take practical steps to guarantee the right of everyone to peaceful assembly and protest,” he said.
On the use of non-uniformed officers who conduct arbitrary arrests of protestors, he said transparency and accountability should be upheld as the acts violate the service’s codes of conduct
“Police officers must be identifiable by uniform or number badges to avoid abuse of power and other violations,” he said.
Swift investigations
While calling for swift investigations from Independent Police Oversight Authority into the killings, he urged the state to uphold its “duty to protect protestors from intimidation and suppression.”
He called on the government agencies tasked with promoting peace and unity–National Cohesion and Integration Commission to censor and take necessary action against leaders inciting the public.
Houghton further expressed the organisation’s concern on access to essential services including healthcare by the public.
Personally, it makes me mad to talk about atrocities as we need “data”. It makes me really mad. These are people. These are Kenyans. These are citizens of our beautiful republic called Kenya.
You can say that again.
Why is our government killing us violently in the streets and in our homes?
That is why we need independent Kenya human rights organizations to take what we see in our country today to the ICC. That is where it belongs.
That is what we are doing right now. We love our Kenya but we also love our freedoms as Kenyans. The ICC case in Kenya last time was very complicated. The witnesses just kept being killed every time they were supposed to appear at The Hague.
KNCHR under the leadership of Omar as DP led the investigations and the evidence was finally provided to ICC. Uhuru Kenyatta as President and William Ruto as His DP appeared at The Hague to defend themselves against accusations of crimes against humanity.
That was then. How about now?
IPOA? Don’t laugh now this is serious business.
Now laugh. Thank you. IPOA is a joke. But here is serious evidence of the William Ruto crimes against humanity. You can’t make this up. Can you?
GENOCIDE UNDERWAY IN KENYA:
We meet here under very sad and traumatizing circumstances. A state sanctioned genocide is underway in Luoland, particularly in Kisumu, Migori and Homa Bay. A similar atrocity is also underway in parts of Nairobi including Kibra, Mathare.
In Kisumu, people are being pulled out of their houses and shot or clobbered to death by police officers.
In Migori and parts of Homa Bay, police are going into villages away from towns and shooting or clobbering people to death.
All the elements of the making of a genocide are present in the developments in Luoland.
Victims are being dehumanized.
There is organization. The attacks taking place are clearly planned. The people undertaking the destruction of the Luos are clearly trained, whether they are police officers or goons.
They are under a command structure and they are well resourced with the arms they need.
There is stigmatization and polarization accompanied by propaganda that the community is behind the nationwide protests.
There is preparation, with perpetrators knowing when to attack which area and they are using what appears to be the adopted slogan of “dealing with the Luo once and for all,” very similar to Hitler’s so called Final Solution.
The attackers are working hard to create fear in the community by parading armies, equipment and weapons.
Victims are identified because of their ethnicity. They are segregated into ghettos. They are being starved and their property destroyed or skirted away. Murders are taking place in ways that are a deliberate and systematic campaign of violence.
This crackdown has been concentrated in slums and other low income areas of the county where the so-called hustlers, in whose name and interests the Kenya Kwanza regime claims to govern.
We condemn the unacceptable and illegal massacre of the Luo community whose only crime is to participate, alongside other Kenyans, in protest against Kenya Kwanza policies.
We condemn and demand an immediate end to the traumatization and profiling of the Luo community, particularly the children who are being made to pay a price they do not understand.
The genocide underway in Luoland is not accidental. It is coordinated and premeditated.
It is being coordinated by political and government leaders both from the community and outside.
But it is not just in Nyanza.
In Mathare and Kibra in Nairobi, citizens were brutalized and tear gas canisters lobbed in their houses . A father who confronted police for hurling tear gas into his house causing his child to faint was manhandled and bundled into the police lorry like a criminal. His whereabouts remain unknown.
Several people were shot dead at close range by nonuniformed and uniformed police in Nairobi, Nakuru Mlolongo and Makueni by police mainly in plain clothes shot and killed citizens a majority of whom were going about their daily business and others right at their places of work.
Similar executions have occurred in Kisii, Busia and Kericho, and elsewhere in Kenya, all in the name of stopping citizens exercise of their constitutional right to hold peaceful demonstrations.
