New year's day 2017. The arrow of time surely surges only forward, and quickly. And for our beloved country, this year marks yet another moment of uncertainty with a General election slated for August. For those that may recall, historically at times August hasn't been a particularly pleasant month for Kenya. Add to that, as Ndii put it, in previous elections where there has been an incumbent gunning for a second term there has been at least some violence; 1992, 1997, 2007. Transitions have been smooth for the most part.
But all is not lost.
Recent changes to the electoral laws have increased bile in some quarters. But this is no surprise since these same quarters would only quit their vituperation if they were declared the victors in the election. But their case is unsound. Put simply, the amendments to the law allow for a manual system of counting, tallying and submission of electoral results should the electronic system fail. We have a strong need for this because, for one, a lot of areas are not covered by the cellular communications network, infrastructure is unrelaible, and lastly systems do fail.
Anything short of a fall back system is a wild stab in the dark. What would then happen should the system fail? I understand the opposition's angst regarding possible ballot stuffing etc. But such irregularities can be overcome only if the arbiter is credible and non partisan. But having only one system does not automatically make the election credible. What we need is an electoral umpire that's beyond reproach, something we haven't had in Kenya in a long time.
And that should be the opposition's (and our) main concern.
Calls for mass action are really ways to beat drums of war, and psychological priming of the masses to an eventual demonstration when the election is called.
We need to find a common ground before the fat lady sings. We have had an eterniny, since 2008, to mend fences. But we have continued, in various ways, to tear them down.
The fact that we are still in such an uneasy state this close to the election is enough to give one flatulence.
