In 1688 King
James II of England was disposed out of his Kingship throne through the
Glorious Revolution. One of the reasons he was disposed was that he had introduced
a law that attempted to disarm the protestant and strip them their weapons and
yet leaving the Roman Catholic people with Weapons. The protestant reacted by
inviting William III of Orange, a protestant ,
to invade England and overthrow King James II on the terms and
conditions codified in a bill which came to be known as the English Bill of
Rights of 1689.William III of Orange succeeded and became the new king.
The English
Bill of rights of 1689 had a very unique provision that reestablished the ‘ancient
right’ and liberty of protestant to have arms for their defense within the rule
of law. The right to keep and bear arms in English history was regarded as a
natural right of self-defense and closely tied to natural and legal defense of
the right to life. In 1791 USA borrowed the same idea and made the Second
Constitutional amendment to protect the right of people to keep and bear arms. These
laws still exist up to date in England and USA.
Maybe it’s
a high time Kenya should have a constitutional amendment and provide for the
right to keep and bear arms to protect their life and property without special
conditions. The continuous killings in the Rift which occurred at Nadame and
Kasarani region causes us to worry of if the government has the capacity to
ensure the security of every citizen. There is a lot of lawlessness and people
are living in a state of nature where might is right, murder is the order of
the day, yet the security officials keep on giving empty ultimatums, as they
have always done since time in memorial and that’s why maybe we need a
constitutional amendment for all the people to have the right to bear and keep
arms in order to protect their lives and property.
But before
we run towards this desperate decision at this desperate moment, the government
should first address the historical injustices that have occurred in the Rift
region among the pastoral communities. The pastoral people in the Rift region
have been living in a state of abandonment and insecurity for a long time hence
the people had to look for means to protect their lives and property these led
to them acquiring the “right to keep and bear arms”. For them to give up these “right”
without any “revolution” the government must first gain their confidence that they
(government) have the ability to protect their lives and property. After these
the government can then begin their disarm programs, cause the people in the
Rift cannot fully surrender their arms unless they are assured of the security
of their lives and property (cattle). Then the government should open-up these
region by building roads towards these regions, providing education and
offering all necessary infrastructure in order to change the economic lifestyle
of these Kenyans so that cattle is not the main economic activity.
Finally, a
society mainly exists to protect people lives and property. The moment these reason
is not fulfilled it is considered a failed society or a failed state as per
Public International Law. Kenya should not be a failed state. We all have an
inherent right to Life, which the government should fully protect.
