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