There are several stages in an election cycle starting with a pre-election period, to the election period proper and the period for evaluation and reforms. However, in Kenya, the concept of the electoral cycle is a myth.
Politicians start campaigning for the next election as soon as the returning officers announce the results for the current one or as soon as the court petitions end.
It is, therefore, a huge relief to conclude the campaign period for this year’s elections happening tomorrow. Citizens now can exercise their sovereign rights as stipulated in the Constitution.
Article one of the Constitution provides for the rights of citizens to delegate their power to leaders within the executive and the legislature to govern on their behalf.
The last opinion polls point to a close presidential contest. The accuracy of these polls will be evaluated as we all go to exercise our political rights as enshrined in the Constitution.
Those polls though demonstrate that there are a number of citizens who are still undecided on who to vote for. It is necessary that these citizens rethink their position and decide either way.
It is true that citizens are unhappy with the political class. They promise heaven during the campaign trail but once in office quickly press the reset button to default settings.
In this mode they forget that the authority they exercise is delegated to them by the citizens under the Constitution through the vote. Service provision to the electorate is consequently sacrificed at the altar of politics and personal pursuits. This explains the apathy that citizens have.
This year’s register of voters demonstrates that the youth are particularly disinterested with voting. This situation should worry the government that gets elected on Tuesday.
It is unhealthy to have a situation where those who hold the greatest stake in the country’s future are not motivated enough to exercise their democratic right to determine the direction it should take.
As Kenyans, we cannot afford to be undecided in the elections. By failing to make our voice heard we give room for poor governance to be entrenched. In a conversation on the day that the campaigns, a friend compared the impact of not voting to giving a blank cheque to the leaders who get elected to shortchange you in the provision of services.
Every time as a citizen you see poor quality services be it in health, education water service or waste management you need to interrogate the link between that situation and the actions you make on the second Tuesday of August every five years.
Tomorrow all adult citizens who have been registered to vote get the opportunity to make their voice count. Let us move to cast our votes for self and country.
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Note: The results are not exact but very close to the actual.
