Saturday, January 5, 2008
In the months before the Kenyan elections, Christian media published reports that candidate Raila Odinga signed a Memorandum stating that he would implement strict Islamic Sharia law if he received the Muslim vote. Kenyan Muslim leaders (with the help of the BBC) dismissed these reports as "propaganda." From the BBC report, published in November:
"Kenyan Muslim leaders have dismissed as propaganda allegations that an opposition party promised to introduce Sharia for Muslims if it won elections."
The National Muslim Leaders Forum said its deal with the Orange Democratic Movement was to end the current discrimination against Muslims...
..."There was a fear that Muslims will force their faith on other people, Islam does not allow suppression of other religions and we will be the last to advocate for this," said Abdullahi Abdi of the National Muslim Leaders Forum.
Instead the memorandum of understanding, signed in August, states that Mr Odinga has pledged to defend Muslims against harassment and victimisation by state security forces who claim to be fighting terrorism.
If the ODM leader wins, he promises to set up a commission to investigate renditions of Muslims to Somalia, Ethiopia and the US detention camp at Guantanamo Bay on the island of Cuba.
The document also commits Mr Odinga to initiate policies to redress the present marginalisation of Muslims living in the Coast and North-East provinces.
However, according to this copy of the actual document (found thanks to Atlas and A Jacksonian)dated 'this 29th day of August 2007, Mombasa, Kenya, signed by Chairman Abduallah Amdi, and the Hon. Raila Odinga, it's promised that the candidate, who "recognizes Islam as the only true religion" will:
b) Within 6 months re-write the Constitution of Kenya to recognize Shariah as the only true law sanctioned by the Holy Quran for Muslim declared regions.
c) With immediate effect dismiss the Commissioner of Police who has allowed himself to be used by heathens and Zionists to oppress the Kenyan Muslim community.
g) Within one year facilitate the establishment of a Shariah court in every Kenyan divisional headquarters. [Note: everywhere in Kenya, not just in "Muslim declared regions."]...
Also, according to item "f"
"No Muslim residing in Kenya, whether a citizen, visitor or relative of any of the above shall be subjected to any process involving the laws of a foreign country and in particular any Muslim arrested for or suspected of Terrorism or any International crime shall only be tried within the boarders (.sic) of Kenya and shall be granted a competent lawyer of his/her choice at the expense of the Government.
Also, according to item "n",
the candidate who "recognizes Islam as the only true religion" will "impose an immediate ban on women's public dressing styles that are considered immoral and offensive to the Muslim faith in the Muslim regions of the Coastal and North Eastern regions. This ban will apply to Muslims and non-Muslims alike, in those regions and will include all visitors whether domestic or foreign tourists.
There are two possible reasons for the BBC's bad reporting. Either the BBC is deliberately working as propagandists for Kenyan Muslim leaders, or they didn't even bother to read the actual document.
In both cases, they've committed crimes of omission; like a doctor who tells you need to lose weight, but who neglects to mention the melanoma growing on the back of your neck, the Beeb's incomplete information is more than a sign of incompetence. It's dangerous.
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I knew when the Churchs were burnt killing Christians, Muslims were involved. It is so easy to figure out who is repsonsible for the violence in Kenya as it is throughout the world. No to Sharia law.
According to this report, the people who burned the church were members of Mr. Odinga's tribe:
According to witnesses, the mob was mostly Kalenjins, Luhyas and Luos, Mr. Odinga’s tribe, which makes up about 13 percent of the population. They overran Kikuyu guards in front of the church and then pulled out cans of gasoline. There were no police officers around, witnesses said, and no water to put the fire out.
Most Luos are Christian. Christian political groups will unite with Islamists if they think the alliance will buy them power (Aoun +
Hezbollah in Lebanon). Atheist/christian/Leftists ally with Islamists all over Europe. A leftist/fundamentalist Muslim alliance brought Khomeini into power. It's possible that something like that is happening in Kenya.
Islamists get national attention by launching terrorist attacks. If the government reacts by appeasing the terrorists, or by saying that there's 'nothing that can be done' to stop terrorism, Islamists prove that they're the 'strong horse'. Ordinary Muslims see the terrorist groups as a way of gaining respect and power, so they quietly support the terrorists. Pro-stasist Marxist groups also see the advantages of allying with terrorism.
According to the NY Times article:
In Nairobi, a much-feared Kikuyu street gang called the Mungiki seems to be taking revenge. According to residents in a Luo area, the Mungiki, who are said to take an oath in which they drink human blood, were sweeping through the slums and killing Luos.
That is a horrible response and it will lead to a lot of innocent deaths, but the fact that both sides are evenly matched may keep Odinga from benefitting from the mob violence. The government is blaming Odinga for the violence and so far, the UN and Jimmy Carter haven't rushed in to declare Odinga the winner of the election.