By M X Muriuki
When ICC prosecution witnesses started sublimating into thin air, one by one, the vast majority, including those in the legal fraternity, did not say anything, perhaps because it was politically expedient, heck ‘morally’ compelling at the time.
When Jacob Juma was killed a few months ago, instead of society demanding the killers be brought to book, the conversation shifted into an argument on how much Juma was or wasn’t worth! I doubt any arrests have been made this far.
We keep quiet when injustices rock our society and then go ahead to make an assumption that such an injustice is reserved for others, and can never occur to a loved one, a friend, a neighbor, a daughter, a son and so on. Never mind that our society is anchored in the timeless philosophy of Harambee to mean we pull together, all of us.
History reminds us of one man called Martin Niemöller. He was one of the earliest Germans to talk publicly about broader complicity in the Holocaust and guilt for what had happened to the Jews. His sense of guilt is summed up in a poem that should wake us up from our slumber:
“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.”
You are on your own. If you have boots, tighten the bootstraps.
