Wetang’ula behaving as if he is Bashir’s lawyer

I am very disturbed by recent utterances by Foreign Minister Moses Masika Wetang’ula.

Kenya’s chief diplomat sounds as though he works for Sudanese President Omar al-Bashir.

Mr Wetang’ula’s pronouncements put in question his academic pedigree and political morality.

Simply put, the man has compromised Kenya’s dignity in the eyes of the world. But this is nothing new for him.

At the University of Nairobi in the 1980s – where Mr Wetang’ula was a year ahead of me – his vigorous defence of the repressive Kanu state set him apart.

The man has always been on the wrong side of history. That’s why I wasn’t shocked by his indefensible – and unconstitutional – attack on the High Court for rightly ordering Kenya to arrest President Omar al-Bashir.

Mr Wetang’ula is “Kanu” through and through. By “Kanu,” I mean that he condones impunity and has little regard for the rule of law. To his ilk, the judiciary is nothing but a handmaiden of the executive.

He thinks the Constitution is a piece of paper no more sacrosanct than toilet tissue. That’s why he carelessly attacks the judiciary.

He’s a throwback to the dark days. But his political survival -- even as Kenya struggles to free itself from the demons of yesteryear – shows how much further we have to go.

He should be a relic of a bygone era, but he isn’t. Who is Mr Wetang’ula, and why shouldn’t he be evicted from office?

You can tell a person’s moral fibre by the company they keep. In 1992, at a relatively young age – and for no apparent reason – Mr Wetang’ula was nominated to Parliament by President Daniel arap Moi.

This is significant because Mr Moi needed political lapdogs to blunt the vigour of the opposition.

The 1992 elections ushered in multiparty democracy and Kanu desperately sought attack dogs to beat back change.

Mr Moi believed that Mr Wetang’ula – a man with contempt for reformers and the democratic project – would be a perfect bully against the opposition.

Even though Mr Wetang’ula didn’t distinguish himself in Parliament, he proved to the Kanu nomenklatura to be a loyal foot soldier.

By proclivity and consistency, Mr Wetang’ula proved to Kanu and the anti-reform lobby that he was “naturally” and instinctively theirs.

They know his political DNA and have never forgotten who he is.

That’s why they will always entrust him with the most odious projects. But this means that they will also defend him when he’s in trouble.