The military has no role to play in influencing the outcome of elections The strength of any democracy lies in the strength of its institutions. Institutions are for the most part the custodians of sustained social-economic development by virtue of the fact that they are expected to have an enduring institutional memories. It is this memory that keeps countries on the right track despite the fact that different political leaders are bound to ascend to power and for the most part have different policies. They are supposed to strictly adhere to their mandates and not be swayed by political preferences. This is because they are expected to serve the elected governments faithfully irrespective of who is elected into office. It is based on this fact that political leaders are often stopped from making tribal appointments that could potentially compromise such institutions. On Saturday 18th Jan 2014, Raila broke his silence on the role that the Kenyan military (KDF) played in influencing the outcome of the general elections in 2013. His sentiments were unequivocal and pointed to the fact that Uhuru is nothing short of a dictator who took power by force. Raila is a senior politician in this country and he doesnt speak without facts. Each time Raila said something and Kenyans sought to dismiss it as a hoax, the truth would later glare at them and theyd acknowledge how Raila was right from the beginning. He has been among the most consistent leaders to point out evil schemes by government, most of which have turned out to be true. Any Kenyan who opts to adopt Railas assertion as the absolute truth is therefore having a rational and justifiable premise on which to base his conclusions. But what is the implication of bringing such a matter to the public? Complicity by the media has seen them ignore Railas statements until there was loud noise from Jubilee to try and drive the public away from the substance of Railas assertions. We practically saw tyranny of noise practiced where the only responses to Railas statement were those opposing it with a calculated and unapologetic attempt to muzzle anyone whod give any further weight to them. The responses were, however, only directed at the persona of Raila and empty rhetorics that steered away from the substantial issue being debated. That was the clearest admission that even Jubilee critics knew that they do not have the material to counter the man who doesnt speak without gathering evidence. An issue as weighty as Railas observation of KDFs role in forcing Uhuru into power is one that was definitely bound to be steamy, and one for which evidence would have been called. But why is it that no one is asking Raila to substantiate with facts? Hed probably having details of the entire plot, the names of those involved, the nature of discussions held, and even recordings of the proceedings of the meetings! And no! No one wants that information to be brought out! So? Work with the media to discredit this illustrious son of our land and have the matter shoved under the carpet. The public court is most often the final court. The fact that he had to wait for over 9 months to bring this matter out can be interpreted in a number of ways. The most likely scenario is that hed tried in vain to get the military to back off from political courses and concentrate on their legitimate work which is to secure our borders. So, bringing it out in the open exposes the military to the court of public opinion: the final court, and it could be because this was rationally thought out as the best course of action. So in a sense, the statement was definitely not a slip of the tongue or a product of carelessness as Jubilee and its compromised media would want Kenyans to believe. As Ababu Namwamba once said, many Kenyans are often beguiled to imagine that some political events are sheer coincidences while in truth, most are a result of careful thought after weighing the pros and cons of the same. RAILAs STATEMENT WAS DEFINITELY NOT AN AFTERTHOUGHT, but a deliberate attempt to keep Kenyans informed that their respect for the military is misplaced. KDF has in the past hit the headlines for all the wrong reasons. NGOs and Human Rights activists have decried KDFs approach in tackling security issues with incidences of torture and rape alleged during the West Pokot operation that brought Matakweis reign to a halt. In more recent incident, Garissa residents were in 2012 exposed to the worst kind of destruction of property in an operation aimed at fishing out a few rotten elements. What is much fresher in our minds is the exposure of the military in the Westgate scandal where over 70 precious Kenyans lost their lives with KDF gaining accolades as the looting brigade. Revelations about their involvement in pushing a dictator into power using democratic institutions therefore takes another huge chunk from the credibility of the KDF. If there are any Kenyans who still trust in the KDF and their ability to serve Kenyans equally, theyd pass for the most gullible creatures the world has ever hosted. But what can Kenyans do if democracy is being frustrated by the military and the security forces? Should they give up on the hopes of ever determining their future, or should they come up and counter these forces? proudlykenyann.blogspot/2014/01/the-military-has-no-role-to-play-in.html
Posted on: Mon, 20 Jan 2014 04:29:07 +0000
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