* Kenyans stood in long lines for hours on December 27th 2007 to exercise their constitutional right, and voted.
* Everyone that I have spoken to, without exception, is shell-shocked – both by the senseless violence and the killings, which no Kenyan would ever had expected to happen in our country in this day and age.
* Everyone, without exception, wants Peace. And that’s Peace with a capital ‘P’.
* Almost all feel that both parties are to blame, and the general consensus is that the politicians are merely power hungry, and looking to serve their own interests – which primarily involve the Number One Seat and power.
* When asked if they would go out on the streets, all again, without exception said No, because, they asked, who would feed us the next day?
* On the question of tribalism, almost all that I have spoken to, simply cannot understand the intentions of the groups that have propagated the violence in the name of tribalism. How can we be tribal? One woman even went as far as to say that being a Kikuyu herself, she was primarily concerned with the welfare of her colleagues, who are from different tribes, and during the unrest, she kept calling and checking up on all of them to see if they were ok and if they needed anything. The thought that they were from different tribes did not even cross her mind.
What is emerging, is that over time, our interactions with one another have ‘humanised’ us – we have come to regard each other as a colleague, an employer, a neighbour, a friend, or just someone whose services we may use from time to time.
And that, in my opinion, is not from the evolution of democracy, resulting in a government that looks after and feeds it people, but from a People or population that has evolved by embracing the diversity presented by a multitude of races, cultures and tribes. This diversity has included the acceptance, adoption and propensity for a multitude of lifestyles and interests, as well as resulting in the evolution of a culture unique to the People of this country.
Kenyans are bound by their loyalty to their Nation. We are primarily a friendly People, blessed with a sense of humour and an intelligence that allows even a less economically fortunate individual to appreciate the nuances of politics or the idiosyncracies of human nature.
Which is why we have all been so taken aback by the turn of events in the last few weeks. Kenyans are not fools. Being an eternally optimistic People, we are always seeking change – change which hopefully brings about forward movement, be it economically, personally, politically, or even culturally. And it is with this optimism that Kenyans turned out in huge numbers to vote. We are not a foolish people. If we were perhaps naïve enough to believe that our future could be governed by one man, I would like to say it is because of our innate optimism. Realistically, not many truly believed that there would be a huge leap forward, but for us, even a little change would be good.
It is with this optimism and determination that we defeated an entrenched autocratic system and bought in ‘Mabadiliko’(Change) in 2002. It is with the same resilience that we defeated a Government Referendum, put forward by a government that thought it could fool the people into voting for a flawed constitution.
In both instances, it was not the politicians that brought in change – IT WAS THE PEOPLE. Of course, we must give due credit to those that spoke out and allowed us to come together with one voice. And perhaps we can be forgiven to think that the person who speaks out the loudest should naturally be the one to lead us. But I honestly do not think that it will ever be about one person leading us. How could that be?
For a society that thrives IN Pluralism, with so much of a mix of different interests and cultures and lifestyles, how could just one human being be responsible for overseeing, managing, and nurturing all the millions of differences?
And this is why I put forward the opinion, that for Africa, and I’ll be specific to Africa for the present time, with its history of traditional tribal culture, colonialism and diversity, COALITION can be the only way forward.
Having spoken to many people over the last week and a half or so, many say that if asked to vote again, they would not do so! Who would we vote for, they ask. And why should we vote if this is what the ultimate result would be.
And so, in the final analysis, all political parties are to blame, and all have proven in some way or another, that their personal ambitions supercede the desires and welfare of the people they wish to lead. Sacrifice a few now, and all will reap the rewards later.
And in doing so, they have proven, that they do not truly understand the Pulse of this Nation. That they do not understand the extent to which Kenyans have evolved not just as citizens, but as a branch of humanity itself.
I said before the election, that I was making a CONSCIOUS choice not to vote. Not because I wasn’t bothered, or that what would it matter if I did anyway. But I said that if there was a box on the ballot which said ‘none of the above’. Then that is where I would place my ‘tick’. When asked why, I simply said that I was not willing to give my vote to another human being who I simply did not have any faith in. After all, if things did go wrong, I would only have myself to blame, because with my vote, I endorsed that individual and gave him the power to lead in me in manner as he saw fit.
When asked who I would vote for, I said that I would vote for that person, who would have the economic acumen and experience of one of the candidates, the passion of the other candidate, and the diplomacy of the third. Impossible? I don’t think so – after all, isn’t that what defines a Coalition?
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