MASS ACTION USED AS A POTENT TOOL FOR DEMOCRATISATION AND NOT FOR MURDER AND PLUNDER.

Those of us who played a crucial role in the expansion of the democratic space in this country know very well that there is a huge gulf in terms of meaning between mass action on the one hand and mass murder and plunder on the other. We all know that these terms are not synonymous as some people want us to believe. Harping on such thinking does not only expose one`s ignorance but also insults the intelligence of true patriots. To true patriots, mass action has never been a call for citizens to take arms and rise against their fellow citizens. Mass action was and remains to be a potent tool used to force political regimes that are out of touch with the social and political realities of the day to wake up and smell the coffee. History is rich with examples of how mass action has been used in the liberation struggle the world over. In Kenya for example, it was largely responsible for the repeal of section 2A of the Kenya constitution in the early 1990s.

History also attests to the fact that individuals who are seemingly clothed in democratic garments and who were previously part of the impunity that was routed during the second liberation of this country do not understand what mass action means. For how can they understand mass action when they have all along stayed deep down under the rabbit`s fur? These are individuals who have nervously refrained from any kind of direct ideological challenge to the status quo. They have instead preferred politics of appeasement, aggrandizement and abandonment of the principle of democracy. To them, those of us who are incessant atoms of positive change are to be met with violence and mercilessly crushed to submission.

As part of the historical accident, some of those who helped perpetuate the undemocratic, illiberal, authoritarian and repressive political regime(s) were conscripted as change agents in the new political dispensation. However, it is said that old habits die hard. The same individuals found themselves suffocating under a bout of fresh air. For them to remain politically relevant they had to quickly find some form of mischief. The 2007 presidential election provided them with the much needed opportunity to unleash the terror that was part of their DNA. Since they were in two opposing political camps, each one thought that he had an opportunity to outdo the other. They both employed all the dirty tricks in the book to vanquish each other in order to sustain their selfish desires. Unfortunately, it is the electorate across the political divide that became the poor victims of their vicious war. These individuals discovered too late that as scions of a nearly dismembered political system their chances of survival lay in their coalescing together. Indeed, they gravitated towards each other. But for the reunification to be complete they had to shop around for a sacrificial lamb upon which to direct their ire.

They found the target of their misplaced anger in the PM. They have continually blamed the PM for being the architect of all their real and imaginary woes. Without any iota of evidence they have alleged that the PM double crossed them by colluding with the Waki commission, Ocampo, Obama (read as USA), France and even UK to fix them politically. They have since vowed to also vanquish him politically.

Perhaps these individuals imagine that we suffer from memory lapses. They think that we cannot recall that at the time when the International Community stepped up pressure to bring to an end this cycle of violence and impunity the same individuals successfully rallied legislators in parliament to twice reject attempts at establishing a local judicial mechanism to try the perpetrators of the 2007 PEV.

Then they said “We should not be Vague. Let us go to Hague.” Their wish was granted. They are now belatedly crying that Kenya is a sovereign state and that submitting to the Hague is akin to inviting back the colonizer. I dare say that this is balderdash.
These individuals must be told in no uncertain terms that any attempts to take this country to the political doldrums will be met with the full force of the law. It is therefore incumbent upon them to desist from whipping the emotions among their ethnic bases as this will further prove their culpability of the accusations leveled against them. They must know that ICC is a credible international court that will never grasp at shadows. It is also imprudent for these individuals to allow their political sycophants to issue remarks that have the potential to incite the public.

What else can one make of the statement by one MP that parliament will be forced to postpone the 2012 elections should one of the suspects not be eligible to contest the presidency come 2012 courtesy of the pending cases at the ICC? What if the said person is found guilty? Will his incarceration be the reason for the country being held at ransom? Does it mean that such an individual is more important than the sum total of all Kenyans? This is the height of political extremism. We cannot allow it to begin to show its ugly face again.

As the conscientious public we expect that those on whose behalf such remarks have been made to come not only to distance themselves from such recklessness but to also condemn it as well. Unfortunately, such incidents provide more reasons why the Hague process must go forth unhindered.