For years the rich and middle classes believed that the rot that is eating away at our society would not affect them. Instead of fixing the system, they found ways around it. When the public school system went to the dogs, they built their own exclusive private schools. When the police proved to be too corrupt or incompetent, they hired private security companies and personal bodyguards. When the local authority failed to collect garbage, they recruited the services of private firms. When the streets became too dirty and unsafe, they built giant malls. When druglords and thieves became politicians, they convinced themselves that it had nothing to do with the future of their children. The Westgate terror attack demolished this false sense of security. It demonstrated that when the rot starts eating away at the very fabric of society, even the rich are not immune to being ravaged by it. The terrorists who lay siege on Westgate took advantage of the fact that the Kenyan state has been captured by liars, thieves, murderers, money launderers and druglords. They realised long ago that the Kenyan public can and will do nothing about this, even if it is at the cost of their own lives. They knew they could easily buy their way through our borders. Maybe they also knew that our defence forces would be more interested in looting during a terror attack than in protecting lives. Two years ago, the International Peace Institute published a damning report titled Termites at Work in which it detailed the various ways in which the Kenyan state has been captured from within by all kinds of unsavoury characters. It warned that if these “termites” are not eliminated there was a great risk that the country would go the route of Colombia and Mexico where drug lords hold organs of the state hostage. Criminality and insecurity would become the order of the day. Everyone, including the rich and powerful, would be affected by the general lawlessness and anarchy. It seems that day has come. The sad thing is that this was not supposed to happen under the new Constitution. We were supposed to usher in a new breed of leaders who had integrity and who could professionally steer this country out of the rot of the last five decades. Instead, we got parliamentarians who are even more uncouth and immoral than their predecessors, and will not hesitate to pass laws that reverse all the gains the country has made so far. We got a brand new Judiciary, only to discover that it has been “vomiting on our shoes”, as pointed out by activist Maina Kiai, by giving themselves ridiculously obscene allowances. (READ: ) The reality is that we did this to ourselves. We did not remove the rot. We let the termites eat us from inside. And look what has happened? The roof of our house has collapsed. ------------------------------ I believe that the government is seriously thinking of introducing a “ten-cell” system in which neighbours will be encouraged to spy on each other and report any suspicious activities to the police. Apparently, this is the government’s response to terrorism. Instead of reforming our security and immigration services and ending corruption, we are being asked to police each other. In a society like Kenya, which is so ethnically divided, this kind of snooping will lead to witch-hunting. Communities that want “outsiders” to leave their neighbourhoods will start labelling them as terrorists. Is this where we want to go as a society? I also understand a memorial is being built in Karura Forest for the Westgate victims. This is a laudable idea but wouldn’t it be better to build the memorial at the site of the mall itself? We know that the mall was controversially (and possibly illegally) built on a wetland. Why can’t we reclaim the area and build a public park on it with lots of flowers and trees? And while we are commemorating the dead why don’t we also have a memorial for the over 1,100 people who were killed in the 2007/8 post- election violence?That may be one way of putting their ghosts to rest. ©Rasna Warah,Nation Opinion Thats a wondeful thinker right there.Big up.
Posted on: Mon, 21 Oct 2013 19:56:36 +0000
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