Dear brothers and sisters, Kenyans, I am wholeheartedly writing this open letter to you with high hopes that you will not let yourselves down on you general elections today. So, too, you will not let yourselves and your well-wishers and friends down. Elections are very important mechanisms through which the country can get a government for the smooth running the business of the state. For, it is through elections that the nation gets its leaders for five years or any period constitutionally stipulated.
A lot has been said vis-à-vis this noble exercise. Doomsters waged their tongues that Kenya will be in flames. To the contrary, visionaries still have faith in you as a people; and as a nation that you will prove all those thinking that Kenya will be doomed to tomorrow wrong. Again, when you go to exercise your constitutional right, please put Kenya ahead of everything. Like President Uhuru Kenyatta succinctly put it, there will be Kenya after today’s elections. We all are there to pass. However, Kenya is there to stay. You received Kenya from your ancestors. You’ll handle it to your progenies. Elections have been there. They are there; and they will always be there. This being the stark reality, why, then, should a nation be engulfed in the fear of the unknown?
As a friend of Kenya and an East African, I spent three years in this wonderful country. I interacted with Kenyans from all walks of life. My finding was that Kenyans are not as tribal inclined as they are wrongly defined by the system. If I can say what I told one of my Kenyan friends, Kenya has two tribes namely who-haves and who-have-nots. This said, Kenyans need to address this by electing capable leaders who can see them through.
Dear brothers and sisters, you all are aware of what transpired in 2007, the Post-Election Violence (PEV) that left a scar of the beautiful face of Kenya. Nunca Mais or Never Again, I may say. Today’s elections are the only opportunity for Kenyans to show the world that the PEV was a mere mishap which gave the lesson of peace and harmony to Kenyans.
Another thing, I beseech the authority to emulate former president Daniel arap Moi who, despite ruling the country for a long time under one-party supremacy, he conducted credible, free and fair elections in 2002 which saw his handpicked heir defeated by the opposition. I don’t mean that today’s must be a replica of that in that opposition must win. Anybody who wins must do so legally and according to the laid-down rules. Whoever loses it squarely and legally must concede defeat provided that the exercise is conducted freely, fairly and transparently. It is easier to destroy a country than building it.
As for voters, please be guided by what you want your leaders to deliver or do for you regardless they are from your community or not. Kenya has one of the most progressive constitutions in the world. Again, the constitution alone without the patriotism of the citizens is as good as nothing. Shall there be any dissatisfaction with results; those offended must use the court to get their rights. Rigging has always been blamed on violence. If anything, the Kenyan Independent Electoral and Boundaries Commission (IEBC) must see to it that it abides by the rules of game to make sure that no pretext is offered for violence. As any umpire, the IEBC must remain practically impartial from the beginning to the end of the game.
Dear brothers and sisters allow me to wind up this letter by reinforcing what I stated that Kenya is more important than all of you and anything. There is nothing worthwhile Kenya needs from you; and I am sure you can offer it than peaceful elections. My experience from the PEV shows that problems start after the announcement of results. This time around I must say. Whatever the outcomes, Kenya must be in your prayers and views before you take whatever action. I would say. Even if you or your candidate has lost, please think about Kenya and its progressive constitution as the refuge and fountain from which to get your rights.
Dear Kenyans, please make yourselves and us proud by giving us peaceful elections as you did before. Do so even after the elections. I sincerely wish you well. God bless Kenya; and God bless Africa.
Source: Citizen Tues., today.
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