So much has been said about the State of the Nation Address and the conduct of a number of Members of Parliament. Initially, I was lost for words but now that I have them back, let me say by bit. First, it is completely acceptable, and a constitutional right to not want to hear a word of the speech. It is your right as a citizen of Kenya to decide that because you believe the President is on a PR spin campaign, you will not accord him or the speech a minute of your time. That is fine, dear Mheshimiwa.
But to blow whistles (much as I am happy for the whistle vendor who must have made a pretty shilling selling you them firimbis) during the speech, that is unacceptable and just plain wrong. Listen, in as much as you have the right to not want to listen to the speech, someone else has the right to listen to it, and for you to decide that just because you do not want to hear it no one else should, that beats the most basic form of logic. Look here, there is the President and then there is the Presidency. The first is a person, the latter, an institution. An institution you as well as the rest of us must respect, whoever the person may be that occupies it: be it Uhuru Kenyatta, Raila Odinga, Martha Karua- whomever.