KAIKAI’S KICKER: VIP protection Is not above the law

On my Kicker tonight, another life was needlessly lost today courtesy of a speeding presidential motorcade. A man believed to be a foreign national was knocked and killed on the spot as the presidential convoy made its way, rather literally, along Ngong Road.

Now, the moment was captured on camera, and I just want us to watch a section of it to understand what the movement of the presidential convoy looks like. The one constant you will notice is vehicles are driven at break-neck speed.

Now, that is how it moves when it comes to presidential motorcades. And yes, I do not dispute these are people—in fact, experts in their field—doing their job in the best way they know how. And of course, there are strong, justifiable security reasons for such rapid movement.

VIP protection is a highly complex area of expertise, and the men and women who practice it go through rigorous training that includes driving at extreme speeds. VIP protection is, in fact, considered the elite space reserved for the best-trained security officers. And more so, the presidential guard—here in Kenya, we call them the Presidential Escort Unit. As the name suggests, this is the security unit in charge of the movement of the presidential convoy.

And so tonight, a good name may be on the line. When a pedestrian dies in the course of the movement of the presidential convoy, the burden of responsibility must rest somewhere. The National Police Service has, in a statement, “encouraged anyone with information that may assist with investigations to report to the nearest police station…” The police statement then urged motorists, pedestrians, and all road users to exercise extreme caution and adhere to traffic rules to prevent accidents.

Now, adherence to traffic rules is a debatable subject when it comes to VIP traffic movement. And indeed, the movement of VIPs was one of the agenda items in the Gen Z protests that rocked the country last year. Protesters took issue with the indiscipline and arrogance of VIP protection teams—driving on the wrong side of traffic, blaring sirens, and whipping out communication gadgets in an obvious display of power and intimidation. And that was not even about presidential motorcades—just some budding ministerial overlords inebriated with power, privilege, and sheer impunity.

And now a pedestrian has died, and accusing fingers are pointing in the direction of the presidential motorcade. Without a doubt, the buck will eventually rest with the National Police Service. Whenever the president is on the move, police officers line up the routes and man the roads to ensure it all goes well. And well for both the VIP retinue and other users of the road, including pedestrians. The entire route, as a common practice, is lined with police officers—some in uniforms and others in plain clothes.

This means there is a 100 percent chance that a policeman witnessed the hit-and-run incident that claimed the life of a foreign national today, and the statement requesting information could as well be treated as an internal memo. On this one, the police cannot pass the buck. On VIP protection protocols, let the big reflection begin.