Mysterious Police Trips Fuel Poll Rigging Claims

The East African Standard
26 December 2007

Nairobi

With the elections only hours away, at least 20 civilian buses drove out of a high security facility in Nairobi on Monday night as The Standard and KTN undercover reporters and crew watched.

The buses left the Embakasi Administration Police Training College, initially at intervals of between 10 and 20 minutes. Later, they left in much quicker succession.

Hours later, the destination of the buses and the mission of their occupants became known. TV footage and still pictures in our possession show the names of the buses and their registration numbers.

Several people said to be APs were injured at Mbita in Suba District, when members of the public attacked them. They were also attacked in Sori in the volatile Nyatike Constituency. In Mbita, police moved in swiftly to save about 100 other members of the entourage from an enraged mob, who accused the visitors of being part of a team of APs allegedly trained to disrupt the elections. The chaos paralysed business in Mbita and disrupted Christmas festivities.

Elsewhere in Homa Bay, Migori and Rongo, tension was high after people claiming to be Party of National Unity agents arrived in several buses.

Two - a Citi Hoppa KAW 055W and a KBS registration KAX 040C - drove into Homa Bay in the morning with one group. On alighting, the officers quickly mingled and freely chatted with the locally based APs, locals said.

As word spread about the presence of the officers, members of the public quickly gathered in groups and sought to know their mission, heightening tension.

By 1pm, there was no official word on what exactly they were doing in Homa Bay. But a source within the Provincial Administration circles, who preferred anonymity said, "Hawa ni wageni wa DC (These are the DC's guests)".

Nyanza Provincial Police Officer, Ms Grace Kaindi, told The Standard she was not aware of the presence of the APs. "I'm not expecting additional security from outside the province".

In Mbita, the group that claimed to be PNU election agents ran into trouble on arrival in two Mololine buses from Nairobi.

One of the said agents was beaten and left for dead at the Mbita Bus Park, where he was cornered as his colleagues rushed for refuge at the local police station.

The Mbita Kanu parliamentary candidate, Mr Okuku Miregi, who has been campaigning for PNU in the region disowned the group, saying it had a sinister motive and should not be allowed anywhere near polling stations.

Said he: "The Suba OCPD called this morning to inform me that some 100 PNU agents were in town. This shocked me because I should have been told as the local PNU official".

When contacted, PNU spokesman Mr George Nyamweya, said: "Those people you are talking about cannot be attributed to PNU. We have our own agents and we do not have to use APs or police".

He said what the APs do at their camp, "like loading their officers into buses" is not a PNU affair, adding that they did not control what APs do.

He said the party - under which President Kibaki is seeking re-election - would send its agents that it will have recruited to all parts of the country.

The first bus drove out of the AP College in Nairobi at 12.10am on Monday/Tuesday, the last at 1.45am in the morning. The college is set in a high security area adjacent to both the Army and the General Service Unit (GSU) camps. Also within proximity is the Jomo Kenyatta International Airport (JKIA), which is watched by satellites and power cameras.

Asked who the civilian buses were ferrying from a high security facility, AP spokesman Mr Masood Mwinyi explained that just like other security agents, the officers were being deployed to various parts of the country to provide the needed services.

The AP Commandant, Mr Kinuthia Mbugua, had earlier denied claims that there was a plot to use the officers to rig the elections, dismissing the allegations as "mere propaganda".

On Tuesday, sources familiar with this seemingly shadowy operation hinted that the passengers, who were only silhouettes with interior lights switched off, were being bussed to Opposition strongholds.

More of the buses, hired from a number of upcountry and city PSV operating companies, were expected to drive in and out of the facility last night. The rest will follow this morning to conclude the exercise, impeccable sources said.

On its part, the Electoral Commission of Kenya termed as disturbing allegations that APs have been recruited as PNU polling agents.

ECK chairman Mr Samuel Kivuitu, however, said the ECK had no role to play in the appointment of polling agents and only sought appointment letters presented by the agent.

