If I may differ with MJ, I think the media has been rather fair on Lucy given the fear of the “I’m married to the bigman syndrome”. As wife to Kibaki, she has not nearly copped as much flack for her pronounced outburts as she should have. The media, in my recent experience has just made the point of publishing her utterances without getting personal. As indeed they should.

However, Lucy is unelected and is only accorded respect because of the man she is married to. His immunity does not extend to her.

She indeed slapped Clifford Derrick – on camera mind you – breaking the laws of the land. In fact, she committed several offences which are documented on tape. Firstly, she breached the peace, trespassed on Nation Centre, assaulted a citizen, conspired to breach the peace again by threatening to visit Standard & KTN offices to conduct a similar protest, she converted/stole mobile phones from journalists with police officers, unlawfully imprisoned journalists in the editorial room if only for the hours that she was present @ Nation Centre, arguably engaged in war like activities, abused state priviledges by coercing her detail to accompany her while she broke the law, induced her security detail and a police officer to break the law as per above et al ad infinitum.

Her deranged behaviour only becomes a matter of concern and deserved public interest because it is her marriage to the president that facilitated all the above offences. The question is whether the president, who swore to uphold the constitution and all other laws of kenya, condones and supports his wife’s actions.

If she felt that the media had potrayed her & her family in a negative light, there are laws against defamation. In fact, defamation is both a civil and criminal offence in Kenya. She bypassed legal process becoming judge, jury, executioner, and enforcer of her judgments.

Any subsequent coverage she recieved is, and can only be, fair comment. It is not too far fetched to suggest that she is in definite need of serious psychiatric examination. She exhibited bipolarity, mania, and flights of fancy in a country that is progressing along the bumpy road of democracy.

She should be immediately arrested.

The post was deep. Lots has been said by you and by commentators alike. Brief Remark: Mrs. Kibaki has to remember that she is a dignified personality in Kenya, where her actions, utterances and even trivialities like whether she was wearing pyjamas or shorts will always be highlighted and churned into news because of her status.

For starters, if Diop had acted with a modicum of courtesy (informed and invited Lucy as his neighbour to the party rather than going above her head to clear the loud party he intended to throw with State House), he would have enjoyed significantly more good will from Lucy, even though she in all probability would not have attended. That he didn’t points to his chauvanistic arrogance. Please note, that just beuacse he was the World Bank rep in Kenya doesn’t make him a demigod (in my perspective, rather the reverse – an African whose conscience is so dulled by the prospect of personal financial gain that he finds nothing wrong with defending the policies that impoverish our people).

Secondly, the only reason we are having this debate is, and this might of the face of it sound very simplistic, because we are talking about a woman. Society (still) has set views about what women’s place ought to be, especially in public. We habour very lower tolerance levels for displays of anger in public when they come from women, than we do for men. Case in point: the nation didn’t come anywhere close to this animated when Prof Obel, in a fit of anger promted by a similar circumstance (being ignored and treated as inconsequential – in his case by matatu touts who rule Kenyan roads; in Lucy’s by the media that runs our lives), whipped out his private gun and shot two people in the matatu blocking his way.

Thirdly, we can complain loud and long about the lack of ethical and quality journalism in Kenya (which is the reality), bu until we change our habits as consumers – demand for qualitative and intellectually stimulating journalism, then we are the ones who make it possible for the trash that passes for journalism in Kenya to thrive.

On Lucy, and in closing, I think that we are dwelling on a non-issue that has been given undue prominence by the Kenyan press whose sole agenda at the end of the day is, let’s face it, to push volumes. Never mind if they ruin fragile (mentally or otherwise) lives or personalities permanently.