Announcement

Collapse
No announcement yet.

Kenya: Armenians Tell Of Sh300m Plan

Collapse
X
 
  • Filter
  • Time
  • Show
Clear All
new posts

  • Kenya: Armenians Tell Of Sh300m Plan

    ARMENIANS TELL OF SH300M PLAN
    Story By Mugumo Munene

    Daily Nation, Kenya
    March 21 2006

    The Armenian brothers at the centre of mercenary allegations now
    claim that they had initially invested Sh300 million in their plan
    to establish a huge business portfolio in Kenya.

    In a Press statement issued to media houses yesterday, Mr Artur
    Margaryan says that he and his brother Artur Sargsyan decided to invest
    in the country after a feasibility study conducted by an investment
    consultant, whom he did not name.

    "Myself and my brother are Armenian nationals with vast business
    interest outside our country. We came to Kenya sometime last year
    with an intention of investing in this country.

    "After a feasibility study by a hired consultant in investment we
    settled for manufacturing, real estate and with time, transport
    business. We have so far invested over Sh300 million in this country
    and we expect to continue investing as business opportunities crop up,"
    read the statement. Mr Margaryan did not say where the investments are,
    nor did he disclose the name of his business.

    But he complained about politicians whom, he said, had accused him
    and his brother of criminal activity.

    Once again, Mr Margaryan denied ever meeting President Kibaki or
    visiting State House.

    "We have been dubbed mercenaries and killers by ungrateful politicians
    whom we have assisted at one time or another. Please note we are
    Christians and have never acted or contemplated being mercenaries. We
    have never dealt with drugs in our life and in fact we have been
    assisting charitable organisations that fight poverty and drugs in
    other countries," said the statement.

    Sent at 11.28am yesterday, the e-mail dispatch titled: The truth
    about ourselves and our mission in Kenya, appealed to journalists to
    be fair in their coverage of the saga around them.

    Mr Margaryan said he decided to "write this mail to leading media
    houses in Kenya with a view to clarify and demystify our true identity
    and mission."

    The Armenian denied having any connections or business relation
    with Narc activist Mary Wambui or her daughter Winnie Wangui,
    the two prominent Kenyans said to have deals with them and added:
    "We do not even know them."

    Mr Margaryan went on: "For the last three weeks a lot has been
    said and written about myself and my brother. The bulk of what has
    been said is purely speculative and based on hearsay and hatred. I
    appreciate the role of the media as an integral part of any form of
    societal development.

    "The media for sure has undisputed and unrivalled influence in shaping
    the thinking of the citizenry. It is for this reason that the job
    of disseminating information to the public should be handled with
    maximum objectivity and professionalism to avoid blowing issues out of
    proportion. We are, however, very dismayed at the negative publicity
    against our persons and integrity as investors in this country."

    The saga began with claims by Lang'ata MP Raila Odinga that there
    were Russian mercenaries out to assassinate some politicians.

    The MP provided details of the house where the men he alleged were
    mercenaries were living in the city's posh Runda neighbourhood.

    Slightly more than a week ago, our sister publication, the Sunday
    Nation, published copies of the passports of the two men provided by
    Mr Odinga, with their identities concealed.

    The following Monday, the two brothers called a news conference at
    the airport to say that they were legitimate businessmen.

    What are these fellows doing here?

    Story by MACHARIA GAITHO Publication Date: 3/21/2006

    I got pretty harsh flak from members of the Raila Odinga fan club last
    week. I had suggested in this column that the mercenary tales may not
    necessary be true; maybe they were even products of a very fertile
    imagination. The important thing was that a political propaganda
    war was being fought, and a hapless and dysfunctional Government was
    being dealt a series of deadly body blows.

    So what has happened in the past week? The Kibaki Government is
    still reeling under the revelations coming out on possible State
    House links with alleged mercenaries.

    Throw suspect drug-dealers into the mix and the inescapable conclusion
    will be that we are not just being ruled by snakes, but by criminal
    cartels who have no qualms about getting cosy with the scum of the
    earth as long as they acquire power and wealth.

    With every new claim, every new revelation, every new accusation,
    the Kibaki Government sinks deeper into the muck.

    Then you have one Artur Margaryan strutting all over the place. Every
    time he opens his mouth, the Government might as well surrender and
    confess that all the accusations being bandied around are true.

