Don't forget we are a democracy, Mr Nkaissery

I cringed when I saw the country's Interior Cabinet Secretary Joseph Nkaissery on TV threatening farmers and herders in Narok with extra-judicial killing. It was scary coming from the man who advises the President on all matters of internal security. It was shocking.

The minister, with the top security bosses watching, imposed a curfew and declared that anyone found walking at night will have to face the music. Then he declared that "there will be no fine" for any person arrested.

This is what he said: "Usiku yote (at night), anybody seen akimangamanga (loitering) ...chukua hatua (please take action), and I am telling you hakuna fine (there's no fine), you will go in! Hakuna fine! Anybody threatening the security of this country, hakuna fine, kama hujapatwa na risasi (there's no fine, or the bullet gets you first)!"

I saw as the police boss in charge of the area saluted and then nodded as the lips mumbled "Yes sir" to the retired general's directive. I thought Nkaissery would stop there, and clarify his orders, until he spoke about how powerful the government was, and how they can get any lawbreaker.

Then he told the warring communities fighting over dead cattle and torched wheat that "Mimi nasema, siombi amani, amani itakuwa!" (I am not begging for peace, there shall be peace!).

So what is wrong with the tough-talking general, who is simply telling the herders and farmers who are defending their livelihood, and the others who are perhaps retaliating, to stop fighting?

Peace-building is not about the Government might and force. It is about those people living together in peace and harmony, not because there are hundreds of police officers manning their respective borders, but because they respect each other and each other's property.

It is predictable some will say the violence in Olposimoru was spontaneous – a communal anger that saw houses torched and 5,000 displaced. Others will say it was a planned retaliatory attack. That is not Nkaissery's place to decide. The courts will interrogate the evidence.

You can't shout "hakuna fine" as you punch the air, as if you are the Judiciary. We have a Constitution which insists that everyone deserves their day in court!

The facts are Nkaissery is a Maasai. An elder. He comes from Kajiado. When he faces the Kipsigis and tells them "sijali! (I don't care), I am talking from the government point of view", he should know that they already view him through the tribal lens, and he should drop his combative stance.

You can't command citizens in a democracy as if Kenya is one huge military garrison. The gun alone does not solve everything. Yes, it kills and shuts people up, but you can't commit an injustice in the name of law and order. No!

I invite Nkaissery to read President Kenyatta's report on national values and principles of governance. If he cares to open Page 118 and check paragraph 362, it will tell him that "banditry, cattle rustling, and ethnic animosities" are some of the security threats that are barriers to sustainable development. It will tell him that these security challenges "impede production, damage infrastructure, disrupt communities and their livelihoods and hinder effective service delivery".

I'd like to remind him that his Commander-in-Chief regretted the adverse effects of curfews and almost said they should be used sparingly. In a democracy, dear Nkaissery, we talk. We debate. We disagree. You have billions in your docket to ensure that we don't fight and we don't kill each other. That money does not buy guns and bullets to give the police officers so that they maim, kill and harass!