Coup 'wouldn't hurt Kenya'
2005-09-28 09:48
Nairobi - Police on Tuesday arrested a Kenya Times journalist who wrote an article which criticised President Mwai Kibaki's handling of a constitutional review and said that a coup would not be "inherently bad for the country".
David Ochami was arrested shortly before midday in the capital Nairobi, his colleagues said. Police also searched Ochami's house and confiscated notebooks before recording a statement with the police criminal investigations department, his co-workers said.
"We do not know exactly why he was arrested but, as at now, we think it is in regards to an opinion article that was published by our Sunday edition," Kenya Times editor-in-chief Chriss Odwesso told AFP.
In the article entitled "Coups in Africa do not occur out of nothing", Ochami wrote: "There is no guarantee that a coup or other ouster of the president involves bloodshed or is inherently bad for the country," Ochami wrote.
"Likewise, (a) democratic mandate such as Kibaki's in 2002 is no excuse to betray the ideals that brought (him) in to power," he said, suggesting that Kibaki has failed to live up to his pre-election pledge of ensuring a new constitution for Kenya within three months of coming to power.
Ochami had also criticised the president's close allies for claiming that politicians opposed to the new constitution were plotting to overthrow him.
His article comes as Kenyans prepare to vote in a referendum on the new constitution on November 21.
The contentious draft, which has split Kibaki's government, is the first major change to the country's founding document since its independence from Britain in 1963.
The political opposition, which is led by the son of Kenya's revered founding president Jomo Kenyatta and includes members of Kibaki's coalition government, is calling for a "no" vote as the draft retains nearly absolute presidential powers.