Free Press Raid in Kenya

(Nairobi, Kenya) Wednesday night, the offices and broadcast center for KTN, Kenya's independent television station, and the offices of The Standard newspaper were terrorized and raided by hooded police officers. Caught by closed-circuit cameras, the raiders are members of an elite government force called the Quick Response Unit (QRU) which is normally used to combat violent crime.

From NationMedia.com:

An estimated 30 policemen armed with AK-47 and G3 assault rifles first stormed The Standard's offices at the I&M building, in Nairobi city centre, shortly after midnight, shutting down the group's TV station KTN and attacking staff and removing computers, before another squad swooped on the company’s printing plant in Likoni Road, in the city's industrial area, and burnt the day’s newspapers which were just rolling off the presses.

The raids were carried out by a rapid response unit code-named the Kanga Squad, the Special Crime Prevention Unit (SCPU), detectives from Nairobi provincial CID headquarters and paramilitary commandos from the elite Quick Response Unit.

The Kanga Squad was created by and reports directly to the Director of Criminal Investigations, Mr. Kamau. Mr. Kamau reports to Police Commissioner Major General Mohamed Hussein Ali who apparently was bypassed in the entire operation.

 
Joseph Kamau - Maj. Gen. Ali

Any external orders to the police -- either from the President, the minister for National Security or the Attorney General -- usually pass through the commissioner.

In the case of the raid on the Standard Group HQ and printing plant, it has emerged that final details of the raid were rehearsed during a meeting held at Harambee House on Wednesday evening. National Security minister John Michuki and CID director Joseph Kamau were reported to be present but Maj Gen Ali was not even invited.

The raids followed a report in The Standard alleging that President Kibaki had met secretly with former Cabinet Minister Kalonzo Musyoka, a staunch opponent.

 
President Kibaki - Kalonzo Musyoka
The State House and Mr. Musyoka denied that a meeting took place and demanded an apology from the newspaper. None was forthcoming. Consequently, the State House ordered Maj. Gen. Ali and Mr. Kamau to arrest the journalists responsible for the story.

Maj Gen Ali is reported to have opposed the move and advised that the aggrieved parties should seek legal redress.

However, some police chiefs who disagreed with his view broke ranks and went ahead to arrest three journalists and raid the media house behind the commissioner's back.

They believed Maj Gen Ali, his own principal deputy, Mr Lawrence Mwandime, the director of police operations, Mr David Kimaiyo and Mr King'ori Mwangi, who is in charge of security in Nairobi, could not be trusted and they were kept in the dark.

Maj. Gen. Ali was furious, but he was unable to do anything since he was committed to leaving to chair a conference of East African Police Chiefs in the Seychelles. In the meantime, a senior State House official wrote a statement justifying the raids and directed police spokesman Jasper Ombati to release it on police letterhead under his own signature, making it look like Maj. Gen. Ali had authored the statement.

Police officials loyal to Maj. Gen. Ali attempted to stall in issuing the statement to newsrooms but were placed under extreme pressure by the State House. Bowing to the pressure, the statement was issued.

Afterward, everyone in the State House disavowed any knowledge of anything, presumably expecting the incident and issue to fade in importance. Unfortunately, the country is left without KTN, the private independent television station, and without The Standard newspaper. Since studio and printing equipment were ransacked and stolen, it's not clear when KTN and the newspaper will be back in operation. Notably, the police apparently didn't know about or overlooked the fact that The Standard has a website. At this writing, it's still up and running.

As an indication of the political atmosphere and the attitude of the State House, the Minister of National Security, John Michuki, stated:

"When you rattle a snake, you must be prepared to be bitten by it."

It's reported that he repeated the statement twice.

The raids on KTN and The Standard follow previous raids on the offices of the Kenya Times and the Citizens Weekly where reporters and staff were arrested. Obviously, there is a nationwide campaign by President Mwai Kibaki and senior government officials to eliminate freedom of the press.