One of the characters in Kenya that never ceases to bemuse is the glee with which even those who should know better look at ideas foreign. Whereas it is acknowledged that tunes foreign always appeal to the ears not least because of their novelty, it would be much more useful if foreign experience is used to draw new lessons to assist us manage our environment rather than being treated as an utopia to be incessantly craved. In recent times, we have suffered such self imposed alienation that our children must be thinking we have no professors here.

This alienating effect is best evidenced by the chaotic euphoria pseudo-professional pieces of work have been provoking even as the best research works ever made by man slumber and a forlorn sleep in the cabinets as and equally forlorn populace long for the benefits they would stimulate in our beloved country. In the meantime those who should be implementing them are falling over themselves clowning in front of yet another boisterous foreigner.

If I may digress, I’m writing this with a sense of serious embarrassment following the events of this week, for the first time people who have been administering oaths to kill other Kenyans and take their property by force received VIP treatment right in front of the people they have so savagery murdered and robbed. The apparent reason for such murder is that their leader (who is in prison for possessing bangi) talked to his tribal god who told him to prophesy that property was never meant to suffer restrictive ownership. This tribal god then delegated authority to his followers to sacrifice those who oppose his decrees on holding property: accusations by police that such sacrifice is murder is infidel sacrilege and should be fought in the most violent manner possible. I hear that Professor Alston has instantly been cited as a saint sent by the said tribal god to vindicate the crusade. Naturally, the devils in this kingdom are the police with the more vigilant ones qualifying to the ranks of Lucifer.

What members of an outlawed sect preach to retain the cash flow from extortion might not be of great concern; of greater concern is the complete miscalculation the value international community can add in our country’s socioeconomic development and political stability has been given. You only need to compare the aura of sophistication we witnessed on Thursday at the Gigiri UN complex and the experiences endured in the hinterland that defines Kenya to feel the gap.

In the dying months of last year I spent 10 weeks in Central Province and Nairobi talking to peasants, foreign experts, University Dons, Matatu drivers and policemen on the subject of criminal gangs. My goal was to feed on our community policing strategy with a specific focus on criminal gangs as well as develop a documentary that will tell Kenyans something the headlines never will. Earlier, I had spent another seven weeks in Mount Elgon trying to understand the SLDF and its effects on the local population. The Commissioner of Police had commissioned these studies because of his deep concern on the longer term impact of criminal gang activities in relation to the community policing strategy.

The experience with these simple peasant folks contrasts so sharply with the aura of sophistication around Professor Alston that inevitably his recommendation becomes a blessing to their tormentors but a most ruthless endorsement of the pain they have suffered in the hands of criminals.

This should not be surprising: internal security, law and order are so domestic that every country adopts a uniquely peculiar approach. Numerous studies have concluded that Law enforcement is so deeply embedded into the evolving culture of a nation that it can never be replicated, generalized or studied in some foreign college. That is why in some countries police recruits take as much as 4 years in police academies before they are even considered for deployment as interns. Further research has shown that it is not possible to make the police substantively different from the community from which it is drawn and within whom it operates. For an example, in India police administration recognizes a caste structure while in Ghana and Sierra Leone traditional Chiefdom authorities have extensive powers over their police.

Kenya’s historical, social and economic experience is one of the most complex and several experiments with foreigners have failed to yield the expected results. We have tried renowned international experts in the investigation of several cases and none has ever been solved. Where they have not deepened the controversy like in the case of late Honorable Robert Ouko, they have produced reports which even contradicted known facts like in the cases of Father Kaiser and Julie Ward.

The challenges facing law enforcement can only be addressed by employing a down to earth joint approach spearheaded by local experts with a deep knowledge of the entity called Kenya like was aptly done in 2004/2005. In fact anybody wishing Kenyans well only needs to look at the review the Police Reform Framework developed then and complete the job which has already started.

Secondly, we need to realize that law enforcement is a function of voluntary observance by the majority: police come in to deal with individuals who deviate from the norm to maintain an existing condition. The pursuit of the rule of law becomes an effort in futility when influential members of society openly tolerate callous outlaws and afford them an opportunity to lure an undecided youth into crime. We must tell our youth that violence can never be holy neither can extortion be a tool to overcome poverty and eradicate class differences.

On foreign experts, Kenya Police has a wealth of experience. We have been deployed by the UN in 18 Missions to assist in governance and stabilization including Bosnia Herzegovina for 15 years, Sierra Leone for 10 years and Liberia for 6 years. The force has also worked for and with the UN tribunal for Rwanda and took an active part in laying the ground for the UN Court in Sierra Leone. If there is one lesson we have learnt is that the international community cannot add sustainable value to any country’s law enforcement unless that country in willing to become a colony. Even then, if you become an American colony they will readily reject Chinese policing norms and if you revert to the British Empire they would never allow French procedures.

In a nutshell, the so called international experts cannot add any value to Kenya’s internal security because such experts on Kenya’s internal security do not exist. That is how known Mungiki subsidiaries ended up being termed “credible human rights organization” and their kingpins getting VIP treatment from Professor Alston. One only needs to look at other disciplines like economics which is by nature more prone to universal trends; how far did the foreign designed Structural Adjustment Programmes (SAPS) assist this country to improve its economy?

Police Reforms

The process of carrying out further reforms in the police must be sensitive to our unique internal security needs and challenges. It must take into consideration the holistic national culture, attitudes and values that determine the way Kenyans act individually and collectively when faced with certain situations. Police reforms transcend the capacity of intellectual methods, and the techniques of analyzing and discriminating seemingly apparent weaknesses in its mode of dealing with Mungiki.

It is my considered opinion that Professor Alston’s report could be of some use in police reforms if handed over to a team of local professionals, to be soberly studied alongside other documents as we evaluate the progress made in Police Reforms and the way forward. Such a team of professionals should never be given the mandate to propose any appointment other wise it will become a circus of interests like Cecil Miller debacle.

In the meantime, as a country we should never conduct ourselves in a manner that makes a foreigner think that he can dictate what our President should say and whom he should appoint to any position after receiving presentations from criminal gangs.