Arsonists borrow from destructive politics

For too long we have entertained adversarial advocacy in this country.

We now see the copying of this adversarial behaviour in the widespread arson and burning down of schools across Kenya.

You cannot tell me with the sort of weekly destruction that was in the protests against IEBC there was no subsequent influence on children and young people.

In fact, commensurate with the protests we observed, there were fires lit every single week; and now it has become a daily occurrence.

This is the problem with the sort of acrimonious and often threatening politics we see pursued by CORD.

Never once do the principals or their supporters consider that it is possible to express themselves without throwing a fit.

Even with the Independent Electoral and Boundaries Commission (IEBC), their demand for electoral reforms came with violence, and they remained willing to exert violence throughout, long after agreement to create a select committee on the IEBC was proposed.

In fact, the most frustrating part of the process is the seeming inability by CORD members to articulate themselves.

The process for the select committee has been long, arduous and it has been disrupted repeatedly.

It seems the only example of self-expression when dealing with authorities in Kenya is burning something, or throwing something to hurt someone.

We should not therefore be shocked when children and young people do the same in their schools.

The children are just following the examples of adversarial and violent advocacy displayed even in the case of protest over the deaths of three Kenyans allegedly killed by Administration Police officers, where the AP camp was set on fire.

There is no denying the sort of influence the confrontational and violent politics we witness has on young people. Even during their internal elections, students in universities will riot over disputes and set their own hostels and dorms on fire, rather than utilise their own set constitution and dialogue to resolve problems.

This action of burning things is specifically linked to politics; it is in itself a political decision to get what you want at all costs and to go to great risk to personal safety and the safety of others to attain it.

This is ultimately a mirror to the kind of attacks on businesses and individuals witnessed during the IEBC protests.

The biggest tragedy is that the burning of schools on a national scale sets back an entire generation of learners.

At least 3,000 students are out of school in Western Kenya alone, with 18 schools having been burnt.

As we attempt to resolve the challenges in the IEBC, we must resist the growing perception that disagreements cannot be discussed in a mature and civilised fashion; not just by the political opposition, activists or even professional bodies.

The challenge faced by Education CS Matiang’i in addressing the school fires are no different from the challenge faced by the Head of State in dealing with agreements between the electoral body and election stakeholders.

Throwing protests every time you have a grievance and then watching while property is looted, burned and destroyed is mediocre politics and the fact that children copy this just underscores its juvenile nature.

It may be expecting too much to ask children to accept political responsibility for the damage to their schools.

However it is time for CORD and their supporting activists to acknowledge that their version of ‘dialogue’ is now literally destroying our education system and an entire generation.