A bold move by Tobiko in constituting probe team

The killing of Sheikh Aboud Rogo in Mombasa set out a chain reaction that is all too familiar in Kenya.

A prominent Muslim cleric is killed by suspected government forces. Spontaneous demonstrations engulf the coastal town. Goons destroy churches, private property and businesses.

The government promises an investigation. Leaders call for calm, life goes back to normal and the cycle of violence comes to an end.

This same pattern played out a few months ago when another Muslim cleric, Samir Khan, was killed. I stated that Khan was killed by a special squad of the Kenyan police.

In fact, he was strangled to death by Kenyan policemen. Rogo was shot dead in broad daylight.

Both the deaths of Khan and Rogo bring to the fore the official but secret policy of the Kibaki regime to extra-judicially kill troublesome Muslim clerics anywhere in the country.

It is a government policy that gives a firm notice to any Muslim leader that death ultimately awaits him. This clearly shows how rogue the security agents under this regime have become.

It also shows the level of impunity and immunity they enjoy when they can kill Kenyan citizens at a place and time of their choice.

One can imagine the fear that many Kenyan Muslims live under for the simple reason that they profess the Islamic faith.

The Kibaki administration and its security agents have now criminalised professing Islam and that is likely to have dire consequences for the future harmony and stability of the country.

The death of Rogo and the narrative that followed it was hijacked by the government. Kenyans were warned of the danger of inter-faith clashes between Muslims and Christians and the need to maintain peace as we approach the General Election.

These warnings were State inspired fear mongering. It was deliberately propagated to scare and subdue Kenyans. The riots by a few unemployed youths and their burning and looting of churches were not inspired by any hatred of the Christian community.

These were opportunistic crimes that, in a way, show the failure of the government to address the needs of school- going children in Mombasa who, instead, are drug addicts.

I was slightly surprised by the composition of the committee instituted by the Director of Public Prosecutions, Mr Keriako Tobiko, to look into the killing of Rogo.

It was a bold and transparent decision. That he constituted, instead of ordering the police commissioner Mathew Iteere to investigate the murder, was telling in a number of ways.

By selecting the members of the committee, Mr Tobiko was loud and clear that the top echelons of the police force were potential suspects in the killing of Rogo.

Second, the composition of the committee and its inclusion of private citizens was another reminder that even the office of the DPP has lost faith in the police.

The killing of Rogo and Khan underlines the dangers facing the country and also gives us an opportunity to address these problems.

The most urgent imperative is reforms in the security sector. As we approach the elections, reforms in the police and intelligence organs are very critical in ensuring peaceful polls.

We must aslo disband the former provincial administration or absorb its members in other departments of government. The police force must be reformed urgently.

The Office of the President has, for the past six months, dilly-dallied in constituting the Police Service Commission.

Without reforms in the security sector, there exists the distinct possibility that law and order will be jeopardised by rogue elements in the security apparatus of the State and their civilian lords.

Ahmednasir Abdullahi is the publisher, Nairobi Law Monthly [email protected]