It is now official that Raila Amolo Odinga, CORD’s presidential
flag bearer, lost in the country’s general elections. The Supreme Court of Kenya
in a verdict read by Dr Willy Mutunga, Kenya’s chief Justice, ruled that the 4th
March’s elections were free and fair. It was puzzling to accept the fact that
the results of other positions such as gubernatorial, senatorial and women
representative were proper yet doubt the presidential ones. The six-judge
bench’s unanimous decision, at last, brought the electoral tussles to rest. Now
Kenya can move ahead.
It is time for the international community to hail Kenya’s
democracy and respect the choice of Kenyans. President Uhuru Kenyatta, who will
be sworn in on 9th April 2013, should now be congratulated and given support to
run the country. Election losers and winners should come together as Kenyans and
build their nation.
I know how much Raila Odinga struggled to see to it that Kenya enjoys democracy and human rights. He wanted to be part and parcel of this
unfolding democratic nation. He tried his hand on the presidency three times to
no avail. Again, is this the end as other say? Nope! I would like to advance
what I will call the Kibaki-Wade theorem. This theorem is built on resilience
and scheming to see to it that one wins presidency.
Although Odinga was criticized even faulted for taking the
matter before the Supreme Court, legally speaking, he has nourished Kenya’s
legal system by giving it a precedent. Such sentiments can be seen in another
presidential candidate Martha Karua who was quoted as saying, "It is great that
the first and most contested decision of the Supreme Court was unanimous. It is
a good start for the court." So too, Odinga gave more credibility to the court
and Uhuru Kenyatta’s presidency. It must be underscored that Odinga exercised
and enjoyed his constitutional right among other things. I know Odinga has what
it takes. Given that Kenya has matured democratically, chances are he’ll be able
to run for presidency once again. Looking at how Mwai Kibaki ruled for five
years to end up being challenged, Odinga still has the chance to try again.
Now that the elections are over, Kenyans need to nurse peace.
The new government should see to it that all causative agents of the 2007-08
imbroglios are addressed. Apart from enhancing rule of law, economic growth,
reconciliation, accountability and transparency, the new regime needs to redress
the victims of the post-election violence who are still languishing in refugee
camps in the country. So too, the new regime should see to it that it respects
and implements the new constitution that is credited for all the development
recently witnessed in Kenya.
Raila Odinga needs to learn from other politicians who came
before him. One of those politicians is Mwai Kibaki who ascended to power at the
age of 72. So too, Abdoulaye Wade, former Senegalese president, ran for
presidency for good 30 years. He clinched the presidency when he was a bit older
than Kibaki and he was able to rule for two terms. Had he not been stopped, Wade
wanted to run for a third term. Also former US president Ronald Reagan ran for
presidency since 1968 to 1980 when he last won. Like Kibaki and Wade, Reagan won
the presidency when he was in his 70s. If this was possible to those three among
many, why then shouldn't Odinga go peacefully back to the drawing board and aim
at the future?
Now that everything has been done according to the letter and
spirit of the law, Kenyans should go back to work so that they can build their
nation. President Uhuru Kenyatta has extended open arms to all the contestants
and urged them to work with him to realise the Kenyan dream. Since Kenya is
bigger than any individual, Odinga and his allies ought to cooperate with the
government in power.
Source: The African Executive Magazine March 3, 2013.
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