Identifier
Created
Classification
Origin
06NAIROBI1003
2006-03-07 07:53:00
CONFIDENTIAL
Embassy Nairobi
Cable title:
JUSTICE MINISTER WON,T QUESTION POLICE RAID
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C O N F I D E N T I A L NAIROBI 001003
SIPDIS
SIPDIS
LONDON AND PARIS FOR AFRICA WATCHERS
E.O. 12958: DECL: 03/05/2026
TAGS: PREL PHUM PGOV KDEM KE
SUBJECT: JUSTICE MINISTER WON,T QUESTION POLICE RAID
Classified By: Ambassador William Bellamy for reasons 1.4 (b,d)
C O N F I D E N T I A L NAIROBI 001003
SIPDIS
SIPDIS
LONDON AND PARIS FOR AFRICA WATCHERS
E.O. 12958: DECL: 03/05/2026
TAGS: PREL PHUM PGOV KDEM KE
SUBJECT: JUSTICE MINISTER WON,T QUESTION POLICE RAID
Classified By: Ambassador William Bellamy for reasons 1.4 (b,d)
1. (C) SUMMARY: Justice Minister Karua refuses to criticize
the police raids on the Standard Media Group, even going so
far as to assert that it might have been justified on
"national security" grounds. Karua's main concern seems to
be that she and other cabinet members were not consulted
beforehand. END SUMMARY.
2. (C) In the wake of the March 2 police assault on the
Standard Media Group, the Swedish Ambassador, Dutch charge
and I met with Justice and Constitutional Affairs Minister
Karua and her permanent secretary, Dorothy Angote, March 3.
(Note: Within the World Bank-led donor coordinating group in
Nairobi, Sweden, the Netherlands and the US co-chair the
sectoral committee on justice and constitutional issues. End
Note.)
3. (C) As a group we expressed dismay at the March 2 police
action and asked what steps the GOK planned to take to
distance itself from this lawlessness, discipline those
responsible and restore public confidence in the GOK,s
commitment to freedom of the press.
4. (C) Karua,s responses over the course of the hour-long
meeting were not reassuring:
-- Although she was disturbed by the police raid, her chief
lament was that it had not been coordinated in any way within
government. Security Minister Michuki appeared to have acted
on this own. Actions as serious as this, Karua said, ought
to be the subject of cabinet consultations.
-- Karua blamed the international community for too quickly
&making up its mind8 and issuing statements that condemned
the government. Until she had more facts, she was not
prepared even to admit that the police were responsible for
the raid or, if they were, that they had acted outside the
law.
-- Security Minister Michuki had mentioned that national
security issues were involved. If so, perhaps the police had
good reason to act as they did, even if their methods were a
bit excessive.
-- As for reports that police had burned thousands of copies
of the Standard, Karua denied that that had happened. She
suspected the Standard,s editors had burned the papers
themselves &to discredit the police.8
-- When the Swedish Ambassador joked that the image the GOK
had created for itself was so bad that one could almost
believe political opponents had mounted the raid to discredit
the government, Karua stunned us by replying that &she
couldn't rule that out.8
-- She added that Kenya had a &rogue8 press and something
had to be done to bring press practices into line with laws
and regulations.
5. (C) I told Karua that March 2 had been a bad day for the
rule of law in Kenya, for freedom of the press in Kenya, for
the reputation of Kenya,s security services who had acted
like thugs, and for Kenya,s international standing. I said
it was a shame that the one mention Kenya might get this year
in the editorial pages of the New York Times, Washington Post
or Wall Street Journal would be an expression of disgust and
censure.
6. (C) Comment: Of all GOK ministers Karua should be most
concerned about the extrajudicial behavior of the police and
the very negative signals it sends about the Kibaki
government,s commitment to the rule of law. Yet she was
ambivalent at best. (Note: Two days later, she is quoted in
the Kenyan press as having concluded that the raid was
lawful. End note.) Although she still lacked some
information about the raid, her instinct was to search for
ways to justify it and shift the onus of responsibility on to
the press.
