The People hold the Key.

The fallacy that the promulgation of a Constitution is all that is required to change the behaviour of a government that has redefined impunity for decades keeps on being perpetuated by the chatteratti. Even sages such as Maina Kiai still propagate the theory that since the Constitution bestows, or affirms, certain rights to Kenyans, the powers-that-be should modify their decades' long behaviour and act as the Constitution demands they do. While we can justly claim to have an incredible document as our mother of all laws, we must remain alive to the fact that reforming the state and its institutions is a work in progress, with reforms taking shape in some parts and in some others impunity fighting back with a vengeance all the while society keeps ticking along as before.

Civil society organisations, for all their fire and brimstone, have done little to help Kenyans realise that the new dispensation applies to them as much as it applies to their government. This past week Maina Njenga together with other prominent leaders and supporters attempted to hold a rally at the Jumuuia Gardens retreat in Limuru, the site of the Kiraitu Murungi-organised Limuru II GEMA meeting where Uhuru Kenyatta was declared the presidential candidate of that 'cultural' organisation and calls for the postponement of his trial at the ICC were vociferously made by various speakers. Maina Njenga and his cohort were prevented from participating fully at Limuru II and therefore, vowed to hold Limuru IIB to counter the impression that had been created in the minds of many that Limuru II was merely a tribal outfit out to secure the interests of the Deputy Prime Minister.

Limuru IIB was violently prevented from taking place by the combined efforts of the Kenya Police and Administration Police. Eric Kiraithe, the police spokesman, informed the public that the Kenya Police had received intelligence that the meeting was a re-launch of the dreaded Mungiki and that there was no option but to prevent it from occurring. Many opine that the reason why the meeting was disrupted was due to the fear that it would undermine GEMA's plans for the DPM and thus it could not be allowed to proceed. Maina Kiai argues that the violent disruption of the meeting by the police forces is a sign that impunity still reigns in Kenya and that the State continues to ignore the clear provisions of law, falling back on tried and tested methods perfected during the twenty-four years of KANU one-party rule.

While it is a right guaranteed by the Constitution for Kenyans to peaceably assemble and propagate their political vision, it is not a right that is enjoyed without restriction. If the police, as they claim, had credible information that the meeting was designed to revive the Mungiki, it was their duty to respond as they did, first by denying its organisers permission to stage the rally and then using force to disperse its attendees once they ignored their directions. The presence of luminaries such as Paul Muite and David Gitari should not have influenced the police in any way. On the other hand, if the information was provided with the motive of preventing Uhuru Kenyatta from witnessing organised opposition to his plans and he used his connections in government to browbeat his opponents into seeing things his way, then we must surely still be living under a one-party dictatorship disguised as multi-party democracy. Kenyans are yet to inculcate democratic, constitutional ideals yet, though.

When one witnesses the reckless manner in which drivers flout traffic rules, for example, one is persuaded that Kenyans believe that the law is meant to regulate someone elses behaviour and not their own. To date, many political parties are claiming memberships in the tens of thousands yet it is impossible to ascertain whether this is true when even the popular ODM are forced by the Registrar of Political Parties to amend their party registers because thousands of members are registered elsewhere. It should be a badge of honour for a person to identify himself with the political party of his choice, one that espouses his ideals and promotes his objectives. Yet listening to men and women hold forth on politics in this country, one is left with the distinct impression that they think that politics is the exclusive preserve of political leaders and that theirs is only to follow without thought. Without demonstrating that they are active participants in the political process, their parties are merely repositories of the vitriol and corruption that has kept this nation from achieving many of its objectives since Independence.

Without reforming how we see ourselves and how we act towards one another, we may expect more of the same as was witnessed in Limuru this week. We shall also, sadly, keep reading the disappointed ramblings from our chattering classes. If we do not change why should our government?