WAMBUGU: The case of Rigathi Gachagua: An injustice to anyone is an injustice to everyone

In two(2) weeks we have watched the government infrastructure hound one man to extremes we thought impossible.

The National Assembly and Senate have conducted a public lynching on Deputy President Rigathi Gachagua including terrible verbal attacks against the DP and his family in a rushed processes to remove him from office.

The Senate even voted to impeach him as he was fighting for his life in Hospital while the National Assembly pre-empted Senate's vote and planned a Friday special sitting to get his replacement where 236 MPs 'voted' for a man who could be President in four(4) hours!

They did this without any vetting, public participation, or IEBC clearance. They just did not care!

The Judiciary has suffered intense intimidation and interference to ensure that the DP does not find relief from this institution against the injustice being done to him by the Legislature. 

Interruptions to the judiciary online filing system, direct threats and intimidation to judges, interference with filed documents, etc, have been the order of the day. 

And when the DP finally managed to get conservatory orders to stop the ongoing process there were even attempts to have the Court of Appeal sit on a Friday evening (or the weekend) to overturn these orders!

Right now the Executive is working overtime to continue this harassment and bullying of the Deputy President, despite the conservatory orders keeping him in office. 

The Deputy President's operational staff have ALL, been put on compulsory leave, effective immediately.

The security detail due to him as DP has been drastically reduced. And there is a concerted effort to remove his familiar personal security and replace them with a different team that neither he or his family knows.

This is at a time when he is still admitted in hospital and under medication.

The truth is that at the bottom of our hearts every Kenyan knows that what is happening to Rigathi Gachagua is neither right, fair or just. It is also dangerous not just to him, but to all of us.

In fact had it been happening to anyone else but him, there would have been a great hue and cry across the country against it.

Kenyans would certainly have been in the streets demanding for Justice because there is clearly very obvious injustice being perpetrated against him.

If this was happening to someone else the Media, the Civil Society, the Church, the Opposition, and even ordinary Kenyans would be shouting from the rooftops, against this very clear and obvious public injustice.

But right now, everybody is quiet-most probably because they see this as a fight between people of a certain class.

Unfortunately, that silence is what is encouraging those behind these actions, to push further and further and stretch the boundaries more and more. And the reality is that once they get away with it; once they manage to do something like this to someone as powerful as a Deputy President; they will have set the stage to do this to anyone else, at any level of society.

This is a classic Martin Niemoller Moment; First they came for the socialists, and I did not speak out-because I was not a socialist.

Then they came for the trade unionists, and I did not speak out-because I was not a trade unionist.

Then they came for the Jews, and I did not speak out-because I was not a Jew.

Then they came for me and there was no one left to speak for me.

-Martin Niemöller

Anyone who has been in this country knows where what is happening to Rigathi Gachagua can take us back to, if left unchallenged.

So here is the challenge;

What is the Church's position on what is happening?

Where is the Media voice to speak against this?

Why is the Civil society quiet to this injustice?

Why is the International Community quiet?

Where is the Political Opposition?

WHY ARE WE LETTING THIS HAPPEN?

Ngunjiri Wambugu

Deputy President Rigathi Gachagua political advisor

* Views are his own.