There is no doubt that the challenge of the 4th Republic is corruption. There is also no doubt that the scourge of corruption has permeated nearly all levels of government. Therefore, we all understand when the government sets out to deal with corruption wherever it manifests itself. But then what happens when there is real or perceived weaponization of the war on corruption? For quite some time now, most Kenyans have perceived the war on graft as a weapon used against those who are perceived to be antagonizing the system.
The endless harassment of the Governor of Nairobi County is a case in point.
Since the willful resignation of his deputy governor, some elements in the Uhuru Kenyatta administration who are drunk with illicit power and a misplaced sense of entitlement have pushed Governor Sonko in all directions as a way of blackmailing him into appointing a deputy of their choice. A stubborn and largely fearless Governor Sonko, who by the way is a product of the streets and is not one to be intimidated easily, has rebuffed all. In a sense, these malicious and greedy elements have driven the ever-cautious governor to be wary of their intentions thus making it even harder to appoint a deputy. Would they be plotting to eliminate him as soon as he gets a deputy in place? No one knows.
The weaponization of the war on graft is not new. So far, the purge has been selective with only a few individuals getting nailed down. The pattern is as astonishing as it is lucid for all to see. Those perceived to be leaning to a certain side of the political divide that is, through mere perception and not reality, to be opposed to the feathery Raila-Uhuru pact are lined up and shamed as the perpetrators of high graft. The real lords of graft whose only claim to relevance is backing for the pact are left to roam all over as they not only get into even more sleaze, but shamelessly point fingers at the selectively persecuted.
Maina Kamanda is not any cleaner than Kiambu Governor, Ferdinand Clifford Waititu. Gideon Moi is not any cleaner than Deputy President Dr. William Ruto. In addition to the more than two decades worth of fortune his family milked from this country, he is now being accused of being a beneficiary of blood money. He is allegedly one of the people collecting billions from South Sudan, taking advantage of the bloodbath and chaos in the world’s youngest country. The list is endless.
It is an undeniable fact that in this our land, corruption has its stinky stench all over the bedrooms of all our senior leaders.
It is for this reason that the saw must cut both right and left, north and south, east and west, front and back. It must be a libation poured to calm the earth and gratify the heavens.
But this is not what we have seen, and the ramifications are damning for various parties for various reasons.
To the president, he stands to soil his already badly punctured legacy. Uhuru Kenyatta’s presidency has seen unemployment skyrocket to worrying levels. A record number of companies have relocated to friendlier countries, and the gap between the rich and the poor has widened. More Kenyans are more disillusioned over the future of the nation’s economy, and neighbouring countries are growing jittery when it comes to doing business with Kenya.
Is this a president who can stand a lopsided war on corruption that targets perceived political enemies? The answer is a resounding no! But the president’s handlers who seem to be viewing every problem as a nail just because they are wielding a mighty hammer do not see any challenge with that approach at all. Political pacts in young democracies by their very nature are extremely delicate, almost always founded on quicksand, such that a slight twitch can lead to total collapse. Something as mundane and frivolous as the Kibra by-election has the potential to tear to bits the post-2017 election pact. If that happens, the President will remain badly exposed, and those who, by lack of political wisdom, view him as eternally indomitable, will have no way to salvage him. For example, a disenchanted Ruto can choose to hold back his presidential ambitions and join hands with an increasingly suspicious Raila wing, impeach a weak President Uhuru, and make Raila a 2020-2022 president.
The president’s handlers do not care that they are painting one community as being politically unreliable. However, there is some saving grace in the form of Hon. Alice Wahome, Hon. Ndindi Nyoro, Hon. Irungu Kangata, Hon. Wangui Ngirici, and several other Central Kenya leaders who have come to the defense of the community, saying that their people are not keen on coning anybody, and that they are willing to keep their side of the bargain when it comes to political pacts.
The value of the political stance the likes of Hon. Nyoro and Wahome have taken might not be immediately visible to all, but trust me; they have redeemed the image of a community that has for the longest time caught flak for being deceptive, cunning, and selfish. In a fragile society like ours where minor incidents can trigger retributive violence, no Kenyan will raise a hand against a Kikuyu anywhere in the Republic, and this is because of the leaders from Central who have stood firm and stated in no uncertain terms that Central Kenya is ready to honour the promise President Uhuru made to Ruto.
