UK special unit spread fake news, propaganda to oust Kenyan VP Oginga Odinga: Report

Kenyans are set to choose its new President on Tuesday with an aim to drive out the incumbent President Uhuru Kenyatta after staying a decade in power. According to local media reports, Raila Odinga, son of Kenya's first vice-President, Oginga Odinga, and an opposition leader is also in the fray and reportedly could become the next President. Amid this chaotic scenario of elections, a report revealed how his father Oginga was targetted by British cold war propagandists in the 1960s, The Guardian reported on Saturday. Oginga was intentionally "trapped" in "black" propaganda operations in order to secure a seat for the "British puppet", newly declassified files reveal. As per the documents, the Foreign Office’s propaganda arm-- the Information Research Department (IRD)-- targeted the Kenyan nationalist in a three-year campaign run by its dirty tricks section, the Special Editorial Unit (SEU).

Why Britishers targetted Oginga Odinga?

Notably, Oginga was considered a major figure in the struggle against British colonialism. After the country gained its independence on December 12, 1963, the UK wanted to install their "puppet", Jomo Kenyatta as their preferred leader as they consider the then Vice-president Odinga as leftwing. Besides, the Britishers also considered him a person that could open his arms to welcome the Communist bloc into the country, as per the documents. Also, the Britishers apprehended that Odinga might replace Kenyatta, "constitutionally" or "otherwise", so they tried to undermine or tried their best to "assassinate" his character.

However, historian Dr Poppy Cullen of Loughborough University told The Observer that some of the top British diplomats underscored that Odinga was not a communist but posed a direct threat to British interests. "Not only did Odinga favour radical domestic policies, but he also accepted financial support from the Soviet Union and communist China. But President Kenyatta could not sideline Odinga, as he represented the powerful Luo tribe," said Cullen. Moreover, the declassified documents also revealed that the major English and local daily such as Telegraph also published a story regarding the secret information of the Britishers. The story was published in early 1965 with the headline-- "Revolution’ document in Kenya", which also confirmed "cold operations" and presented Odinga as "a great revolutionary leader".

Oginga Odinga and his son were forced to stay under detention

Some reports also claimed that the then Vice President was in close contact with the Chinese communist. The propaganda was also published by major newspapers on the instructions of the Britishers, as per the documents. Amid the back-to-back serious allegations, he resigned from Kenyatta’s government in 1966 and launched a new political party-- the Kenya People’s Union (KPU). However, the country’s experiment with multi-party democracy did not last long as the members of the KPU were detained without trial under draconian new laws. Moreover, his newly formed party was also outlawed by the "puppet" government in 1969 was he was placed under detention and later imprisoned by Kenyatta’s successor, Daniel Arap Moi, the documents revealed. The same was applied to his son, Raila, who was also forced to stay imprisoned without trial before the country returned to democracy.

Image: AP