#FRONTROW: Win or lose, neither Uhuru nor Raila will just go away

If you’re reading this, then we survived Election Day and the sky did not cave in. I don’t know what happened yesterday and who won which race because this article was submitted early Sunday morning. Save for the unlikely possibility that the election was somehow postponed with just hours to go, it is safe to assume that Kenyans cast their votes countrywide and now have now leaders.

Or maybe the #FagiaWote campaign failed and most incumbents were re-elected in a convincing validation of the status quo. I’m not really sure because none of this had happened when these words were transported electronically to be touched up by an editor in preparation for their appearance here.

What I know for sure is that Raila Odinga is not going back to Bondo, nor is Uhuru Kenyatta headed for Gatundu if either of them lost. They are keeping their fancy Nairobi homes and will continue to enjoy the fruits of their vast wealth while their supporters tear each other apart, some on empty stomachs.

They might retreat from public life for a moment or remain visible, but they won’t be calling each other names on social media because of the outcome of this election. At some point in the time since they started counting the results or in the hours ahead, one of the two gentlemen will probably call the other, congratulate him for winning and wish him well.

Or maybe there will be a presidential petition by one of them contesting the results. Perhaps neither of them garnered the 50 per cent+1 threshold required to win the presidency and there will be a run-off in short order.

Both men have lived outlandishly privileged lives that their followers can only dream of.

“He grew up here, there is nothing I can tell him about living here,” Senator Gideon Moi told me the day Uhuru Kenyatta was inaugurated when I asked him for his advice on State House  for the new president.

Despite all that noise about sending him home, he will probably just move back next door to his newly refurbished home, which shares a wall with State House, if he loses. As a former president, he is entitled to a long list of outrageous perks that he will enjoy until he dies, so he’s going to be fine.

The long-suffering taxpayers of Kenya will build him a house, pay for his armed security, transportation and just about everything he needs. Not that he needs any of it, considering his extensive personal wealth, but that is the life that awaits him should he vacate that little house on the hill.

He will probably be free to run his wide business empire, spend time with his family and learn a new skill without the trouble of worrying about a whole country.

If Odinga lost again, his life is not going to come to a standstill, forcing him to go back to the land of his ancestors in Siaya County.

If you need to mail him, you will not have to route it via Private Box Bondo, because he did not go away the last three times. If anything, the one-time roads minister is such a major newsmaker that the media wouldn’t let him fade away quietly.

Even if he did, he has lived more than most people and helped birth the opening up of Kenya’s democratic space.

A defeated Odinga will not be licking his wounds in oblivion as some would want him to. What they should answer is why the man’s political activity troubles them so much. As a former prime minister, he has many of the trappings of power people would kill for. He is, and will continue be, successful whether those who oppose him like it or not.

If this proves anything, it is that everything is fleeting and it is never that serious. The amount of hate and bile on social media these past few weeks have been unprecedented. It seemed as if the masses would not be happy with just a win for their candidate; their opponent had to be humiliated and fully vanquished.

What does it concern a regular Jubilee supporter whether Raila is older than his challengers and “will never be president” of this country? Why would an ordinary NASA follower demand nothing short of a total embarrassment for President Kenyatta and the DP? It shouldn’t be so hard to respect other people’s views, even if they disagree with you. We can’t all  be Raila supporters or Uhuru followers.

Some will choose to back them, others might see promise in one of the six other candidates or withdraw from the process completely and they will all be right. This poisoned political discourse amplified by social media is destructive and primitive.

I came from the past to tell you that the world goes on and maybe you shouldn’t be so stuck on the final result of whatever happened yesterday. Uhuru and Raila are more together than the change they promised.

Send your comments to [email protected]

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TWITTER’S BIRD IS A NOT A BIRD, YEAH

If it talks like a bird, walks like a bird, it is probably “a symbol of Twitter”. Yes, Twitter’s logo is a bird not really a bird, according to the American company. The microblogging site’s brand guidelines include such gems as “Don’t animate the logo or make it chirp or fly” and “Don’t surround the logo with other birds and creatures.”

Twitter’s bird, which is not a bird, is called Larry so I was particularly interested in this thread when it showed up on my timeline. I don’t know if this is the work of an overzealous brand protector or it is the firm just being ridiculous but the guidelines are so silly that a blank page would have had more character. I wonder how many users of Twitter know that the Twitter bird is not a bird but “a symbol of Twitter” as its website says.

Never a dull  moment on the Internet.

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On Saturday’s edition of Decision 2017, I sat down with four brilliant women to review this extraordinary campaign. Dr Njoki Ndiba, Nerima Wako, Dr Njoki Ngumi and Dr Wandia Njoya became the first ever all-female panel on prime-time television. The pushback from the patriarchy happened almost immediately.

“Your panel is unconstitutional, two thirds gender rule!” John Kibichii quickly tweeted us.

The previous night, we had hosted four distinguished men and nobody directly complained to us. The fact that it has taken this long to get an all-female panel should embarrass us all who usually decide who speaks on television. A brilliant project called #SayNoToManelsKE has put together an impressive list of female speakers, their areas of experience and contact details to take the guesswork out for journalists, conference organisers and others who refuse to diversify their panels.

Manels, or all-male panels, have no place in 2017 and I was excited about the opportunity to bring new voices to our audience. I liked the fact that we spoke about the issues that mattered in the election and wasted no time getting straight to the point. Maybe I should reach out to them so we can make this a weekly event.

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FEEDBACK: On politicians’ use of fake news

Larry, that was a great article but as I was reading it, I kept asking myself how normal Kenyans (those on social media but not able to listen to CNN or BBC) were supposed to verify this news if you don’t do it for them.

Why are you guys so partisan, lazy and divisive? Why do you air divisive politics during the news? By lazy I mean journalists don’t do research, they don’t verify news; your news is full of gossip rather than information.

I don’t see the need to watch any news that I have heard from people because 90 per cent  of your news is about divisive politics. You don’t have to tell us what Raila said about Uhuru Kenyatta or vice versa; it doesn’t benefit us.

Why not tell us what each of them said they would do for our country if elected. When you tell us about the supremacy battles between William Ruto and Gideon Moi in the Rift Valley, how does it benefit us? I think if there is anyone to be blamed for the division in our nation, it is the media.

You offer a platform for more than  70 per cent  of the Kenyan population that  sits every day to watch or listen to you, but you don’t endeavour to add value to their lives.

I look forward to the day the media will be independent and we will trust their news because it is credible and we are confident they have the best interests of this country at heart.

I look forward to journalists who will change the narrative of our news.

Diana Maina