ONLINE CIVILITY; THE ‘ADRENALINE JUNKIE’ OF KENYAN GOVERNANCE

BY SAMMY ANYONA ADAWO

The Revolution Will Be Tweeted!

Up until now, you must have noticed (if you’re in Kenya) the national awakening of online talkers and online social groups whose metamorphosis has brought up a nightmare for the government – what Mr. Walubengo calls ‘Online Civility.’

  

I, like a few Kenyans have taken time analyzing the force that is online civility and generally establishing its mo through assessing its malevolence vis-a-vis its benevolence. I have come to the realization that online civility is a punitive tool that the masses have yet to exhaust for their benefit primarily because governance in Kenya has been left to showstoppers and socialite politicians who have time-and-again proven to Kenyans that they’re not to be trusted with public interest as long as they breathe air.

The strong cases of online civility that burst the interwebs include the #MPigs online demo that spilled into the streets of parliament road castigating the Kenyan legislature against huge pay perks that they were awarding themselves at that time. Lest we forget the #SpeechYa500K tag that exposed an attempt to misuse public funds to the tune of half a million to airlift President Uhuru Kentatta’s speech across 8 regions of the country in this email era. Oh and what of the #5MillionForJadudi that helped the young man seek medical attention abroad for his case of brain tumor? – How does this relate to governance? It shows just how the government has failed to provide life saving medical facilities to Kenyans who are often confined to hospital referrals that dose them with painkillers galore.

  

The point is that there is a faction of Kenyans who have taken advantage of the online space, call them bloggers, tweeps, ‘facebookers’ this group, which I call the ‘I-Kenyans’ are the shapers of the Kenyan governance system, at a point when even the Chief Justice has used this online space to confess to the public that even justice is elusive in the courts and forces beyond the government are thinning and puppeteering the once majestic corridors of power.  I feel that these wars, albeit being won subliminally have increased assertiveness among Kenyans who labor and toil to live the Kenyan project.

Hats off to Robert Alai, Larry Madowo, Boniface Mwangi, Yassin Jumaa, Cyprian Nyakundi, Ndii without forgetting; Mugambi254, Iam Bett, Victor Matara, Labaan Shabaan, Xtian Dela, Marvin Gakunyi, Adam Maina, Yegon Emmanuel, Shadrac Nicholas who manage to strike the first matches and leave the roasting to the citizens who take it up so enthusiastically burning the ‘culprits’ to the stake and sending a chilling word to the culprits’ apprentices.