Murder in the family, screamed the headlines of one of the daily papers on Tuesday July 22, 2014. Murder in Likoni screamed another daily. Murder in the nation, is all that we seem to wake up to in these times. Mr President your people cannot sleep, they cannot function for the fear that has been created.
Businesses that serve tourists are suffering huge losses; those losses are translated into loss of income for the ordinary persons. Those people who work in the hotels, those who work in related business and the rest of us who depend on those people to buy our services with the money earned are all suffering, Mr President.
I listened to you speaking to county commissioners several months ago; you told them they had no business sleeping if you were not sleeping over the nation’s security. You told them they were your eyes on the ground, and they had better know that you expect results.
You are reported to have said as follows: “If there are security challenges in your counties, yes, while the Inspector-General (David Kimaiyo) has the overall responsibility of internal security in this country...and if there is cattle rustling in Baringo County, I will be calling the County Commissioner of Baringo County and expecting to be told what you have done, because Kimaiyo is in Nairobi, you are the one who is responsible for what is going on.”
Well Mr President, if what we have seen lately is anything to go by, I am not sure there is much loss of sleep down there. You may still be the only one who loses sleep together with your people.
Mr President, you are the Commander-in-Chief. We need you to take command sir; our nation is folding up before our very eyes.
Mr Deputy President, what is your say on this matter? What happened to the two gentlemen who wore grey trousers and red ties as they named the Cabinet? The imagery was powerful because it depicted two younger gentlemen hard at work on issues of concern to the people who had just elected them.
We need to see such imagery and action today; please roll up your sleeves before our country plummets into greater darkness. You know your Excellencies, the last few months of insecurity have reminded us that the key role of the Government is to provide infrastructure to enable people run their affairs. We have been reminded that security is a key part of that infrastructure and that without it, we the nation’s people cannot move forward.
Honourable Raila Odinga, we hear you. The IEBC, devolution of resources and security are key issues. Truly they are. But sir, the matter of security does not need a referendum now; more than a million people have already spoken and said they need security.
If that answer is already in the public domain, we need your proposals on how to curb insecurity. You see my take is that if we allow this nation to slide into anarchy, your other referendum questions will be irrelevant. Who will care about IEBC or even devolution if they are busy dodging bullets and machetes?
Hon Odinga, I have three recent memories of actions that you took and that changed the course of politics in this country; one was when you had the courage to say “Kibaki Tosha,” another one was when you lead the “No” campaign to the 2005 draft Constitution and the other was when you said “Yes” to the 2010 Constitution long before other senior politicians had the courage to take a position. If ever there was a time we need you to help change the course of this nation, it is now, Hon Odinga. Acknowledge that people have spoken and join President Kenyatta in sorting out insecurity.
My take is that even opposition politics need stability to thrive.
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