President William Ruto’s government is sitting delicately on the weighing scales of popular rule and, in converse, reign of terror and fear. And it seems that the State House is consciously tilting towards terror, shock and awe. The State might do well to pause, to reflect on the wisdom behind this choice and its improbable sustainability.
A year-long period of firm dissent and street protests by Gen-Z youth has steadily pushed Ruto’s Kenya Kwanza government towards paroxysms of anger and coercion. Fear is steadily becoming the default tool of engagement with the public. The President’s recent “shoot to maim” order speaks to a government that is itself in the knots of frustration and fear. Earlier, Ruto’s Interior CS, Kipchumba Murkomen, issued the “shoot to kill” edict, a command that was echoed by Belgut MP Nelson Koech.
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By Barack Muluka