State, Opposition must get down to work

On August 9, Kenyans went to the polls to elect a new set of leaders to steer the affairs of their country in the next five years.

Elections are an important exercise in the political calendar of any democratic country in which citizens participate in and execute with absolute determination and resolve.

The outcome of the presidential election was contested in the Supreme Court which gave a nod to the results as announced by the Independent Electoral and Boundaries Commission (IEBC). As required in every democratic atmosphere, the verdict of the highest court in the land should have settled that matter once and for all.

In effect, that exercise is now over and the leaders who were elected are the ones to determine Kenya’s destiny in the next five years. Consequently, it is now time all the leaders who were given the mandate to drive the development agenda forward to settle down and work. 

Both the political leadership in government and the Opposition have a duty to execute their mandate so that the electorate does not, soon or later, start lamenting over the squandering of resources and other malpractices. It would seem our political class is taking too long to realise this simple fact. The poor state of the economy cannot allow any fold of the country’s leadership to sleep at the switch. Both the government and the Opposition have to keep their eyes on the ball, if we are to avert a catastrophe.

For a good measure, President William Ruto presided over a three-day brainstorming retreat in Nanyuki with members of his Executive, the Council of Governors and the Majority leadership of Parliament. He followed up with a re-arrangement of his government by assigning specific duties to each of his ministers.

That is as it should be. He should be commended for it. However, the President should also be counselled to demand less talk and more service delivery from his team. Some of his senior officials are still on election mode and their sticking in the past could cost his administration a lot. 

The same cannot be said of the Opposition. To a large extent, its leadership is still mourning the presidential election loss and has yet to find a footing on how to forge forward. The Opposition appears confused and unprepared to take its constitutional mantle to keep the Ruto administration in check. It must wake up to the reality and start executing its constitutional responsibilities instead of continually whining about an election loss. It has five years to put its act in order.

On the other hand, the citizens have a responsibility to safeguard peace, unity and stability of the country. This, we must do by first admitting we have a myriad challenges all which we must be ready to confront collectively to solve.

At no time in our history has sanity been of such great essence and required of each one of us than now. Every leader has a cardinal calling to advance unity, peace and stability of the nation.

Politics of hate, insolence and ethnic bigotry will not take us forward. It will only drag us into a dark and painful past from which no one gains. Respect for one another, their religion, tribe, cultural heritage, opinion, political parties and freedoms, devoid of rancour and incitement, is a democratic cloth we all must be ready and willing to wear at all times and costs. Let us be guided by sobriety. As it has been said times without number, Kenya belongs to all of us; we must safeguard it together. Each of us stands to lose in the face of national turmoil. 

That there is need for the country to continue undertaking administrative and constitutional reforms is not in doubt. However, whatever changes the country takes must be conducted in a clearly defined legal framework acceptable to the majority. Not a two-person affair canvassed in lightless boardrooms. 

We must keep emotions out of our politics and allow the rule of law to prevail. All Kenyans, regardless of their duty stations in life, have a sacrosanct responsibility to ensure the country treads on a peaceful course. At all the times.

— The author is the Revise Editor, People Daily newspaper. [email protected]