CUT TO THE CHASE, UK AND US TELL KENYA OVER DRUGS

Nairobi - The Government is under unprecedented pressure from the
international community over the handling of the twin cocaine
seizures - one worth Sh6.4b and another worth Sh1.1b - by police in
December 2004.

The international community is demanding from the seemingly reluctant
Kenyan authorities that the drugs, according to one diplomatic
source, be tested, weighed and disposed in accordance with the
international standards.

The pressure from the representatives of the various foreign missions
in Nairobi and the relevant agencies of the United Nations,
diplomatic sources say, are still being exerted through quiet diplomacy.

But it may only be a matter of time before the quiet diplomacy
channel is abandoned in favour of what diplomatic sources describe
only as "other more effective channels" should the government fail to
act on their demands.

In what could be the clearest indication yet of disquiet on the
government's handling of the cocaine seizures - in the face of
widespread speculation that the consignment could well have been
tampered with - the US and UK envoys met the Attorney General, Amos
Wako, and Director of Public Prosecutions, Keriako Tobiko, last
Wednesday during which they expressed reservations about the
government's argument that the drugs could neither be tested nor
weighed until George Kiragu, the prime suspect, is extradited from
the Netherlands.

A court in Netherlands last week ruled that Kiragu had a case to
answer over the cocaine consignment and ordered that he should be
extradited to Kenya to face trial, but he quickly filed an appeal in
which he is arguing that he may not get a fair trial in Kenya due to
the many vested interests in the matter.

The UN, US and European Union member states are reportedly of the
view that, by citing Mr Kiragu's extradition as the reason for not
testing - let alone destroying - the drugs, the government is
shifting goal posts and buying time.

This is because the authorities had early last year attempted to
secretly destroy the drugs, but changed tune when the move was
blocked due to keen public attention and instead started resisting,
citing Kiragu's extradition, requests for transparent testing and disposal.

Sources told The Sunday Standard that US ambassador, William Bellamy,
and the UK High Commissioner, Adam Wood, wondered why the government
was procrastinating the disposal of the drugs even after it promised
recently that the UN Office on Drugs and Crime would be invited to
test each of the 954 packets of the seized cocaine.

The UN office on Drugs and Crime had in May last year applied to the
Kenyan authorities for permission to test each of the packets in a
bid to allay fears that it may have been interfered with, a request
to which President Mwai Kibaki acceded.

In a subsequent meeting between the UN representative and Wako later
last year, the AG is said to have assured the international body that
its experts would be allowed to test the drugs as requested.

In their meeting with the AG last week, the diplomats are reported to
have also expressed concern that, since the seizure, cocaine has been
finding its way to the UK through the Kenya Airways, something that
had never been witnessed before December 2004 when the consignment
was impounded. This, it is felt, appears to lend credence to the now
widely held view that the cocaine may not be intact, after all.

When contacted for comment, Jennifer Barnes, the US embassy's press
attachE, tacitly confirmed in a carefully crafted statement that the
meeting took place. "Mr Bellamy has had a number of conversations
with the government concerning that pile of drugs (cocaine) that they
have been holding. We are interested in having the government test,
weigh, verify and dispose of the drugs in accordance with
international standards. It is important that the government of Kenya
moves as quickly as possible," she said in a statement she issued
only after wide consultations.

But the UK Deputy High Commissioner, Ray Kyles, could neither confirm
nor deny that the meeting took place, pleading only that he did not
wish to speak to the press at this time.

Other reports had also indicated that, in their meeting with the AG,
the diplomats had hinted that the national carrier, the Kenya
Airways, could be in the spotlight over the increasing cases of some
of its staff members being arrested at Heathrow Airport, London, with
packets of high-grade cocaine.

Such open concerns from the British authorities have for the last two
days given rise to fears in the aviation industry about the
possibility of the Kenya Airways being banned from plying the highly
lucrative Nairobi/London route, especially if it is established that
the cocaine consignment currently in the custody of the government
was tampered with.

But the UK and US missions in Nairobi categorically denied that there
was any such a move, primarily because the airline's Managing
Director, Titus Naikuni, has recently expressed concern over the
recent arrests of its staff while trying to smuggle cocaine to
London. "I am not aware of any such a move and there would be no
ground for banning the airline," said Ms Barnes.

But impeccable sources say Naikuni has received two letters, one of
them preceded by an email, from British authorities warning him on
the impending action and urging him to "put his house in order".

One of the letters is said to contain a list of prominent Kenyans to
whom the airliner should not issue tickets to London.

The Kenya Airways management denied any knowledge of plans to slap a
blanket ban on its liners to London. "We have received no such
communication from either the Kenyan government or the British
authorities. Ordinarily, they would have communicated to us had that
been the case," said Michael Okwiri, the Head of Corporate Communication.

Okwiri also disclosed during the interview that, thanks to the three
incidents in which KQ staff have been arrested in London, the airline
has introduced a special sniffer dog, among other security
arrangements, to improve on its methods of detecting illicit cargo.