Fidel Odinga criminal records exposed

As Prime Minister Raila Odinga defends his family from accusations of corruption, fresh evidence has emerged from the United States regarding the criminal tendencies of his first born son.

Document showing Fidel Castro Odinga was charged with drugs possession.

Document showing that Fidel Castro Odinga was charged and found guilty of theft.

Truly, Kenya’s cruel and corrupt political leaders must be cursing the rise of a global information society. In the modern era, it is impossible to keep secrets. Not only is the technology to disseminate the truth freely available but there are many Kenyans who simply cannot keep quiet as they see lies being peddled left, right and centre.

And so it is that the criminal past of the first born son to Kenya’s Prime Minister is slowly coming to light. As the wise say, “what is done in the dark will one day come into the light.”

Fidel has been named by a Parliamentary Committee on Agriculture as among the people who profited from a maize shortage early this year. Records from the courts system of the State of Maryland show that Fidel Castro Odinga’s criminal conduct did not begin with the 2009 maize scandal.

In 2001, while studying in the United States, Fidel Castro Odinga was fined US$305 (Kshs24,000) by the District Court of Montgomery County for possessing marijuana (bhang). Fidel was also found guilty of possessing what is referred to as, “paraphernalia.” This is a term that refers to equipment used for preparing and consuming bhang. Fidel’s case number is 1D00109194 and his probation officer was Malcolm Mac Dermid.

Earlier, young Fidel was found guilty of theft by the same court. He was accused of stealing $300 (Kshs23,000) in criminal court case number 4D00083780. Fidel’s probation officer is listed as Ms Deborah Williams. The complainant police officer was S.D. Murphy and whose police identity number was 1579.

The record from Fidel’s theft case shows that he was released on 9th December 1999 after being “committed” the same day.

Back to the present

The parliamentary team chaired by Naivasha MP John Mututho said Mr Odinga’s family and a personal assistant should be investigated to establish their role in the importation of maize by three firms. The report, tabled in Parliament on Thursday, also recommends the sacking of the Agriculture and Special Programmes permanent secretaries and the National Cereals and Produce Board managing director.

When the maize scandal rocked the political scene earlier this year, Raila’s close political allies were afraid that the press would get hold of Fidel and force him to speak on the sensitive matter. It has now been established that Fidel was sent to South Africa as a way of hushing the matter.

Prime Minister Raila Odinga has dismissed the parliamentary report as vendetta. He said it was a smear campaign aimed at settling political scores. Through spokesman Dennis Onyango, the PM said some of the conclusions by the Departmental Committee on Agriculture “stand out in their display of ignorance” and that the report lacked integrity.

Mr Odinga said the three firms in question – Euroworld Commodities Ltd, Senwes Ltd and Afrig Trading (Pty) Ltd – existed long before he became Prime Minister or chairman of the ad hoc Cabinet sub-committee on food. The PM said the three were publicly quoted firms and it was easy to establish whether they were foreign or Kenyan owned.

Meanwhile, Raila’s wife – Fidel’s mother – has defended her family, saying she had instilled good values in all her children. “That is why none of them is involved in any kind of malpractices,” she said.

Fidel Castro Odinga (right) with fiance Veronica Wanjiru Ng’ang’a. Picture by DRUM Magazine.

Fidel Castro Odinga is no stranger to controversy. In the run-up to the 2007 General Elections, Fidel got engaged to Veronica Wanjiru Ng’ang’a, a young woman from the Kikuyu tribe. At the time, Raila was running his presidential campaign by exploiting anti-Kikuyu sentiments because his opponent, President Mwai Kibaki, is from the Kikuyu tribe.

Raila has for long championed himself as an anti-corruption crusader, accusing President Mwai Kibaki’s administration of complicity in the Anglo Leasing and Grand Regency sagas. The involvement of his family in the maize scandal while millions of Kenyans face famine means that he is now in the same leagues as those he previously condemned.

Maize discontent could spark chaos

The Kenyan government’s bungling of the maize crisis is not only a display of sheer incompetence by the national leadership, but is setting the stage for political instability and the eventual collapse of the state.

Agriculture Minister, William Ruto, has worsened maize shortages.

Massive discontent is growing among Kenya’s people because the government cannot ensure an affordable supply of maize to the poor. The goverrnment sold most of the maize to speculators.

Intelligence reports indicate that Kenyans are angry with a political class that divides the people along ethnic lines so as to exploit the suffering of the masses. The only reason why a rebel force has not emerged in Kenya is because of ethnic distrust perpetuated by politicians. Most Kenyans are slowly awakening to the tragic consequences of ethnic hatred and regret at having participated in ethnic cleansing last year on behalf of leaders that do not care about their plight.

A bitter election between Kibaki and Raila resulted in violence as both claimed victory. 1,500 died and half a million left homeless between December 2007 and April 2008 in tit-for-tat ethnic warfare between Raila and Kibaki supporters. After the election, the two men formed a coalition that is now the cause of weeping and gnashing of teeth in Kenya. Bitterness with the experience runs so high that people have vowed never to vote again.

