Let's support Omtatah, other defenders of voiceless people

Busia Senator Okiya Omtatah during a Senate Committee hearing. [Elvis Ogina, Standard]

Exceptional Kenyans, such as Senator Okiya Omtatah, who speak for and with the people who cannot represent themselves are becoming fewer and rare. As it happened to some prophets in the Old Testament, the prophetic voices of our time are dimming their spirits to dream of a better, just and moral country because injustices are safeguarded by the mighty, the deep state and a populace that feels helpless.

Prophet Jeremiah died in anguish; frustrated and even wishing he was not born in the first place. “Cursed be the day I was born! May the day my mother bore me not be blessed! Cursed be the man who brought my father the news, who made him very glad….Why did I ever come out of the womb, to see trouble and sorrow and to end my days in shame?” (Jer 20:14 -18).

That many Kenyans are angry and upset that the cost of living has shot up does not need an opinion poll. It is palpable. Parents are struggling to get children to school, medical care for the poor is a nightmare, food insecurity is on the rise, and so on. A prophet stands up to condemn wastage and feeding citizens with empty hope.

It takes extra physical and psychic energy to keep pushing for justice in a country where citizens have given up ever exercising their sovereignty meaningfully. There are many barriers to freedom of association and expression in developing countries including in Kenya.

Today, name Omtatah is trending. It is because he stands to express what a constituency of Kenyans feels is what they would have done were they as courageous and knowledgeable as he is.

Governments world over must be put to check by the civil society and the Opposition in Parliament. Any responsible government that claims to be democratic creates a conducive environment in which alternative and dissenting views are accommodated. Similarly, responsible courts adjudicate matters with not just the evidence at hand but in the best interest of the public. Evidence alone, call it legalism, can throw the country under the bus.

Moreover, African governments have tendencies to lord it over people. Go beyond the smooth words and high sounding promises that by and large mean nothing more than hyping excitement of the moment. Political rhetoric is often sweet and captivating which explains why many people who do not think critically over what political groupings say end up becoming radicalised, disillusioned or indifferent to political behaviour.

We risk losing people who deeply committed to social justice unless we stand by them. I still remember John Githongo, back then, going for the big fish allegedly involved in corruption.

He fought almost a solo war believing that Kenya belonged to everyone and political leadership had an obligation to serve everyone by promoting the highest standards of accountability and transparency. There is no name that one can easily replace with Githongo in the fight against corruption in Kenya.

There are a handful people in the civil society who are truly committed to rooting the rule of law in the systems of governance. We need to support them call out negligence of the poor, nepotism, condescending attitude of the government towards its own people.

In the past, activists used to disappear never to be found. In the recent past, critical voices to systems of discrimination, oppression and outright theft of public resources are discouraged by what happens to violators. Prophetic voices find themselves shouting in the desert calling for change of heart among people in power who have chosen to harden their hearts.

The effect of fighting losing case after case in protecting public interest wears out good-intentioned citizens who are committed to putting the government in check. When prime cases for prosecution take ages to conclude, the people who promote human rights and collective well-being begin to surrender one by one.

The positive side of the Saba Saba Azimio rallies is that it encourages people committed to justice never to give up.

Dr Mokua is Executive Director, Loyola Centre for Media and Communication