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Kenya: Armenians? It's Only a Movie
The East African (Nairobi)
July 11, 2006
Posted to the web July 11, 2006
L. Muthoni Wanyeki
Nairobi
The cartoonist Gado got it right. His daily offering in last Friday's
Daily Nation depicted the Kenyatta International Conference Centre as
a movie theatre showing the saga of The Artur Brothers. A poster to
one side advertised the movie, showing them together with two African
women - one old and one young. No prizes for guessing whom they were
meant to represent - the repudiated daughter of the repudiated second
wife now euphemistically referred to as a 'NARC activist.' Meanwhile,
a woman excitedly described the contents of the movie to her male
companion, "It has everything: intrigue, conflict, romance, betrayal,
comedy and tragedy."
The reference was to the Presidential Commission of Inquiry now
sitting on the matter, its proceedings open to the public. The
sub-text was the turning of serious national proceedings into
circuses where our outrage is silenced. Just as we did with the
Goldenberg inquiry, we will troop to this inquiry's sittings in large
numbers. We will exclaim and wring our hands, beside ourselves at the
juicy revelations.
The proceedings will dominate media coverage for the duration. We
will feel we participated. That we have learnt just how security is
assured at our international airport. That we have sufficiently
chastised and embarrassed the senior airports officials involved in
enabling the breach of that security. Simply by being there. Or
hearing about it. And discussing it, endlessly, tediously, with our
families and friends.
For Kenyans, it is apparently now enough to know. But only after
having resisted knowledge in the first place. Let us not pretend,
after all, that we had not been forewarned about the presence of the
so-called Armenian brothers in our country.
AND WE LET THE STORY DIE DOWN, while allowing the jurisdiction of our
Police Commissioner to be trampled upon unceremoniously. Until the
goings-on at our international airport when, finally (so the story
goes), one brave minister apparently stepped up to the plate to
enable the Police Commissioner to do his job.
But, even then, we resisted the logical progression from partial
knowledge to full knowledge to decisive action. We decided that it
was enough to know only as much of the story as is allowed to come
through by inflexible and strict adherence to basic principles of
law. Meaning that no inferences are to be drawn based on broader
understandings of accountability. At all.
Thus the Judicial Inquiry into Goldenberg can be closed with
absolutely no mention of our former president's good name. Even
though he clearly had, if not legal accountability, then political
accountability for everything that transpired under his watch.
Similarly, the only result of the release of John Githongo's dossier
on Anglo-Leasing has been the resignation of erstwhile ministers,
only for them to be resurrected unchallenged in various House
committees - including those (gasp!) dealing with financial matters.
The events at our international airport, together with the
discoveries made in the home of the "Armenian brothers" should have
resulted in the prompt (and I do mean prompt!) sacking (not
"resignations") of our Ministers for Internal Security and
Immigration - just for a start. Because they are so clearly
politically accountable.
Instead, what do we see going on before our very eyes? A movie.
We know what happened. The direct line of accountability that can be
legally established and substantiated never tells the whole story.
Political accountability demands more.
L. Muthoni Wanyeki is the Executive Director of the African Women's
Development and Communication Network (FEMNET)
The East African (Nairobi)
July 11, 2006
Posted to the web July 11, 2006
L. Muthoni Wanyeki
Nairobi
The cartoonist Gado got it right. His daily offering in last Friday's
Daily Nation depicted the Kenyatta International Conference Centre as
a movie theatre showing the saga of The Artur Brothers. A poster to
one side advertised the movie, showing them together with two African
women - one old and one young. No prizes for guessing whom they were
meant to represent - the repudiated daughter of the repudiated second
wife now euphemistically referred to as a 'NARC activist.' Meanwhile,
a woman excitedly described the contents of the movie to her male
companion, "It has everything: intrigue, conflict, romance, betrayal,
comedy and tragedy."
The reference was to the Presidential Commission of Inquiry now
sitting on the matter, its proceedings open to the public. The
sub-text was the turning of serious national proceedings into
circuses where our outrage is silenced. Just as we did with the
Goldenberg inquiry, we will troop to this inquiry's sittings in large
numbers. We will exclaim and wring our hands, beside ourselves at the
juicy revelations.
The proceedings will dominate media coverage for the duration. We
will feel we participated. That we have learnt just how security is
assured at our international airport. That we have sufficiently
chastised and embarrassed the senior airports officials involved in
enabling the breach of that security. Simply by being there. Or
hearing about it. And discussing it, endlessly, tediously, with our
families and friends.
For Kenyans, it is apparently now enough to know. But only after
having resisted knowledge in the first place. Let us not pretend,
after all, that we had not been forewarned about the presence of the
so-called Armenian brothers in our country.
AND WE LET THE STORY DIE DOWN, while allowing the jurisdiction of our
Police Commissioner to be trampled upon unceremoniously. Until the
goings-on at our international airport when, finally (so the story
goes), one brave minister apparently stepped up to the plate to
enable the Police Commissioner to do his job.
But, even then, we resisted the logical progression from partial
knowledge to full knowledge to decisive action. We decided that it
was enough to know only as much of the story as is allowed to come
through by inflexible and strict adherence to basic principles of
law. Meaning that no inferences are to be drawn based on broader
understandings of accountability. At all.
Thus the Judicial Inquiry into Goldenberg can be closed with
absolutely no mention of our former president's good name. Even
though he clearly had, if not legal accountability, then political
accountability for everything that transpired under his watch.
Similarly, the only result of the release of John Githongo's dossier
on Anglo-Leasing has been the resignation of erstwhile ministers,
only for them to be resurrected unchallenged in various House
committees - including those (gasp!) dealing with financial matters.
The events at our international airport, together with the
discoveries made in the home of the "Armenian brothers" should have
resulted in the prompt (and I do mean prompt!) sacking (not
"resignations") of our Ministers for Internal Security and
Immigration - just for a start. Because they are so clearly
politically accountable.
Instead, what do we see going on before our very eyes? A movie.
We know what happened. The direct line of accountability that can be
legally established and substantiated never tells the whole story.
Political accountability demands more.
L. Muthoni Wanyeki is the Executive Director of the African Women's
Development and Communication Network (FEMNET)