WHY EVERY KENYAN VOTER MUST MAKE A WISE AND INFORMED DECISION

 (Before you vote in leaders based on their fame rather than policy, or engage in tribal and unjustified politics, you might want to read this)

The last time Kenya went into a general election, a heartrending and blood-spattered aftermath is all she had to show for it. Ethnic hatred which had previously been fuelled during political campaigns had reached a crescendo, prompting citizens to turn against each other using machetes, bows and arrows and other crude weaponry, ensuing in the loss of over a thousand lives. This resulted from the announcement of the controversial presidential election results, and subsequent swearing in of the president at sundown, in statehouse Nairobi.

A woman wails outside the kiambaa church where some innocent women and children were burnt to death at the height of the violence.

During the violence, besides the agonizing loss of lives, over half a million people were forcefully evicted from their homes and property worth millions of shillings destroyed. The events of this very trying moment for the country are still fresh in the minds of many. Tens of thousands of internally displaced persons were forced to languish in camps where they encountered the wrath of harsh and extreme weather conditions their solitary “crime” been having voted during the election.

scores of citizens fleeing their homes for safety.

Justice has barely been served for the victims and to the perpetrators of these atrocities.  It is disappointing to note that the government is yet to fully resettle all the internally displaced persons five years down the line. Four Kenyans are set to face trials at the international criminal court (ICC), following the confirmation of charges brought against them, of bearing the greatest responsibility in the violence.

A mother and her child in an Internally Displaced Persons' camp

The government is obstinately trying to have these cases deferred from the ICC and have the suspects tried locally. This move has not gone without a great deal of disapproval by civil society movements in the country, which site Kenya's lack of capacity and political willingness to fairly try the cases.

Just when one thought that the Kenyan citizenry had learnt a lesson, it is sadly emerging that the bug of negative ethnicity could be making a comeback in the Kenyan political panorama. It is distasteful to see tribal groupings openly vowing to support particular presidential aspirants. This move has so far not augured well with a faction of citizens who warn that going down this path could turn out to be very detrimental to realizing a peaceful and united Kenya after the election. I beg to agree with them. 

The country is reeling from the crimes against humanity perpetrated on innocent citizens as a result of the violence fuelled by negative ethnicity. It is unethical and out rightly wrong for some politicians to gravitate towards tribal and ethnic groupings. Similar mistakes to those committed prior to the last election are what Kenyan voters cannot afford to make during this election period.

Kenyan voters should not have Selective memory. They should recall all the suffering endured by innocent civilians and how the country’s economy came to its knees following the violence. It is the prime responsibility of every Kenyan citizen to make sure that this grim history never repeats itself again. Steering clear of tribal and ethnic politics is the way to go. 

They say a picture can tell a thousand words and if this be the case, it is my earnest optimism that every Kenyan will learn from these few depictions of Kenya's darkest moments and make informed decisions while voting in leaders. 

A leader should be voted in NOT on the basis of their tribe, fame or gender, BUT on the basis of their development track record, respect for the rule of law and ability to crack the whip on errant characters. 

YOUR VOTE IS YOUR VOICE!!!