Of Police and Politicians

Is it just me or is there something deeply worrying about the fact that the police were able to gun down nine people in Nairobi in one 12-hour period?
The men who were killed were all alleged to be members of the Mungiki criminal/mafia gang. But what does it say about a society when the only way to deal with this problem is to shoot suspects dead? New Police Commissioner Mathew Iteere has declared war on the Mungiki and promised to hunt them all down. But the shootings look like gangland justice and I think raise uneasy questions about the way the Kenyan state functions.
Of course, the Mungiki are not innocent. Iteere listed their crimes as kidnappings, rape, extortion , murder, illegal possession of firearms and robbery with violence. But shoot-to-kill justice should surely always be a last resort, not a day-to-day policy. How can one hope to end impunity in Kenya when police can act as judge and jury and executioner? I know the arguments about police having to protect themselves and the public against the violent Mungiki, who it is true have shown no mercy to their victims either. And Iteere's tough action has met with considerable support among Kenyans tired of being racketed and worse by the Mungiki. But I just fear there is something very wrong if a shoot-to-kill policy is justified by applying the same standards to law enforcement officers as you do to a criminal gang ie they kill us so we should kill them. Also, if your law enforcement officers are permitted to operate outside of the law in some cases, who is going to draw the line and rein them back again when abuses target people who are not Mungiki?
Iteere dismissed allegations by lawyer Paul Muite that police were involved in the shooting of Njuguna Gitau, the spokesman of the Mungiki's political wing, a few days earlier. He was gunned down in the street too.
Another thing bothering me: On Wednesday Kenya's MPs failed to debate a bill proposed by Gitobu Imanyara on setting up a local special tribunal to try those believed to have been involved in the post-election violence because only 19 MPs out of 222 turned up. The House needs a quorum of 30 to proceed with a debate.
The Daily Nation quoted Internal Security Assistant Minister Orwa Ojodeh as saying ministers were absent because they were attending a climate change workshop that was opened by Prime Minister Raila Odinga at the Inter-Continental Hotel. But the paper said only Odinga and Forestry Minister Noah Wekesa were actually at that workshop.
You can see why Imanyara's bill might be unpopular. It proposes that top government officials resign from their posts once mentioned as suspects in the violence that killed around 1,300, removes the president's immunity to prosecution and reduces the powers of the Attorney General and Chief Justice among others.
Now, government ministers have retreated to the Serena Hotel in Mombasa -- a lovely, rather expensive hotel in lush grounds with a beautiful view of the Indian Ocean -- for what the Standard described as a "bonding session". They are expected to discuss the constitutional review, among other things. Wonder what those other things might be. And wonder why this "bonding" could not have been done maybe during the two-month parliamentary recess that has just ended.
Parliament has already twice rejected bills to set up a local tribunal and this was a contributing factor in the decision by the International Criminal Court's Chief Prosecutor to ask for permission to investigate the post-election killings. The local tribunal bill comes up again next Wednesday for debate. If anyone is around....