Raila Odinga: We are flirting with lawlessness

Azimio leader Raila Odinga. [Collins Oduor, Standard]

ODM party leader Raila Odinga warned that Kenya may be entering a state of lawlessness.

In a statement, Raila condemned an incident that took place a week ago where a mob that had been hired by auctioneers demolished a house in Westlands, Nairobi, saying that the incident should worry every Kenyan and the government.

"We may be witnessing a quick return of the old practice where individuals with political patronage use their proximity to power to harass innocent citizens and foreigners and take their property," he said.

According to Raila, lawlessness is slowly taking shape in Kenya saying that cases of insecurity have risen following reports of mugging and robbery incidents.

"Lawlessness and impunity seem to be finding their way back into our national life, targeting not just individuals but also property in a manner witnessed in a previous era that Kenyans had hoped were gone forever," the statement reads in part.

He criticized the national government saying that the William Ruto-led administration has been profiling the Directorate of Criminal Investigations and dividing the National Police Service into good and bad officers.

He says that Kenya is flirting with lawlessness citing the Westlands incident and the move by the Director of Public Prosecutions to drop cases against some government officials as well as the Judiciary in recent days seeming to be dancing to the tunes of the Executive.

"This is the easiest way to lose a country to criminals," he said, adding that if Kenyans are not careful criminals will be reaching deeper into the country, getting bolder and terrorising communities and security officers.

He says the response by the government to the Westlands incident should see the auctioneers punished and made to pay for the reconstruction of the house and compensate the owner.

He adds that the government needs to act and affirm to Kenyans that political patronage will not be substituted for the rule of law in Kenya.

Raila called on the government to commit to Kenyans that the era in which people with political patronage terrorized innocent Kenyans and foreigners in our midst is gone and shall never return.