There is a yawning gap and a persistent falling short of law enforcement in all the Counties of the former Western Province of Kakamega, Bungoma, Busia, Vihiga and Trans Nzoia. There is the omnipresent cynicism, distrust, lack of faith in the National Police Service. One constantly hears the ordinary citizen expressing doubt as to whether the Police Force has what it takes to combat crime, deal with criminals. The refrain we hear is that criminals are arrested, kept in for a day or two or a week and they are back in circulation and mocking the whistle blowers,complainants and even threatening them.
Our National Police Force, now that road blocks have been removed, are very active in the arena of harassing chang’aa brewers and collecting bribes. Petty theft is now the order of the day in our region. Neighbors just enter their neighbors’ farms and steal farm produce without any fear of being arrested and charged. Thievery is now the biggest threat to an orderly society in the region. It is self-evident the Ten commandments, the admonition in the Holy Quran against theft, harming others which are all moral injunctions have no meaning, sense, impact in our society. Equally the cultural commands for respect for the neighbor’s property and his or her integrity, safety have no meaning.
Civilization is the intelligent management of human emotions, respect of each other and the other persons physical being and property. We cannot continue the way we are with thievery accepted, condoned at all levels whether of public property or private property, whether it is tax payers monies or other peoples, maize, vegetables, groundnuts, bananas, cows, chicken or whatever.
The vice of thievery, lack of respect for other people’s property and their person must be addressed from its root cause and measures designed to rout it out or we will descend into utter lawlessness, disorder, dysfunction and retrogression. Both the religious organizations, churches, mosques and the National Police Service must relook, re-examine, re-evaluate anew the disease of thievery, violence against other people and come up with new solutions to combat them or we are staring at total breakdown of law and order. The insidious pervasive breakdown of respect for the law, property of the public and private citizens by significant sections of the population does not augur well for the development of any society and specifically our region. Who will invest in a people with a reputation for thievery?
How do we utilize the information, age, social media to combat thievery. How do we make it too expensive, painful, demeaning so as to deter those who now thinkit is an alternative to honesty, integrity, respect for others and their property? Who will initiate the action to outlaw, obliterate thievery that is threatening to undermine all the gains of a modern civilized society we are endeavouring to set up? Yes we must confront the scourge of thievery whether it be white collar or blue collar.
It should not be allowed to become the new normal, it’s the abnormal, the worst manifestation of being uncivilized, and it’s only for the wild animals where survival is by brute force. Moreover, thievery is the highest personification of evil. It should not be countenanced at any level and under whatever circumstances. If must be punished severely if the majority of law abiding citizens are to be protected as ordained by our constitution. Is our National Police Service, our Judiciary, our executive at County and National level our legislatures at National and County level wittingly or unwittingly nurturing, promoting, protecting thievery? If not so why is it so rampant? Who is not doing their work tell me? Who?
