In progressive societies, political competition is never allowed to trump everything to become a matter of life and death. It is kept in check as a contest of policy actions that would improve the livelihood of citizens who are the stakeholders in such contests.
Unfortunately, Kenya has taken on a dangerous trajectory in which politics is being played as a zero-some game where winning, whatever the method, is all that matters.
The Supreme Court’s decision to nullify the outcome of the August 8 presidential election is a case in point.
Since the court arrived at the decision, the country has witnessed a sharp rise in political posturing and propaganda targeting individuals and independent institutions, including the Judiciary and the electoral commission.
Hate messages continue to spread in social media platforms, some of them taking the shape of ethnic profiling of perceived political rivals.
This is very shocking given that Kenya is yet to heal from the consequences of ethnic based political turmoil that followed the disputed 2007 presidential election, leaving close to 1,200 people dead and hundreds of thousands displaced.
The economy also suffered a major knock due to the violence and is yet to regain the robust performance that preceded the election.
We cannot afford to walk this path again and citizens must stand up against toxic political posturing intended to inflame hatred.
A peaceful country is for the good of everyone and nobody on either side of the political divide should be allowed to undermine the peaceful coexistence of Kenyans.
The winner-take-it-all attitude of the political class has been a major hindrance to peace and leaders must learn to reach out to their rivals as a way of lowering tensions during political contests.
The impending repeat poll offers us a second chance to confirm our maturity as a democratic state. This would, however, only happen if the rule of law is upheld.
The electoral commission and law enforcement agencies particularly hold a critical role in the repeat poll and must rise above any forms of partisanship to ensure the will of the people is expressed.
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Note: The results are not exact but very close to the actual.
