A Letter from Koigi Wa
Wamwere
Dear Brothers and Sisters,
Today we are alive because
Your efforts and those of others
Saved us from the gallows.
Today I am out of prison because
Your efforts and those of others
Won me bond pending appeal.
Today our reputations remain untarnished because
You and other had the courage to
Acknowledge our innocence and
Boldly call us prisoners of conscience.
If Charles Kuria and G.G. Ngengi
Will be out of prison on bond tomorrow
It will be because of your continued campaign for their release.
If our full liberty shall be finally be restored to us tomorrow
It will be because of your continued campaign
For our unconditional release.
In Kenya today, there are
many prisoners of conscience and many actual and potential political prisoners.
If these Kenyans will ever come to enjoy justice and freedom it will be because
of your untiring support.
Yes, we know that we are
innocent, but we are also criminalised and muzzled. But you have a voice that
even stones will hear, and sometimes heed. Therefore for us to be declared not
guilty, you must speak for us, and for us to be released from prison and chains,
you must also speak for us.
Yes, we all look up to you
to give the innocent a voice. Your letters brought us hope and strength in
prison. Your appeals for our release are a gadfly that denies Moi peace and
rest, a gadfly that has made our final liberty a real possibility. If Moi will
finally let us go it will be because of his desire to shake off this gadfly that
he cannot kill or frighten off.
Our people say, "a dog that
sees the shore does not drown." If I reached the shore and did not drown in
prison it is because you cheered and showed me the shore. Not only that,
practically, you taught me that no man is an island. We are all part of the
continent, and whenever or wherever the bell of man's inhumanity to man tolls,
it tolls for me and for all of us. This has helped to make others who suffer and
die a part of me and given me more humanity than I had before.
So how shall I now
adequately say thank you to you? It is not possible. But I shall remain forever
indebted to you, and the cause of fighting for a freer and better world for all.
Today AI is world dictators
worst gadfly. That is good, but not enough. AI will become more effective if it
becomes also world's worst gadfly of all Western governments that make
themselves allies of African and world dictators. Accordingly, AI should
inundate world dictatorships with appeals for democracy and respect for human
rights. It should also inundate Western governments with appeals for sanctions
against Moi's and world's other dictatorships.
Western governments are led
by men and women who have consciences and are sensitive to public criticism.
Dictators have no consciences one could appeal to, they have only stomachs that
one could either feed or starve. When starved, dictators listen. When fed, they
grow arrogant, making it possible for Western government to feed dictators. And
starving dictators is the most effective way of talking to dictators, the most
effective way of forcing dictators to respect human rights. Campaigning for
human rights must therefore mean harassing dictators with appeals. And through
even more appeals to Western leaders, making it impossible for Western
governments to use their taxpayers money to feed and enrich dictators. After all
,as our people say, "There is no difference between a thief and the one who
keeps watch for him."
I am out of prison, but
still a prisoner who is only out on bond. Kuria and Ngengi are still in prison
and sick. There are still political prisoners in our stinking jails, violations
of human rights happen daily in Kenya. Freedom and justice continue to be
distant dream for all Kenyans but few.
And so the struggle
continues, and Kenyans continue to need your utmost support and solidarity. May
you always succeed in yours efforts of making the world a better place for all.
May our collective dream of a free and just world come true soon and hopefully
in our lifetime.
Koigi wa Wamwere
Norway
7th January, 1997
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