GOVERNMENT LETTING STUDENTS DOWN.

Following the shocking revelation of the underground drug deals by a ruthless group of individuals named “untouchables”, by two dedicated Kenyan investigative journalists Mohamed Ali  and Dennis Onsarigo,everyone has been left questioning the integrity of Kenyan politicians and the meaning of the police slogan “utumishi kwa wote”.

We all watched in awe and even greater  shock  as the events that followed the intercepting of the largest haul of cocaine in Africa unfolded. There was well orchestrated serial killings to the  police officers and individuals who seemed to oppose the move to enrich themselves  from the drug money. The greatest shame was that those murdering them was their colleagues who they worked with on daily basis .Its a shame that love for money and wealth has superseded the respect and dignity with which we should always hold human life with as it is priceless.

The most disturbing part was the execution of an innocent man in front of his young family and worse still ask his neighbor to eat his brains. The man is up tp now mentally disturbed and I believe he will die with that horrifying picture in his mind. It hurt so much to see a seven year old boy crying on the national television passing a message to the killers of his father and saying he was sure they were enjoying life with their children. Is it possible for such a child to easily say what Alfred Mutua coined for us all to be saying, that “najivunia kuwa mkenya”?i believe no, not until justice has been served and the killers of his dad brought to book.

Being a journalism student I watched with great admiration for the two Kenyan journalists. I hoped and still hope to do the same kind of citizen journalism once im through with my studies.To expose the rot in the society, I hoped the government would soon be announcing a top reward and state security to the two journalists until I saw the police commissioner, Mathew  Iteere  announcing it that the two were to  were to be sued together with their media house. What a shame! They were to be sued for proving that the politicians were into drugs trade and did not really care about the future of the youth. They were to be sued for using almost a full year of their time doing what the government together with the police failed to do; to name and shame those that think they are above the law and that Kenya is just their playing field. I felt discouraged to be pursuing journalism because I felt that the government views them as their enemies and not their extra eyes.

Many students who work hard to get  earn a good and modest  and responsible life after  school felt that  at the end of the day, what mattered is not your hard work but the money, no matter how dirty you will have acquired it that mattered. For example, I wonder whether the young boys narrating how their fathers were killed by the police would ever think of joining the police force if they had earlier decided to follow in their dads footsteps bearing in mind a child always want to be like their fathers. If they sue the two journalists or execute them in cold blooded murders which have almost become a ritual in our society, how many journalism students ambition will thy have killed?

I urge the two principles to say something on this case and to protect journalists in the course of their work and to provide justice to the aggrieved parties so that they can bring back confidence and ambition to Kenyan students who are following this sad case with a lot of interest.

MORRIS MUNENE MUGO,

NAROK UNIVERSITY COLLEGE,

SECOND YEAR JOURNALISM STUDENT.