One of the aspects that are critical in winning any war is the control of information. This is the reason why casualty figures will never tally when being reported by two warring sides. In fact the deliberate spread of propaganda is part and parcel of modern warfare. For instance, military genius Adolf Hitler was a guru when it came to the spread of propaganda.
Well-trained soldiers are keenly aware of these facts and it is therefore not surprising that police commissioner Maj General Ali, who is a military man, seeks to carefully control what the public reads about crime and security in the country. To him the control of information is part and parcel of the war on crime. But is it?
Is it really a good idea for the public not to know the real crime and security situation in the country? Is the public safer with ignorance? Or is it a better idea for you and me to know exactly what we are up against when we step out of our front doors every morning?
The war on crime is not a military operation and it is wishful thinking to urge the public to share information with a police force that is itself suppressing information. In fact it is highly unlikely that Police commissioner Ali will win the current war on crime with this kind of attitude. Little wonder that even during interviews on national TV, the police commissioner has continuously sidestepped very basic questions and failed to answer simple questions that the public deserves answers to.
This latest development is the strongest argument yet against having a military person running a police force as police commissioner. With the benefit of hindsight, it may have been a better idea to create a special unit manned by military types to confront hard core criminals in gun battles and retain the police commissioner's post amongst police officers who have had many year's training and experience in decision making when it comes to handling crime. As it is, military people hardly receive any training in the law, let alone law enforcement. Admittedly Maj General Ali has learnt fast but it seems other military habits that hinder his ability to function as a police commissioner are a little more tricky to handle.
Nation media group on fire.
Friday, February 16, 2007
Woe Unto You If You Are Kikuyu And Agitating For Minimum Reforms
It started with Paul Muite. When he joined the likes of Raila Odinga in calling for minimum reforms, a battery of high-ranking politicians from central province went to his Kabete constituency uninvited and called him a traitor.
Led by powerful justice minister Martha Karua, the Kikuyu politicians did not mince their words and indirectly told their listeners that those agitating for the reforms were enemies of the community as they did not wish president Kibaki to smoothly sail through in the forthcoming December general elections.
Among the key issues in the reforms that the opposition is keen to see introduced is a new requirement that the winning presidential candidate garners more than 50% of the total amount of votes. This is virtually impossible for Kibaki to achieve, even with a disjointed opposition and will force a two horse race run-off, which the Othaya MP as the incumbent will find difficult to win.
Muite hastily called a press conference the following day and dismissed Hon Karua and her team as shortsighted tribalists who had trivialized the constitution agenda for their own selfish interests.
He was so annoyed that he accused Karua of traveling all the way from Gichugu to talk nonsense to his constituents and warned her that her schemes were bound to fail miserably as Kenyans were not as gullible as she thought. What really got to Muite was the accusation by Karua that he had mismanaged the CDF for Kabete constituency. Muite insisted that the Kabete CDF was one of the best managed in the entire country.
Finding himself also being branded a traitor was the controversial Subukia legislator Koigi wa Wamwere who is in support of reforms before the polls and has even gone further and questioned the way Narc-Kenya are conducting themselves ahead of the general elections.
The vocal assistant minister says that he has been told that Narc-Kenya 'is the party of our tribe' and has challenged it to unveil its manifesto and deal with people like activist Stanley 'moneybags' Livondo who was caught on camera dishing out money in Ikolomani to scores of people at a funeral and hurled more as he took off in the helicopter he had arrived in.
It is common knowledge that Kikuyu's always look out for each other and are known to be the most tribalistic community in Kenya not to mention the wealthiest. On another note, they are also power hungry with most of them assuming that it is their birth right to always rule this country.
During president Moi's 24-year rule, the community were alienated by the Kanu regime and now that they are in power, it is most likely they will cling on to it at whatever cost even if it means shedding blood.
However, majority of Kenyans feel that Kikuyus have had their time and should now step aside and let people from other communities have a go at the highest office in the land. There are about 42 tribes in Kenya.
It is now increasingly clear that this issue of Kikuyu dominance and selfishness is bound to take center-stage in the forthcoming general elections.
Nation media group on fire.
Led by powerful justice minister Martha Karua, the Kikuyu politicians did not mince their words and indirectly told their listeners that those agitating for the reforms were enemies of the community as they did not wish president Kibaki to smoothly sail through in the forthcoming December general elections.
Among the key issues in the reforms that the opposition is keen to see introduced is a new requirement that the winning presidential candidate garners more than 50% of the total amount of votes. This is virtually impossible for Kibaki to achieve, even with a disjointed opposition and will force a two horse race run-off, which the Othaya MP as the incumbent will find difficult to win.
Muite hastily called a press conference the following day and dismissed Hon Karua and her team as shortsighted tribalists who had trivialized the constitution agenda for their own selfish interests.
He was so annoyed that he accused Karua of traveling all the way from Gichugu to talk nonsense to his constituents and warned her that her schemes were bound to fail miserably as Kenyans were not as gullible as she thought. What really got to Muite was the accusation by Karua that he had mismanaged the CDF for Kabete constituency. Muite insisted that the Kabete CDF was one of the best managed in the entire country.
Finding himself also being branded a traitor was the controversial Subukia legislator Koigi wa Wamwere who is in support of reforms before the polls and has even gone further and questioned the way Narc-Kenya are conducting themselves ahead of the general elections.
The vocal assistant minister says that he has been told that Narc-Kenya 'is the party of our tribe' and has challenged it to unveil its manifesto and deal with people like activist Stanley 'moneybags' Livondo who was caught on camera dishing out money in Ikolomani to scores of people at a funeral and hurled more as he took off in the helicopter he had arrived in.
It is common knowledge that Kikuyu's always look out for each other and are known to be the most tribalistic community in Kenya not to mention the wealthiest. On another note, they are also power hungry with most of them assuming that it is their birth right to always rule this country.
During president Moi's 24-year rule, the community were alienated by the Kanu regime and now that they are in power, it is most likely they will cling on to it at whatever cost even if it means shedding blood.
However, majority of Kenyans feel that Kikuyus have had their time and should now step aside and let people from other communities have a go at the highest office in the land. There are about 42 tribes in Kenya.
It is now increasingly clear that this issue of Kikuyu dominance and selfishness is bound to take center-stage in the forthcoming general elections.
Nation media group on fire.
Subscribe to:
Comments (Atom)