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Senior Counsel John Khaminwa is highly respected and admired in the court corridors where he has practised for half a century.

At 86, he is easily the grand old man of the Judiciary.

When he stands before judges with huge books, everybody listens. And despite his longevity—most judges are young enough to be his children—he remains admirably humble, respectful and refined in his speech.

He has represented all manner of people—from protesters, widows, judges to top politicians and fought wars with the Nyayo dictatorship.

Khaminwa was detained twice in the battle for political pluralism. In his own words, he used litigation to challenge state power. He represented Kenneth Matiba, Raila Odinga, George Anyona and Charles Rubia when they were detained by President Daniel arap Moi.

One of his original contributions to the struggle against State authoritarianism in Kenya was a court precedent which provided for “bail pending arrest”.

It was meant to block torture of political activists in police cells.

So when he offers political counsel, one is inclined to listen.

But first things first. More than a dozen Kenyans lost their lives on Wednesday during demonstrations inspired by the Azimio leadership over the “cost of living”.

Young families may have lost breadwinners, other will incur huge medical bills and livelihoods destroyed as a result of the protests.

Raila, Kalonzo Musyoka, Martha Karua & Co have packaged themselves as modern-day selfless, messiahs out to alleviate the pain of Kenyans hurting from the policies of a government that seems decidedly impervious to reason and good manners.

The mantra is that their clamour is in the interest of the people.
But the common denominator is that the Azimio leading lights are aggrieved by the results of the last election.

It is naivety for one to think that the Azimio protest narrative is about the people.
Go tell it to the birds.

It is a well-calculated plot by the Azimio political elite to cut a post-election deal with the “illegitimate Ruto regime” for self-preservation with the people as pawns.

For the uninitiated, the people’s interest has never been the central driver of our politics.

Few Kenyan politicians would sacrifice for the people from whom they derive the power they hold. On the contrary, it is the people who serve and sacrifice for politicians.

The 2010 Constitution rested all the power with the people but easily ceded it to individuals who bribe their way to political power and privilege on the backs of the proletariat.

The general attitude is politics a lucrative enterprise for primitive, cut-throat accumulation of wealth.
There is a demonstrable nexus between access to political power, wealth and immunity to criminal accountability.

Politicians across the board have been exploiting the anxieties and vulnerabilities of unemployed youth and poor urban folk to advance their causes in the name of the people.

In journalism, we whisper to each other that no story is worth dying for.

Maybe, our youths should be advised that no politician is worth your life.

While arguing against the Building Bridges Initiative law reforms, Dr Khaminwa had a fairly brutal, if accurate assessment about the character, motive, temperament and mischief of the Kenyan politicos.

The elder moaned the barrenness of values and principle in Kenyan politics since independence.

“As a country we have been very unfortunate. We have not had selfless politicians. The crop of politicians is very poor. Most of them are job seekers. They stand absolutely for nothing. One gets the impression all that they are looking for is political power. The nearest we have had of a selfless politician is Wangari Maathai and Kenneth Matiba,” he said.

“The first crop of politicians who brought us independence were selfless but those who came after them are tribalists who want to address personal problems. The problems we experience have nothing to do with the Constitution. They have something to do with ourselves and particularly the political elite. They are the ones who fuel violence,” Khaminwa observed.

Kenyan must beware of the real motive of the Azimio politiburo in the demos.