MERCENARY PUZZLE
By Vincent Musumba

Kenya Times, Kenya
March 14 2006

THE alleged mysterious presence of mercenaries in the country took
a new twist yesterday when two men claiming to be the ones named as
being the hitmen on hire presented themselves and instead accused
two senior politicians of blackmail.

The two, claiming to be the Armenians, Artur Sargsyan and Artur
Margaryan, said Langata MP Raila Odinga and his Mwingi North
counterpart Kalonzo Musyoka had approached them seeking Sh 3 billion
to finance a vote of no confidence in the government.

Sargsyan and Margaryan also claimed that Kalonzo, who introduced them
to Raila, had requested for bullet-proof cars to use in their alleged
anti-government activities.

Addressing a press conference at the Jomo Kenyatta Interbnational
Airport’s VIP lounge in the company of their lawyer Fred Ngatia,
Sargsyan also claimed that Raila had separately requested for a loan
of Sh 108 million (US$ 1.5 m) which he advanced him on condition that
he would repay it by mid January this year although by yesterday he
had not repaid the money.

But in a swift rejoinder, Raila denied ever having met the two
brothers. Kalonzo, however, confessed having encountered them at “an
informal meeting” at the Grand Regency hotel’s Summit Club sometimes
last year.

Raila described Sargsyan and Margaryan’s statements as completely
unfounded, baseless, nefarious and maliciously concocted to scandalise
and malign his name.

Kalonzo protested his innocence and disclosed that he was introduced
to the two in his capacity as a former Foreign Affairs Minister. “It
is a clear government plot to malign our names and it falls right in
their face. I am a very simple person who cannot handle such a huge
sum of money,” said Kalonzo.

Two weeks ago, Liberal Democratic Party defacto leader, Raila revealed
about the existence of mercenaries in the country allegedly hired
by the government to kill some leading Orange Democratic Movement
(ODM) luminaries

Earlier, Raila had met Police Commissioner Brig Hussein Ali to record a
statement on the matter after he was requested to do so and thereafter
proceeded to record a statement with the police .

The mercenaries for the first time surfaced yesterday and addressed
a press conference to respond to the mercenary allegations.

The two Armenian brothers Sargsyan and Margaryan, the alleged
mercenaries, arrived at the JKIA airport from Dubai yesterday in the
morning and were ushered into the VIP lounge by government agents
where they addressed the Press and claimed they had met Raila and
Musyoka last year.

It was not immediately clear who authorised the two to use the VIP
lounge, which is normally reserved for presidents, senior government
officials, diplomats and other high ranking dignitaries recognised
by the state.

Government spokesman Dr Alfred Mutua denied knowledge of the issue
and refused to be drawn into it.

And soon after the press conference, that was organised by Ngatia,
Sargsyan was reported to have immediately returned to Dubai where he
had come from specifically for the media briefing. He is believed to
have arrived at around 7 in the morning and left at 11 am aboard a
Kenya Airways plane. Astonishingly, his name was missing on the two
KQ manifest that arrived and left for Dubai yesterday.

While copies of passports given by Raila last week indicated the two
businessmen aged 33 and 36 years, who resurfaced yesterday looked
much older.

The two brothers claimed to have business investments portfolio
worth US $ 5 million in Nairobi’s Karen area. They, however, refused
to give names of their Kenyan business associates or the names of
their companies.

Besides, the two also claimed to have vast business ventures all over
the world and Dubai, where they “ordinarily reside”, and that they
were first introduced to Raila and Kalonzo late last year while on a
tour of Kenya to seek business investment in the hotel industry and
general trade.

Consequently, they say, the two politicians requested from them Sh
3 billion allegedly to finance an anticipated vote of no confidence
against the government, but they declined to assist since “we do
not engage in local politics in all the countries where we have
investments”.

However, Raila and Kalonzo hurriedly convened a press conference
at Parliament Buildings during the lunch hour where they defended
themselves and pledged ignorance of the two men. Raila said he had
never met the two men and had never received the said money from them.

Interestingly, Kalonzo appeared to contradict him when he confessed
to having been introduced to one of them, as Armenian Foreign Affairs
Minister at the Summit of the Grand Regency hotel. The introduction
he said, was done casually and there were many people at the same
place at that time. Since then, he said, he had never met him.

“I may have met some people at the Summit of the Grand Regency although
that was the end of it. I dismiss their claims with the contempt they
deserve. I do not know their identities”, said the former minister.

Interestingly, Kalonzo confessed that he took some photographs with
the two Armenians during their encounter at the hotel.

Sargsyan, who asserts that he is the nephew of the Armenian President,
Robert Kocharian, says he is appalled by the “baseless accusations”
in Kenya’s Press and wants Raila to pay him back the money he owes him
or take him to court. The country’s Prime Minister as per Internet
sources is called Andranik Margaryan (since May 12, 2000). His name
resembles the surnames of the two brothers.

“Your political leaders should not be peddlers of falsehoods and the
press should not merely publish sensational but senseless stories
which can damage the reputation of persons whose only interest in your
country is to invest in legitimate trade”, he said in the statement.

Efforts to confirm the nationality of the two businessmen were
fruitless as Armenia does not have a an embassy in the country.

Raila and Kalonzo, who were accompanied by LDP MPs, Kenneth Marende,
Gor Sungu, Otieno Kajwang’, Ayiecho Olweny, Philip Okundi, Peter
Odoyo, Andrew Ligale, Kiema Kilonzo and Odhiambo Omamba, termed the
content of the press statement as “the most ridiculous and a phantom
of great imagination”.

He denied ever meeting the two brothers or holding a meeting with them
and accused the government of orchestrating a plot to mudslinging
them. He alluded to an interview the previous night on one of the
local TV channels where Mwea MP, Alfred Nderitu made claims similar
to those in Atur’s press statement.

He said the figures mentioned by the two were “large in any language
and cannot possibly be transacted in the air” and that nobody could
carry the Sh 3b as alleged without fearing for his security.

Said Raila: “Their claims are untrue. What empirical evidence or any
even a scintilla of it has been offered to sustain the contention
that the transaction took place?”, and added, “I therefore find the
claims made completely unfounded, baseless, nefarious and maliciously
concocted to scandalise and malign my name”.

He claimed their lawyer Ngatia was the man who had written the
statement on behalf of the two foreigners and described it as an
amateurish attempt by the government to divert the attention of the
public from corruption scandals facing it.

The LDP leader wondered why CID Director, Joseph Kamau had not disowned
the statement he had written on the existence of the mercenaries,
or why t hey were allowed to enter State House and who informed the
media that the two were expected at the airport in the morning.

The call, he said, had been placed to media houses by a Narc activist
from Othaya.