Police have detained a journalist on charges of incitement stemming from a commentary he wrote during a constitutional debate that has brought Kenyans to blows, his editor said on Wednesday.
Detectives lured David Ochami of the Kenya Times, owned by the opposition Kenya African National Union party, from the newsroom on Tuesday by pretending to be news sources and arrested him when he was out of sight of colleagues, editor Chris Odwesso said.
”The conclusion is we have to look over our shoulders. That is what somebody wants us to know,” Odwesso told the Associated Press.
Police spokesperson Superintendent Jaspher Ombati said the journalist was arrested on Tuesday and will be charged with incitement. He did not elaborate. The charge carries a maximum penalty of five years in jail.
The charges stem from an article on September 25 carried in the Sunday Times, headlined ”Coups in Africa do not occur out of nothing”, Odwesso said.
The article gave the historical causes of military coups in Africa and concluded that soldiers justifiably intervene in national politics when the political leadership fails, according to Wednesday’s edition of the Kenya Times.
”This was an opinion-cum-analysis piece that was pegged on earlier comments by some ministers who said those who are opposed to the proposed Constitution actually wanted to topple [Kenya’s President Mwai] Kibaki,” Odwesso said.
On Thursday, Energy Minister Simeon Nyachae said opponents of the draft Constitution ”are simply seeking ways of frog-marching a democratically elected government from power”.
The vote on the new Constitution is fast evolving into a referendum on the rule of Kibaki, who backs the charter. The opposition Kenya African National Union party ruled for 39 years, until Kibaki won 2002 elections.
On the Constitution, the ”no” camp accuses lawmakers loyal to Kibaki of sneaking in provisions that were rejected by a constitutional conference and diluting clauses that sought to weaken presidential powers.
Human rights organisations, civic groups, religious leaders and politicians have urged the government to delay the referendum and review the Constitution in an effort to resolve the deepening political rift.
On August 23, Attorney General Amos Wako published the final draft Constitution that combined two versions of a new charter. To craft his document, Wako combined a draft created by a National Constitutional Conference in March 2004 and one proposed by Parliament in July. Both have fierce supporters and detractors.
Last week, Kenyans fought with sticks and chairs at a stadium in the industrial town of Thika, 40km northeast of the capital, Nairobi, after supporters of the charter — armed with machetes and other traditional weapons — tried to stop a rally by their rivals. Rioting over the Constitution has broken out elsewhere.
Wako’s version appears closer to Parliament’s draft, which critics had charged gave the president too much power and contained provisions that were rejected by the constitutional conference.
Like Parliament, Wako proposed a prime minister who would be appointed — and could be dismissed — by the president.
The current Constitution, which has been amended several times to create a strong unitary state and give sweeping powers to the president, was drawn up just before Kenya’s independence from Britain in 1963. – Sapa-AP