There are two times when wise peo­ple avoid mak­ing deci­sions: when they are too angry or too excit­ed. Kenya has ignored both. In the wake of police shoot­ings and ris­ing nation­al frus­tra­tion, the intro­duc­tion of a bill to lim­it demon­stra­tions is not only untime­ly but also dangerous.

The pro­posed law by Nairo­bi Woman Rep­re­sen­ta­tive, my friend Esther Pas­saris, aimed at reg­u­lat­ing protests, arrives amid nation­al grief. A young Kenyan has died in police cus­tody, oth­ers have been abduct­ed, and one was shot dead on the street. Now, with fresh wounds still bleed­ing, we are being asked to crim­i­nal­ize the very act of demand­ing justice.

This is not how wise nations act. You don’t solve a cri­sis by cre­at­ing anoth­er one. The law must nev­er silence the cit­i­zen; it must safe­guard both free speech and order, regard­less of who is in pow­er. Today, it might be the peo­ple protest­ing. Tomor­row, it could be those in pow­er beg­ging to be heard. What if pick­et­ing tar­gets the police them­selves? Who then pro­tects the protester?

In Kenya, the core prob­lem is evi­dent. We sel­dom reform unless we face a threat. And even then, we often pass laws to pro­tect fear rather than fair­ness. The Pasaris bill seems less like a gen­uine pub­lic ser­vice response and more like pan­ic. It looks designed not to defend the Con­sti­tu­tion but to shield those in pow­er from scrutiny.

Amid the noise, Kenya’s Gen­er­a­tion Z has become the country’s unlike­ly moral com­pass. They see what many pre­tend not to: Cab­i­net and Prin­ci­pal Sec­re­taries chas­ing 2027 votes while hos­pi­tals strug­gle, schools decay, roads stall, and pub­lic trust erodes. And in the midst of it all, they see a Pres­i­dent work­ing alone, sur­round­ed by loy­al­ists but weighed down by betrayal.

At this cru­cial moment, a voice of calm intel­li­gence has emerged. For­mer Direc­tor-Gen­er­al of the Nation­al Intel­li­gence Ser­vice, Brigadier (Rtd) Wil­son Boinett, has pro­vid­ed Kenya with a sig­nif­i­cant mem­oir titled Fix­ing Spy Craft to Serve Nation­al Inter­ests in Kenya.

I burned the mid­night oil to read it and I encour­age every pol­i­cy­mak­er and cit­i­zen to do the same.

This is more than just a book. It serves as a sober warn­ing. The Author reminds us that intel­li­gence isn’t about spy­ing; it’s about under­stand­ing a nation before it col­laps­es. He led the trans­for­ma­tion of the polit­i­cal­ly mis­used Spe­cial Branch into a respect­ed civil­ian agency. Through care­ful reform, he restored dig­ni­ty to an office that had long been vil­i­fied, with­out seek­ing praise or recognition.

Equal­ly impor­tant, he shift­ed Kenya’s intel­li­gence pri­or­i­ties from inter­nal sus­pi­cion to focus on strate­gic nation­al inter­ests. His mes­sage is clear and impact­ful. When intel­li­gence becomes politi­cized, nation­al uni­ty is the first to suffer.

Many Kenyans are now ask­ing: is our intel­li­gence com­mu­ni­ty being lis­tened to? Are our lead­ers act­ing on the brief­in­gs, warn­ings, and pat­terns that have been shared with them? Kenya has already suf­fered from ignor­ing intel­li­gence. We have expe­ri­enced ter­ror attacks, eth­nic clash­es, and unnec­es­sary social unrest.

We can­not afford to ignore the voic­es of our intel­li­gence offi­cers. These men and women are not just observers; they are guardians. When their warn­ings are ignored, the coun­try moves for­ward in dark­ness. Lead­er­ship becomes reac­tive. Fear replaces fore­sight. Laws are enact­ed in pan­ic, and our democ­ra­cy suffers.

Par­lia­ment must either with­draw or reeval­u­ate the Pasaris Bill. No law should be enact­ed when trust is bro­ken and jus­tice has not been served.

Let’s ele­vate the val­ue of intel­li­gence. Not just as a gov­ern­ment func­tion, but as a fun­da­men­tal lead­er­ship prin­ci­ple. Let’s hon­or Brigadier Boinett and his peers by read­ing, reflect­ing, and reform­ing. Like The Art of War, this book should be on every seri­ous leader’s desk.

We must restore respect for our intel­li­gence offi­cers, loy­al to the Repub­lic and judged by pre­ven­tion, not praise. Let us lead with under­stand­ing, lis­ten before react­ing, and act before blame becomes our excuse. Think green, act green!