    The man and his brother, Sargsyan, who is supposedly back in Dubai,
    simply do not look and sound like the honest investors they claim
    to be.

    They actually make Mr Odinga's claims sound credible, while and the
    Government comes out looking like it has a lot of dirty things it
    is desperate to conceal, even if that means using private armies and
    Gestapo tactics to intimidate the media and anybody else who questions
    the suspicious goings-on.

    The interesting thing is that the Government is, for the most part,
    digging itself into an increasingly deeper hole.

    Our politicians love football analogy. Take this as a grudge match
    between Raila Rovers and Kibaki Wanderers. The score stands at 10-Nil
    in favour of Rovers. But it is not that team Raila has such a hot
    strike force; it is that Wanderers are particularly inept - nine of
    what they have conceded are own-goals!

    Bribing the referee will not help at this stage. But maybe some hothead
    might decide that bringing in some gunmen to disrupt the game might
    be preferable to the humiliation of losing.

    We are heading towards the 2007 elections and it is really confounding
    that this Government is doing everything possible to ensure it stands
    no chance of winning.

    There seems to be this naive assumption that just cobbling together
    the right regional and ethnic alliances will secure President Kibaki
    a second term. That comes, also, with the prayer that ODM will never
    be able to present a single opposition presidential candidate.

    If President Kibaki has, indeed, been consulting former President Moi,
    he will learn that hope, prayer, money and control of State machinery
    does not guarantee electoral victory. The most important factor is
    what the voters think.

    Anglo Leasing, the raid on the Standard Group and now this ridiculous
    issue involving some dubious Armenians have lost this Government the
    little shred of credibility it was holding on to.

    If the public reaction when one of those characters wandered into
    town the other day is anything to go by, it is taken as plain truth
    whatever accusations have been levelled about the Artur brothers.

    Today, if Mr Odinga came out and said that the characters were actually
    aliens from Mars and were conspiring with State House operatives to
    colonise planet Earth, he would probably be believed.

    And any protestations from State House, Security minister John Michuki
    or Government spokesman Alfred Mutua would be dismissed out of hand.

    There were many who were really sceptical when Mr Odinga started his
    round of accusations. The man does have a penchant for making all
    manner of allegations against his foes. The quintessential politician
    in him, also, is not one to let an opportunity for damaging propaganda
    pass. Truth matters little in propaganda wars.

    But with the incremental evidence which is surfacing, Mr Odinga is,
    indeed, coming out as the man bravely exposing what could be a great
    threat to national security. Or an insidious official plot to subvert
    democracy and the rule of law, and turn the country over to a private
    militia.

    The more the Government tries to defend itself on the mercenary
    allegations, the more it is getting caught out in lies.

    It is an almost incontestable fact now that the Artur brothers have
    links to people close to State House. It is also a plain fact that
    they have been enjoying some sort of official protection. And no
    can dispute that they do not come across as the innocent investors
    and charity workers they claim to be. Which normal businessmen will
    outdo our own CMB Prezzo in the bling department?

    Such accoutrements, we thought, were for entertainers or people
    involved in some rather shady occupations. Since the two fellows do
    not come across as rap artistes, one can only wonder.

    Then the sheer arrogance they display, which has many Kenyans wondering
    whether they have it from very high up that they are untouchable.

    Are they untouchable? Or, perhaps, they are confident that they
    themselves have something on those in the corridors of power they
    have interacted with?

    Logic dictates that when association with such characters becomes
    embarrassing, they should be disowned forthwith.

    If loyalists like Kiraitu Murungi, Chris Murungaru, David Mwiraria
    and Alfred Getonga could be dropped, it surely should not be difficult
    for the Government to send the fellows on the first flight to Dubai,
    Armenia or wherever they belong. Or do they have something that would
    embarrass their patrons?

    Perhaps there is a lot more to see on the unfolding saga. There are,
    for instance, indications that much of the damaging information
    is coming from fellows very much in the know, chaps who have been
    expelled from the State House banquet and have vowed revenge.

    And it seems that part of the strategy includes going straight for
    the jugular by exposing matters that link the President, directly or
    indirectly, to rather unsavoury happenings. They also expect a bonus
    if the exposures provoke domestic strife.

    In the process, maybe we have all become pawns in what is just a turf
    war. But that raises serious questions if the entire country can be
    captivated and the Government paralysed merely by territorial battles
    at State House.

    Mr Gaitho is the managing editor, Sunday Nation
Working...
X