Civility, even in opposition, is a mark of maturity

In Kenya, the Presidency is the most august office. So it deserves the most profound respect from all national quarters. Yet that remains true only for as long as the occupant of State House is behaving in the most august manner, notably with regard to the Republic’s code of conduct, namely, the Constitution.
For that reason alone, no matter how strong they are, all responses to any of the President’s speeches, suggestions and actions must be expressed in words that contain the fullest respect both for the office and for the person holding it. That is why whoever is the President may be undermining his or her own dignity whenever he or she acts in any disrespectful manner in his or her speech or action, whether personally or only on behalf of his or her party.

PROFOUND
The present President of our own Republic appears to be profoundly conscious of that dictum. I have never heard Uhuru Muigai Kenyatta utter any socially untoward words even when he was moving at full speed against his political opponents. His sense of respect for the opinions of other individuals appears to be profound.
That is a clear mark of quality education and maturity of the mind which is impossible to say for many of his own lieutenants. Thus Mr Kenyatta’s political opponents ought to return the compliment by treating him with the fullest respect even in opposition to a proposal. Even when you are merely doing your oppositional duty — such as Mr Raila Odinga speaking against a policy initiated by Mr Kenyatta — you are nationally duty-bound to express it with all the respect due to the occupant of State House.

FAILINGS
That is what is called civilised politics. It is, indeed, the only manner in which we, Kenyans, can show ourselves and the rest of the world that ours is a mentally mature republic fully dedicated to achieving the highest ideals that any human society can ever achieve. Uhuru Muigai Kenyatta is our national son or brother. Any of his successes or failings will be our own because they will greatly depend on the amount and quality with which we all try to help him in all his endeavours.

PERSONALLY
There are, of course, occasions when I am unhappy with a policy or action initiated by his Government. But there is a clear difference. It is that to be wrong is not the same thing as to be evil. A policy can be wrong even when those expressing it are fully dedicated to the supply of all human needs.
In other words, we can all correctly assert that to be wrong is a human right. If we accept, as with our English cousins, the teaching that to err is human, we give ourselves the responsibility of fighting error in all its forms throughout the human society. When I finally personally come across a human being who proves to me that he or she has never erred, you can be certain that I will announce it for all and sundry to hear.

LESSONS
That is at least one lesson that all human beings, all Africans and all Kenyans can and must learn from one another and from other societies the whole world over. It is that, as human individuals and human societies, we are all prone to error, but that, for the very reason that we are human, our very errors can teach us powerfully useful lessons.
Only a nincompoop can take a public stand to announce for all and sundry to hear that he or she is incapable of making mistakes or that he or she has effective cures for all of humanity’s errors and other maladies. To commit oneself to one’s society is not to supply any panacea. No, it is only to dedicate to your society whatever you are humanly capable as an individual.

Mr Ochieng is a veteran journalist.