"We do not have any role in the appointment of agents. What the law requires is that the agent presents an appointment letter to the ECK three days before the poll," he said.

Kivuitu said APs were barred by law from acting as political party agents.

"They may sneak in if they operate like civilians. We have no powers to detect if an agent is an AP or not. However, the ECK will clamp down hard on any officer found to have masqueraded as an agent," he said.

He said the AG will be called upon to act against such officers whose offence is punishable under the Public Officer Ethics Act.

"These are heinous crimes. Such schemes are utterly undemocratic and retrogressive. They sadly will return the people to the slavery they freed themselves from in 199," said Kivuitu.

He added: "It may be impossible to associate that candidate (Kibaki) with such schemes going by his past record. However, his overzealous campaign leaders can be tempted to abuse State power and authority to his advantage without his personal involvement," he said.

He said the ECK had received the claims through the media, SMS and by ODM and ODM Kenya.

"ECK has not yet received any evidence that these schemes were contemplated or are awaiting implementation. Kenyans must be alert and report truthfully to ECK any attempt to offer bribes to members of the Provincial Administration," he said.

What undercover team found out

On Monday night, The Standard investigative team pitched camp outside the facility following a tip-off from a reliable source at the camp.

The AP Training College, which is at the far-flung end of Nairobi's sprawling Eastlands, has been at the centre of claims - which have been vigorously denied by the authorities - of ballot stuffing and training of personnel to disrupt polling in target constituencies to slow down or altogether derail ODM, whose candidate Mr Raila Odinga is the strongest contender for the presidency, according to opinion polls.

One bus, a Citi Hoppa, which our undercover team trailed moments after departure, took the Northern Airport Road, entered the Mombasa-Nairobi Road at City Cabanas, and drove down Uhuru Highway. The bus, registration No KAX 150S then drove down Waiyaki Way before it stopped briefly at Oil Libya Petrol Station in Westlands to fuel. This was at 12.45am. It was the second bus to leave.

The bus's interior lights stayed off.

The first to leave the facility was a Kenya Bus KAZ 178U. It shook off our trail, with a clever turn before City Cabanas. It must have headed towards Ruai, an alternative exit.

Apart from what our undercover team witnessed, an AP officer, who was drafted into the squad, turned up at KTN studios on Tuesday and gave fresh insights into the plot. He was dropped at the 11th hour on account of where he hails from, he said.

On Tuesday, questions were left in the wake of faceless men and their intentions. Faceless because even though they are believed to be APs, sources said they had been stripped of their uniforms, IDs and certificates of appointment to eliminate the paper trail. It was also difficult to establish exactly how many they were.

Our team was informed that they only had letters of appointment allegedly signed by a senior person in Government and addressed to Returning Officers, which will give them access to restricted polling areas.

Last Saturday, KTN ran an exclusive story on how some 2,500 APs were being trained to interfere with tomorrow's General Election, drawing a furious response from the Government and earning the station a date with the newly constituted Media Council of Kenya after the Information Permanent Secretary, Dr Bitange Ndemo, lodged a complaint.

This was after a whistleblower leaked information to the station that some police officers were allegedly marking ballots at the AP Commandant's house in Embakasi and at the fourth floor of Harambee House.

Meanwhile, A KTN reporter, who was part of the undercover crew, has received threatening calls urging him to "go slow on the story or face death".

A source told The Standard that each of the officers on the "strange mission" was given anything between Sh21,000 and Sh62,000 according to their rank.

The Standard established that the recruits held Bibles then uttered the following words in unison: " I ...swear that I will not at the General Election taking place on December 27, 2007, do anything forbidden by Section 5 of the Election Offences Act which has been read to me..."

Sources said this vow, which is the standard ECK pledge, was taken to make them look like just harmless party agents.

Our investigations revealed that a senior deputy AP Commandant was present at the facility on Monday night as the buses drove out.

There were also reports of tension and suspicion at the camp, with suggestions that the exercise did not go down well with some officers.

The full magnitude of the operation and the personnel involved was unclear, with some sources saying up to 55 buses will have ferried the officers from the facility.