We have just gone through a period that some colleagues have characterised as a season of madness. The period has left in its wake a lot of sad lessons. Such is the nature of politics.
However, must politics be a zero-sum game? Must it threaten our social fabric? When all is settled, what political and economic advantages do ordinary citizens gain from the heightened emotional outbursts that the electioneering period comes with? The reality is nothing.
The danger though is that this past season has threatened peaceful co-existence and mutual respect in many ways than one. It has been exacerbated by a deluge of fake news.
While it is easy to dismiss such fake news as inconsequential, if one speaks to those who have been the subject of such news and the kind of stress it has placed on their relationships with friends and family, it demonstrates that such news has impact.
Sadly, these unfortunate experiences cannot be wished away nor just dealt with by statements to the effect that it was all politics.
When we continue to organise and conduct our politics in a manner that threatens our nationhood and community relations then we may get political power and lose citizens.
When we organise politics to an extent that every five-year-old becomes not just politically consciousness but starts asking questions about ethnic communities then we are sowing long-term seeds of discord.
When political differences permeate to learning institutions, markets and villages then the country pushed itself to levels that are not sustainable.
Unfortunately, agencies responsible for promoting national cohesion have performed so dismally during this period that to expect them to pick up the pieces and address the fundamental underlying challenges is to be overly optimistic.
What then is the solution? Who will provide this solution? A starting point is to have candid conversation amongst the citizenry at local levels to honestly debate what ails us? To admit where we went wrong during the election period and how we can avoid such an approach to politics in the future? We also have to honestly insulate the young children from the toxic and divisive manner in which we politick.
This is not an easy task when media is taken over by partisan pundits and social media adds onto the inundation with all manner of propaganda.
For the political class and their supporters all ends justifies the means. But for parents the lasting impact on children’s upbringing is catastrophic.
We have to focus on building a more inclusive society. Politics and politicians will not do it for us. On the contrary they benefit from exclusive politics. The last two months have demonstrated this in more fundamental ways than one. Inclusion cannot be legislated.
It is largely about addressing our worldview and approach to life. I s about putting in place deliberate measures to promote community dialogue, exchange visits, cultural festivals and inter-communal marriages.
We also have to deliberately use our education system to teach children positive ethnic relations and not the negatives that have been rammed down them this past months. Secondly, we have to take seriously equity in public service. Those in charge of various government agencies must deliberately use those positions to promote inclusivity in staffing and in delivery of services.
Frequently several public agencies advertise for some conferences and other public functions. It should not be right that when this happens, the all the public officials who sign various messages hail from one ethnic community. These levels of impunity are what drives the agenda of exclusion.
Such simple steps do not require legislation. We have over glorified the place of law in society always thinking about legislating for all problems and after that rushing to court to litigate for the resulting disputes.
Invariably when the problem does not get resolved satisfactorily we blame law, lawyers and courts. It is time we realise that our most basic problems do not require a new law nor a court judgement.
It only requires honest commitment. This is the path that building an inclusive society requires.
It must start with what examples our children learn at home, in schools and in the media. It moves to what kind of attitudes we carry in our hearts and evidence through our daily actions.
It is crowned by what our public service and leaders do. These is where we have to start from in building an inclusive Kenya.
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