Embracing Moism means graft and repression will be the order of the day

A few weeks ago, President Uhuru Kenyatta made an impassioned speech against graft in government, warning that heads would roll. Deputy President William Ruto echoed him. No heads have rolled nor any action taken.

The regime has soldiered on with high value projects announcing, for example, that complaints and issues around the standard gauge railway would not even be investigated.

We shouldn’t be surprised. The regime has made no secret of its distaste for the Constitution or its longing for times past when whatever leaders spoke was law. That longing is logical as the co-principals got their political training at the feet of Daniel Moi and his repressive and destructive rule.

For those who may not remember, Moism — a continuation of Jomo Kenyattaism to be fair — was about maintaining power at any cost, no matter the price Kenyans had to pay. It was about deepening ethnic divisions — using divide and rule — while mouthing nationalistic rhetoric.

His community, of course, was openly favoured in government appointments and services, and by 1991, the bulk of the provincial administration and all the ‘sensitive’ dockets were headed or deputised by Kalenjin.

It was about absolute loyalty, with human rights only respected on paper. Independent thinking was viciously discouraged.

Moism meant total control of all the organs of governance, from Parliament to the Judiciary. Firing of those perceived or reported to Moi as disloyal was common.

MOST SURREAL

Arrests and charges for all sorts of offences were the norm. And at its worst, there was detention without trial, torture and elimination.

So much was this need for control that in one of the most surreal episodes, the then A-G Matthew Muli, moved a constitutional amendment in Parliament that took away his security of tenure as well as that of judges, cementing the total authority of Moi.

Moism needed not just practical but also legal control to maintain the veneer of democracy and legalism. It was rule by law, not rule of law.

But maintaining this system of control needed carrots and rewards to go hand in hand with the stick. So graft — which had been largely confined to the Kiambu Mafia during the Jomo Kenyatta regime — was democratised and impunity of loyalists assured as the patronage system came full circle.

Corruption was widespread, vicious and maniacal as everything public was fodder: from deals for provision of non-existent services and products to grabbing of public land and property to massive scandals like Goldenberg. All one had to do was say they were loyal.

We are seeing Moism seeping back, including the return of ‘courtesy calls’ to State House, cheered on by a complacent media.

Court orders are ignored by the Executive and Parliament to emasculate the Judiciary. It is a message being sent to independent High Court judges (the Supreme Court rolled over during the poll petition) that the powerful are more powerful than the Constitution.

Then there is the use of excessive force to disperse protests, using arguments that would make Moi very proud. And the charges that protesters have been slapped with are reminiscent of the Moi playbook, calculated to instill fear and intimidation.

Finally the efforts at thwarting the International Criminal Court have sent a message that has been heard loudly: It is business as usual and do whatever you can to avoid justice. Any surprise then that corruption is back with such vengeance?

[email protected]