Editorial

The rebound of the Artur brothers’ scandal bears testimony to one fact, like a mole the truth will always burrow its way to the top. After the spadework by top Government officials, the futile attempt to hash up one of the most clownish theatrics of the current administration, two parliamentary committees have stoked the cold embers.

The report the committees tabled before Parliament on Thursday does not say much that the nation does not know about the runaway criminals for whom some powerful persons in Government bent the law and yanked open sacred doors.

But it rekindles the sad memory of how they stalked the Kenyans soil, brandishing illegal arms and driving vehicles without registration plates, wearing police badges, and unlimited-access airport passes. They also engaged in thuggish activities. The victims spoke about extortion among other vile acts before the Kiruki Judicial Commission of Inquiry.

Some of those brutalised and traumatised, and those forced by some higher authority to do their bidding, spoke candidly. The report was handed to the President and except for some muted orders to some minions to vacate Government offices there was not a stir where it should have been.

The Government’s cast that starred in the melodrama hitherto unimagined it could take place in Kenya, are still clinging to the sensitive positions, particularly the security docket. It is business as usual, but the onset of the latest report is a reminder that there will always be something to revive receding collective memory.

The latest report also traces the conspiracy of silence on the part of some in Government who were sucked into the plot for which an ordinary citizen would have been shot. It also took issue with the fact that the criminals were put on a plane to the city of bliss – Dubai.

It is more than just a catalogue of what they did, whom they met, and the possible mysterious faces that rolled the red carpet for them. It is an indictment on the Government, which in its employ are the senior police officers, who refused to appear before the committees of Parliament as House rules demand.

Captured in the report is the lead role the bogus gold-bedecked brothers played in the police raid on the Standard/KTN premises. Their ware included high calibre guns and grenades buried in the lawn, balaclavas and vicious dogs. It also details how the advice of the National Security Intelligence Service to have them deported because they had the sneaky look of drug lords, was ignored by the National Security Advisory Council.

The members of the council include the Head of the Civil Service, Police Commissioner, Attorney General, and the Internal Security minister. Their decision to ignore such poignant advice from a reputable body at the centre of the security network, could only have sprung from the knowledge they had the backing of an even higher authority.

Much as the Government will continue to deny knowledge of their mission, source of their confidence, hubris and the impunity they exhibited, the frequency with which new facts keep sprouting soothes the heart.

It is predictable that with the targets of the report firmly in the office, the file could be stuck in the mud. The flipside is that when laws on retributive justice are blocked, the moral court takes over. It is here that the Government is adjudged guilty. Nonetheless, one day the facemasks will fall and the real hosts shall be shamed.