Kenya cannot be governed by goons

The violence in Homa Bay is not an isolated political disturbance. It is another grisly instalment in a national story that is becoming increasingly difficult to disguise, rationalise or explain away. On Sunday, violence surrounding the Linda Mwananchi rally in Homa Bay left two people dead and 46 injured. Four people reportedly suffered gunshot wounds; several others sustained deep panga cuts; at least six vehicles were torched; journalists were assaulted; media equipment was vandalised; and even religious premises were invaded and damaged. Seventeen people were arrested, according to the police. This is not politics. It is the organised degradation of the Republic. And it is happening with frightening regularity. Kenyans have been here before. We know where political violence leads. We know what begins with hired youths, stones, clubs and burning vehicles can end in bloodshed on a scale that a nation spends decades trying to comprehend. We also know the poisonous political logic behind it: intimidate the opponent, frighten the voter, silence the critic, attack the journalist, disrupt the meeting and then retreat behind the convenient fiction that these were merely “youths” who acted spontaneously. That fiction must end. The violence goes on unabated, whether through the express participation of elements within the State or through the tacit condonation of violence by officials who have the constitutional power and institutional responsibility to stop it. Either explanation is intolerable. A State that organises violence is culpable. A State that knowingly permits political violence to flourish is equally culpable. A State that repeatedly witnesses attacks, receives warnings, issues condemnations and then does nothing meaningful to dismantle the machinery of violence is not merely failing; it is normalising impunity. Homa Bay therefore cannot be treated as another unfortunate entry in the daily news cycle. The evidence of a widening pattern is already before us. During the recent Ol Kalou by-election, the Kenya National Commission on Human Rights documented reports of organised attacks by hired gangs, voter intimidation, gunshots, destruction of campaign materials and allegations of misuse of State resources. Amnesty International Kenya went further, describing the deployment of armed, masked gunmen in unmarked vehicles and documenting attacks on journalists and voters. The Kenya Human Rights Commission (KHRC) subsequently reported a death, injuries, attacks on journalists, robbery, destruction of property and other serious violations during the poll. So what exactly are we supposed to call this? A coincidence? A series of unrelated youthful exuberances? Political passion? No. It is a pattern. And patterns, particularly patterns involving violence, intimidation and impunity, demand political accountability. The pattern has since become harder to dismiss. On Saturday, 29 August, Siaya Governor James Orengo was attacked during a Linda Mwananchi political engagement in Migori. Tear gas was deployed as the rally was underway, forcing Orengo and his entourage to flee, and a vehicle in his convoy was subsequently torched in Awendo. Orengo has alleged that live bullets were fired at his vehicle and has described the incident as an assassination attempt.