7. (C) No responsible GOK voice has spoken out to acknowledge
that there was anything wrong with the March 2 attack on the
Standard or to reassure the public that steps are being taken
to prevent it from happening again. Indeed, this may be only
an opening move in a campaign to intimidate critics and
opponents of an increasingly shaky and directionless Kibaki
administration. Kibaki himself has had absolutely nothing to
say about the worst credibility crisis of his Presidency or
the alleged serious &national security8 threats his
security minister claims to have thwarted. End Comment.
BELLAMY
SIPDIS
SIPDIS
LONDON AND PARIS FOR AFRICA WATCHERS
E.O. 12958: DECL: 03/05/2026
TAGS: PREL PHUM PGOV KDEM KE
SUBJECT: JUSTICE MINISTER WON,T QUESTION POLICE RAID
Classified By: Ambassador William Bellamy for reasons 1.4 (b,d)
1. (C) SUMMARY: Justice Minister Karua refuses to criticize
the police raids on the Standard Media Group, even going so
far as to assert that it might have been justified on
"national security" grounds. Karua's main concern seems to
be that she and other cabinet members were not consulted
beforehand. END SUMMARY.
2. (C) In the wake of the March 2 police assault on the
Standard Media Group, the Swedish Ambassador, Dutch charge
and I met with Justice and Constitutional Affairs Minister
Karua and her permanent secretary, Dorothy Angote, March 3.
(Note: Within the World Bank-led donor coordinating group in
Nairobi, Sweden, the Netherlands and the US co-chair the
sectoral committee on justice and constitutional issues. End
Note.)
3. (C) As a group we expressed dismay at the March 2 police
action and asked what steps the GOK planned to take to
distance itself from this lawlessness, discipline those
responsible and restore public confidence in the GOK,s
commitment to freedom of the press.
4. (C) Karua,s responses over the course of the hour-long
meeting were not reassuring:
-- Although she was disturbed by the police raid, her chief
lament was that it had not been coordinated in any way within
government. Security Minister Michuki appeared to have acted
on this own. Actions as serious as this, Karua said, ought
to be the subject of cabinet consultations.
-- Karua blamed the international community for too quickly
&making up its mind8 and issuing statements that condemned
the government. Until she had more facts, she was not
prepared even to admit that the police were responsible for
the raid or, if they were, that they had acted outside the
law.
-- Security Minister Michuki had mentioned that national
security issues were involved. If so, perhaps the police had
good reason to act as they did, even if their methods were a
bit excessive.
-- As for reports that police had burned thousands of copies
of the Standard, Karua denied that that had happened. She
suspected the Standard,s editors had burned the papers
themselves &to discredit the police.8
-- When the Swedish Ambassador joked that the image the GOK
had created for itself was so bad that one could almost
believe political opponents had mounted the raid to discredit
the government, Karua stunned us by replying that &she
couldn't rule that out.8
-- She added that Kenya had a &rogue8 press and something
had to be done to bring press practices into line with laws
and regulations.
5. (C) I told Karua that March 2 had been a bad day for the
rule of law in Kenya, for freedom of the press in Kenya, for
the reputation of Kenya,s security services who had acted
like thugs, and for Kenya,s international standing. I said
it was a shame that the one mention Kenya might get this year
in the editorial pages of the New York Times, Washington Post
or Wall Street Journal would be an expression of disgust and
censure.
6. (C) Comment: Of all GOK ministers Karua should be most
concerned about the extrajudicial behavior of the police and
the very negative signals it sends about the Kibaki
government,s commitment to the rule of law. Yet she was
ambivalent at best. (Note: Two days later, she is quoted in
the Kenyan press as having concluded that the raid was
lawful. End note.) Although she still lacked some
information about the raid, her instinct was to search for
ways to justify it and shift the onus of responsibility on to
the press.
7. (C) No responsible GOK voice has spoken out to acknowledge
that there was anything wrong with the March 2 attack on the
Standard or to reassure the public that steps are being taken
to prevent it from happening again. Indeed, this may be only
an opening move in a campaign to intimidate critics and
opponents of an increasingly shaky and directionless Kibaki
administration. Kibaki himself has had absolutely nothing to
say about the worst credibility crisis of his Presidency or
the alleged serious &national security8 threats his
security minister claims to have thwarted. End Comment.
BELLAMY