Much as Ruto tries to depict Azimio demonstrations as violent, it is evidently clear that our demonstrations are peaceful and it is the police who import violence and use of excessive force into them. We remind all that whenever Azimio hold rallies and or demonstrations without police interference, they end peacefully without violence or distraction.
The decision by Police command to force access to homes is sharply and unnecessarily escalating tensions and costing lives. Inspector General of Police Mr. Japhet Koome and CS Interior Prof Kithure Kindiki must immediately withdraw police officers from people’s homes and residential areas especially now that there are no demonstrations.
The developments in Nyanza take place against other equally worrying actions by the State.
Both police and hired goons are trailing, arresting and shooting people from vehicles with foreign number plates. In the three day demonstrations that ended last Friday, South Sudan and Tanzania number plates were visibly deployed.
This creates unnecessary tension and conflict between our country and these friendly countries and our people against the people of Tanzania and South Sudan.
As police battle our people on the streets, they have also taken over the corridors of justice in our courts.
We saw police attacking families of people seeking Justice in court.
We saw Hon. Babu Owino being abducted and ferried away from court corridors after being released on bail.
We saw the media being attacked and chased from court corridors as they did their job of informing the world of developments in the country.
Azimio leaders are being put under house arrest, constant surveillance and persistent threat of being arrested.
Include:
We demand the unconditional release of all the Azimio leaders and supporters who are still being held incommunicado.
These developments also happen against the backdrop of constant verbal unwarranted diatribe against Uhuru Kenyatta the fourth president of Kenya and Ruto’s boss for ten years 2013-2022 august, the withdrawal of security of his mother Mama Ngina Kenyatta, the attack on his son Jomo by ununiformed people claiming to be police and the attack and vandalization of the Kenyatta family Northlands farm. These are all acts of grave provocation not only to Uhuru Kenyatta and his family but also on all right thinking Kenyans.
Clearly Ruto has for all intent and purposes suspended the constitution of Kenya and is following his whims. We shall not watch helplessly as Ruto and his cronies completely dismantle the Republic of Kenya as set up by our constitution.
We shall not surrender our rights including the right to life, dignity and the right to peaceful protest. We shall not surrender our voices or agency. We shall fight for our rights as we have fought for them before and as our fathers fought for them before us.
We call on all right thinking members of society to rise up and be heard. Let us all say enough is enough. William Ruto and his illegitimate regime must listen to Kenyans
All these actions by police undermine the rule of law and the constitution. These actions point to the emergence of a police State in Kenya. However, these actions, that have left scores of Kenyans dead, have earned police praise from Mr. William Ruto.
We wish to make it clear that our people will not surrender or be cowed. We further make it clear that we will pursue no engagements with Kenya Kwanza whatsoever until these hostilities and their perpetrators apprehended.
We remain determined to right the wrongs being inflicted on our people including state induced high cost of living. Our peaceful countrywide continue next Wednesday. We are serving notice to all the OCSs across the country for the Wednesday peaceful demonstrations. In the meantime, the signature collection, which now stands at 8 million, continues.
We meet here under very sad and traumatizing circumstances. A state-sanctioned genocide is underway in Luoland, particularly in Kisumu, Migori, and Homa Bay. A similar atrocity is also underway in parts of Nairobi, including Kibra and Mathare.
In Kisumu, people are being pulled out of their houses and shot or clobbered to death by police officers. In Migori and parts of Homa Bay, police are going into villages away from towns and shooting or clobbering people to death.
All the elements of the making of a genocide are present in the developments in Luoland. Victims are being dehumanized. There is organization, and the attacks taking place are clearly planned. The perpetrators are clearly trained, whether they are police officers or goons. They are under a command structure and are well-resourced with the arms they need.
There is stigmatization and polarization accompanied by propaganda that the community is behind the nationwide protests. There is preparation, with perpetrators knowing when to attack which area, and they are using what appears to be the adopted slogan of “dealing with the Luo once and for all,” very similar to Hitler’s so-called Final Solution. The attackers are working hard to create fear in the community by parading armies, equipment, and weapons.
Victims are identified because of their ethnicity. They are segregated into ghettos. They are being starved, and their property is being destroyed or skirted away. Murders are taking place in ways that are a deliberate and systematic campaign of violence.
