The state has the monopoly of violence

This man Ali Hassan Joho - I'm told he's scrubbed up proper and looks fine and hotter than a Turkish chili kebab with a cool beard to boot – is being made a cult hero for his people even without even lifting a finger.

Pragmatic enough to hop on a boda boda to avoid traffic on his way to the Mtongwe Ferry launch, specifically because some folks in town are claiming it's their project again, just like that footbridge a while ago.

Joho on his bike gets a colourful reception committee at Nyali Bridge with police officers from the presidential escort team, Flying Squad, the paramilitary General Service Unit, and you brace yourself to catch a glimpse of the Anti-Stock Theft Unit and one or two home guards.

Okay, their boss is around, police checks are expected, but then they frogmarch Joho to his office and detain him, stating they're under orders from above to keep him in a straitjacket until the boss leaves town.

And just for good measure, the Anti-Terror Police Unit joined in the party as they surrounded Joho's office and sealed it like a dodgy sample of bio-hazard waste waiting for shipping to a specialist disposal facility.

Welcome to Kenya, ladies and gentlemen, the land where anyone, even the governor of the local people who dares oppose the administration and point out their lies, smoke and mirrors by providing some facts and challenging the propaganda machine, is either called "shetani, shenzi, mjinga," or if the optics go south like they did after Turkana, detain them for good measure until the boss leaves town.

Political theorists world over were right when they said that only the state has the monopoly of violence and the threat of violence against its own people, and have no compunction using it when they deem it necessary, especially for self-preservation.

We're just special, I tell you.