Elkana Ong'uti, OGW

One time in 2022, there was a discussion in a certain WhatsApp group made up of some youth, where they were suggesting that Uhuru should extend his stay in office for a couple of years, to block Ruto from taking power. I told them that I could not be party to such a conversation because extending a presidential term would mean defying the constitution. I also reminded them that with the kind of a leader Uhuru was, he could never agree to take the country down such a slippery path, as cared so much for the peace and stability of Kenya and his greatest legacy would be a peaceful handover of power. “Good people, since it is the side we support that is in power, and the man at the helm is a good president who we love, it may seem favourable to us if he extends his stay in power. But remember one day a guy we do not like or a guy who is not good for the country might become president, and take advantage of the loophole that we will have created. THERE ARE DOORS WHICH AS A COUNTRY WE SHOULD NOT OPEN just because it favours us for now.” I said to them. Fast forward to 2025. I will repeat that there are doors which as a country we should not open whether one is in government or in the opposition. Politics is dynamic. Positions and alignments can easily change and you find yourself on the receiving end. For the purposes of this post I will mention two doors that we have opened. And we should very fast close them, and tightly. Cheering on as other people’s children use technology to create naked photos of the President and the First Lady, or showing them in coffins is immoral. I am certain you would not be proud if it was your children posting that kind of content on their pages. See, you may think you are safe from cyber bullying because you are not a public figure. But when these children are done with the political class, they will cascade their “creativity” to other levels of our society. Your intern in the office will be mad at you one day and the next thing you see are AI generated naked photos of you circulating in WhatsApp groups. Or you are a pastor and a mshirika who is unhappy with you will cook up a very damaging story about you and pay to have it circulated on social media, complete with AI generated photos. I doubt that day you will smile and tell us that the person is just excercising his/her rights and freedoms. The emergence of AI and the growth of the social media space demands of us to be a more responsible society, so that technology is used for the good of all, not to damage people’s images, reputations, families and careers. Every citizen has a right and a duty to call out the government and keep it in check, but this should be done ethically, and within the confines of the law. Now to the second and most important point. The government must set a good example and conduct itself within the limits of the law. Leaders should abide by the constitution they swore to protect. Using extra-constitutional means to crack-down on law breakers including abducting them is a no go zone! We pride ourselves in the 2010 constitution, as it provides the most progressive legal frameworks in the continent. We have come so far as a country in developing our democracy and constitutional order, and we should tightly close any door that would take us back in time or lead to a path that is outside of that constitution. As responsible citizens, let us conduct ourselves within the law in all our undertakings, and in the same breath demand that our government conducts itself within the same law. The constitution provides for a judicial system that is well able to prosecute any crime that one may be charged with. And if with the emergence of AI and technological advancements the leadership finds that our Computer Misuse and Cybercrimes Law is not comprehensive, let the MPs sit and amend that law to enhance it, and those who break it can be processed in court. CLOSE THOSE DOORS!!