Subcommittee on International Human Rights committee  Thank you very much for your time.

Subcommittee on International Human Rights committee  Thank you. I think disarming the militia could be carried out by a combination of the armed forces, but also with the presence of international observers there, because what has been clearly demonstrated in Mount Elgon region, where the army went out to disarm a group of militia there, was that they carried out with impunity large-scale massacres.

Subcommittee on International Human Rights committee  The PNU is not dominated by the Kikuyu. Its leadership is certainly largely comprised of members of the Kikuyu tribe. The Kikuyu constitute only 23% of Kenya's population.

Subcommittee on International Human Rights committee  First of all, I think an inquiry would need to be held to be able to work out exactly the motives of those who were involved in the incitement, but there is no doubt that armed groups of militia do target particular constituencies of people to get rid of them, to get them out of a particular area.

Subcommittee on International Human Rights committee  Thank you. The majority of the 600,000 people come from the area known as the Rift Valley province. This has been the area where the vast amount of violence carried out by armed militia has taken place. It's interesting that in those parts of the country, even the northeast, some of the most poor parts of the country, even the coast, there are hardly any internally displaced people.

Subcommittee on International Human Rights committee  Canadian NGOs have a long tradition of being supportive in Kenya. It's been always our experience of a very close relationship with them. Their support for civil society actions, their support for health care, their support for work in the area of human rights, has been normally outstanding.

Subcommittee on International Human Rights committee  I would love to be able to do so but I don't have the names at my fingertips. I should have come better informed. I would be happy to communicate with you later and send you details of those companies.

Subcommittee on International Human Rights committee  I think an emphasis on the principles of good governance and human rights would be an essential component of that. The international community, including Canada, has been generous in terms of providing support for the humanitarian cause in the crisis faced by internally displaced people.

Subcommittee on International Human Rights committee  I'm not sure I completely understood the question; pardon. Could you please repeat that?

Subcommittee on International Human Rights committee  I'm not sure I understood your question, sir.

Subcommittee on International Human Rights committee  I think it is important for the committee to recognize that in Kenya you have two major parties, PNU and ODM. PNU is the party of Mwai Kibaki, who is a Kikuyu. Some 23% of Kenya's population are Kikuyu. The ODM is led by Raila Odinga, who is from the Luo tribe. Only 13% of Kenya's population is Luo; however, the election results, both parliamentary and presidential, indicated that approximately 50% of Kenya's electorate voted for the PNU—for the Kikuyu party, so-called—and 50% voted for the Luo party, so-called.

Subcommittee on International Human Rights committee  Thank you, Mr. Chair. Please excuse the fact that we've not had time to translate our statement into French. I apologize for not speaking French very well. In Kenya, people do not even speak English well. I'm very grateful for this opportunity to be here. I speak here as a political commentator on Kenya as well as a member of the Kenyans for peace through truth and justice, a coalition of civic associations in Kenya.