La, usiweke kondom mpangoni!

How would you react when you found out -in one way or another- that your spouse is intimately involved with somebody else behind your back? You would probably want to come up with some sort of concrete evidence before confronting them with the truth, wouldn't you? After this confrontation, what would be your reaction when, in supposed mitigation, your spouse pointed out that they were at least using a condom during their secret, passionate liaisons? For many, the mere thought probably causes a strong, unpleasurable physiological response consisting but not limited to a racing pulse, heavy breathing, profound perspiration and protruding capillaries on the forehead. Strong feelings of betrayal, lack of trust and perhaps insecurity would probably follow in tow. Things between the two of you would likely not be the same again.

Infidelity within wed-lock is not a minor matter.There always are casualties. The silly argument in favor of the new controversial advertisement goes like "Since we're engaging in sex outside marriage already, let us continue to dishonor and disrespect the sanctity of marriage, shun our spouses, betray our families, loved ones and ourselves but lets continue to do it with a piece of latex on."

The fact that the statistics point to a majority of HIV infections happening in marriages does not mean that condoms should be introduced for doing so is merely addressing the symptoms and not the cause. What we need to address is WHY married couples are engaging in extra-marital affairs and doing so in a cavalier manner to boot. It doesn't stop there. Pre-marital sex is happening on an unprecedented scale; people falsely believe they are liberated. The statistics are enough to make one shudder.

But the decision to sheath one's nether regions or not ultimately lies with one's self, not the clergy. But there are consequences which transcend that single act of passion, which we must think about and be ready to deal with.Extra-marital affairs leave a trail of destruction and devastation to spouses and children in their wake.

Let us not bury our heads in the sand; we must tackle the bull by the horns lest we all perish in our stupidity.

An early state of the nation

This is an early scorecard or perhaps a prognosis of the performance of the newly elected, blue-eyed boy of Kenyan politics, one Uhuru Muigai Kenyatta.As i write this, the Supreme court is up to its neck in an election petition consisting of supposed "evidence" which links the IEBC with electoral fraud in collusion with other actors.That said, it may be a little premature to judge the performance of a government that's yet to be endorsed by the Supreme court and as such, that is not the purpose of this article.I merely wish to give a prognosis-or a heads-up- on what could be awaiting the President-elect as he embarks on a five year term as the President of the Republic of Kenya.

In his book The Prince, Niccolo Machiavelli writes of 'Dominions acquired by the power of others or by fortune', that 'princes have little trouble rising but experience very much trouble in maintaining their position'.He goes on to write that such princes "depend entirely on the goodwill and fortune of those who have raised them, both of which are extremely inconstant and fickle". He further argues that unless such princes possess extraordinary genius and are able to quickly grasp matters on how to command and take immediate steps to maintain their newly found fortune, the dominion inevitably crumbles or disintegrates.

While not an apples-to-apples comparison, perhaps it would be instructive if we ported Machiavelli's words to our current context of the President-elect and his nascent government. But first, a little history.

It was not until 1997 when Uhuru Kenyatta really stepped into the murky world that is Kenya's politics. He was nominated to parliament and given a ministerial post two years later by his god-father - the then president Daniel Moi. In a subsequent baptism by fire, many certainly remember his political embarrassment in the 2002 general election at the hands of the NARC coalition's presidential candidate Mwai Kibaki. It wasn't until 2008 when Uhuru found his way back to the cabinet courtesy of one Mwai Kibaki. The rest is history. 

It is quite evident that Mr. Kenyatta has many to thank for his ascendancy to the top office in the land. From the former President Moi, the real brains behind Jubilee coalition and king maker William Ruto, to many other stakeholders and to a lesser extent the Kenyan people. How well he is able to wade in the murky waters that is Kenyan politics depends largely on how he balances between working for the Kenyan people and pleasing those who have propelled him to the presidency. And of course, there is still the nagging ICC case that so far has refused to go away. Mr Kenyatta has much on his plate and how well he performs as the head of state will depend very much on whether or not he possesses the 'extraordinary genius' and 'quick grasp of matters' as mentioned by Machiavelli, two traits he may be willing to learn- and learn fast- from his deputy.

Here come the results!

The material day is finally here.....actually, the material day, March 4, 2013, was four days ago.What's not here, however, is the results of the much-awaited election.Every moment up to and including voting day went according to plan -campaigns closed without much friction and voting was peaceful.Then, the usual shenanigans started.The electronic system that is supposed to shorten the tabulation and transmission of votes was jettisoned for the older, more familiar but infamous manual tallying.

This happened amid claims of lack of system integrity by various quarters.My thoughts on this: That is o.k; The way i see it there's really no issue with manual tallying of votes save for the delayed counting, transmission and pronouncement of results.But it appears we're still not out of the woods even with the manual vote tallying, which at this moment is nearing completion with more than 9.7 million valid votes tabulated, because elements of the civil society have moved to court questioning the integrity of the vote.

Lawsuits and counter-suits aside, the pertinent question remains:WHERE do we go from here? A simple question with a not-so-simple answer.First, I am not a pundit on matters litigation but i believe the High Court should throw out redundant cases that are meant to complicate and forestall the conclusion of the electoral process.Second, the IEBC should move with alacrity to conclude the tallying, protests notwithstanding, and announce the final result of the election.It is from this juncture that we will know where to head as a nation.

Long live Kenya