Use Your Bodyguards.

That was the piece of sage advice that Gitobu Imanyara imparted upon a house packed full of his fellow ministers, advice he obviously did not follow when his own life was endangered by a group of goons who; showing their own allegiance to Deputy Prime Minister Uhuru Kenyatta extracted the hapless Imanyara from his car and forced him to kneel on the tarmac-here’s where it got interesting- as Imanyara stated to a rapt citizen audience (parliament proceedings are televised) that “the men came out of a ‘stalled’ car and asked me if I was Imanyara. On answering in the affirmative they told me to come out and kneel while facing Mt. Kenya ( where the Kikuyu believed that Ngai- their god resides and faced in prayer) and repeat the words; Uhuru tuko pamoja (Uhuru we are together) three times.” One can’t help but query, where were the Muheshimiwa’s (honourable’s) own bodyguards?

That advice seemed warranted especially given that only days before Imanyara’s brush with death Prime Minister Raila Odinga was to be ‘stunned’ at a funeral-of all places- with news that a plot was hatching to end his stay on earth. In his surprising and harsh accusations, the joint chief whip Jakoyo Midiwo said that Deputy PM Uhuru Kenyatta, Finance Minister Njeru Githae, the recently appointed Foreign Affairs Minister Sam Ongeri, William Ruto had attended meetings to plan the PM’s demise. Midiwo narrated in his statement to police how and where the said meetings took place.

Most the world’s population are a suspicious lot by nature and Kenyans are no exception, as more details of Midiwos statement to police were revealed many a Kenyan myself included were wondering whether these allegations and death scares were some sort of publicity stunt, but on the other hand logic dictates that one couldn’t possibly use mortality to get the public and media’s undivided attention- surely that would be too much?

More questions were to be asked of the Gem MP as he stated in his report to the police that he could not name his trusted sources. Of this unnamed ‘citizen’ source he said “I have known my sources for a long time and my view is that he is a very credible person.” As the country and the Press asked questions of him the police were hard at work obtaining a warrant for his arrest for use as soon as his plane touches down on Kenyan soil back from a trip to South Africa. “We have a warrant to arrest him and we are now waiting for his arrival” said the officers at CID headquarters. It’s a shame that actual criminals and other suspects are not so swiftly apprehended. On hearing the news of the warrant out for his immediate apprehension Midiwo took to the phone and stated that he was “ready to go to court.” 

He also took a moment to remind the public at large and the police themselves of their job description saying: “the Polices’ work is to confirm if information given to them is true or false”

The police have a duty to serve and protect the citizens of their nation, to essentially be our ‘bodyguards’, but as the years go by Kenyans have become increasingly weary of the men and women meant to protect us and I certainly don’t blame anyone for having their doubts. The beleaguered force did nothing to improve their tattered public image when they sealed off the venue to the much talked about B2 meeting that was to take place in Limuru, police used live bullets and teargas canisters to disperse the thousands of youth on their way to the meetings venue.  This conduct like much that the police seem to do these days is conduct rather unbecoming of officers.