@DailyNation editorial by @MachariaGaitho as he quits his position as chair of the Editors guild in protest of #SabaSaba rally media blackout. Security chiefs have been sleeping on the job; they should take a long hike Deputy President William Ruto’s ultimatum to the Kenya’s security establishment bosses in the wake of the weekend massacre in Lamu and Tana River counties sounded like music to my ears. He gave the security chiefs 48 hours to arrest the murderers, “dead or alive”, or quit their jobs. Mr Ruto’s deadline is what Kenyans want to hear. They want murderous thugs roaming free at the Coast permanently neutralised, with extreme prejudice, so that they will never again have the licence to kill. Perhaps if this message had been delivered after the first wave of attacks in Lamu’s Mpeketoni township three weeks ago in which 65 innocent people died, the gunmen would not have been free to return and kill another 22. Instead of using all available resources to track down the brigands, however, the top security bosses preferred to inject petty, partisan politics. Interior Cabinet Secretary Joseph ole Lenku, Principal Secretary Mutea Iringo and Inspector-General of Police David Kimaiyo diverted their attentions to pointing fingers at the opposition instead of targeting their guns at the executors and principal perpetrators of the bloody massacre. President Uhuru Kenyatta followed suit and gave the political diversion his full backing. The leaders and officials entrusted with the onerous responsibility of protecting the lives of Kenyans chose to gain political capital out of a national tragedy, in the process leaving a band of heavily armed brigands at liberty to roam the countryside unchallenged. Instead of saturating Lamu County and other affected areas with police, soldiers, and everyone else needed to help track down and capture or eliminate the gunmen, our leaders were content with wasteful political noise. They cannot now express befuddlement that the killers struck again. Our security bosses gave the Lamu killers free rein to roam, plan and execute their dastardly mission, and now they must take responsibility for the glaring security failure that led to 22 more innocents being brutally butchered. Mr Ruto has now given the security sector chiefs 48 hours to apprehend the killers. Even this is being generous for they should already have been held accountable for criminal dereliction of duty. Kenyans don’t need fairy tales about the opposition Cord alliance, the FBI, American Marines or green men from mars being responsible for the killings. They don’t need to be engaged in sterile debate on whether the killings are the work of Al-Shabaab, the Mombasa Republican Council, local politicians, the outlawed Mungiki gang, or government agents out to make good on self-fulfilling prophecies that the present opposition campaigns will lead to bloodshed. The people of Lamu, Tana River and Kenyans in general are not bothered right now whether carnage is the outcome of old land, ethnic or religious feuds. All they want as a matter of urgency is that the killers be eliminated so that they will not kill again; and that peace, safety and security be restored and guaranteed. The 48-hour deadline runs out today. If the killers will not have been arrested, then we expect that the government will move firmly and swiftly to replace the security chiefs with others more dedicated to their jobs. If nothing is done, then we might just begin to conclude that was all hot air, and that the problem lies not with ineffective security functionaries, but with those who hold ultimate political responsibility. * * * * I have relinquished my position as chairman of the Kenya Editors’ Guild. It has been one hell of a ride ever since I assumed office in what then operated as a small, informal gathering, onto the AGM last Saturday and polls that attracted scrutiny worth of any substantial organisation. The Kenya Editors’ Guild has earned national and international recognition as Kenya’s premier defender of media freedom. I have no doubt the new team headed by Mr Linus Kaikai will keep up the unending struggle against the schemes and designs of a government obsessed with stifling scrutiny, silencing all independent and dissenting voices, and pressuring the media into mindless conformity. The price of liberty is eternal vigilance.
Posted on: Tue, 08 Jul 2014 05:30:09 +0000
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