This archive report was first published on 14 December 2019.
Published on December 14, 2019, by Scheaffer Okore, a writer who has been following the debate on honourable treatment of Kenyan leaders.
The theatrical arrest of Nairobi Governor sparked a heated discussion on how leaders should be treated by the police. While some leaders felt that the police should have been more diplomatic and summoned the governor instead of allegedly manhandling him, many Kenyans questioned why these leaders only spoke out when citizens encounter worse treatment with no one coming to their defence.
The obvious double standard in how citizens and supposed honourable people are treated by officers of the law has become a contentious issue. The author agrees that the way police officers handle people must change from abusive, excessive force, and brutal methodology to a more dignified one, but this change needs to be for all Kenyans, not just a certain group of people.
The unspoken acceptance that Kenyan leaders are viewed as an untouchable special breed of humans while the rest of us are disposable ordinary people is one that needs changing. This means that when something that has been happening to ordinary people happens to this special category, it is blown out of context, and explanations are demanded.
However, the argument that 'we are your leaders so we must be treated better' yet Kenyans experience worse than this in police custody is deep selfishness. If leaders are going to fight against police brutality, they should fight it for everyone, not just themselves.
According to the author, honour is a role that a leader plays, not a title. It's in the conduct a leader carries themselves, the language a leader uses, the principles within which they lead, their attitude, and attributes. Honour is what a leader fights for on behalf of the people, not something owed to them.
