KENYA -

LEAKEY’S WHITE MISCHIEF

LEAD IN:     This week a new political party was launched in Kenya by world famous palaeontologist and conservationist Dr Richard Leakey ahead of a meeting of international aid donors in Paris next month.  Launching the party, Leakey accused the Kenyan goverment of corruption and incompetence. In response, Kenya’s President Daniel Arap Moi  branded Leakey as a racist and a colonialist. But Leakey’s allies, including leading black liberals have welcomed the initiative, seeing it as an opportunity to unite the fragmented opposition movement. With  South Africa now under the rule of a black president, will Richard  Leakey be the first white man to play a central political role in a black African nation? Jane/John Doe reports on what is being hailed as a fresh start for Kenyan politics.

00’ 00”  GOVERNMENT RALLY

00’ 08”   At a rally in rural Kenya the party faithful sing the praises of  President Daniel Arap Moi.

00’ 21”    But their chorus is not echoed on the streets of Nairobi where thousands of beggars and           

                street children try to eke out a meagre living.

                In the past decade Kenya - once the model for independent Africa - has undergone rapid

                economic decline. It has one of the fastest growing populations in the world. But land is                

                scarce and the average wage is just 25 dollars a month. Those who do have money live

                in constant fear of violent crime.

                For Kenya’s political elite patronage and corruption have always provided rich pickings.

                Launching a new political party Dr Richard Leakey - renowned for his research into the

                 origins of mankind and his work in conservation - has been characteristically blunt in his             

                 criticisms of  the Kenya government.

01’ 10”    LEAKEY SOT:   “I think corruption is enormously widespread in Kenya. It’s not only at the top,

and I think everybody knows we’ve had some enormous scandals and misuse of public funds

and of public land, but it goes right the way through the system. And if you want to get a form

 filled in, or to apply for a licence if you want to get through a roadblock, if you want to feed prisoners

 in Romanho, you have to pay bribes to get what you want. It has become the order of the day

and it is destroying this country, it is destroying the whole morale of the country and society.”

                ASTON: DR RICHARD LEAKEY

01’ 46”    GOVERNMENT RALLY

                President Moi has responded to the threat posed by the new political movement with

                personal attacks on Dr Leakey.

 01’ 53”   MOI SOT:  “Leakey - racist. He is a racist, and a tribalist. These members of the opposition are tribalist.

Who can deny that?”

 02’ 09”   KWS LANDCRUISER

                Last year Leakey - despite a hugely successful campaign to save the East African elephant -

                was forced to resign his post as head of the Kenya Wildlife Service after senior government

                ministers accused him of arrogance and racism.

 02’ 21”    LEAKEY AT PRESS CONFERENCE

                For years Leakey - one of the few individuals bold enough to criticise official corruption in     

                Kenya had been a painful thorn in the side of government.

 02’ 34”   MOI AND CRONIES AT AIRPORT

                Moi’s cronies were only too glad to see the back of  him. But now it appears that the

                celebrations  were premature. Leakey may prove to be far more dangerous as an

                open political opponent than he ever was as head of  the wildlife service.

02’ 48”   LEAKEY AND MUITE WALKING IN GARDEN

               And this time the accusations of racism are unlikely to stick. Leakey has surrounded                           

               himself  with  prominent black opposition leaders. They say  it is Moi who is racist.

02’ 58”    MUITE SOT:  “Just like  he’s promoted tribalism, he’s now promoting racialism, by

branding a Kenyan as a racist, as a white man. It’s dangerous, it doesn’t do any good

 to the investor confidence that one is trying to create for this nation. Of course, if the

colony is going to come out of the doldrums, if it’s going to recover, we need investment,

 by nationals, by multinationals, and this sort of talk is no way of restoring investor confidence.”

                ASTON:  PAUL MUITE, OPPOSITION MP

03’ 29”     CUE GARDENER

                 And it is the day-to-day economic hardships which are the chief concern of most ordinary

                 Kenyans.

03’  38”    GARDENER SOT:  “Life everyday is quite difficult because we are buying things at a high price..

No money, but we are working, no good salary”

03’ 53”    GARDENER SEQUENCE

                With high unemployment in Kenya Charles Odero is lucky. He has a job as a gardener

                for an expatriate European family. But he has a wife and a six month old daughter and he                                            

                earns just $60a month.

                PAUSE

04’ 11”    With the state education system collapsing he worries whether he will

                ever be able to afford to educate his child.  Like many Kenyans Charles is keen to

                see political change.

04’ 24”    GARDENER SOT:  “ The government who are ruling Kenya, they want to become rich.

They are not after ruling the people.”

04’ 35”    CUE POLICE

                Moi’s attacks on Leakey are just the latest signs of a heavy-handed government crackdown

                on its critics. In the past few months scores of  opposition leaders, human rights lawyers 

                and journalists have been harassed, arrested and gaoled.

04’ 53”    MUITE SOT:   “With an environment as at present, cannot allow free and fair elections and

Therefore you cannot be able to change the present government through the ballot box.

But it continues, with the corruption there is, with the destruction of the economy, with the

Abject poverty in which the majority of Kenyans are involved. Without doubt, in the end this

Country will blow up just like Rwanda or Uganda or any of the other African countries.”

05’ 18”    NAIROBI GV

                The launch of the new party  has been timed to  try to force Moi to recognise it before a          

                meeting of aid donors in Paris next month . But in a country with a history of            

                 political assassinations  some have expressed fears for Leakey’s safety.

05’ 32”     LEAKEY SOT:  “I think political assassination is the wrong way to solve a problem. I think dialogue

Is the right way to solve a problem. I don’t expect to be killed but it’s a possibility, and I hope

That if there are people thinking about it, they will think carefully about the consequences of

Such an action, and of Kenya’s reputation, and of society generally.”

05’ 55”     NAIROBI GVs

                 At the last election the opposition split into myriad factions depriving Kenyans of the

                 opportunity to get rid of Moi  despite more than a decade of  dictatorial  rule. But if the

                 new political movement is allowed to survive it could  unite the opposition and give        

                 Kenyans the chance of a fresh start.

06’ 14”      ENDS ENDS ENDS

NOTE:  English commentary and effects mix on channel 1 music and effects track on channel 2

                Government rally footage c/o AP Television