Free Ndii

David Ndii is a patriot who loves Kenya. Ranked as one of the top economists in the world, he helped write the finance chapter of our 2010 Constitution and was part of the 2003 NARC Economic Recovery Strategy that was instrumental in helping Kenya’s economic growth after years of stagnation. His weekly articles educate and provoke discussions countrywide and the public intellectual even spares time to educate those who attack him on social media.
Ndii joined NASA because the Constitution gives him a right to join a political party of his choice. Jubilee hasn’t been able to find a single person in its ranks to respond to Dr Ndii’s intellectual pronouncements and it is only fair to say a man like him is only dangerous to a government that can’t tolerate dissenting views.
For a country where the majority only read to pass exams and rarely read for leisure, Ndii is too complex for the simple-minded. Ndii has every right to write about secession and doing so certainly isn’t a treasonable offence. I don’t support secession, but I will defend the rights of anyone who wants to talk about it. Similarly, Ndii’s wish for Raila to be president isn’t a crime.
Because the government knows as much, they decided to intimidate and humiliate him by picking him up from the Coast in the presence of his family. They brought him to Nairobi only to release him on a free bond. The police know very well they have no grounds to charge Ndii.
As Ndii’s wife, Mwende said, “My husband is not a thief, he isn’t corrupt”. To Mwende, that’s exactly why the police arrested him. His ideas are a threat to the political cartel that thrives on corruption in Kenya. As Jubilee continues to flaunt its power, instead of telling President Uhuru to reach out to Raila, to heal Kenya – a country deeply divided –their supporters cheered as innocent people were killed by mobs and cops.
And that’s precisely how the government loses it. You don’t win hearts with bullets and teargas. That, and the chest thumping and gloating, is the reason why there are people who don’t feel like they’re Kenyans. If Kenya will secede, you will be asked to make your choice through a referendum and not a machete wielding process.
The threat to Kenya’s unity is not Ndii. The threat to Kenya’s unity is corruption, tribalism, police killings. The threat to Kenya’s stability is high levels of unemployment. Thus, instead of arresting Ndii, the president should be consulting him on how Kenya can bake a cake big enough for all its children.
Besides, we cannot purport to be a democracy when we are unable debate issues without fear of being attacked or arrested. That is the meaning of freedom of expression. Our education system will be a failure if our children do not learn that debate isn’t war and that we can safely hold divergent views and respect the views of those we disagree with.
It is a shame when our kids watch die-hard Jubilee and NASA supporters engage in insults, disrespectful remarks and physical combat. We need to mature to a level where Kamau living in Kisumu can openly support Uhuru and Onyango can support Raila in Nyeri and still feel safe from any harm.
The government sought to harass and silence Ndii, but all they did was harden his resolve. Sadly, it seems to have escaped the attention of the police that the days of detention without trial, torture and kangaroo courts are long gone.
Kenya will never go back there again and that is an assurance that you can take to the bank.