EXCERPT: I am extremely concerned with President Uhuru Kenyatta’s televised address to Kenyans on Tuesday, June 17, 2014 when he dismissed Al-Shabaab’s claim of responsibility for the twin terrorist attacks in Lamu that killed more than 60 innocent Kenyans and injured dozens more a few days earlier.
Not only has the President publicly exonerated the Al-Shabaab, he has gone further and alleged that “the attack in Lamu was well planned, orchestrated and politically motivated ethnic violence against a Kenyan community.” That’s dangerous slippery slope for the President.
Politicizing terrorist attacks, stoking ethnic divisions and rivalries in an ethnically diverse country like Kenya isn’t healthy. It emboldens terrorists and further endangers the innocent.
Accusing Mr. Odinga of engaging in terrorist activities and implying that his fellow Luos have attacked members of the Kikuyu community excites and incites dangerous passions. Some of the President’s ‘advisers’ have even irresponsibly claimed that Cord and Mr. Odinga have ‘rented’ the MRC and are using them to carry out terrorist attacks in order to precipitate a regime change. You can’t get loonier than that!
The President certainly has access to intelligence briefs that most of us don’t. It’s also conceded that Cord and Mr. Odinga have acted irresponsibly by constantly and needlessly attacking and antagonising the President and his Jubilee alliance. But that’s the price we must pay for living in a democracy. If anyone has broken any law, they should be charged and prosecuted; not accused vaguely with members of his ethnic group. There is no guilt by association.
Mr. Kenyatta is the President of all Kenyans – Luos, Kikuyus, Mr. Odinga and his supporters included. More significantly, Mr. Kenyatta has a duty to protect and preserve the security of all citizens of Kenya – not just that of his community or supporters. Unfortunately, his statement implied otherwise.
The President’s speech wasn’t inadvertent. It was planned for, deliberately crafted and read live on TV. It was clearly intended to reach millions of people and send a chilling message to Mr. Odinga and Cord. But it was also irresponsibly targeted at Luos merely on account of being Luos.
The unmistakable message was that Mr. Kenyatta will not sit by and watch members of his community butchered by Mr. Odinga’s bandits, which is what Luos are now being called by cyber terrorists. And that is how the message was largely understood by both Kikuyus and Luos. That’s reprehensible. A message like that shouldn’t cross the minds of those writing the President’s speech. It certainly shouldn’t have been read by the President. It cannot be good for the stability and security of this country.
It is not wise for a president – any president – to publicly or privately utter such threats. The message was divisive. A president’s mandate and responsibility is to unite the country; not inflame jingoistic tendencies.
Regrettably, some of the President’s supporters might take the law into their own hands and attack innocent civilians perceived to be Mr. Odinga’s supporters. Similarly, some of Mr. Odinga’s supporters may attack members of the President’s community under the pretext of self-defence. It happened in 2008. It can happen again. Either way, the violence would be unjustified.
The President should know that because of his senseless and provocative speech, many Luos are now openly wondering whether the increase in terrorism in the country isn’t staged to portray the country as fragile and teetering on the brink of civil war so that those charged at the ICC can use the resulting conflagration as a defence ploy there.
Many are equally asking why the President hasn’t constituted a judicial inquiry as he had promised on the Westgate attack. Could that also have been staged; many wonder. Others believe – wrongly or rightly - that the President is desperately concocting diversionary excuses to ban Raila’s Saba Saba rallies. Is it political insecurity?
The senseless beating of war drums by both sides, the knee-jerk dismissal of terrorist attacks which Al Shabaab has openly claimed responsibility for, the antagonising of one ethnic group against the other, and the unacceptable scapegoating of Luos shouldn’t be tolerated by peace-loving Kenyans.
I supported Mr. Kenyatta during the 2013 elections. I believed that he would be better than Raila in managing the affairs of this country. However, when the President I have fully supported turns his guns against me for no justified reason other than on account of my ethnicity, I, like a self-respecting person, will stand up and oppose him. I will oppose him when he is wrong and misguided. I will only support him when he is right and performing his duties in good faith, constitutionally and for the wellbeing of all Kenyans.
We cannot allow anybody no matter how powerful he may be, to try and manipulate our emotions, our ethnic fears and perceived rivalries. Kenyan communities have lived with each other and accepted their cultural differences for decades.
Yes, Mr. Odinga’s current activitiesare irresponsible, provocative and counter-productive; however, he hasn’t done anything so far that is illegal.
If the President is privy to information implicating him to actsof terrorism, then he should let the country’s relevant authorities deal with Mr. Odinga in accordance with the law.
The President must refrain from issuing irresponsible threats. It’s neither presidential nor statesmanlike. If Mr. Kenyatta continues on the route he has chosen, he will soon have to confront the reality that there are tens of millions of Kenyans like me ready to tell him off – publicly.
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