MACHAGE'S REINSTATEMENT A PERPETUATION OF IMPUNITY

The recent reinstatement of Dr.Wlfred Machage as the assistant
minister for roads is disgusting.In a way,his reinstatement maybe
interpreted as a political gimmick to hoodwink the public that there
was a 'technicality error' in implicating him and his co-accused over
their inciting  remarks at the height of referendum campaigns in the
year 2010.

While it is apparent that the leaders were captured in videos recorded
by the journalists who were covering them,the 'technicality excuse'
raises more eyebrows than answers.One question that comes to mind
is:why was he reinstated at the nearing of the electioneering
period?What did the court rely on as the evidence on this critical
case?Were the footages captured bogus so as to vindicate him(with
others)?

While the took over the chief justice portfolio,Dr.Willy Mutunga,a
doyen of the reformist civil society since the inception of
multipartyism promised to spearhead the much awaited judicial reforms
to coincide with the new dawn of a new constitutional dispensation.Has
this much-hyped reform process been hijacked by political opportunism?

What appalled many in the Machage's saga was the admittance of NCIC's
chairman Dr.Mzalendo Kibunjia with the court ruling.In a prime news
interview with a local television station,Kibunjia surprisingly
defended the erroneous court ruling while asserting that there was
political will to curb hate speech by the coalition government.This is
a total irony of the NCIC's chairman stance  whose stern  warnings to
politicians are not new in the mainstream media.

This is a massive failure on the NCIC's side whose critical mandate is
to ensure that national cohesion and integration is maintained in the
country,especially at this critical time,when we are preparing for
general elections.At this electioneering period,our stadiums will
undoubtedly be awash with political rallies of every kind.Every
presidential contender will result to using any gimmick to win the
electorates' support.They will,as usual result to populist
sloganeering in addition to using ethnic hatred propagandas as weapon
of dealing with fellow contestants.

Many commissions formed before have terribly failed to fulfil their
obligations;but for the NCIC its sole role at this time determines the
country's stability during the elections.Its failure,reluctance and
selectivity in dealing with any perpetrator of ethnic hatred may again
be a replica of the now defunct Electoral Commission of Kenya(ECK's)
delay to announce the 2007general elections presidential results that
caused widespread political tension which eventually sank Kenya into
an unforgettable abyss of ethnic genocide.

Many political leaders have been caught in camera giving very inciting
 speeches,but they have been spared free by Dr.Kibunjia's seemingly
toothless bulldog and partisan commission.For instance,no legal action
has been taken aganist cabinet minister Chirau Ali Mwakwere,who was
captured in camera inciting the Digos during his by-election
campaigns.

The NCIC should live up to its task and deal stringently with anyone
spreading hatred propaganda;may it be users of social sites,the media
or politicians,to prevent a repeat of the 2007/2008 skirmishes.

Wanderi wa Kamau,
Egerton University-Nakuru.