The other side of this fierce war government has on Joho

"Whose goat did I eat?’’ asked Dr Chris Murungaru when the armour of State power around him started falling as it became obvious to him that even the elephant, big as it is, does stumble and fall.

He asked the question in Kiswahili to give it the African context because the goat isn’t just that in this metaphorical application.

Today, Mombasa Governor Hassan Joho must be asking himself the same question, or even the more dangerous version hinged on reprisal: "Whose toe did I step on?”

Luckily for him, he knows the source of his problems; President Uhuru and Deputy President William Ruto vowed to teach him a lesson.

He responded he trusts Allah and does not fear jail or death.

On the political front, Joho, who was crowned ‘Sultan of Mombasa’, has been the bulwark against Jubilee in Coast and the chief denouncer, often right to the face, of what progress the President claims Jubilee has brought to the region.

Allegations

Well, there have been insinuations by State agents that Joho is the other type of ‘pharmacists’, something which he has denied virulently.

He even staged some sort of homecoming when he returned from the US where the Akasha brothers and other suspect characters had been spirited to by the foreign anti-narcotic agency.

His message was that he got a US visa and was allowed free entry and exit from the superpower nation.

Joho boasted that Raila should let him deal with Ruto and inferred Uhuru was cooking up figures. Then the harassment started, ending up with his being barred by security agencies from accessing a presidential function in his county and the current drama about Form Four certificates, which a State agency leaked!

They have also gone for his bank accounts over some tax matter. In short the multi-pronged State-sanctioned destruction or neutralisation is running full-steam.

Dealing with dissenters

In the older days of Kanu, this was the formula for driving dissenting politicians either to bankruptcy or submission.

According to the old manual deployed against Joho, there are three outcomes.

First, choke his financial lifeline, thus disorganising his political and personal interests.

Secondly, scare away some of his key financiers and business associates by making him a pariah.

Thirdly, push him to the point he seeks peace for serikali ni serikali (The government is government!)

As we wait for more to unfold on Joho, let us reflect on the danger of this trend.

According to Joho, he saw a charge sheet with his name on the table of his interrogators on Wednesday.

That means the police have orders to get him charged, a decision that has been made even as pretence investigations are ongoing plays out.

Joho may not be a clean man and may have crooked his way to where he is by way of ‘hustling’. He may also be a tax cheat.

But he is not being hunted down because of all these, which many would wish was the case and that the process was fair and not confined to him alone.

No, this as we said before is a political scheme that unfortunately manifests itself through State lynching of its fierce critics through manipulation of otherwise non-pliable offices like Kenya National Examination Council, the police, Kenya Revenue Authority and Judiciary (where the case is headed).

As Mr Charles Njonjo learnt many years ago, you may laugh at your enemies when they are roasting on the pyre of laws and unorthodox practices you set up, but one day you could be the one tied to the poles above that furnace.
Lastly, if it works for the State what they are doing with Joho, the temptation to unleash the same tactics on others will follow and the vicious circle will continue.

In Joho’s case we have a lot of history replaying and a lot more to take interest in as Kenyans. It is the case of the camel asking a man in the desert for room for the head in his tent as the dust storm rages. Very soon it will come in with the hump and the tent is uprooted and all are out.

Mr Tanui is the Standard Group Deputy Editorial Director and Managing Editor [email protected]