The rapid normalisation of political goonism in Kenya is no longer just a stain on our democracy; it is a direct, existential threat to national security.
Day by day, we are actively coddling a culture of thuggery that is pushing the country to the brink of absolute lawlessness.
The terrifying reality is that our streets, estates and towns appear to have been hijacked by what looks to be heavily financed, highly coordinated criminal syndicates operating with absolute impunity.
If we do not ruthlessly crush this emerging culture of political thuggery right now, these gangs will completely dismantle the state, rendering the government irrelevant and the rule of law a mockery.
The sheer audacity of these goons has reached unprecedented, sacrilegious heights.
Look no further than the recent, vicious raids on church establishments by weapon-wielding goons. For decades, the church stood as an untouchable sanctuary of peace and moral authority.
Today, small-minded politicians and state functionaries have no qualms about sending drug-fuelled mobs to desecrate holy altars, disrupt worship and terrorise innocent congregants just to settle petty partisan scores.
When the state allows holy sanctuaries to be converted into battlegrounds for political hitmen, it sends a clear message: no space in this country is safe anymore.
Even more disturbing is how these criminal gangs are now openly overpowering state infrastructure and its representatives.
The brutal public beating of a sitting senator in Kisumu town not long ago was a brazen declaration of war against the state.
In broad daylight, a legislator was mobbed, assaulted and humiliated by a gang. This was not a mere political skirmish; it was a direct assault on the constitutional order.
If a high-ranking state official, backed by bodyguards, can be physically neutralised on a public street, what hope does an ordinary Kenyan have? The police's failure to immediately arrest the perpetrators and their political masters is a shameful abdication of duty that invites total anarchy.
This lawlessness has spilt directly onto our critical infrastructure, actively terrorising everyday citizens trying to survive an already harsh economy. The recent blockade of Thika Road by organised political goons was an act of economic sabotage and outright terrorism.
Motorists and helpless pedestrians were trapped, violently assaulted and systematically robbed by a mob using political grievances as a smokescreen for urban warfare.
This incident shattered the illusion of public safety. It proved that once politicians unleash these monsters, the gangs quickly mutate into independent criminal machines that target regular, hardworking citizens.
Have we learned absolutely nothing from our bloody history? We must look back at past electoral cycles, specifically the catastrophic 2007 post-election violence.
Prior to 2007, myopic politicians formed unholy alliances with informal criminal gangs, foolishly believing they could control them for voter intimidation and regional dominance.
But when the electoral crisis hit, those alliances returned to haunt the nation with a vengeance. The goons broke their leashes, turning Kenya into a slaughterhouse, killing hundreds, displacing families and burning the economy to the ground.
Today’s political class is playing with the exact same fire, ignoring the fact that the monster always ends up devouring its creator.
Taming this national security crisis requires immediate, heavy-handed and uncompromising state action. The Ministry of Interior and our security agencies must stop playing diplomatic games with criminals.
Any politician—regardless of rank, party or status—who finances, arms, or mobilises a gang must be treated as an enemy of the state, arrested and permanently banned from public office.
The police must use maximum legal force to neutralise these gangs on the streets. Criminality cannot be shielded by political alignment, and the judiciary must treat cases of political violence as high-stakes threats to national stability.
Kenya is standing on a ticking time bomb. We cannot continue to cheer on lawlessness simply because the thugs belong to our preferred political faction.
We must demand an absolute end to this madness. If the government fails to crush political goonism with the full force of the law today, we are effectively surrendering our highways, our churches and our children's future to warlords.
The time for condemnation is over; the time for ruthless enforcement is now.
Advocate of the High Court and Senior Project Manager with the Friedrich Naumann Foundation. The views expressed here are his own
