BONYO'S BONE: Law enforcers above the law?

This week, Kenya witnessed yet another spectacle that should trouble every citizen who believes in the rule of law. The stage was the Milimani Law Courts.

The stars of the show? Inspector General Douglas Kanja and Director of Criminal Investigations Mohamed Amin.

These are not junior police officers. They are the country's two most powerful law enforcement officials. They command institutions that expect millions of Kenyans to obey the law without question. They are the custodians of public order and, by virtue of their offices, ought to be the first examples of respect for the Constitution and the courts.

Instead, they are steadily acquiring another reputation: that of senior state officials who seem to appear before the courts only after repeated judicial insistence.

Since assuming office, Inspector General Douglas Kanja has personally been summoned by the High Court on multiple occasions. Mohamed Amin has also been summoned repeatedly.

The record shows a pattern that should concern every Kenyan: repeated summonses, repeated absence, repeated explanations, and eventually, appearances only after judges insist on personal attendance.

The irony is impossible to ignore. Kenya's chief law enforcers increasingly need the courts to enforce the law against them.

On more than one occasion, judges have rejected attempts to have the two represented by government lawyers or junior officers.

The courts have been unequivocal. The Inspector General and the Director of Criminal Investigations carry constitutional responsibility for policing and investigations. That responsibility cannot be delegated when the court requires their personal accountability.

For clarity, most of these appearances have arisen from habeas corpus proceedings involving allegations of enforced disappearances.

Whether the police are ultimately found responsible is for the courts to determine. But whether the Inspector General and the DCI boss should obey court summonses is not a matter of opinion. It is a constitutional obligation.

Mr Kanja and Mr Amin, your offices are built on one simple principle: that no one is above the law. Yet every delayed appearance chips away at that very principle.

A summons ignored sends a dangerous signal to junior officers that court orders are negotiable. The ripple effect is that an explanation offered instead of attendance tells ordinary Kenyans that compliance with judicial authority depends on one's rank.

These reluctant appearances erode public confidence in institutions that rely almost entirely on public trust. Respect for the courts is not demonstrated after the third summons. It should be demonstrated after the first.

Leadership is measured by a willingness to submit to the same legal standards that every constable, every citizen and every suspect is expected to obey.

If the Inspector General can delay honouring court summonses, what moral authority remains when a police officer arrests an ordinary Kenyan for disobeying a lawful order? That is the uncomfortable question facing this country.

The Judiciary, too, seems to be an enabler in this whole circus. While the High Court deserves credit for insisting that these officials appear in person, thereby affirming an important constitutional principle that accountability cannot be outsourced, insisting on attendance is only half the job.

Repeated disregard of court summonses should carry consequences proportionate to the office held. Judicial authority is not protected merely because an official eventually walks into court after successive summonses.

If repeated non-attendance attracts no meaningful sanction, the message sent is equally dangerous: ignore the court long enough, and all will be forgiven once you finally show up.

The Constitution does not establish different standards of obedience for ordinary Kenyans and another for holders of high office.

The rule of law cannot survive if those entrusted with enforcing it are seen to comply only after persistent judicial pressure.

We deserve law enforcers who do not merely demand respect for the law.