Congratulations Mr President-elect, now you must embark on uniting the country

• Nearly half of the voters who did not endorse your UhuRuto ticket need to top your priority list of what you must focus on immediately

Congratulations Uhuru Kenyatta and your running mate William Ruto for winning the presidential election in round one.

For that, all the record 86 per cent of registered voters who turned out in polling booths have won hands down. Their choice must now be respected by all and sundry, unless courts decide otherwise. 

But that is as far as the celebration goes. For you, the hard part is just beginning – that of ensuring the raft of campaign promises you splashed are met.

My proposal, however, is that prior to you thinking of rolling out your ambitious but well done manifesto, you must first focus on what I consider most important – seek to unite our heavily polarised country.

You need to make your presidency acceptable to all Kenyans, many of whom may not have endorsed your ticket. You must work with, and through, other leaders from every corner of the political spectrum to heal our country after this hard-fought contest.

Nearly half of the voters who did not endorse your UhuRuto ticket need to top your priority list of what you must focus on immediately. In a democracy, they obviously had their reasons for voting for your competitors, which must be respected.

Congratulations Uhuru Kenyatta and your running mate William Ruto for winning the presidential election in round one.

For that, all the record 86 per cent of registered voters who turned out in polling booths have won hands down. Their choice must now be respected by all and sundry, unless courts decide otherwise. 

But that is as far as the celebration goes. For you, the hard part is just beginning – that of ensuring the raft of campaign promises you splashed are met.

My proposal, however, is that prior to you thinking of rolling out your ambitious but well done manifesto, you must first focus on what I consider most important – seek to unite our heavily polarised country.

You need to make your presidency acceptable to all Kenyans, many of whom may not have endorsed your ticket. You must work with, and through, other leaders from every corner of the political spectrum to heal our country after this hard-fought contest.

Nearly half of the voters who did not endorse your UhuRuto ticket need to top your priority list of what you must focus on immediately. In a democracy, they obviously had their reasons for voting for your competitors, which must be respected.

So it will be your duty to reach out to them to ensure they feel part and parcel of your leadership as you embark on the post-Mwai Kibaki era.

On their part, the voters who rejected you must also realise the campaign period is over and that we now have a new leadership that needs to be supported if it is to deliver on its promises. They have to respect the will of the majority and have an opportunity to re-elect or remove them from power in 2017.

One starting point in the healing process is for the new leadership to extend an olive branch to competitors, chief among them Prime Minister Raila Odinga who fought a fantastic and gracious campaign that gave you a run for your money.

You may have had spirited disagreements with your political competitors but in the end, you must find a constructive consensus with them to move us forward.

That presidential candidates Musalia Mudavadi, Martha Karua and Peter Kenneth have already conceded defeat and congratulated you is a confirmation that they are ready to work with you.

Our endemic tribalism, which was evident in the voting patterns in the election, must be fought fastidiously. You must be a president of every single Kenyan, of every tribe and every race.