NEWS GANG: Time to listen

We are a nation at a crossroads. The warning signs have been there for some time, but yesterday’s protests, the images from our streets, and the growing restlessness among our young people have brought into sharp focus the urgent reckoning we must now confront.This country cannot continue as it is.

LINUS:

Events of the last 2 weeks have put to test the very stability of the country. We have gone out on a dangerous date, a date with anarchy. And the dance with anarchy reached its peak on Wednesday, the 25th of June 2025. A peak government is now calling an attempted coup d’etat

JAMILA:

We are dangerously and recklessly teetering on the brink of a disaster. A disaster which we only used to think possible of others. Whether you call it an attempted coup or give it any other description, fellow citizens it is looking messy. 

BONYO:

Indeed, so messy that tonight our one-time coveted power of example is falling off that pedestal. Island of peace, we used to be. The oasis of stability in a region teeming with conflict and war. Great, we used to be. And for emphasis now; we used to be. 

SAM:

Indeed. Make a short tour of any social media platform of your choice, take the next step and see what our neighbours are saying. It is a content creation fiesta around the region. One particular post, a blogger from a neighbouring country wondered what happened to lessons we very recently tried to share in their country. 

YVONNE:

As fellow citizens and responsible Kenyans at that, we are alarmed by this worrying trend. It is no longer even appropriate to ask where the rain started beating us. We should instead ask why the waters are waist high. In asking that question our random thoughts picked the following as our points of diagnosis. First, law and order.

LINUS:

The state of law and order is not just fragile, it is broken. When a murder takes place at a police station, nothing can be more illustrative of a broken law and order environment. Albert Ojwang’ is a permanent on the law-and-order fabric of this country. The sinful killing taking place in presumably one of the safest places in this country won’t just be wished away. And events after his death prove that indeed we are a nation with a troubled soul. 

JAMILA:

A soul that is continuing to face more incidents of a collapsing law and order environment. When civilians attack a police station and others violently assault police officers, then our social contract is walking on thin ice. The police uniform and police stations are symbols of the authority of law and order. So are government buildings that include law courts and other government installations. An attack on any of these simple means one thing: we are knocking hard on the doors of anarchy. 

BONYO:

The breakdown of law and order is aided very ably by it’s godfather: impunity. For some time now, impunity has become the currency of choice especially in the conduct of public affairs. From national government to the counties, political leaders have completely mistaken impunity for political power. The two are different. One is accountable, the other is not. When court orders are defied purely on account of uta do! That is impunity. 

SAM:

Impunity and anarchy are very close relatives, depending on your traditional background, they are cousins! The two have in the last two week alone, proved how effective they can be in bringing down their enemies called law and order. When hired goons become an additional platoon in the supposed law enforcement or public order on the streets of Nairobi, and no one accounts for it; I mean everyone denies it, just because it’s not really possible, politically speaking, to hold anyone accountable for it. That, in other words, is what impunity looks like. On occasion, impunity can also walk around the streets armed with a jembe stick. 

YVONNE:

Let’s turn to another issue our little diagnosis identified; justice. And maybe we should call it correctly, injustice! For families of victims of the June 25th Gen-z police shootings. And we are talking about at least 60 families, justice in their own country remains a far-off destination. Indeed, one they may never reach. The amount of tears witnessed in this country in the last two weeks alone, is a flooded illustration of the state of injustice in Kenya. Injustice works in simple ways; a relative can be shot at point blank range or can die in a police cell and all the instruments of justice conclude that it was suicide. Or even simply never happened. And in the last 24 hours alone, we have not only seen tears but the also the futility of the search for justice in Kenya.

LINUS:

Law and order, impunity and injustice. We all roughly know what is wrong with our country. And the next natural question is what must we do to fix our problems? First, we suggest to turning to the oldest rule in the solutions landscape: the rule captured in the saying, when you find yourself in a pit, the first thing to do is to stop digging. And the last two weeks alone, Kenyans of nearly all levels and categories have demonstrated undoubtable capacity for some level of madness. From the top to the bottom, leaders to followers, we have shown our respective capacities to losing our minds. So to paraphrase one politician who spoke in street lingua, let’s agree as Kenyans tusipimane bangi! 

JAMILA:

Indeed, it’s also said that we are all mad, and what varies is the degree of madness. When an unarmed civilian jumps at a security officer armed with a gun, and when a police officer shoots an unarmed civilian at point blank range, then we need no further illustrations of our capacity to lose our minds. Which is why, return to reason is our rallying cry tonight. 

BONYO:

Now, this is to the leaders. A saying goes a fish rots from the head. Leadership grows out of the word lead which also stands for front, or being ahead. To every leader, this is the time to earn your name afresh. The collapse of law and order in the country is the sum total of bad examples shared from the top down. Leaders must reflect on the examples they have been setting for the Kenyan population. On many occasions, for example, leaders have treated the constitution and the laws of the country as instruments that apply to others. That is why it is possible in this country to be convicted of multibillion graft cases or be charged with murder; oh, and there are a couple of shooters out there but nothing happens to them. In contrast to the consequences that would befall a village chicken thief. 

SAM:

The imperfect leadership fabric out there nothwithstanding, Kenya currently faces a leadership problem of a more immediate nature. Going be events of yesterday and today’s claims of an attempted coup, time is of the essence. Secondly, the country is crying out for cool heads in the room. Kenya desperately yearns for adults in the room; adults capable of discerning the gravity of the issues this country faces today. 

YVONNE:

Indeed, the events are grave. They are weighty, they are deep, they are delicate. Preliminary observations are not impressive. And we are talking of what we saw and heard a few hours ago. This has to stop being about a contest of egos. This is not even about this or that political formation because as things stand, all leaders of either side in this country are currently falling short of the glory. This is not the time for defensive attitudes and dismissive talk. This is not the time for “I know it all” this is the time for leaders to climb down from their increasingly short pedestals. This is the time to listen. We are in a crisis. The News Gang is here