SECURITY AND POLITICS Do not politicize the issue of security. It’s a very common phrase nowadays, catchy if you may. But boy did that ship sail ages ago! Why do I say that? Well, because security is politics, and politics is security. How wrong or right is the phrase “do not politicize the issue of security” in the current Kenyan security set up? Well, it depends on where you are standing mostly. Whatever your stand may be (left, right or the chameleonistic fence-sitter), the facts will prove you wrong or right. So I pose the questions: should security be politicized? Can security be politicized? In other words, what is the relationship between security and politics? You’re going to have to keep an open mind on this one. Just for the record, I’d coin the phrase a little bit different. It should read something like: Do not politicize the issue of insecurity. Coz in my opinion, there is very little security to speak of in the first place! First off, let’s tackle the genesis of Kenya’s security. It is the duty of the government of the day to provide security to the citizens. By the government, I mean the national government, for purposes of this piece. A quick peek into the Kenyan Constitution will confirm that indeed the government has three arms: the Executive, the Judiciary and the Legislature. All independent, or at least they are thought to be. Number one on the list is the Legislature (the big dog, in a manner of speaking). But please feel free to use other, well, derogatory names like hyenas and pigs. Most of them deserve it anyway. In the current constitution, the Legislature is made up of the National Assembly and the Senate. According to chapter eight of the constitution, the National Assembly represents the people of the constituencies and special interests in the National Assembly, deliberates on and resolves issues of concern to the people and enacts legislation. The Senate on the other hand represents the counties, and serves to protect the interests of the counties and their governments. The Senate participates in the law-making function of Parliament by considering, debating and approving Bills concerning counties. The Senate also determines the allocation of national revenue among counties,, and exercises oversight over national revenue allocated to the county governments. That is just about the gist of it. Without a need to quote any further chapters or articles of the constitution, I think it is fair to say that we all know how these guys assume office. The candidates come with audacious campaign promises and some with manifestos that they know absolutely nothing about. They basically insult and rubbish each others’ agendas, and the wittiest wins the vote. What do we call that again? Politics 101. Secondly, let’s see what the Judiciary has in store for us. Again, without going through the trouble of citing famous scholars or mind boggling articles, clauses and chapters of the constitution, I dare say that we all know what makes up the Judiciary. The Judiciary consists of the judges of the superior courts, magistrates, other judicial officers and staff. It is headed by the Chief Justice and the Deputy Chief Justice, just to humor the clueless and or confirm the intellectuals’ suspicions. A little side note here: the Chief Registrar is the chief administrator and accounting officer of the Judiciary. I thought that may help in understanding all the fuss about Gladys ‘the Boss’ Sholei. The President shall appoint the Chief Justice and the Deputy Chief Justice, in accordance with the recommendation of the Judicial Service Commission, and subject to the approval of the National Assembly; and all other judges, in accordance with the recommendation of the Judicial Service Commission. That’s Chapter Ten of the constitution by the way. The chapter further cites that this very famous JSC shall consist of the Chief Justice, one Supreme Court judge; one Court of Appeal judge; one High Court judge and one magistrate; the Attorney-General; two advocates, one a woman and one a man, each of whom has at least fifteen years’ experience, elected by the members of the statutory body responsible for the professional regulation of advocates; one person nominated by the Public Service Commission; one woman and one man to represent the public, not being lawyers, appointed by the President with the approval of the National Assembly. And finally, the Chief Registrar of the Judiciary shall be the Secretary to the Commission. This whole trip into the constitution was not in vain my friends, because as you can see, I’m trying to prove a point. How many times have I mentioned the National Assembly? What about the president. If you read between the lines, you’ll smell politics all over the Judiciary. Lastly, the Executive is made up of the President, the Deputy President, cabinet secretaries e.t.c. e.t.c., you get my drift I suppose? How do they assume office? You may have a more complex way of explaining that, but I suppose it’s pretty much the same ways as members of the Legislature. But here is the catch: this one is on a grander scale and the campaign promises and manifestos are, simply put, outrageous! I mean, who drafts these things up? They should be script-writing Hollywood movies or something, coz clearly, they do have the talent. Let’s get back to the important stuff though. The cabinet consists of the President, Deputy President, Attorney General and cabinet secretaries. The President shall nominate and, with the approval of the National Assembly, appoint Cabinet Secretaries, yeah; I had to quote Article 152 of the Constitution for this one. Furthermore, they can all be re-assigned and fired by the President. Article 156 then states that the Attorney-General shall be nominated by the President and, with the approval of the National Assembly, appointed by the President. If the current foray into the Constitution challenges your intellectual capacity, let me indulge once again. My point was to show just how much politics plays a role in the formation of the Executive. The whole point of this piece is to establish the relationship between security and politics, and while on that very same note, try to authenticate and validate the phrase “Do not politicize security”. The plain truth is that this loosely used phrase has already been overtaken by events. All the security organs of the state have a bit, or an awful lot, of politics intertwined. Either the officers in these dockets are presidential appointees, or the National Assembly plays a major role in their appointment. If and when that is not the case, the National Assembly can always find a loophole, or better yet, create one, such that the fate of these officers lie squarely at the National Assembly’s mercy. Case in point, the recent calls for the censure and dismissal of Kimaiyo, Ole Lenku, Gichangi and Co. Whether we like it or not, we can’t avoid politics in the issue of national security. For the sake of those who appreciate a bit of repetition, I reiterate, politics is security and security is politics. These two are entangled so much that it is almost impossible to separate one from the other. What we can call for is to not involve propaganda into the state of security. Stop the name calling, quit the supremacy battles and most importantly, recognize that the blame game will do absolutely no one any favors. Unless the blame games are played in front of a judge and in a court of law, whereby the guilty party will be determined and subsequently held liable for the lapse in security. I rest my case.
Posted on: Mon, 28 Jul 2014 13:44:15 +0000
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