We are oscillating between supporting the National Executive and its security agencies in their crackdown on terrorists and their sympathisers, and agitating for the protection of the rights of the people facing the brunt of the selfsame security agencies. A government, any government, is the proverbial ton of bricks if its might is directed against you. The force being brought to bear against the people living in that district known as Eastleigh must be overwhelming. The fear that must pervade the area must be pervasive. And yet the debate surrounding the operation of the government has subsided; many have retreated to their lives. They are no longer concerned about the siege or the roundups or the concentration camp tactics deployed in the search for terrorists and terrorist sympathisers.
It is alleged that in the past two weeks, at the height of the roundups and door-to-door searches, individual police officers and security agents have collected up to seventy-five million shillings in bribes. Whether this is true is not the issue; what is surprising is that the accusation was made by a Senior Counsel not known for flinching in the light of controversy without it being challenged from any quarter. It might be that the Senior Counsel exaggerates; who would not if it meant seeing your name in lights? But the reputation of the security apparatus of Kenya has hit nadirs so many times that few are surprised when an allegation such as the one about the seventy-million shillings bribe will go unchallenged even from the National Executive, and the leadership of the National Police Service or the National Intelligence Service.
While proof was not adduced as to who murdered Aboud Rogo or Abubakar Sharif, many were willing to believe that it were security agents who shot them dead in cold blood. The recent exercises in vetting of police officers has subjected the security establishment to unfamiliar scrutiny. Multi-millionaires in the ranks are unable to explain the sources of their wealth. Rumours about police officers owning matatus and therefore, being leery about enforcing the Traffic Act, or policemen so poor that they moonlight as guns-for-hire or, worse, hire out their firearms to other gunmen, are believed without hesitation.
It is only a certain section of the middle classes who could, in all honesty, agree with the good intentions of the National Executive regarding the Eastleigh crackdown. These are people who live in relatively secure residential districts. (The recent attacks against elected representatives are anomalies.) Their roads, street lights, drains and sewers are all in good condition. Their personal and home security is very good; many retain the services of private security guards. The police are unlikely to come knocking on their doors in the middle of the night "searching for illegals". Their cars are unlikely to be stopped at police road-blocks and searched for firearms or explosives. Even if you fit the profile of the people the police they are searching for, but you happen to live in Lavington, Muthaiga, Kitisuru, Kileleshwa, Red Hill, Runda, Nyari or Spring Valley, the police are unlikely to trouble you. (I don't know about the Traffic Police; those ones are a law unto themselves.)
Other Kenyans do not enjoy that luxury of the presumption of innocence. It is not seen as a right in Eastleigh, Dandora, Kariobangi North (and South), Ruai, Doonholm, Mwiki, Zimmerman, or Githurai. "Utajibu maswali mbele" is the response even when you have valid documents of identity on your person. (A swift bribe might change your circumstances for the better though.) The roads, drains, sewers, street lights and pavements in these areas are distinct only when they are patched up. Crime is rife. Corruption is pervasive. The people have been desensitised to an extent that the plight of their fellowman is none of their business. It is why they do not care about the crackdowns and roundups in Eastleigh; it is a fact of life for them.
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