The country was treated to a night of royal drama last week over an alleged police siege at the residence of former Cabinet Secretary for Interior Fred Matiang’i.
Everybody involved in that saga came out smelling not so good. Dr Matiang’i—and the politicians who rushed to his side, led by opposition chief Raila Odinga —has, to date, not adequately responded to government protests that the whole thing was faked.
The media also took a fair share of flack for going big on the siege story before independently verifying that, indeed, a large police contingent had surrounded Dr Matiang’i’s home, apparently relying on information provided by his minions.
Then there was the government. In an extraordinary show of coordinated responses from a usually discordant communications machinery, it was like every available mouthpiece was mobilised to rubbish claims of a police raid on Dr Matiang’i’s residence.
Instead of one authoritative statement, it became a comedy of multiple functionaries in the law and order sector scrambling over each other’s feet in the rush to condemn the former CS.
Dr Matiang’i’s successor at Interior, Prof Kithure Kindiki, had his say, as his juniors, Inspector-General of Police Japhet Koome and Director of Criminal Investigations Mohammed Amin, also issued reports.
Also weighing in with the own denials of any intention to arrest Dr Matiang’i were the boss of the Ethics and Anti-Corruption Commission, Twalib Mbarak, and Director of Public Prosecutions Noordin Haji.
And, of course, the usual noisemakers on the political podium and social media spaces were not to be left behind.
The choreographed chorus even extended to demands that media houses present photographs and videos they might have from the scene, besides producing the reporters and editors who covered the story.
The response was not just overkill but also exposed institutions and offices that, by law, are supposed to operate without extraneous direction and control, thus reducing themselves to echo chambers within President William Ruto’s propaganda machinery.
It was in several ways reminiscent of the obsessive rush to please or catch attention of the ‘Big Man’ during President Daniel arap Moi’s dictatorship. In those days, every politician and bureaucrat who valued his job was at the ready to shoot up and start yelling at the touch of a button.
The likes of Shariff Nassir, Kariuki Chotara, Wilson Leitich, Ezekiel Barng’etuny and Mulu Mutisya infamously became the self-appointed ‘Nyayometers’ who measured loyalty by how loud one was in praise of the regime or condemnation of its foes, real and imagined.
Orchestrated cacophony adds absolutely no value to logical, reasoned discourse. A simple restatement of the truth would have put Dr Matiang’i under obligation to provide evidence of his claims. Instead, collective frothing at the mouth amidst threats to arrest him raised eyebrows about the government’s intentions.
The deluge of statements from different organs managed to affirm that there were no plans to arrest Dr Matiang’i and that he was not under investigations or required for questioning by any organs ranging from the police, the anti-corruption agency, the prosecution arm and even the tax collector.
The import of those statements should have sounded like sweet music to Dr Matiang’i’s ears for, over the term of the Ruto government, his social media propaganda outfit has gone into overdrive with titillating details of alleged crimes he will be held accountable for. Key targets of the offensive have included former President Uhuru Kenyatta and former Principal Secretary for Interior Karanja Kibicho, supposedly the beneficiaries of massive corruption and tax evasion.
If all the justice, law and order agencies now publicly proclaim that Dr Matiang’i is not a wanted man, the propaganda blitz has inadvertently been undermined from within.
But if there were, indeed, ongoing investigations, questions could be asked how information supposed to be held by organs such as DCI, EACC, ODPP and KRA was given out to be used by the government propaganda machinery.
Either the details shared on social media are fake or the aforementioned agencies are working at the behest of the Executive to harass and intimidate political opponents, in direct violation of the law. It would also be in contradiction of what President Ruto vowed he would never, unlike his predecessor, do.
And, lastly, we see once again fellows who once exercised power without restraint reduced to crying foul when the boot is on the other foot. We see it in both Dr Matiang’i and also in the cocky fellows strutting around President Ruto’s side.
