RAILA  ON JAILING OF UHURU AND RUTO: WHAT HE SAID(AND DIDN’T SAY)

Trust Hon Raila to cause a 100 Richter scale seismic movement anytime he opens mouths or better,  puts  a paid advert in one of our of local dailies. His recent statement that appeared on the Sunday Nation dated 11^th March 2012 page 28 is no exception and –you can take this to the bank-will give him more political mileage than  the one G7 would get even if they put up an advert that run through the entire Sunday paper.

The said adverts’ headline- ‘Forged UK Dossier’- concealed more that it let away and one could have ignored it easily as just another communique from the Pentagon. In the statement, Raila states some obvious truths that most Kenyans share-that the Ocampo four will not be declared guilty by the ICC by holding quasi-religious prayers in every remote hamlet in the republic. Going to the agora everyday to say how innocent they are wont relinquish the yoke of ICC cases that hangs from their necks like millstones. The ICC has its procedures through which the suspects will use to prove their innocence, or lack thereof, when that time comes. You do not need a PhD in criminal law to know this.

The verbal deluge that has followed Raila’s statement is of Noah’s proportions-something that he expected. The entire Fourth Estate, right from mainstream media houses like Nation to the wanna-be radio station is abuzz reacting to this sentiments. Some radio stations even had to reschedule their programming to discuss the statement. One is wont to think that Hon Raila has pinned his 99 theses, to borrow from the Protestant Reformer Martin Luther, to the wall of public opinion in Kenya.

The capitalists  they are, the media houses have used the statement to gain extra shilling Some bright editor headlined yesterday’s Sunday Nation ‘Uhuru and Ruto ought to be in jail, says Raila’. This is the most alarmist headline I have come across in the recent years. I have gone through the previously mentioned blistering statement, as Nation calls it, with a toothcomb and I am yet to come across such sentiments in it. And the last time I checked my eyesight was okay. This headline, especially the juxtaposing of the words Uhuru, Ruto and jail, was intended to play on the sensitivities of the followers of the two politicians and thus boost paper sales. Am sure that Sunday Nation’s regional sales manager for Mountain region and Rift valley posted impressive sales yesterday. However, this tabloid journalism on the side of Nation reeks to high heavens of unprofessionalism and insensitivity. Our country almost came to its knees owing to fanning of tribal sentiments during the last elections. This is not the right time to play around on some fickle sensitivities like the ICC process. Journalists, being the sensitive tips of the society should be alive to this or else they are not worth their salt.

Hon Raila knew very well the kind of political deluge he would cause with his statement. That is why he put it up in the Sunday papers as they have the widest circulation in comparison with the other dailies. I have this feeling that the guy keeps a well –worn copy of Robert Greene’s 48 Laws of Power, which he flips through occasionally. From this treatise, Raila knows very well that for a good politician to be relevant, one has to be in circulation. Acres of newspaper space have and will be dedicated to Raila’s statement for this week and many to come. The usually disorganized G7 brigade united in shouting itself hoarse over the weekend condemning the statement. This helps keep him in circulation, which is a lifeline for every politician. Like they say in showbiz, there is no bad publicity after all. At the same time, he has deflected our attention from other burning issues of the day.

Raila did not say anything new: he only has expressed some feelings that some Kenyans may share, depending on their political allegiances. Hate him or like him but, this is a politician who does not fear to speak his mind out, however outrageous his words may be. The said statement is not blasphemous or treasonable and the acres of newspaper space its getting is uncalled for. In any case, Raila has made much more outrageous statements, especially during his days in the opposition trenches. His statement’s prominence is only driven by what the late Hon.Kijana Wamalwa memorably referred to as Railaphobia.

To say the least, the editors at Nation used journalistic license to whip up people’s emotions in order to boost newspapers sales. The nation is still to fickle and such sensational headlines are bound to make the situation worse. The last time I checked, the Aga Khan, not Rupert Murdoch, was at the helm of Nation Media but if the media house wants to borrow from that high priest of tabloidsm, which he perfected in Fleet Street, then the timing, and location is wrong.

Freedom as they say is a double-edged sword. Freedom without responsibility is worse than tyranny. We have made various strides in media law but when we misuse the same laws, we’d rather go back to the old days of media muzzling.

@Gilbert Mwangi

12^th March, 2012