KAIKAI'S KICKER: RSF passports: Uta do?

On my kicker, the government continues to maintain total silence on the saga involving the unprocedural issuance of Kenyan passports to foreigners, including members of the Rapid Support Forces (RSF) from Sudan.

The silence could mean many things. First, and I offer this as the worst-case scenario, the silence could mean that the government or the particular authorities concerned, including the Ministry of Interior and National Administration and the Directorate of Immigration Services, do not care about the questions raised. It does not give a hoot about public concerns. You can start your walk to Darfur, sorry, to hell, if you so wish.

In Kenya, there is a name for this response—or silence. It is called “uta do?” Swahili for what can you do? This is normally associated with the brash arrogance and impunity that comes with the unchecked exercise of power.

Under the “uta do?” approach, the concerned authority simply goes raw and primitive, and in quiet arrogance dares those aggrieved to reverse the issuance of passports if they could.

This is the first assumption we can make: that the government has chosen the path of unresponsive governance, the route of exercising authority without being accountable to anyone.

But there is a serious deficiency to this approach. It is not supported by the Constitution and the law, and it therefore ultimately fails.

Article 10 of the Constitution of Kenya 2010 sets out our national values and principles of governance that bind all state organs, including the Interior Ministry and the immigration department.

The national values and principles of governance also bind all state and public officers to principles that include patriotism, the rule of law, good governance, transparency and accountability. Silence and unresponsiveness are not part of our national values or principles of governance.

Article 10 is also a reminder to state and public officers that you cannot simply turn up in government with your own script.

This is the basis of the valid questions raised about the dangerous trend of the random issuance of Kenyan passports and national identity cards to foreigners.

So Kenyans will keep asking about the RSF and other passports—whether the government answers the questions or not.

Let me go back to the theories about this silence on RSF passports.

In criminal law, silence is a protected right as a privilege against self-incrimination. In that case, an accused person cannot be forced to answer questions that might incriminate them.

In the RSF passports case, I am not sure we know the accused just yet. But I am sure we know that Nyayo House, the headquarters of the immigration department, could well be an active crime scene this very minute—as Kenyan passports fly out to the hands of well-connected foreigners, including some from RSF.