Omar al-Bashir’s Spirit Thrives In Kenya

It has taken the rule of Sudan’s sitting president, Omar al-Bashir, six years to exterminate 300,000 fellow citizens. That’s about 137 victims per day…for six years. While not exactly Adolf Hitler proportions, his is still a pretty efficient killing machine, wouldn’t you say?

Next Wednesday, the ICC sits to determine whether the charges against Bashir warrant a date at The Hague. There’s a chance they may let him free to continue roaming the sand dunes of Sudan atop a camel chewing miraa under the desert sun. You see, France, Russia, Britain and China are willing to essentially pardon the president, provided he shows a serious commitment to the peace process. What exactly is a ‘serious commitment’ to the peace process? That’s a rhetorical question. The four out of five permanent members of the UN Security Council, with ‘special powers’ to suspend ICC charges, are afraid that violence will increase exponentially should a warrant for his arrest be issued. Proper English calls that blackmail. Add that to the fact that the ICC is broke and in fact considering the release of Charles Taylor. Yes folks, the guy whose war tactics included chopping off limps, ears and surgically removing the full breasts of lactating mothers by use of rusty farm implements….such as the ones transported to Western Province in Kenya government vehicles prior to our bungled elections. You know you are a failed state when a local tribunal is regarded as the worse proposition even with the current state of the ICC.

Well, it goes without saying that our local PEV superstar suspects are carefully analyzing each step Bashir takes with great interest. This is an important ‘case study’ that may set the precedent assuring our prime suspects peace of mind. The argument will always be the same; frog matching suspects to The Hague will ultimately provide their supporters the green light to embark on large scale mayhem. The formula is simple. If you are going to commit any level of genocide or war crimes against humanity, do so with the utmost ruthlessness. You not only achieve your devious aims but also leave behind a bloody track record of what your supporters are capable of repeating were you called to answer silly questions at The Hague. Is there anything or anyone who can prevent our prime suspects from pursuing similar blackmail tactics? To maintain peace, justice will have to be curtailed.

This should not mean anything to Kenyans; of course unless we consider the fact that our current coalition government was established on the same premise; that of peace over justice. These ‘principals’ did not hug, kiss and make merry to provide Kenyans a route to prosperity and good living. Rather, they did so to stop Kenyans from shedding blood. Kofi Annan’s primary job was to stop the bleeding; not to clean and heal the wound. If we wanted a clean government geared towards healing the nation, we should have chosen justice over peace. It’s funny we are now preoccupied in searching the source of our government’s incompetence yet the majority of us breathed a sigh of relief at the raising of Raila’s and Kibaki’s jointed palms. Honestly, what were we thinking? Depending on your political affiliation at the time, one of the two ‘principals’ was in fact a culprit. Yes folks, a culprit with whom we rewarded either the presidency or premiership based on the fear of continued mayhem as may be delivered by his supporters.

What follows is a bloated government held at ransom by itself. One defined by its record breaking inefficiency in service delivery but with very high expectations from the public. Combine the pre-election promises of both principals into one government policy and you will start to see what the public expects. Think of visions upon visions of the Kenya we want and you will understand why 70% percent of us would rather see the whole machinery close shop. Here we are today starving for lack of maize, forgetting sold hotels and expecting the very same scandalous people, who we knew are culprits from day one, to own up to political responsibility; whatever that means.

Listen, as afflicted Kenyans, we must continue seeking for accountability on a daily basis, however, please do not go on hunger strike expecting the status quo to change….as you will surely starve to death.