Heed Kikwete’s call for peace whatever the election outcome

Former Tanzania President Jakaya Kikwete (right) consoles with Nicholas Biwotts wife Hannie during the memorial service at AIC Milimani. Photo: Beverlyne Musili

In 2007, Uhuru Kenyatta and William Ruto were on opposite of the political divide when Kenya went to the polls. While the ignominious eventuality of that election is what Kenyans would like to forget, fate somehow put Kenyatta and Ruto together as the prime suspects of crimes against humanity, earning them a date with the International Criminal Court at The Hague.

Bravely, they fought the cases and emerged victors after the court absolved them of responsibility; the rest is history. But they say that history sometimes repeats itself. The circumstances that led to the post poll violence that claimed 1,300 lives are the same today.

Unguarded utterances by politicians as they traverse the country in search of votes have polarising effects on Kenyans. It would be fallacious to claim Kenyans are more united today than, say, five years ago, even as our founding fathers envisioned a free country in which we would all live in peace and unity.

The disputed 2007 election pitted Kenyan against Kenyan as the country became increasingly ungovernable in the ensuing melee. The international community, alarmed by the development in a country considered an island of peace in a troubled sea, intervened and restored sanity.

Neither the winner, the Party of National Unity nor the loser, Opposition Orange Democratic Movement, could singularly restore peace, and that is how we ended up having the African Union eminent persons - former UN Secretary General Koffi Annan, Tanzanian President Benjamin Mkapa and Graca Machel, former First lady of Mozambique and South Africa, to broker peace.

Another former Tanzanian President, Jakaya Kikwete, who witnessed the events in Kenya in 2008, has urged Kenyans to avoid going that route again. Indeed, Kenyans should take heed and defend their country jealously against those who might want to set it aflame for personal reasons.

An unstable Kenya would greatly destabilise the whole region while other parts of the world are building regional blocs for better trade and diplomatic relations. Elections are a one-time event that must not be allowed to divide the country. Let each one be guided by conscience at the ballot.