He was a teacher by profession but an active blogger. Many of his age are dedicated social media users. They engage in the many digital platforms to disseminate news as they break, influence trends, initiate debate, control policy directions, promote and castigate events and actions of leaders and largely use existing vibes to create content for entertainment.
Ojwang’s death is an active case with the police. But even as the public awaits the outcome of the investigations, his death must be condemned in the strongest terms possible. In equal measure, justice must be demanded and dispensed impartially. The government must demonstrably live its declaration to halt any semblance of extrajudicial killings.
Ever since the disputed 2017 presidential election, the country has witnessed some of the scariest of unexplained deaths. The case of Baby Pendo of Kisumu remains unresolved and the starkest reminder of police excesses. Civilians would disappear from the vicinity of their loved ones, only for their decomposing bodies to be discovered in faraway locations. Some, such as rights lawyer Willy Kimani’s case have been settled and culprits brought to book.
River Yala became famous for being the first to go in search of missing persons. The manner in which the bodies were prepared for dumping pointed to organised crimes. The executioners seemed to be professionals and persons who enjoyed some level of protection. Then Sergeant Kipyegon Kenei was found murdered in his house in circumstances that bore the hallmarks of a revenge attack or cover-up exercise. He had been serving as one the key security officers of then Deputy President but now President William Ruto. These deaths became a major plank of the campaign of the Kenya Kwanza coalition.
The Azimio team found themselves between a rock and a hard place because they had become the project of President Uhuru Kenyatta’s government. Ruto and his running mate Rigathi Gachagua therefore pledged several times there would be no such deaths in their administration. And that the security system would never be used to settle political scores.
To realise this promise to Kenyans, President Ruto appointed Raymond Omollo to be Principal Secretary in charge of Interior and therefore responsible for internal security. Omollo has since initiated a number of reform programmes to make the police service responsive to the new challenge. The government has implemented more than 50 per cent of the recommendations proposed by the former Chief Justice David Maraga-led taskforce on security reforms. The reforms target the National Police Service, the Kenya Prisons Service and the National Youth Service and are already showing results. In line with the reforms recommended, an additional plank was created within the NPS. Previously there existed the regular and administration units, in addition to the semi-autonomous Directorate of Criminal Investigations. A Deputy Inspector General heads each of the units while the DCI is under a director.
There has now been established another unit, the National Government Administration Police Unit. It is innovatively designed to revolutionise policing and monitoring of government operations at the very local levels. Ngapu embodies a new era of grassroots governance that ensures every nook and cranny of the community is carried along in the government development agenda. It will make the service proactive and initiative-focused, instead of beating reactive and crime prevention-centred. It is transforming the service from an antagonistic government agency into a citizen-partner organisation.
However, it must not be forgotten that over the years, the police has been a tool for political and, sadly sometimes, criminal manipulation. It was created during the colonial period to control the African population and to coerce them into subjugation. The historical relationship between them and the citizen population has largely been hostile. Police routinely have taken advantage of their special position as the bearer of legitimate force to exploit the people with unbridled brutality. These activities are carried out on behalf of the political class, or on their own behalf; sometimes on behalf of the elites or to some extent organised criminal networks. This led to covert circumvention of the laid-down recruitment policies.
Certain regions found themselves over-represented in the service, ostensibly to protect their ethnic political power grip. This led to nepotism in career entry and progression in the service. At some stages and during times of crisis or apparent threat to the establishment, special units are created. In these special forces are rogue officers who are a law unto themselves. They started with the Ngoroko unit under then Rift Valley provincial police chief Joseph Mungai in the 1970s. It was based in Gilgil and did more political work than fight stock theft, which was its mandate. Due to patronage, these officers are rewarded with promotions, a lot of times rapidly. They will most likely be unhappy with upsetting the status quo. Therefore, they are prone to use their elevated positions of authority to covertly sabotage the reforms being carried out in the service by the government.
Then there is the possibility of infiltration by antinationalist interests and reactionary forces. The police reforms have come at a time when the country is facing challenging moments. There are political tensions across the country. Politicians are engaged in belligerent activities that are meant to divide the country along ethnic lines. The economic meltdown is still causing anguish to ordinary citizens across the board.
Gachagua’s impeachment as DP has resulted in unprecedented polarisation of the country. He has intensified his campaigns to delegitimise the government he once served with zeal.
He has naturally found comfort in the company of disillusioned politicians from the Central region and the Kalonzo Musyoka-led opposition coalition. These coincidental events have sympathisers within the NPS. June has become the Gen Z anniversary of protests against Finance Bill taxation and government in general. Last year the disgruntled young people overran security agencies and stormed Parliament, setting fires and vandalising part of it. The possibility that political formations outside of government would forge alliances with elements within the security network is real. Such networks would be used to undertake acts of crime, including the murders of innocent citizens. The intention would be to create disaffection with the government and lead to its rapid collapse. The scenario does not portend well for the national cohesion agenda.
The civil society movement and the religious organisations plus statutory agencies mandated to champion human rights and promote patriotism must demand more accountability from the government. On the other hand, the leadership of the security agencies must undertake introspection.
The political operatives on both sides of the divide appear not to care about the ramifications of their bare-knuckle engagements. It is more a case of “if we are not in, then nobody will be.” They must be called out for being irresponsible. The old and known strategies to manage security threats are inadequate to mitigate the resurgent strong ethnic nationalism championed by regional leaders. The young activists are dynamic and use the latest digital technology for communication and mobilisation. The technology is versatile and manipulable with global outreach. Left unchecked, the country is staring at civil strife as it inches closer to the elections.
