Blame it on impunity, nothing else

By Kipkirui K’Telwa

Impunity is the other word for Kenya. This impunity thing appears to be the fulcrum upon which the evils in our society rest on. Everything has gone wrong in Kenya because of impunity.

But what is impunity? Both the Merriam-Webster Online dictionary and Dictionary.com define it as exemption or freedom from punishment, harm, or loss. The latter goes further: "exemption from punishment or immunity from detrimental effects, as of an action".

The word "detrimental" is associated with loss. That means people who act with impunity do not suffer any detriment. This class of people abound in Kenya.

Only a few days ago, security personnel were arrested in relation to theft of between Sh25 million and Sh33 million. Police officers are persons expected to protect property, maintain law and order. They are charged with enforcing the law by arresting and prosecuting crime suspects in courts of law. They are supposed to ensure that impunity is never allowed to flourish.

Unfortunately, police have been reported to execute people suspected to have committed crimes instead of prosecuting them. But because they are immune or exempted from punishment in case they engage in extra-judicial killings, they have always broken the law. Last year, then Oscar Foundation boss Oscar King’aru and his aide were executed and police ‘failed’ to trace his killers. The ‘ballistic experts’ could not match the bullets recovered from the crime scene to any of the firearms in their records.

I do not know how this could have been done in a few days given that there is no list of all the firearms in the country. But I know why they returned a negative finding: Knowledge that they were free from any punishment, harm, detriment or loss.

After all, why follow the due process when everybody, right from President Kibaki hardly abides by the same law.

Tribalism is ripe at the national institutions because the perpetrators are exempted from any punishment.

Last year Kibaki re-appointed Amos Kimunya to the Cabinet after parliament rejected him over his handling of the Grand Regency Hotel, now known as Laico Regency. The sale of the hotel to ‘Libyans’ and his subsequent re-appointment to Ministry of Trade was nothing but acts of impunity.

Allocation of Mau forest happened because the executors and beneficiaries were sure of being exempted or free from punishment, harm, detriment or loss.

The recent spat between the President and Parliament over his unilateral re-appointment of Justice Aaron Ringera to head the Kenya Anti-Corruption Commission marks the peak of the impunity game. Already, Ringera has hinted that he will stay put until the court decides on his fate.

The New York Times of August 5, this year, says this of our country: "Kenya’s judicial system, however, has done little to pursue suspects in the post-election violence and is often accused of perpetuating the nation’s culture of impunity."

Every time someone breaks the law and is never punished, know that impunity prevails.