Is Kenya slowly becoming
ungovernable? If Parliament, the Judiciary and the presidency cannot have the
last word then who will? The situation in Kenya reminds me of a time when
spouses started experiencing difficulties when our female folk started wearing trousers,
shirts and ties not to mention power suits.
At that time, men who were reluctant
to accept change were quick to remind their new rivals who was the boss- the
man of the house in trousers. What these men never realized was that once they
chose to marry their class mates and working class at that, the war was lost.
All they could do was to whine, grumble and drown themselves in cheap alcohol
as the woman moved up the ladder by any means necessary.
The defiance Uhuru is facing as
president was unthinkable ten years ago. During Jomo Kenyatta or the early Moi
years, no junior judge would rule against an executive order because that is
what the recent decision seeking to lead to the dissolution of the Judicial
Service Commission amounted to.That judge would not sleep in his house that
night.
In those days, the president was the
law and the law was the president. And his boys were quite alert to what was
going on in Parliament, the courts and public service. It was the reason every
civil servant had a radio handy in the office for the 1 pm breaking news. This
was the bulletin that sacked senior civil servants and installed fresh ones.
Jomo Kenyatta and Moi ruled Kenya
with iron fists. They were the titular heads of the household called Kenya,
period. Questioning their authority was inviting real trouble at the personal
level.
Ten years ago, I was invited to
Narok for a women leaders’ workshop. The sponsors wanted me to talk to the
women on how to manage the media in an election year.
Since this was early 2002 when
Section 2(a) had been removed from our constitution, people were getting bolder
and bolder in questioning the presidency and other arms of government.
It was for this reason that one
woman candidate from Dagoreti gave this analogy: that during Jomo Kenyatta’s
time, no one dared look him in the eye. In Moi’s time Kenyans could look him in
the eye and would even touch him. However, the presidents after Moi would be
insulted, abused and disobeyed and the presidents would do nothing about.
We saw these prophesies coming to
pass in December 2002 when wananchi threw mud at Moi. We saw it countless times
when Kibaki was under siege at State House in December 2007 when even his
swearing in had to be done under the cover of darkness.
The problems Uhuru Kenyatta is
currently facing have their roots in these early revolts that Kenyans took to
mean new found freedom. When people are oppressed for a long time, the day they
taste freedom they will never know their limits.
As for the JSC, Uhuru’s handlers
blundered. They should have read the signs correctly. You see, this separation
of powers should be taken much more seriously by the three pillars of
government.
The president’s advisors should have
noticed that whenever the Judiciary is put to task over an issue, they rush to
a lower court to scuttle the process and embarrass the litigant. That is what
they did to Gladys Shollei. They have used the same tactic twice against the
National Assembly.
The Judiciary is alert to the
fact that no junior judge will ever rule against their favour. That is why it
would have been more prudent for the president to have tea with the CJ and the
Speaker and give reconciliation a chance. He did not.
What now seems apparent is that
President Uhuru has a soft spot for Justin Muturi and the National Assembly.
Yes, when the Senate had a tiff with the National Assembly, the president took
sides and signed into law a bill that was in dispute. When Parliament passed
the controversial KICA bill, the president made it worse prompting nationwide
demonstrations from media houses.
Now that the Judiciary has problems
with the motions passed in the National Assembly, the president has chosen to
disband the Judicial Service Commission!
The President must remember that
even though there are three pillars of government, he is the father figure of
this household called Kenya. As a father figure, he cannot afford to be unfair
to any of his family members. All he needs is to be firm and fair. That is what
the world needs in this day and age.
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