Whatever can be done must be done to restore faith

Every passing day there are certain things that must occupy our minds. Just now the terrorist attack in Garissa last week and all the families that lost their dear ones – may God give them peace – is top on the list.

There are questions that each one of us is asking and I am not so sure we shall ever get the answers. Could there be a possibility that there are people we know – politicians, professionals, business people and the like – who have information about who is doing all this? Why did it take so long to transport the rescue team?

Whether we get answers to these questions and others or not, it really does not matter to the students who died and their dear ones. What is clear is that we have a real challenge and something must be done by whoever needs to do it. Many Kenyans now live in fear wherever they are. Whatever the current government must do, whatever means they must use, it must be done in order to restore the confidence of Kenyans.

ORDINARY PEOPLE

There have been a lot of discussions going on about how ordinary people must react in case of an attack like the one in Garrissa. The general feeling is that most people are totally ill equipped be it in skills or even psychologically to deal with these matters.

Could there be a long-term institutional strategy to train our citizens particularly the growing population in this direction? Whether large scale or in small doses, terrorism will always be part of our existence. The National Youth Service might come in handy in this regard.

There is one battle President Uhuru Kenyatta started the other day and this together with the war against terrorism is one that he must make sure he wins. Last week I was arguing in this same column that if we look carefully there has to be a connection between these two realities of corruption and terrorism.

There was probably an immigration officer who corruptly registered a fellow who turns out to be a terrorist. There could be a police officer who took a bribe in order to look the other way. Given the level of corruption in our society, these and many more are all possibilities we cannot rule out.

I do know that in the war against corruption there will be considerations of a political nature. If some people from certain communities think that they are being targeted they are likely to withdraw their support. As someone said long ago, a politician thinks about the next election but a statesman thinks about the next generation. It is time for our leaders to stand up and be counted.

Fr Wamugunda is Dean of Students, University of Nairobi; [email protected]