Recent sad events show State’s contempt for the people

• Gravy train: The oil industry is a lucrative gravy train for politicians

The release of Kenyan human rights activist Al Amin Kimathi by the Ugandan Government, the death of 100 Kenyans in the Sinai fire disaster, and the two dozen Kenyans who needlessly died after consuming illegal liquor have shame as a common denominator.

These events not only provide a sad commentary on the schism between the government and the people of Kenya but also wretchedly show the ruinous priorities of the regime.

For a government whose top officers have been accused of theft of public funds and neglect of the public good, the appalling contempt it has for the citizenry has been laid bare by these three events.

Al Amin Kimathi was arrested while on a visit to Kampala. The Government of Kenya and its security agents, instead of protesting his innocence, celebrated his elimination from the Kenyan equation.

The Foreign ministry, under the leadership of Mr Moses Wetang’ula, has acquired unenviable expertise in real estate portfolio management in foreign capitals than providing consular service to Kenyans in trouble in foreign land. At no time did the Kenyan Government seek to help Al Amin Kimathi.

Compare this neglect with the government obsession with the Ocampo Six.

Being a Muslim human rights activist, the government probably designated him an enemy combatant rather than a national in dire need of help. In neglecting Kimathi’s desperate needs, the government showed that being a citizen of this country means little.

Compare this with the attention the British Government is showing over the fate of Judith Tebbutt, who was kidnapped in Lamu. Prime Minister David Cameron had to address the House of Commons on her fate. The Foreign Secretary addresses her fate as the most important task on his desk. The British High Commission is Nairobi is working round the clock to locate and free Mrs Tebutt.

This is the true meaning of being a citizen of a country that values the lives and wellbeing of its citizens.

Over 100 Kenyans died in the Sinai fire tragedy and their deaths have literally been dismissed like that of flies! Apart from the comical unison shedding of crocodile tears by politicians, no one really bothers to address the fundamental issues that underline the tragedy.

Do these politicians think the tragedy was an act of God? Isn’t it obvious there is a clear case of criminal negligence on the part of a number of government officials?

Isn’t it obvious those who caused the accident should have been held criminally responsible for the deaths, the burns suffered by Kenyans and the destruction of their property?

Isn’t it telling that neither the police commissioner nor the office of the director for public prosecutions has bothered to order even a preliminary inquiry into the tragedy? Why can’t these officials see that wilful negligence of human beings has caused this tragedy?

It has now become the standard response of the government to underwrite funeral expenses whenever an avoidable tragedy afflicts the less fortunate members of the Kenyan society.

Isn’t this policy of only helping poor Kenyans when dead a telling testimony of the contempt the government has for the poor.

It was sickening to hear some mandarins at the Kenya Pipeline Company denying legal responsibility and telling us about the need to consult their insurers.

Don’t these clueless functionaries understand that the world is more than just payments from insurers? Why do these Kenyans always see things through the single dimension of money? Isn’t the lives and wellbeing of Kenyans more than the insurance payments Kenya Pipeline is talking about?

A very interesting aspect of the Sinai tragedy is how the top echelons of government closed ranks in blaming the poor Kenyans. It is simply because the oil industry is a lucrative gravy train for politicians.