Former Tory PR advises Kenyan facing Hague trial, the Sunday Independent.
The Independent broke the story that Ed Staite, former advisor to the UK’s Chancellor of the Exchequer, has been part of a “team operating from offices in London and Nairobi are trying to neutralise criticism of Mr Kenyatta in the run-up to the general election in Kenya and his trial next year.”
After being indicted, he instructed BTP Advisers, where Mr Staite is an associate.
The British firm’s involvement with the case has not been revealed until now. BTP’s media campaign over the next three months will involve online monitoring, including on Twitter, and digging up information on opposition candidates, said a source. Mr Staite made his reputation while advising Mr Osborne, then Shadow Chancellor, and looking after Boris Johnson.
He was recently involved in controversy when reporters posing as representatives of a City fund secretly recorded him saying that they could “communicate their priorities” by funding a “policy group”. He later denied that this was to buy influence with Mr Osborne.
The Sunday Times reported in a story published April 1 this year:
THE former press offficer of George Osborne has been secretly filmed telling foreign financiers how to shape Tory policies in exchange for cash.
Edward Staite suggested to undercover reporters, posing as wealth fund executives, that they should fund a Tory policy unit on issues they wanted to promote. His comments appear to undermine the Tories’ insistence that donors do not get privileged access and have zero influence over policy.
The reporters met Staite on February 8 after his services were recommended by Sarah Southern, a lobbyist selling access to David Cameron. They explained they wanted political connections to help them buy British government assets such as Royal Mail.
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It is certainly concerning see to Kenya confronted with the threat of such a major step backward on civil liberties issues, especially as a result of a questionable election. This issue has been grossly under reported in the international media. If the ICC Defendants are able to control the Gov’t of Kenya, and then use it to control civil society as an separate voice, they can propagate the version of events past and present that they craft through their British PR team. Elections–especially such mishandled ones–should not matter so much!