Politicians should focus on issues and tone down political rhetoric

Fred Matiang'i- Acting Cabinet Secretary for Interior and Coordination of National Government  photo:courtesy

One would have thought that two weeks short of the August 8 General Election, politicians would have stopped mudsling and chest-thumping and got down to the business of marketing their visions for this country.

That is yet to be. Manifestos were unveiled by Jubilee and the Opposition amid pomp and fanfare a few weeks back, yet none of the parties has come out to explain them in detail to the public.

The appointment of Fred Matiang'i as acting Cabinet Secretary for Interior and Coordination of National Government only served to stoke new embers, rather than pacify Kenyans clearly divided along party lines.

One of the sticky issues the NASA has been proclaiming and holding against the Jubilee administration is the unverified claim that a special police unit has been trained to influence the elections in a particular way to give Jubilee an advantage.

Believing their votes could be compromised, NASA came up with the Adopt-a-polling station strategy to ensure their votes are safeguarded after the voting exercise. The High Court's ruling that constituency vote tallies are final only hardened NASA's resolve to ensure nothing goes wrong.

But while the matter of agents at polling stations is for the Independent Electoral and Boundaries Commission to handle, Interior Cabinet Secretary Matiang'i recently outlined the rules of engagement at polling stations. As well-meaning as Matiang'i may be, he projects the image of one overreaching his territory in ensuring peace prevails on election date.

Rather than achieve that noble aim, Matiangi's abrasive style of leadership could end up achieving the opposite.

Matiang'i needs to be judicious in his dealings. While the Independent Electoral and Boundaries Commission (IEBC) should step in and assure all players that all is well and also assure Kenyans of its impartiality as an arbiter, politicians seeking to be elected should observe decorum.

 The arrest of two MPs, Junet Mohamed and Mathew Lempurkel over the weekend for making inflammatory statements tells us some leaders did not learn anything from 2007/2008 post-election violence.