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Over the past six years, Kenya’s self-proclaimed “moral police” Dr. Ezekiel Mutua used his position as the chief executive officer of the Kenya Film Classification Board to impose extremist restrictions on Kenya’s cultural scene. During that time, Mutua earned the mocking nickname “Vice Jesus” by regularly criticizing and banning local movies and music, as well as advertisements and parties that offended his religious sensitivity.
However, what pleased many people on social media last week is that he seems to have received the long-awaited retribution. Not only was he fired, but the country’s Ethics and Anti-Corruption Commission announced that he was under investigation for allegedly collecting illegal payments into his pocket during his tenure.
In fact, it has been a long time. Although Mutua has greatly expanded his scope of authority, even beyond the intentions of the colonial architects he organized, he embodies the same mentality they had when they created it. As we all know, the Kenya Film Censorship Committee was established at the end of the colonial era. It is the culmination of decades of racism and colonial paternalism. In the words of one writer, its purpose is to “suppress the effective penetration of African culture and…Christianity.” .In the eyes of the British, “the entire population of Africa [w]Very fragile, psychologically immature, without the mental ability to consume certain movies without corruption.”
Mutua has the same view of his compatriots, but tries to disguise it as a concern for children, even if the restrictions he imposes are aimed at adults. In this regard, he is very suitable for the government he serves. Throughout the COVID-19 pandemic, the government is more willing to treat Kenyans as sensitive children, simple-minded and unable to deal with the truth or complex situations. Therefore, it deliberately chose not to explain its plans, actions and policies to citizens, but to impose, threaten and deceive.
Within a week after Mutua was fired, as the fourth wave of COVID-19 infection swept the country, the government somehow relaxed restrictions on public transportation while urging the public to continue to observe them. Although it was acknowledged that the high infection rate was the reason why the agreement was not relaxed earlier, this situation still occurred. However, the government’s U-turn did not provide any reason, just a week after its Ministry of Health issued an alert about the surge in COVID-19 cases.
A few days later, Dr. Willis Akhwale, chairman of the Kenya COVID-19 Deployment and Vaccination Working Group, secretly revealed that the government had “secretly” told medical staff to vaccinate anyone over 18 to avoid expiration of the available dose. The initial, publicly publicized vaccine rollout plan prioritized medical staff, security personnel, and people over 58 years of age. No one seems to be sure when this will change, but according to Bloomberg, “all people over the age of 18 are eligible starting from around July.” Similarly, even if the elderly line up outside public hospitals and are forced to pay bribes Vaccination, and there is no public explanation of the policy change.
This week, the government also ordered all its 750,000 employees to receive at least one dose of COVID-19 vaccine within two weeks, otherwise they will face disciplinary action. Similarly, there is no explanation as to why all government workers, regardless of age or what they actually do, skip the queue, and there is no announcement on how they will plan specifically without overwhelming the already chaotic distribution system. How all this fits with the government’s broader plan to combat COVID-19, or whether it has such a plan, is anyone’s guess.
For nearly a year and a half, Kenya has been under curfew and various other pandemic-related restrictions. But the government has not yet announced a plan to let the public understand its decisions or to provide a benchmark for relaxing these measures. The arbitrariness of this approach is deliberate, transforming restrictions from necessary medical measures to claims of power and authority. This is why the face of the government’s approach has always been the police, not the doctors, and why the government’s statements are always expressed in the language of “instructions.”
Like Mutua’s KFC, the Kenyan government is a product of its colonial education, and it is difficult to imagine its people as fully functional people who can understand or deal with the complexities of the world. Like its British ancestors, it believed that the population was not suitable for autonomy. They are neither deciding what they or their children can watch or listen to, nor are they participating in national decisions about how to respond to pandemics. Thankfully, Vice Jesus may have left, but unfortunately, this attitude still exists.
The views expressed in this article are those of the author and do not necessarily reflect Al Jazeera’s editorial stance.
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