Two momentous events were witnessed in Kenya last week. The first was the launch of the standard gauge railway from Mombasa to Nairobi and the second was the celebration of our 54th Madaraka Day.
Both milestones in the normal scheme of things ought to have inspired a deep sense of pride and an outpouring of a spirit and sense of patriotism in our citizenry. In an unprecedented move President Uhuru Kenyatta travelled by rail from Mombasa to Nairobi. The Madaraka Day celebrations were held in Nyeri county.
A number of events, all avoidable, threatened to mar our celebrations. Mombasa Governor Hassan Joho was barred from attending the launch of the SGR by the GSU, ostensibly on orders from high authority. That a popularly elected governor could be barred by state security from attending a function within his own jurisdiction is a tragedy of unimaginable proportions.
What is worse is that this is the second time the governor has been barred from attending a state function in Mombasa. If these actions are designed to demean or embarrass Joho or diminish his political worth in Mombasa, then nothing can be further from the truth. His national political value is rising by leaps and bounds, all thanks to the Jubilee government. He has now become a valuable asset to NASA and is one of its most sought-after political stars.
The Madaraka Day celebrations, a hallowed national event, was held in Nyeri and graced by the President, Deputy President and opposition leader Raila Odinga, amongst other dignitaries.
The celebrations, however, were reduced to a parochial village affair conducted by a local radio station using the local vernacular language. This is notwithstanding that many Kenyans and foreign dignitaries following the event at the function or on national television are not fluent in that language.
The Jubilee leaders chose to use a national holiday as a campaign platform instead of honouring and feting our Independence heroes. The presence of the opposition leader, in a complete breach of etiquette and protocol, was not acknowledged.
Indeed, there appeared to be a deliberate conspiracy to ignore and confine him to an obscure corner. It remains unclear as to what this crude action was intended to achieve.
Jubilee fell afoul of the “law of unexpected consequences” when thousands of Kenyans protested the mishandling of the opposition leader on social media. Why is Jubilee granting their arch-opponent extra political mileage?
Kenya is now officially in campaign mode and the ruling party is surprisingly making a lot of basic mistakes. One cannot help forming the feeling that Jubilee is operating on panic mode.
A recent pronouncement by the President that railway vandals will be sentenced to death by hanging has no basis in Kenyan law. One wonders whether he seeks legal advice and, if so, who are his legal advisers?
Inasmuch as law-abiding citizens do not condone or abet railway vandalism or any other form of criminal activity, vandalism is currently not a capital offence.
Under the Kenyan Penal Code five offences carry a mandatory death sentence. These are murder, treason, violent robbery, attempted robbery and administering an oath to commit a capital offence. Parliament would have to pass a new law to create a sixth offence.
Many Kenyans cannot help but wonder why our leaders are hell–bent on hanging petty vandals when the real economic saboteurs involved in mega corruption are walking free?
It appears that we don’t have our priorities right or, worse still, they are inverted upside down. The persons involved in the National Youth Service scandal, where billions in taxpayer funds were carted away in gunny bags from banks, are walking free.
The suspects of the Anglo Leasing and Triton Oil scandals, where the country lost billions of shillings, are not facing a mandatory death sentence, yet we are determined to put a noose around the necks of the poor.