Death Of A Thug

The consequences of war, the action that causes a reaction, the reaction after an action are all dreadful until one side gives up or is destroyed and forced to give up. In war you always have to not only count on but also be prepared for a response from the enemy. Good strategy, calculation and counteraction preparations are very vital.

Last Tuesday, president Kibaki while unveiling the statue of freedom fighter Dedan Kimathi, was very clear that war on crime was declared. This war has been going on for a long time but it seems that it was now spilling out of control.

His choice of this occasion to show that his government was able and willing to fight crime was very symbolic given that this was a time when a Kenyan freedom fighter was given his due recognition. In more than one word he was saying that his government would defend what the freedom fighters fought for.

Dedan Kimathi was hanged in 1957 after the British colonialists caught up with him and sentenced him to death. He was sentenced by their court according to their laws and to this day he and the Mau Mau remain as terrorists in the British files. That has not changed even after independence but at least he is a hero in the land that he fought for. My hero. His crime was to pick up a gun and fight for his country eventually dying for it. ´´It is better to die on our feet than to live on our knees in fear of the colonial rule“ are some of his most remembered words and are inscribed on the statue.

Kimathi and his fearless likes fought so that we would not only enjoy our freedom but also that we would have our own LAW. Laws that would govern us and describe our justice. The justice that would stress our equal ness as Kenyans in the eyes of our LAW.

One of Kenya’s most wanted criminals in resent times was gunned down by the police the other day. Simon Matheri Ikere was so feared and hated that celebrations broke out after his death. His own family had disowned him and given the police a green light to deal with him as they deemed fit. They knew, just as all other Kenyans did, that he was a dead man walking.

The president on his speech attacked the human rights activists for their criticism of his government and the police when criminals were killed by the police. His reactions were brought up by the high increase in crime related deaths and the continued call upon his government to bring back order to the streets. A war that has been going on for sometime now, with both sides losing. It was now time for some serious action.

Matheri’s head was priced at 150,000 ksh. With this kind of money a Judas or just a patriotic Kenyan, is available and for a good cause. I myself believed that the sum was too small for a psycho thug as notorious as Matheri.

According to what Matheri’s wife said to The Nation, they were in bed when the police surrounded their apartment. The wife heard some ´´an unusual sound of moving objects“ but Matheri did not think it was anything to worry about. He thought that the sound came from the living room where the children slept. After identifying themselves, the police ordered him out which he at first refused to obey in fear that they would shoot him on sight.

His fears were well founded. Just some days before he was gunned down, a newspaper had published a story about another criminal who had served his time and was about to be released. But the criminal was so afraid that police would find a reason to kill him that he would have preferred to remain in jail.

A friend of mine once told me how his cousin was killed.

He was sitting in a Mathree unaware that the police had been tipped of his whereabouts. He too was a criminal. At some stop they ordered him out at gun point after identifying them selves. He obeyed their order and raised his hands high above his head pleading not to be shot. He was unarmed. When he stepped outside he was ordered on his knees with hands behind his head and his mouth open. A policeman put the barrel of his gun in his mouth and there in front of everyone, pulled the trigger.

Well, Matheri finally, after his wife pleaded with him to get out for the sake of her life and those of their children, well aware that the police could spray the apartment with bullets if he refused, stepped outside. Dressed only in his blue shorts. The reports say that the police came into the apartment with Matheri and had a chat with him. After that they all went outside again and then came the sound of the gun. That was it for Matheri and his buddy. They both had gun shots wounds in their heads with the bullets entering through the back.

Police reports later said that Matheri was shot while trying to load his gun. What they mean is, Matheri, the most wanted criminal in Kenya at the time came out with an unloaded gun. A man who was said to always have a gun with him. His buddy who was also his bodyguard is not mentioned to have reacted much.

I celebrate his death with everybody else and am happy that another loose gun has been eradicated from our streets. But would it not have been much more significant if he was arrested, put on trial and sentenced accordingly? Is that not the reason we have laws? Is the police, by carrying out this kinds of executions promoting in turning Kenya into a cowboy state where the fastest to draw and shoot is the law of the day? Are they not demonstrating that human life is worthless and by doing so encourage the gangsters to do the same in pretence of self defence?

While the second liberation of Kenya is up and going, a very important part of it is being ignored. THE LAW. It has to be part of the system of the second liberation or otherwise not much will be achieved. The law, not the police, not the criminals but the LAW, MUST PREVAIL.

By P Bryan Njoroge. With concern.