The battle for hearts and minds need not crush the soul of our nation

I ’m writing to throw in my lot with Prezzo UK as he seeks to enact new laws that, to use the clichéd expression, will lead to a “new dispensation” in the fight against terrorism.

Scribes and others who use social media have been specially targeted. They shall be brought to book should they publish or broadcast materials that undermine ongoing police investigations or circulate materials that cause alarm and a breach of public peace.

From where I sit, in a sunken seat overlooking Lukenya Hills, I appreciate Prezzo’s sentiments.

Even in this remote outpost, my phone beeps incessantly reporting the latest incident witnessed by an active social media user, many of whom have no inkling that their words can be used negatively.

Some of those incidents are recorded on hand-held devices, hence their ability to escape detection.

A good example was the recent killing orchestrated by a plainclothes policeman. He and his colleagues had gunned down other suspects who were predictably armed, and the last suspect lay writhing in pain from gunshot wounds. Then the policeman arrived and shot him dead.

This is what, I hear, some scribes call “extra-judicial” killings. I use the term with a lot of restraint because the Government doesn’t like it one bit.

Anyway, such episodes, when recorded anonymously by ordinary citizens, may be misconstrued as evidence of police brutality when in actual fact, the police action may have been prompted by what is called mercy killing - helping end a life to avoid prolonging agony.

Conversely, there is the possibility that police action was prompted by a real threat to his own life, especially if the suspect possessed weapons that were invisible to the naked eye.

If we reverse the scenario and rely solely on the police to tell their own story, it is a safe bet that they would have had the presence of mind to reconstruct it with more calmness so as not to occasion a further breach of the peace.

So there is merit in the Government’s insistence that certain types of information, especially any that jeopardises police investigations, should be kept under wraps at all times, and any that violates such protocols reprimanded.

Malicious scribes

That’s not too much to ask, especially from a Government that’s operating under very difficult circumstances.

I also agree that certain kinds of reports are published by malicious scribes to boost terrorists’ morale. These too, should be punished accordingly. I have in mind recent reports that paint terror suspects in such glowing terms that one would have trouble reconciling their attributes with the grave suspicions against them.

In any case, there can be only one centre of power, and the notion of scribes wielding soft power that threatens the sanctity of democratically elected Governments should be resisted by all Kenyans of goodwill. After all, there can only be one serikali.

I fully submit to the authority of the Government and support its efforts to restore order in our land. That’s what patriotism is all about: rising to renounce personal privilege for common good.

And if forfeiture of our own rights, such as the freedom to express ourselves freely - as some in Government are intent on doing - contributes immensely to the so-called war on terror, that should be a small price to pay.

Only that Prezzo UK and his ilk seem to forget that our freedom, whose anniversary we celebrate today, was hard won and will be defended as vigorously.