Back to Nairobi County and Governor Mike Sonko, almost every Kenyan now knows that the county collects more revenue, largely because the governor has streamlined revenue collection, dealt a deadly blow to cartels, and done away with the “Hand to Mouth” or “spending -at- source” approach of the Kidero days. Gov. Sonko sends all revenue to Central Bank and gets it back only when he has a clear and approved area to spend it. He is the only governor who has adopted a practical “zero tolerance to corruption” policy as evidenced by his lack of hesitation to send home those suspected to have stolen public money. The beauty with results is that you cannot hide them. It is not by the wheels of coincidence that the people who used to cry of land grabbing during Kidero days are now quiet. The land-grabbing cartels packed and left town as soon as Sonko was sworn in as Governor, for they know his ruthlessness when it comes to dealing with those who are out to dispossess others of their land.
Why then is the Governor being portrayed as corrupt?
The mere rumour that Gov. Sonko might be arrested triggered unprecedented fury from supporters of the highly popular governor. Numerous groups from around the country expressed displeasure over the soiling of the good governor’s name and threatened to pour into the streets. It took serious effort by the governor himself and the people close to him to stop these groups from engaging in street protests.
As reported by most media houses, the allegations made against the governor are built upon contracts that were negotiated and sealed by former governor, Evans Kidero. Therefore, what we have is nothing but total witch-hunt.
Nairobi County accounts for 70% of the country’s GDP. When the leadership of the county is stressed due to nonsensical rumours of corruption and other falsehoods, investors are scared, jobs are lost, and services to Nairobians are interrupted. At 70% of Kenya’s GDP, messing up with Nairobi is basically messing up with Kenya. But the paper men who are abusing their powers and harassing the leaders of the county do not give a hoot whether the economy nosedives or not. Afterall, these are the same men and women whose tunnel vision tells them that it is better to try and stop Ruto from becoming president than help the president grow the economy, create jobs for our youth, and embrace every community in the building bridges initiative instead of bringing in one community and expelling another in a moronic zero sum game.
Sometimes you wonder whether these fellows can see the downside of the folly they are always engaging in.
It therefore turns out that these fellows do not care whether their malicious actions cripple the Nairobi County economy or not. All they want to achieve is malign the governor, smear him accordingly, use our Githeri Media which has zero credibility to destroy his character, then blackmail him to name a deputy governor of their choice.
This, under a fair God, must not, and will not happen!
Everybody, including the governor himself, is for the idea of naming a deputy governor. But being pressured, blackmailed, scared, threatened, intimidated, and pushed into naming one is not the way to go.
This harassment of the governor by coming up with totally fictitious corruption allegations is part of the weaponization of the war on corruption. There is evidence of a determined effort to smear the governor to a point where he is totally alienated from his supporters. The nonsensical stories being planted in local media by rogue National Intelligence Services agents such as that of the governor’s drivers blocking the presidential motorcade represent this evil effort. Even a grade one kid will tell you that the Governor, who by the way adores and respects the President, cannot intentionally block his boss, President Uhuru. But Githeri Media, with zero credibility and mere Yellow Journalism, must twist and turn everything to suit their paymasters’ wishes. There is no doubt that these malicious and baseless allegations are in some cases peddled by double agents posing as loyal friends of the governor and dedicated employees when in the real sense all they are doing is steal and share useless documents and bear gossip all over town.
The last few months have seen Kenyans get bombarded with shocking revelations of official corruption. A company was formed to run the SGR while we have the Kenya Railway Corporation which should be doing this job. Other politically correct politicians have been awarded cargo movement tenders without due process.
But it looks like this is not corruption!!!
Selective application of justice and the law when used to prosecute corruption is weaponization of the war on corruption.
The biggest danger of this weaponization of the war on graft is the complete rubbishing of the fight against corruption. It has already been deeply inscribed in the minds of Kenyans that we do not have a war on corruption but a process to discipline those who do not subscribe to the ideas of a particular side of the political spectrum.
Worse still, the institutions with the onus to battle graft that end up running these partisan errands suffer the unfortunate danger of having their reputations eroded in a major way. The office of the Director of Public Prosecutions (DPP), the Directorate of Criminal Investigations (DCI), and the Ethics and Anti-Corruption Commission (EACC) had almost fully recovered from a serious public trust slump but they are again losing that trust, and they are losing it fast. Nowadays, anytime someone is arrested Kenyans quickly try to assess the political inclination of the suspect rather than the alleged crime.
That is how weaponizing the war on graft neuters institutional credibility. It is also the easiest way to lose the war on graft.
The only advice for these guys is the age-old wisdom, carried by the Bible, spread by the Holy Quran, and advanced by the most moral philosophers to have ever graced the history annals of western philosophy- It is the categorical imperative. “Do only those actions you are comfortable seeing being done by everybody everywhere,” said Immanuel Kant. “Do what offers the most good to the greatest number of people,” added Jeremy Bentham, who by the way was supported by John Stuart Mill.
Anything less or different leads to destruction of society in the long run.
By The Centre for African Progress Team