Opposition got it wrong by disrupting Uhuru speech

Henry Munene

If there is one thing you’ve got like about Kenyan politicians, it has to be the comical way they try to turn around an embarrassing moment into one of heroism. Last week, I watched as a few Opposition MPs staged one of the most abhorrent acts in the history of democracy. When the group whistling to disrupt the President’s State of the Nation address was shooed out of the House, I tried to reach one of them. I wanted to find out what they did not want us to hear the President say. Or what the spectacle was all about. Of course I did not get any answer. I almost broke my ribs the following day, upon hearing the hopelessly flimsy rationalisation for that patently undemocratic act.

The whistling crew argued they did not want to hear ‘Jubilee propaganda’. Now, for members of a party with the word ‘democracy’ smack in the middle of its name, it was an irony of historic proportions. From the days of saba saba protests in the 90s, which forced the repeal of Section 2a and multi-party democracy, the Opposition has always upheld the right of everyone to be heard. They have always been on the right side of history.

Actually, I find it a bit odd to criticise the Opposition. They don’t (mis)manage my taxes, do not preside over theft of resources and they have no access to the levers of State that can make and unmake this great country.

Besides, they are assumed to be on the side of the oppressed, which is also the side of human interest. They sometimes speak for the people, and so it’s fair to say they (ideally) carry the voice of the downtrodden; which is also the voice of God.

For that reason, they easily find common ground with a free Press, the civil society and other agents of change, especially in a country where my profession is seen as little more a bunch of clueless artisans who produce raw materials for the meat packaging industry.

But when we see the left besting the establishment in rolling back the gains our heroes bought with tonnes of blood, I get really horrified. And when I realise some of them are my contemporaries and they think this suppression, as it were, should be adopted in the counties, it makes me want to pull out my hair. It makes me want to pen one angry tirade.

Of course it all puts me at risk of looking like a court poet. You could say my second name does not help much, either, but there you are. To be fair to the Opposition, only a handful deigned to save the nation from Jubilee’s excesses. If they were to be honest, some Opposition MPs were also left feeling embarrassed.

Democracy, at least the little part of it I can pretend to know, operates on very simple rules.

One, you may not agree with someone, but as a true democrat it is your duty to defend their right to say it. When you stop someone saying something, it makes the listeners to wonder what you are fearing.

Two, freedom must be enjoyed in a manner that does not interfere with other people’s rights. So if you don’t want to hear what the Head of State is saying, just stay the hell away! Your right not to hear must not violate the right of those who want to listen. Let’s not even say anything about the dignity of institutions like the Presidency, which we obviously would want respected in future, especially if ‘our own’ occupy them.

The saddest part, besides the ethnic vitriol on social media, is that abuse of freedom adds to the arsenal of the oppressor. It gives self-assured despots ready examples of why we can’t be trusted with our God-given rights.

Lastly, there is the very small matter of mentorship. Our children want to be like those in power. If all they do is engage in physical fights and other chaotic tactics over every parochial grouse, what moral authority do you have to lecture your son not to riot in school or college over every petty grievance.