This crackdown has been concentrated in slums and other low-income areas of the county where the so-called hustlers, in whose name and interests the Kenya Kwanza regime claims to govern.
We condemn the unacceptable and illegal massacre of the Luo community, whose only crime is to participate, alongside other Kenyans, in protest against Kenya Kwanza policies. We condemn and demand an immediate end to the traumatization and profiling of the Luo community, particularly the children who are being made to pay a price they do not understand.
The genocide underway in Luoland is not accidental. It is coordinated and premeditated. It is being coordinated by political and government leaders both from the community and outside. But it is not just in Nyanza.
In Mathare and Kibra in Nairobi, citizens were brutalized, and tear gas canisters lobbed into their houses. A father who confronted police for hurling tear gas into his house, causing his child to faint, was manhandled and bundled into the police lorry like a criminal. His whereabouts remain unknown.
Several people were shot dead at close range by nonuniformed and uniformed police in Nairobi, Nakuru Mlolongo, and Makueni. Police, mainly in plain clothes, shot and killed citizens, a majority of whom were going about their daily business, and others right at their places of work. Similar executions have occurred in Kisii, Busia, Kericho, and elsewhere in Kenya, all in the name of stopping citizens’ exercise of their constitutional right to hold peaceful demonstrations.
Much as Ruto tries to depict Azimio demonstrations as violent, it is evidently clear that our demonstrations are peaceful, and it is the police who import violence and use of excessive force into them. We remind all that whenever Azimio holds rallies and demonstrations without police interference, they end peacefully without violence or distraction.
The decision by Police command to force access to homes is sharply and unnecessarily escalating tensions and costing lives. Inspector General of Police Mr. Japhet Koome and CS Interior Prof Kithure Kindiki must immediately withdraw police officers from people’s homes and residential areas, especially now that there are no demonstrations.
The developments in Nyanza take place against other equally worrying actions by the State. Both police and hired goons are trailing, arresting, and shooting people from vehicles with foreign number plates. In the three-day demonstrations that ended last Friday, South Sudan and Tanzania number plates were visibly deployed. This creates unnecessary tension and conflict between our country and these friendly countries and our people against the people of Tanzania and South Sudan.
As police battle our people on the streets, they have also taken over the corridors of justice in our courts. We saw police attacking families of people seeking Justice in court. We saw Hon. Babu Owino being abducted and ferried away from court corridors after being released on bail. We saw the media being attacked and chased from court corridors as they did their job of informing the world of developments in the country. Azimio leaders are being put under house arrest, constant surveillance, and persistent threat of being arrested.
We demand the unconditional release of all the Azimio leaders and supporters who are still being held incommunicado.
These developments also happen against the backdrop of constant verbal unwarranted diatribe against Uhuru Kenyatta, the fourth president of Kenya, and Ruto’s boss for ten years 2013-2022 August. The withdrawal of security of his mother Mama Ngina Kenyatta, the attack on his son Jomo by ununiformed people claiming to be police, and the attack and vandalization of the Kenyatta family Northlands farm. These are all acts of grave provocation not only to Uhuru Kenyatta and his family but also to all right-thinking Kenyans.
Clearly, Ruto has, for all intents and purposes, suspended the constitution of Kenya and is following his whims. We shall not watch helplessly as Ruto and his cronies completely dismantle the Republic of Kenya as set up by our constitution. We shall not surrender our rights, including the right to life, dignity, and the right to peaceful protest. We shall not surrender our voices or agency. We shall fight for our rights as we have fought for them before and as our fathers fought for them before us.
We call on all right-thinking members of society to rise up and be heard. Let us all say enough is enough. William Ruto and his illegitimate regime must listen to Kenyans. All these actions by police undermine the rule of law and the constitution. These actions point to the emergence of a police State in Kenya. However, these actions, that have left scores of Kenyans dead, have earned police praise from Mr. William Ruto.
We wish to make it clear that our people will not surrender or be cowed. We further make it clear that we will pursue no engagements with Kenya Kwanza whatsoever until these hostilities and their perpetrators are apprehended.
We remain determined to right the wrongs being inflicted on our people, including the state-induced high cost of living. Our peaceful countrywide demonstrations continue next Wednesday. We are serving notice to all the OCSs across the country for the Wednesday peaceful demonstrations. In the meantime, the signature collection, which now stands at 8 million, continues.
