A man elected to make laws leading people to break the law

President Uhuru Kenyatta exhibits passion for many things -- the Big Four, national unity and war against corruption, among many others.

But one of those he emphasises in most of his speeches is integration. The President preaches the gospel of building bridges rather than walls in almost all places he visits, both locally and internationally.

And it is not just after the famous March 9, 2018 handshake. The President has been advocating for national, regional and even continental integration for a very long time.

 At an event in South Africa in 2015 for instance, the Kenyan President so passionately asked the African Union to speed up the integration agenda of the continent so as to unlock the continent’s economic development.

Speaking at the opening of the 6th Ordinary Session of the Third Parliament of the Pan African Parliament (PAP) in Midrand, South Africa, on May 18, 2015, Uhuru reminded the continent that the integration needed to start by dismantling “the artificial borders created by the colonial masters” so as people are freed to walk and work anytime anywhere in the continent.

The choice of South Africa for that address was strategic because that country understands first-hand what it means to identify people by their countries of origin.

“We know what it is to be faced with divisions of creed and culture.  We know what it is like to be faced with the fear that fires xenophobia. We know what it is like to face the legacies of violence and hatred,” he told his audience that afternoon four years ago, just two years after getting elected as President of Kenya.

Nearer home, Uhuru has been on the frontline fighting for the realisation of the East Africa Community that seeks to cement the relationship among the six countries in this region. He has even chaired its summit of heads of state.

But something has happened that might bring the President’s effort to naught.

Starehe MP Charles Njagua's, popularly referred to by his musical stage name Jaguar, is threatening to mobilise his constituents to identify, beat and throw out foreign traders. He is particularly targeting our siblings from Tanzania and Uganda.

And this is not going down well with so many of us and our neighbours.

Tanzania has already picked up the issue and last Tuesday it was discussed by its Parliament. The deliberations were dominated by calls for revenge that would involve identifying, beating up and throwing out Kenyans living, working and doing business in that country. It has the potential of getting very messy and ugly.

The youthful MP, who ironically studied peace studies and conflict management at university, is stroking war drums of a scale he does not seem to properly comprehend. He is fanning the embers of xenophobia in search for populistic short-term gains.

Luckily, the government is moving fast to arrest the spread of the MP’s hatred. The first term legislator has since been arrested and arraigned and is arguing his case, or lack of it, in court.

The government rightly condemned the incendiary utterances made by the MP and distanced itself from what it termed as reckless and “unneighbourly sentiments”. It also sought to assure, as it should, foreign nationals of their personal safety.

The MP might have some plausible intentions aimed at protecting the interest of a section of his voters. There is, for instance, the need to guard against dumping low quality products from other countries at Gikomba market which is in his constituency.

There is also the issue of unfair competition by foreigners against local traders, the competition for jobs and threat of involvement in crimes by undocumented foreigners.

All these are genuine grievances that leaders need to look out for. But inciting ignorant masses to a mob justice approach is not one of the ways of addressing those problems. A man chosen by his people to make laws should never lead the people to break the law.

Jaguar is a disappointed to the youth, the people of Kenya and the President on whose party he was elected.