THE GREAT VISIT
POTUS (President of the United States) Mr. Barrack
Hussein Obama was in the city. Potholes were covered, grass was planted,
security was tightened, flags were hoisted and street families evacuated from
the City. In those three days POTUS was on the land of his forefathers, he had
placed Kenya on the spot light, the whole world had converged in Kenya and our
country was topic of discussion in every corner of this planet. Kenya grabbed
these opportunity to shine and of course we outshined and for sure the future
is more than bright.
Mr. Barrack came to represent the interest of the
American People and we met him as a partner in creating an enterprising
environment that will ensure economic development that will meet Kenyans
Interests.
Apart from the high class motorcade, we are going to
remember Obama for pointing out that empowering woman, youth, media and civil
society as the foundation for a democratic society. More so he noted that the
fight against corruption and terrorism was the way forward for economic
development. His visit to Kenya for sure is a symbol of the confidence the
Global Entrepreneurs have in investing in Kenya.
THE GREAT INJUSTICE
As an advocate of Human Rights I cannot fail to note
how street families vanished from the street. Information from independent
trusted Media Houses alleged that the street families were “arrested” by
National Youth Service (NYS) at night and placed in Lorries and taken in “custody”
at Joseph Kangethe Community Centre in Woodley. The center was guarded by County
askaris all through the period Mr.
Obama was in town to prevent these economically disadvantaged
people from escaping. Journalists were as well denied entrance to the centre
and it was hard to know the conditions they were being subjected to during their
stay at the centre. They were then released immediately the visitation ended.
This type of Act was
unconstitutional, inhumane and should be rebuked with the strongest terms
possible.
Is it a crime to be
poor? Why were these families discriminated on economic and social status grounds
yet everyone is equal before the law?
Every Kenyan has inherent
dignity and the right to have that dignity respected and protected and actually
the main purpose Kenya has a Constitution as per Article 19(2) is to preserve
the dignity of individuals and communities. These economically disadvantaged Kenyans
dignity as humans was violated. They were treated as second class citizens who
ought to be hidden from the eyes of visitors and investors. Yes, we need to
impress our visitors but it should not be at the expense of violating any human
being rights and freedoms.
It is the high time the
government and we Kenyans partner together and come up with a permanent solution
to stop such acts. As per the Kenya Budget for the fiscal year 2015/2016 read by
the Cabinet Secretary, Honourable Henry Rotich, Street families and vulnerable
children were allocated approximately Kshs. 9.7 Billion. This money is enough
to progressively empower these vulnerable members of the society to ensure they
are empowered and self-reliant. Poverty is the greatest violation of human rights
and freedoms that no man should be subjected to.
