Macharia Gaitho: Let’s have peaceful demos, talks

Listening to Nairobi Area police chief Adamson Bungei’s tough talk on the opposition demonstrations scheduled for today, one can’t help but fear that the neanderthal mindset of the one-party dictatorship is firmly back within the security apparatus.

Beyond the fractured syntax coming out of his mouth, one gets the feeling that Mr Bungei would love nothing better than to fracture the skulls of all those foolish enough to defy the state security machinery and insist on exercising their constitutional rights to assemble, demonstrate, present petitions and express themselves.

Mr Bungei, of course, take his cue from the Inspector-General of Police Japhet Koome, who, with every pronouncement, invariably dredges up dark memories of the police force that ran torture chambers and murdered for fun anyone who expressed the slightest dissent.

The two policemen might sound like they have been exhumed from the dictatorial past but, ultimately, they are nothing but mere functionaries within the President William Ruto’s Kenya Kwanza apparatchik.

They are doing no more than parroting the President’s own vows to deal firmly and decisively with resumption of the street protests called by Azimio la Umoja leader Raila Odinga.

One must, of course, appreciate that President Ruto and his police chiefs are justified in pointing out that previous demos have been marred by violence. They are also right in saying that, whereas the Bill of Rights on the Constitution of Kenya guarantees the right to picket, march, assemble and so on, those rights do not extend to violence or interference with others going about their normal business.

However, the police do have a reason to be apprehensive that the Azimio protests will be marred by the regular stone-throwing mobs, arsonists, muggings and robberies and looting of business premises. We certainly don’t need the mayhem, and the authorities do have the right and obligation to maintain law and order and to protect life and property.

One cannot, however, ignore the fact that Azimio leaders did as required—to notify the Nairobi police of their intention to hold a procession and present a petition. They detailed the route and the time, as required, and, that done, the duty of the police should simply have been to liaise with organisers and jointly work out how best to ensure security and minimum disruption to traffic and other human activity.

Crowd control

If the notice was deficient in terms of the exact route and timing, identity and contacts of organisers and those responsible for crowd control and so on, those are details that could be worked on with the right liaison. A blanket ban and dire threats of violence send the wrong signals. They also indicate that the police are not acting independently on their own assessment but as appendages and tools of the political system.

We have always said that President Ruto must learn from the past. A fairly recent happening—Mr Odinga’s swearing-in as ‘People’s President’ early in 2018, after yet another election loss—could have resulted in bloodshed had a hardline political and security machinery had its way. But wisdom and commonsense prevailed.

The police teargas, water cannons, truncheons and firearms were put aside as peaceful crowds trooped to Nairobi’s Uhuru Park. Mr Odinga was allowed the satisfaction of a mock swearing-in that ultimately meant nothing, and his supporters went home happy. That singular incident is a vivid demonstration that, all too often, it is the police who provoke and incite violence with their trigger-happy approach.

Mr Odinga is, of course, not entirely innocent as his protest activities too often attract lawless mobs intent on violence and looting. His organisation makes little effort to keep the thugs at bay.

But there are also strong indications that thugs sponsored by the ruling party have been deployed to cause mayhem, unleashing violence that will be blamed on the demonstrators; or worse, with attacks deliberately targeting opposition leaders. And in such instances, Mr Koome’s men and women in uniform seem instructed to look the other way.

We are also seeing disturbing signs of Kenya Kwanza leaders and social media warriors issuing direct and chilling threats to Mr Odinga’s life. This cannot be ignored at a time when the security machinery seems keen to bring back the dark days.

Mr Odinga has every right to hold his marches but he also must take responsibility for orderly conduct. In the meantime, he must give serious reflection on President Ruto’s good gesture in reaching out for dialogue. Yes, there are difference on the form and shape of talks, but those can be resolved within the talks rather than on the streets.

[email protected]. @MachariaGaitho