THE MULTISECTORAL NATIONAL CAMPAIGN WEEKLY PRESS BRIEFING
Posted | 2010-06-16
Author/Source | YES Team and CMD-Kenya

THE MULTISECTORAL NATIONAL CAMPAIGN WEEKLY PRESS BRIEFING :

OUR RESPONSE TO THE UHURU PARK’S BLAST.

CMD-Kenya on behalf of Multi-sectoral National YES Campaign Committee holds these media briefings on a weekly basis targeting emerging issues towards a New Constitutional dispensation for Kenya. We have 49 days to the referendum.

This week; our focus is on the cowardly and inhuman act committed against Kenyans at the Uhuru Park prayer-NO campaign rally and the continued culture of impunity.

The Multi-Sectoral National YES campaign committee is calling for authentic investigations, arrests and prosecution of the individuals who carried out the murder and attack on Kenyans. We wish to restate here that the culture of impunity that has continued to go unpunished in this country has indeed led to this hideous crime.

We note the failure by the Commissioner of Police and the Attorney General to decisively prosecute the suspects in the Narok arms cache that shocked the nation – the Nation is still apprehensive of the intention of those behind that cache of arms. Kenyans are still wondering how the arms cache got its way out of the Administration Police and Military armories. Secondly we note that the criminals who illegally inserted the words “National security” in the proposed constitution are still at large and their motives are still unclear. How come the AG prosecutes when there is no evidence and when the evidence is abound, he does not prosecute cases competently?

In our fist statement on May 19, 2010, we called for the National Cohesion Commission to deal decisively with hate-mongers and people deliberately lying to Kenyans instead of educating them on what is contained in the proposed constitution – We note and wish to congratulate the commission for moving in swiftly to deal with any Kenyan who uses hate speech in this or any other campaign now and in the future. There are many more people out there who continue to lie with the intention of causing division among Kenyans; these too should be brought to book. Public incitement to violence must be punished severely if we are to save this nation for future generations.

Criminals have been testing the security agencies and found them wanting. So they have grown in audacity to commit bigger crimes as we saw on Sunday and especially for political gain, with impunity because they know they will get away with it. This has to stop and punishing perpetrators is the only way out.

Bullying of Kenyans through economic, spiritual, political or any other type of blackmail is not acceptable and we must all conduct ourselves in a manner that continues to build national cohesion rather than applying divisive tactics that will leave Kenya divided and intolerant. We cannot afford to build a society founded on fear and lies because such a society can never prosper.

We wish to point out that even the highly renowned campaign of propaganda and fear carried out by Hitler in Germany and George Bush in the recent past have finally led to the crumbling of the economies and national fabrics of those nations. Strong democracies and nations are those that are built on the foundation of the truth, civic education and strong and competent institutions.

The Multi-sectoral National YES campaign calls on all Kenyans to stand in unity in condemning the forces of evil who carried out the terrorist attack because such tactics have no place in the Kenyan society. No one should take advantage of the murders and attacks on Kenyans to try and promote their side of the campaign because Kenyans always stand united when under attack and when tragedy strikes.

Signed by:

1. Prof. Larry Gumbe, Chair CMD-Kenya

2. Mr. Peter Kariuki, Executive Director, Socio- Economic Rights Foundation,

3. Alice Wahome, Vice-Chair CMD-Kenya

4. Haron Ndubi, Executive Director, Haki Focus

5. Cyprian Nyamwamu, National Convention Executive Council,

6. Njeri Kabeberi, Executive Director, CMD-Kenya

7. Col. Benjamin Muema, Secretary General – New Ford Kenya

The Multi-sectoral National YES Campaign Committee is an inclusive Multi-sectoral committee which brings together all sectors of our nation including political parties, civil society organizations, religious sectors, private sector and professional association with the objective of promoting reform agenda in particular the Constitution review.