There’s more to the deadly reaction to Rogo’s death than meets the eye

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By MUTUMA MATHIU mmathiu@ke.nationmedia.com
Posted  Thursday, August 30  2012 at  20:00

IN SUMMARY

• There is no evidence that Rogo was killed by the police, even though his family thought so
• Even if he was assassinated by the State, the quarrel then is between the State and Rogo’s followers
• Why then is it that churches and Christian leaders have been targeted in these riots?

The killing of Aboud Rogo, the radical preacher and terror suspect, and the subsequent outpouring of hatred is very worrying.

The messages that I saw on Twitter, urging youths to go out and kill, are to me evidence that this country is at war, not just in Somalia, but also within our own borders.

And our enemies are brutal and filled with hatred. I have not been paying full attention to the speculation that a neighbouring country might be funding the Mombasa Republican Council to cause the implosion of Kenya.

I also paid scant attention to arguments, mainly by our religious affairs editor, Rashid Abdi, that Al-Shabaab is using the Boko Harram formula in Nigeria and fomenting a religious war between Christians and Muslims in Kenya.

I should have paid more attention. Think about it: there is no evidence that Rogo was killed by the police, even though his family thought so.

But even if he was assassinated by the State, the quarrel then is between the State and Rogo’s followers.

Why then is it that churches and Christian leaders have been targeted in these riots? Why were the inciters asking youths to burn churches and kill pastors?

Kenyans are used to a casual approach to national issues. We are a country at risk of terrorism, but so far, we have been unable to pass an anti-terrorism law.

We have confused the right to protect the freedoms of our people with the need to protect ourselves against those who are committed to killing us.

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I am not even sure today that we have a public order law.

There is a lot of oestrogen thinking in this country nowadays; all soapy, feely and weepy.

If we want to keep our country peaceful and together, I think it might be useful to combine our love for freedom and human rights with a healthy dose of testosterone.

Because you have to be alive to enjoy your rights, you see.

* * * *

Talking about rights, it is not the bishop or sheikh, or the nice polite lady next door, who need the right to express themselves protected. Freedom of expression doesn’t mean the right to say the things that people want to hear, or the things which offend no one.

The people for whose protection freedom of expression was encoded in the Constitution are Gado, our cartoonist who has a talent for annoying the high and mighty – and Miguna Miguna.

The freedom to speak your mind even if what you are saying is hurtful or damaging to the interests of powerful persons, that is what it is all about.

I was out of office a week ago but I would get the most insulting updates from Miguna, constantly complaining about parts of our coverage that he considered inaccurate, wrong or unfair.

I got emails and text messages describing us as “pathetic” and part of a conspiracy to destroy him.

I often got angry because I was trying to squeeze some rest out of a few days and because I thought that the complaints, even when they had some merit, were needlessly coarse.

If you find yourself in a hole, as Kwendo Opanga used to say, stop digging.

But there is no doubt in my mind at all that it is Miguna’s right to write his book, promote it and speak about it wherever he chooses. I stand with him and I stand by his freedom to express himself.

Prime Minister Odinga, according to his aides, denies having a hand in the attacks on Miguna and considers it “strange” that Kenyans should expect him to support Miguna’s right to write a critical book and promote it.

My own observation is that often, the question of reforms, human rights and the fight against corruption are platform concepts, something used to seduce the masses.

Many of those who use them do not believe a word of it. When their family or supporters are accused of corruption, they side with them. And you have rights so long as you toe the line.

I have heard the crap theory that Miguna, with the help of unnamed parties, has been organising the attacks against himself. This is truly frightening.

It is not Orwellian, it is Goebellian, where you take the Jew to the gas chamber, and then blame him for it.

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