At the risk of sounding like a stuck record, we must revisit for the umpteenth time the issue of the National Police Service reducing itself to an armed enforcement wing for President William Ruto’s political formation.
The Kenya Kwanza government was elected on the promise to end the insidious culture of police being misused to serve the interests of those in power.
If what we have witnessed so far is anything to go by, that was another monumental campaign lie. The travesties that are now common under President Ruto make the excesses of his predecessor, Mr Uhuru Kenyatta seem like child’s play.
The Sunday attack on a church service attended by former Deputy President turned opposition leader, Mr Rigathi Gachagua , was just the latest instalment of a series of violent crimes perpetrated by those supposed to be custodians of law and order.
When the police allow themselves to be turned into thugs and hooligans at the service of politicians, it becomes impossible to distinguish them from criminals. That is the beginning of a steep slide into anarchy and chaos.
Violence begets violence. Citizens expect the police and other security organs to live up to their most sacred responsibility of protecting them from criminals and ensuring safety and security for all in the land, irrespective of region, ethnicity, religion, case, tribe, or political affiliation.
It is also expected that justice, law, and order institutions will operate professionally and independently of control and direction from any other authority, including the presidency and the rest of the Executive, or political party functionaries.
The violent attack at the church function by police officers and political thugs acting in concert was not an isolated incident. It cannot be attributed to rogue officers acting on their own volition. It was a deliberate action that could not have been planned and executed without the knowledge and sanction of the highest offices in the land.
Senior personalities like Deputy President Kithure Kindiki and Interior Cabinet Secretary Kipchumba Murkomen are feigning outrage on the issue, echoing each other in denouncing political violence and demanding investigation and action. We also have the police service officials pretending to be in the dark about what transpired and pleading to have the matter probed.
Criminals cannot investigate themselves. We have already seen regime mouthpieces in politicians and the usual rabble of hired keyboard warriors being mobilised to push false and utterly ridiculous narratives to the effect that Mr Gachagua is organising attacks on himself to gain public sympathy.
That hackneyed argument is no less outrageous than the one employed by the Moi regime in 1990 following the assassination of then Foreign Affairs Minister Robert Ouko, who supposedly set himself ablaze and fired a bullet into his own head.
In any case, it would suggest that the former DP, Mr Gachagua, controls a significant element within the national security apparatus, as it is evident that the attackers acted in concert with the police. Law and order agencies causing violence in the service of an opposition politician would be an extremely serious matter that would demand swift action, starting with the immediate arrest of police commanders and their senior officers who participated in or facilitated criminal actions that pose national security threats.
Another narrative spun by the Ruto regime keyboard warriors is that Mr Gachagua has no reason to complain as he openly advocated unrestrained police violence against opposition supporters when he wielded power as DP.
True, Mr Gachagua is no angel. He was a strong and outspoken advocate of police thuggery and other undemocratic tendencies when he supped at President Ruto’s feeding trough.
That still does not justify his being given a dose of his own medicine. This is not just about one disagreeable individual, but about the anarchy and chaos that inevitably follow a slide into dictatorship and tyranny.
Nobody will be spared if the country is allowed to descend into that dark pit, including those presently calling the shots who imagine they will reign eternally. The police officers who debased their badges by doing the political dirty work for Mr Kenyatta’s regime found out the hard way that ultimately, they would be held individually accountable. Some of them are presently in court facing charges of murder and other serious crimes.
Those today being similarly misused will also face the law in the fullness of time, as will the political masters they report to.
If we are serious about restoring trust in the security agencies, all those implicated in crimes against the Constitution must step aside forthwith to allow for independent investigations.
Mr Gaitho, an independent journalist, is former NMG Managing Editor for Special Projects. [email protected] .
