Tuesday is D-Day; we either redeem ourselves this time or make our hell

Nasa Supporters at Joseph Kangethe grounds, Nairobi, during campaign on August 5, 2017. PHOTO | JEFF ANFOTE | NATION MEDIA GROUP

What you need to know:

  • Thousands of citizens are fleeing Nairobi, Naivasha, Nakuru and Eldoret for the safety of their rural homes.
  • President Kenyatta has repeatedly vowed he will not allow any post-election violence in any corner of the Republic.
  • All eyes are on the Kenyan, thanks to our clannish politics and affinity to mindless election violence.

We Kenyans have an annoying conceit that we are a special people: The best in hospitality, the best sports runners, the framers of the best constitution in Africa (!), the creators of the most advanced economy in the region ad infinitum.

Amid our communal hatreds, this notion that Kenya is exceptional is the only common denominator that ties us together. In truth, we are not.

How can we, when in every election cycle politicians issue war cries which reduce the citizenry to nervous wrecks?

How can we, when our landlocked neighbours shiver at the prospect of our elections and are forced to take desperate contingency measures to secure themselves?

No, we are a problematic country with a bad reputation due to our rotten politics and our inability to manage our emotions when it comes to elections.

SMELLING BLOOD

Right now, everybody is smelling blood. Our region is smelling blood.

The world is smelling blood. The dreadful smell has attracted, like flies, a record number of international election observers and carcass-sniffing foreign journalists.

Thousands of citizens are fleeing Nairobi, Naivasha, Nakuru and Eldoret for the safety of their rural homes.

IEBC returning officers have appealed for tightened police security as violence looms at polling centres where politicised mobs have vowed to camp to “verify” the voting tallies. It doesn’t look good.

What we conduct in Kenya are not elections. What we conduct are crude tribal censuses.

When the case is such that on the top two presidential tickets are the political bosses of the country’s two most politically competitive ethnic groups, tensions reach fever pitch.

TRIBAL WARRIORS

That was the case in 2007. It is the same case now. It would have been the same in 2013 if the ghastly experience of 2007/8 had not given everybody second-thoughts.

That breather turns out to have been a temporary one. Our tribal warriors are readying for round two.

The fact that — fortunately — there may not be a repeat of the previous beastliness will not be because our attitudes have changed.

It must take the determined action of the State and perhaps a little helping hand from the Almighty for everything to go right.

President Kenyatta has repeatedly vowed he will not allow any post-election violence in any corner of the Republic.

AUTHORITARIANISM

That is his assurance. The President will be judged by his word. The lovely SGR and other big projects he wants to be remembered for will fade into nothing if what happened in 2007/8 recurs.

What I want is a country run purposefully and efficiently like Rwanda.

Even if that comes with a good dose of authoritarianism, so be it. After all, why do we hail Singapore as a model?

Nobody in the world had any anxiety about the Rwandan presidential election, which was taking place last Friday and which Paul Kagame was deservedly expected to win.

All eyes are on the Kenyan one, thanks to our clannish politics and affinity to mindless election violence.

VIOLENCE

Another thing. The authorities should not focus solely on the possibility of inter-communal violence as to forget the external threat we face.

They must be alert to the very real likelihood that al-Shabaab has gamed our electoral process and has plans to strike.

This should be the best time for them because our security forces will be stretched thin.

Al-Shabaab’s aim will be to disrupt. Even if they don’t have the capacity to grind our elections to a halt nationwide, they can cause grave problems in counties like Mandera, Wajir, Garissa, Tana River and Lamu. Terrorist activity would badly disorganise electoral operations there and severely suppress voter turnout.

Finally, I say godspeed to those going to Canaan. Social media wags are praying the crowd doesn’t stray into Syria, where they could encounter ISIS, and get their heads chopped off.

Good wishes too to those remaining in Egypt. The Nile should be in flood soon, thus they should be busy preparing the fields for the next crop of wheat.

 

Warigi is a socio-political commentator [email protected]