Mwai Kibaki and his government faithfully continue to portray the mind numbing absolutely crass stupidity that even now still leaves Kenyans reeling in amazement. The response from cabinet ministers continues to be disjointed, confused and verging on the ridiculous. Some of the Gallic shrugs given by some of the ministers are studies in innocent ignorance.

Mwai Kibaki

The head of state continues to issue a deafening silence that leads one to wonder if he

1. Didn’t know about it but doesn’t want to look foolish even more foolish
2. Did indeed know about it but doesn’t want to have to explain himself
3. Sanctioned it himself

I simply do not understand how John Michuki and his fellows thought that this was a good idea. Even the stupidest politicans have an instinct of self preservation. I guess we’ll have to revise that particular view.

Word on the grapevine is that the masterminds of the raid were Michuki himself, one of Kibaki’s unofficial advisors Stanley Murage and the CID chief. The police commissioner and his other immediate deputies were blissfully unaware of the events. Some, including the Nairobi PPO answered the phone in pyjamas to be told of the events by journalists seeking answers.
The current leading conspiracy theories as to the rationale behind the raids

1. Clever ploy to divert attention from Anglo Leasing and Goldenberg, which has implicated quite a few in the Kibaki administration
2. Kibaki no longer cares — he knows his reputation is at rock bottom so he might as well enjoy himself
3. A loud message to the press and to the opposition that the government is not to be trifled with

The most stunning revelation over the weekend was that there was going to be a second raid on a still yet to be determined location on Friday evening but a sudden downpour threw a spanner in the works.

It is difficult to determine which is more ludicrous — that the government would have the temerity to pull the same stunt again or that the tough, highly trained commandos who find it child’s play to wade into the jaws of death would be put off by a bit of rain.

Internal Security minister John Michuki arrogantly continues to stick to his guns, arguing that what the government did was not illegal. The man even had the temerity to brandish a copy of the constitution at this point. He then went on to accuse the Standard of “subversive activities”, a claim the Standard management have hotly denied.

John Michuki

President Mwai Kibaki, a Catholic, attended Sunday mass at the Holy Family Minor Basilica. The Archbishop of Nairobi wasted no time during his sermon decrying the deteriorating state of affairs. But true to his usual aversion for effort of any kind, Kibaki said nothing and his security men very energetically kept the press away from the president.

The Archbishop, when asked his opinion spoke volumes.

The buck stops at the top.
The very top.

Archbishop Ndingi

One of the good things that has come out of this is the unity of the Kenyan people. I have never seen Kenyans more united over any issue ever since the entry of the NARC government. Everyone from all stations of society have spoken out against this affront. The church, the press themselves, civil society, NGOs, corporate entities — have united in solidarity behind the Standard and KTN.

A very sobering issue in the whole business is that there is no complete chain of command in the security forces. The Police Commissioner Hussein Ali was blissfully unaware of the developments. One of his juniors, the CID head is the one who executed the raid. A visibly angry Commissioner arrived in Nairobi from the Seychelles yesterday and quite candidly told the press he knew nothing about the events.

Commissioner Hussein Ali

The fact that the commissioner can be unaware of such an exercise leaves me speechless with amazement.

The current chain of command I understand is as follows

So in the festivities the Commissioner was cut out of the loop and the CID chief run the operation, on instructions from the internal security minister.

Serious business indeed. It is very serious business when junior officials in the force have their own personal armies that they can deploy without consulting their seniors. I’m afraid of thinking of the implications of such a state of affairs. It beggars the question of just who is in charge. This especially coupled with the fact that the initial police statement accepting responsibility for the raid was crafted in State House

Predictions

• Mwai Kibaki will do and say absolutely nothing on the matter and faithful to his usual modus operandi, hope that things go away.
• John Michuki will continue smirking condescendingly from his perch
• Documents will suddenly appear nebulously outlining some subversive activities from the Standard group
• A 15/20 man commission will be formed and tasked to investigate the happenings and will be kept busy for the odd year. The report will then disappear into the netherworld.
• To divert attention from this mess, the government will pull of something even more devastatingly stupid

Watch this space.

John Lennon – Imagine