Candidates are now known, articulate your visions for Kenya

Finally, the anxiety and long wait for supporters of the National Super Alliance (NASA) to know their presidential flag bearer in the August 8, 2017 General Election is over.

Thursday at Uhuru Park, NASA principals ended the anxiety by announcing Raila Amolo Odinga as their preferred presidential candidate and Stephen Kalonzo Musyoka his running mate.

Should they win the elections, the NASA alliance proposes a power structure that is markedly different from the current one.

It proposes the creation of the position of a Premier Cabinet Secretary and two Deputy Premier Cabinet Secretaries. But while positions are instrumental in the running of Government, they are not the overriding concern at the moment.

The hard part for those eyeing elective seats now begins. The nomination exercise has been interesting, to say the least. Established politicians were beaten by novices, leaving them only two options; fading quietly into political oblivion or contesting as independent candidates. For many, the second option may seem attractive, but to what end when the electorate largely remains the same? Neither Jubilee nor NASA has to date articulated issues of concern to the electorate.

The tendency has been scoring off each other’s perceived or real failings. Indeed, Jubilee has continually taunted the Opposition over its inability to choose a presidential candidate. The Opposition on the other hand has made corruption within Government’s ranks its refrain.

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All that is behind us now and the front-runners must tackle real issues. It is not enough to continually talk about corruption without giving a clear indication on how to tackle it.

Promises made by Raila in his acceptance speech to the effect that the cost of living would be brought down, that treatment would be made affordable, education made cheaper and that pay for teachers, doctors and civil servants would be taken care of have been made before but never actualised.

The public needs proof it will be different this time round; that they will not again be bombarded by empty rhetoric.