Kidero's stroll leads to an online troll, and another great week of education

Nairobi Governor Evans Kidero deserves a break. There has been unnecessary pressure on the man, and, as he learnt painfully this week, he is not allowed to perform ordinary tasks like taking a walk through the city like the rest of us.

Well, hardly any of us take pictures and post them online when we do such things; they are part of life.

But then, seldom do most of us walk to shed off weight as Kidero gloats he managed after walking for just a few blocks from his city office to a posh city hotel; we walk for the lack of fare, and possibly to save some coins to afford some sukuma wiki, perhaps in the hope of putting on a little weight.

Still, I want to be the devil’s advocate and say: yes, it’s true Kidero doesn’t probably know about the city gridlock that frustrates our work daily; he has chase cars that pave the way for his limo, and no, he did not take a walk in the city to attract attention as some people claim.

He draws attention to himself through other means, like naming streets after himself – what, pray, would prompt a man to seek immortality when he has done pretty little worth remembering? – or delivering gubernatorial slaps that reverberate across the country.

For those who have forgotten, Kidero’s gubernatorial slap was the subject of a police investigation some moons ago, when the governor reportedly delivered a slap to city MP Rachel Shebesh, and who has, come to think of it, has kept a very low profile since.

Of course Kidero absolved himself of wrongdoing, insisting, with that irritating scowl on the face, that he had no recollection of slapping anyone, although he may have impulsively defended himself against attack after he felt pain shoot through his lower abdomen.

But there is a hint of bias against Kidero when city residents demand instant solutions from the governor.

Festering crime

They complain of festering crime and the filth that seems determined to reach the sun – the figurative apex of the city – and I ask myself: what do they expect Kidero to do?

For heaven’s sake, the man has only been in charge for three years. Give him time, loads of time, especially when chunks of time is dedicated to sorting pressing personal matters like the assault of other politicians, or that little matter about his former employer, Mumias Sugar, where less flattering things are being said about his tenure.

Besieged by such challenges, any of us would ordinarily be distracted from discharging their mandate, but being Kidero, we expect him to stay the course and do his work.

Even when the man says the odds are heavily stacked against him because drug lords are offering social services to compete with his government, very few people pay attention and hear him out, which gives credence to my earlier assertion about bias against the governor.

This, coming from a trained pharmacist, means the man knows what he is talking about. We should do well to seek to know how those dispensing illegal substances are doing to undermine his work.

And that, to me, is where we need to draw the line and say: Kidero may occasionally slap women who trigger pain in his lower abdomen, exactly how, we don’t know; he may even name streets after himself; he may do what others insist he did to Mumias; he may even license muggers to operate on our streets. But our man is not a drug lord.

That restores a bit of faith about the future of our city because it could have been worse.

And we should rejoice because as long as Kidero is in charge, the city will thrive or decline through lawfully paid taxes, and not proceeds from illicit drug trade.

So let’s cut Kidero a little slack, for there are many people who relish his fall and, given his considerable weight, and the limited spaces where he can walk without masses ridiculing him, his is bound to be a massive fall.