Police Should Not Use Live Bullets

I just came back from Halifax, Canada where I attended the Halifax International Security Forum, a global event attended by diplomats, military generals, ministers, academia and thinkers from 80 countries. I was sitting in the audience when Air Force General, John Hyten, head of US Strategic Command spoke. He said that if US President Donald Trump ordered a nuclear strike he believed to be unlawful under international law, he wouldn’t execute it.
“I think some people think we’re stupid. We’re not stupid people,” he said. He went on to add, “If you execute an unlawful order,you will go to jail. You could go to jail for the rest of your life.” That’s a brave man in uniform. As he uttered those words, back home in Kenya, police were shooting NASA supporters and allowing hooligans to stone, rob and injure motorists.
That brings me to Joseph Boinnet, the man in charge of the police. He has been banning protests and giving his commanders orders to shoot protestors. The police boss has been issuing illegal orders left, right and centre. Since August 8 elections, there has been systematic and targeted violence against opposition supporters. They have been teargassed, shot at, killed and hundreds maimed.
The brutality meted out on them has been deliberate. We have seen footage of people looting and their faces clearly visible, but Joseph Boinnet hasn’t bothered to have those people arrested and charged in court. We have seen police officers stoning motorists and attacking unarmed citizens, but Boinnet hasn’t uttered a word. There are those who justify the brutal response to protests by police, but whether a protest is peaceful or not, the police must stop using live bullets.
To NASA and their supporters, the police have a monopoly of violence, and you have every right to protest under the Constitution. That right is your birthright and it can’t be withdrawn by the State. However, you need to deal with hooligans within your ranks, people whose intent is to rob and destroy; they’re giving your cause a bad name.
To Jubilee, supporting police brutality is shortsighted and self-defeating. Uhuru will not be president forever — and the tactics he is using against your opponents will be used against your children one day. We have seen footage of Jubilee supporters in the streets with machetes and none of them have been arrested. We are at a very dangerous place as a country, our words and actions can easily burn this country. If Jubilee attacks NASA supporters in Muthurwa, a Jubilee supporter will not be safe in a NASA zone.
Before you incite, remember these words by Jesus Christ, “Do unto others as you would have them do unto you”. I was shot by a police officer in a peaceful protest, protesting against police killings.
Bunty Shah, son to the Bobmil billionaire, was shot dead in his own house by the police. No one is safe – rich or poor.
We don’t have to use hateful, abusive words to show our support for Uhuru or Raila. In 2007-08, Kenya almost burned. None of these politicians lost a loved one, or were evicted from their homes. Their mothers and daughters weren’t raped, their fathers and sons weren’t killed. When we fight and burn Kenya, it’s the common people who suffer.
Now that the Supreme Court has upheld Uhuru’s win, it’s time for him and Raila to come together for the sake of this country. The two of them, without handlers, should sit in a room and ask what can they do together to heal our nation? Kenya is divided along tribal lines, but these two leaders can unite this nation.