By MUTUMA MATHIU
Posted Thursday, August 25 2011 at 20:00
Posted Thursday, August 25 2011 at 20:00
There will be probably never be a better time to retell the story of Caesar — Gaius Julius Caesar — Roman military ruler and dictator, and his wife, Pompeia.
Caesar was good at military things; he smashed many kingdoms and brought them under the Roman heel. He invaded Britain twice, no less, and Germany too.
But even more notable was the very high regard he had for himself and the expectations he had of others.
This probably came from being influenced by his mother, Aurelia, a no-nonsense aristocratic woman, as was his Aunt Julia.
Caesar was married to his first wife, Cornelia, at 18 and she only 13.
It is a good thing that the Children’s Act was not in force at the time because had it been, he would have become the conqueror of Block D, not Venetia.
Cornelia died in childbirth — the waste of mothers we see in our hospitals today goes way back. The same year, he married Pompeia, the subject of this story.
Four years into his second marriage, Caesar was elected chief priest (Pontifex Maximus) of whatever pagan religion Rome practised at the time.
Like every good pastor’s wife, Pompeia shared in some of his religious duties.
And so it was that she and his mother organised a religious ceremony at his official residence to be attended by women only.
But it was not attended by women only. A gathering of ladies was an irresistible opportunity for male mischief.
Publius Pulcher, a young aristocratic buck, disguised himself as a woman and attended the ceremony with the intention of seducing Pompeia.
He was found out by Ceasar’s mother. There were stories that Pompeia had smuggled him in.
Publius was prosecuted for sacrilege, though of course coveting the high priest’s wife was just as bad.
Caesar refused to testify against him (and Publius was acquitted).
Instead, he divorced Pompeia. His wife should never even have been under suspicion, he said.
It was a profound statement about trust and high expectations.
Caesar expected his wife to construct relations and to conduct herself in a fashion that made it impossible for anyone to suspect her of infidelity.
The mere fact that she was under suspicion was as bad as if she had bedded the young Publius.
The director of Kenya Anti-Corruption Commission, Kenyans expect, should be a person that no one would dare accuse of bribe-taking, leave alone trying to bribe.
When the public begins debating whether or not the director took a bribe, the war enters very dangerous territory.
Because the director ought never to have placed himself, or herself, in a position where the light of suspicion could ever fall on them.
It is unfair, but such are the high expectations.
PLO Lumumba, his taste in suits notwithstanding (he wears three-pieces complete with a fob watch, the kind of get-up you don’t see on a guy younger than 200 years) is a likeable fellow.
I regard him as one of us, the good Kenyans who love their country and like to see it become a better place.
I watched him on TV with absolute horror as he told his story of an unproductive sting operation.
I was frightened out of my wits. Why was he telling this story? Why was he speaking of himself in the third person?
As director, why did he agree to take part in field operations?
Why did he refer the case to the CID rather than using KACC’s own investigators whose technical advice he claimed to have taken to set up sting operations?
Why did he go to functions in various parts of the country to “entice” suspects to bribe him? When did he call in his senior team? What genius thought up this whole thing anyway?
What scared me in PLO’s terrible public performance is not that I did not believe him, it is because he had given the enemy — the political class — the tools with which to destroy him and the commission.
As for job performance — he says he has achieved many “non-juicy things which the press will never cover” — a year is not such a long time. Why did we expect him to do in a year what we couldn’t in 20?He called the press to tell a story that brought him, like Pompeia, within suspicion.
Mr Mathiu is the managing editor, Daily Nation (mmathiu@ke.nationmedia.com)
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