Though its been a year since the violence, the economy has not recovered. Majority of the displaced cannot return to their former homes as political leaders continually incite ethnic hatred. However, these politicians are doing nothing to ease the hunger of their own ethnic groups. Instead, the ruling elite is wallowing in group sex orgies. Raila’s first born son is married to a woman from President Kibaki’s Kikuyu ethnic group inspite of Raila mouthing anti-Kikuyu venom whenever he meets his supporters.

Kenyans have become so desperately hungry that families in the countryside are eating wild berries, grass and poisonous tubers. Kenya’s poor are going for three days without eating. Economic productivity has declined as hungry workers prefer staying in bed for lack of energy. Children are dropping out of school to help feed the family. Girls and women are plunging into the murky world of prostitution.

A woman admitted on national television to sending her teenage daughter to have sex in exchange for money to feed the rest of the family. The man of the house is bedridden, too weak to earn a living. The woman sells her daughter for 20 shillings a night (US $0.25). This cannot buy a loaf of bread.

The international community is fully aware of how a greedy political elite is plunging Kenya into destruction. Since 2006, the CIA has warned the US White House that Kenya is becoming a failed state. It was because of CIA intelligence that former US President George W Bush met Tanzanian President Jakaya Mrisho Kikwete to discuss the likely effects of Kenya’s implosion on neighbouring states.

It is generally agreed in international circles that Kenya should not be allowed to fail. It is worth noting that Tanzania’s President Kikwete played a leading role in the formation of the Kibaki – Raila coalition ended months of ethnic bloodshed in 2008. With the Tanzania border being close to the cities of Nairobi and Mombasa, Kikwete was worried about a huge influx of Kenyan refugees.

Kenya is host to the only United Nations office in a developing country. The United Nations Office in Nairobi (UNON) coordinates relief, refugee, education, healthcare and development programmes not only for Africa but for Asia and Latin America.

Most diplomats posted to Nairobi are also managing their countries’ interests across East and Central Africa due to Nairobi’s central location in the region. Thus, Kenya is a prime location whose stability is vital to international institutions and foreign missions.

However, diplomats should stop living a lie. Unless there is drastic change in Kenya’s leadership, calamity will befall this beautiful East African country. The most optimistic statistics show unemployment hovering at well above 40%. Transport and communication infrastructure is collapsing. Electricity and water supply are erratic. Organized crime is on the increase as gangs affiliated to politicians extort protection fees from business.

The police are engaging in killings, abduction and torture of those challenging the ruling elite.In addition to killing over 1,000 young Kikuyu men, security officers have been implicated in the abduction and beheading of a journalist in Kisii. The journalist was exposing corruption rackets involving local police.

The country’s rulers are milking the national treasury dry with scam after scam. Money is wasted on obscene salaries that make the Kenyan president earn as much as the US President. Whatever remains is squandered in prestige projects that have no value to ordinary people. The Nairobi City Council is spending millions of shillings building water fountains as 60% of of the city lacks clean water. The government is purchasing an office block for Shs700 million (US $9 million) as it launches an international appeal to feed the starving.

To worsen matters, shortages in maize are caused by devious deals by Kenya’s ruling elite. President Mwai Kibaki’s associates, Prime Minister Raila Odinga’s family, Agriculture Minister William Ruto and legislators across political parties have been implicated in buying and holding large stocks of maize in the hope of higher prices. This will give them huge profits which they will use for campaigns in the 2012 general elections. William Ruto is said to have personally authorized the state-owned National Cereals and Produce Board (NCPB) to release maize to prominent individuals.

As a result of these activities, maize prices are rising dramatically. A 2 kilogramme packet of maize flour is now selling at 100 Kenya Shillings (US$1.3). These prices are simply out of reach for a country where more than half the population is surviving on less than a dollar a day.

Ironically, while campaigning for the 2007 General Elections, Prime Minister Raila Odinga had waged war against Kibaki for not controlling rising food prices. Back then, a 2 kilogramme packet of maize flour was selling for Kshs65 ($0.8). Raila vowed that, if elected President, he would reduce the price to Kshs30 ($0.38). Though Raila did not win the polls and had to settle for Prime Minister his inability to do reduce food prices has shaken his core support.

A plan that Raila introduced late last year to provide subsidized maize to the poor has fallen flat on its face. Working with his political ally, William Ruto, Raila proposed two sets of maize flour: a government branded package that would sell cheaply and the usual commercial packaging that millers would sell at market rates.

The subsidy plan was politically driven after the Prime Minister was booed in his strongholds. There was no analysis as to the financial viability of the subsidy plan. With the failure of maize subsidy, the government need not worry about the World Bank and IMF breathing fire down their necks. But what is the fate of the ordinary Kenyan for whom the price of food is out of reach?