In the course of driving my Vitz RS, I have come across many cases of side mirrors, car logos, and other parts ripped off by thieves who are never caught.
Some do that in broad daylight. Expensive phones are also snatched. Many victims of such theft are reading this.
But when a grille was stolen from a big car, the suspects were apprehended within hours. That is ruthless efficiency. Why do I conclude so?
My right hand was broken in a confrontation with gangsters outside my residence a decade ago. No one was ever arrested.
I reported to the police. I have been carjacked, but no one was arrested. And I reported to the police.
Many Kenyans can share their stories. Or we failed to record? The grille incidence points to skewness in security and justice.
Would the culprits have been arrested that fast if the number plates were not red? My guess is as good as yours. Does it mean your status determines access to security and justice? Yet we should all be protected irrespective of our status in society.
I have wondered in private why we have diplomatic police. Do we have such a unit in other countries?
It seems justice and security are very biblical; to those who have more will be given.
The rest are on their own. Yet progressive societies advance justice for all.
Tax money
That is why taxation is progressive, so that those who make more money pay more taxes.
The tax money pays for services for all, from police protection to roads and healthcare.
The poorer members of society deserve better services to break the vicious cycle of poverty, a reality, not a textbook slogan.
The hallmark of a progressive society is how it takes care of the most vulnerable members of the society, not how it pampers its elite, who at times don’t deserve it.
We should always ask what the elite has done for society. Skewness in service provision is injustice.
I have seen tarmacked roads being swept when many children grow into adulthood without ever seeing such a road in some parts of this country.
Injustice breeds bitter citizens, who are less innovative and less productive.
And the long-term consequences are there to see: national anger, social instability, meaninglessness, and slower economic growth.
You do not need an Iran war to slow down an economy; injustice can do that slowly but surely, just like breathing carbon monoxide.
