Nairobi — I am so concerned with the current security situation in Kenya that I am ready to believe whatever Internal Security minister George Saitoti or government spokesman Alfred Mutua says. There are times when I choose to believe anything I am told without any questions.

For example, when my good friend John Gathogo tells me that a donkey can never be transported from one point to another on a motor-vehicle, I only ask why and he tells me that the poor animal feels like it is being tickled, laughs throughout the journey, loses all teeth and dies before reaching the destination.

Considering that, as a matter of fact, I have never seen a donkey inside any form of a vehicle, I let the matter lie where it is. But I want to know why there is so much insecurity in a country that claims to be No. 1 in everything. How does one explain that the security situation in the country has reached alarming levels?

While the fact remains that prosperous Kenya has not provided any social infrastructure to make the country less brutal for those at the bottom, this is no reason for gangs to be terrorising people while we have such a robust government in power.

Of course, the political elite will hardly ever feel the effects of insecurity, what with all the power and security forces to guard them. Recall what happened when some thugs shot at Environment minister John Michuki's Kangema home? Such is the might when the political elite are threatened. But as long it is the wretched of the earth, a promise here and there from the police spokesman does the trick.

The only way the Government will be goaded into decisive action on insecurity or any other issue is when the middle class starts feeling the heat. It is only when the criminals attack the middle class, their businesses, children and beautiful wives and concubines that real action will be taken.

Like the youth the middle class is useless and another big letdown in Kenya. This class has a major disconnect and disinterest in politics, and almost every time I read W.H. Auden's poem, Unknown Citizen, I get convinced that he had the Kenyan middle class in mind when he wrote it.

The poem was written in 1939 and it has become more and more relevant in today's mechanising society. It is about a middle-class man who is just another face in the crowd. He never raised his voice in government matters nor did he interfere in any policies made by government.

He "...had everything necessary to the Modern Man, A phonograph, a radio, a car and a Frigidaire, Our researchers into Public Opinion are content, That he held the proper opinions for the time of year; When there was peace, he was for peace; When there was war, he went. He was married and added five children to the population, Which our Eugenist says was the right number for a parent of his generation..."

Here is a citizen who was least concerned about his homeland's policies. In times of war, without knowing any reason, he fought for his country.

But the middle-class problem is not confined to Kenya. India has a 200 million-strong middle class, the most economically dynamic group on the planet. This group is, however, largely uninterested in politics or social reform.

No wonder that while seven Indian institutes of technology rank near the top of global surveys, and job offers to graduates from the Indian institutes of management rival those of the famous US business schools, a third of the country is still illiterate. Surprisingly, India also has the largest number of dollar billionaires outside the US and Russia, with the economy growing at over 7 per cent, yet 300 million Indians -- a quarter of the world's utterly poor -- live on $1 (Sh80) a day.

The problem with the middle class is that they have a very week sense of citizenship. These are the characters who always scream of dual citizenship -- a sizeable number of them, being cowards, live a low-rate life in the developed world. They neither extend a sense of commonality to the poor nor do they acknowledge the role of the state in their own rise, choosing to believe, erroneously though, that they owe nothing to the state.

But largely due to their political apathy, the government is left to the elite and the commoners. The elite are thus able to buy or manipulate the masses in whichever way they want. No wonder, it is only among the poor that political agitation explodes into violence.

Even in determining the kind of government it is a proved fact that the middle class treats voting and other political activity as low priorities. The most politically active are the poor who give majorities to political rallies being transported on the promise of handouts. It is they who throw stones and burn property.

The end result is that the government in power does not feel obliged to deal with the politically active, who are poor and largely uneducated.

The middle class is enlightened, has the resources and the numbers to make the ruling elite address any issue of interest to them. It is no secret that the post-election violence was addressed differently by the Government the moment the middle class got agitated.

The bottom line is that if we all take our place, not as perfect citizens, but as responsible citizens, we will certainly be helpful to develop the our country and help for its future to be bright.