As the man species, we live on the same earth but we live in different times! At least that is what I was made to realize on Sunday when Italian Prime Minister Silvio Berlusconi was attacked by an angry man in Milan, Italy.
Can you imagine what would have happened to Massimo Tartaglia (the attacker) had he been a Kenyan? Rewind to December 12th 2009 when one Fredrick Odhiambo sneaked his way to the dais at the Nyayo National Stadium during the Jamhuri Day celebrations.
The poor guy had the guts to shout at President Kibaki at the start of his speech. Before the guy could finish saying what he was saying, the security people were all over him, roughing him up and carrying him away so that the president would not be embarrassed. This was happening in full view of invited guests, including diplomats, and in the eyes of television cameras. And this was just for shouting.
Can you imagine a situation where the President has addressed a gathering and then when he is on the way out, a guy goes through the security team, weapon in hand, and lungs at the President, aiming for his face? The man would be dead meat by the time his feet land on the ground! If he survives, he would be whisked away, taken to different police stations, where even his friends and lawyers cannot find him.
The Italian attacker was arrested and charged with the offence. In Kenya, even if the attacker was injured, he would be taken to the police station instead of being taken to the hospital first, and later to the police station.
But Kenya being Kenya, our President is not even the type to walk around, and sign autographs for some of his supporters. Our security forces would not allow you to get any close to the President, even forgetting that it is your vote that put the President where he is today. A case of the employer being refused to meet the employee after giving him a job. Funny, huh? That’s our land.
What I imagine is that the President would there and then at the scene of the attack go ballistic and hit back at his attacker, assuming that he was not that badly injured. “Wewe ni pumbavu tu! Kwani vita itakusaidia nini? Bure kabisa!!” Then he would tell his wife, “Mama Jimi, okotea mimi hiyo meno yangu imeng’oka, weka kwa kibeti twende state house.”
It is amazing what Berlusconi said while recuperating in hospital, that “love would always conquer hate”. He did this on his party’s website, while thanking his supporters and well-wishers. Can you imagine President Kibaki thanking his supporters on the PNU website, leave alone sitting down behind the computer to thump a few lines of ‘thank you’?
The Italian government is said to be considering taking action against social networking sites that came up to show support for the attacker. In Kenya, things would be different because the security forces would not even have an idea about what is going on in the internet. They will only wake up once the print media tells them of the existence of the sites supporting the ‘attack on Kibaki’.
The security people would have a field day trying to round up known political activists, who would be hurriedly charged in court for endangering the life of the President. Other political activists would then come out and start demanding for the release of their colleague(s) arrested for no good reason, and arraigned in court for ‘trumped up charges’.
After a few days in court, the accused would be released on bond for the case never to be heard again. Meanwhile, the real attacker would be dead (if he died), or he would be taken to court and jailed for I don’t know how many years. End of story.
How things happen differently in different parts of the world. Living on the same earth but living in different times.
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