Few things astound me a lot – and unfortunately, they only happen in Kenya. The political concensus that was arrived at by Raila Odinga and William Ruto has again opened can of worms.
Much as many may have applouded the move by the two most celebrated leaders in the current political setup, a few things have come out that demand some scrutiny. Among the demands that the Azimio coalition leader Raila Odinga put on the table (as a prerequisite condition for any dialogue with President William Ruto) was the immediate dropping of charges against some Azimio leaders who were arrested for staging demonstrations.
There were also some 200 youth who were arrested and detained for taking part in street demos. The latter group also ‘beneffited’ from the imminent truce that I understand is currently being structured by relevant people.
The release of the two groups isn’t my problem, no. The problem lies on why they were finally found not to have anything that would provoke a serious charge against them before the court of law. A question that the office of Director of Public Prosecution (ODPP) should answer is what manner if charges were levelled against the politicians, and the demonstrators that would only fail to exist when there’s a dialogue (and possibly another form of ‘Handshake’) between the two political heavyweights.
This brings me to my presumption that independent offices in Kenya are never independent. There has to be someone who is doing pulling of strings behind the curtains. Something that ODPP should be asked is that what were the charges that were levelled against legislators like Ugunja’s Opiyo Wandayi. Another question would be like why did the cases only dropped after the two warring political sides seem to be heading into ceasefire. That could not be a coincidence. Never.
During his campaign days, the then Deputy President William Ruto oozed confidence that he’d let all independent government offices to carry out their mandate. However, as Kenyans rightly put it, ‘kwa ground vitu ni different’.
