Here, the law does not apply to rich and powerful

Congratulations are in order. The Government of President Kibaki has finally delivered on one of its big promises made way back in 2003!

After 10 years of trying, it has finally made good the promise and delivered to excited Kenyans.

President Kibaki and his administration have variously stated that the government has a zero tolerance for corruption. Now we know he really meant it!

To show how serious it considers the scourge of corruption, and also as clear evidence of both its zeal and dedication, the government has finally obtained a resounding criminal conviction in a corruption case.

What an achievement! This conviction goes down in the annals of history as one of the greatest achievements of the Kibaki administration.

This week, a court in Nairobi, after conviction, fined the former Permanent Secretary in the ministry of Home Affairs, Sylvester Mwaliko, a few shillings for abuse of office in his role in the infamous Anglo Leasing scandal!

We all know how many billions Kenyan people lost in the Anglo Leasing scandal. We also know how high the scam went in government.

Lest we forget, the government spared the principal players of the scandal and, instead, picked on some sacrificial lambs like Mwaliko. But, still, what an achievement!

In the last 10 years, billions of shillings have been lost through corruption. As our national budget ballooned to trillions, the scams also increased in magnitude.

The government, through budgetary allocations, spent billions in the fight against corruption.

All the resources have gone down the drain and the culture of corruption and impunity seem to have solidified. Kenyans are more corrupt than they were 10 years ago.

The State has, in the past, inaugurated a cultural norm that the law is an ass and does not apply to the rich and powerful.

For many years, the poor have internalised this societal norm. They believed that if the rich break the law, no action will be taken against them.

On the other hand, if a poor person breaks the law, he will face the full force of the law. This norm was, to a great extent, invalidated by the post-election violence.

Both the rich and the poor, for the first time, found themselves in the same boat of impunity. That is when the International Criminal Court came in.

So far, the poor men who were culpable seem to have escaped the short arm of the law.

Another factor that has led to lawlessness in the country is the refusal by the executive to obey the law.

The courts have issued countless orders and injunctions against the government. The Office of the President has been the subject of a number of high-profile judgments, all of which it publicly refused to abide by.

That refusal by the Office of the President, which incidentally is in charge of law and order, sends a strong signal throughout the country that the law need not be adhered to after all.

If that office has no regard for the law, why should ordinary Kenyans in the far-flung areas obey the law?

The killings in Mandera, Tana River and Mombasa are, therefore, a result of two normative imperatives in the country.

First, being a country where the law is routinely disobeyed and with no consequences, we have a culture of lawlessness that manifests itself in the killing fields scenario.

Second, when somebody in the executive refers to a court order as toilet paper, is that a clarion call that Kenyans should take the law into their own hands and kill one another?

The violence is the fruit of impunity and disregard for the law.

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