Polls needn't be Armageddon, love and care for thy neighbor

In his seminal 1969 work on African religions – African Religions and Philosophy – Prof John Mbiti famously wrote that "Africans are notoriously religious." Prof Mbiti is the universally acknowledged authority on African religions. Academics and serious thinkers sit up and listen when he speaks – or writes.

That's why his pithy statement about the piety of his African kinsmen must be taken seriously – and intelligently interrogated. I raise, and revisit, this pivotal question because on August 8 we are headed for a titanic decision as a nation. Either the son of Jomo Kenyatta – the Burning Spear – or the scion of Jaramogi – the doyen of the Kenyan Opposition – will claim the country's most famous political real estate. Question – do we love our neighbours?

The struggle for the nation's most hallowed address could be a matter of life – and death. In many African states, elections – the procedure by which democracy is exercised – is a matter of death. We have a vivid memory of what happened in 2007 when PNU's Mwai Kibaki and ODM's Raila Odinga went man-a-mano.

Kenya almost disintegrated. It took former UN Secretary General Kofi Annan – acting as an undertaker for global powers – to put Kenya under protective receivership. Mr Annan saved us from ourselves. Then the ICC Prosecutor Luis Moreno Ocampo – in spite of those who would revise history – kept our worst demons at bay with his cudgel. That's why the 2013 elections passed largely uneventfully, if sickeningly controversially.

Sacrificial lamb

Now, as August 8 menacingly approaches, we are staring another cliff in the face. We should be celebrating our ability to freely choose those who will govern, or oppress, us after August 8. Instead, we are fidgety. I hear flights out of Kenya are booked to the max already. If a politician drops dead, or is taken ill, we all want to scamper to the nearest bush.

Some people ominously say no senior politician is allowed to die close to a pivotal election. What a bunch of hooey. Death has no timetable unless it's the hangman's. When your number is called, as they chillingly say, you must go like a sacrificial lamb. No ifs, buts, or ands.

Let's think together. First, let's accept that democratic elections shouldn't claim even a single life. It's true that the clash between NASA's Raila and Jubilee's Kenyatta is gargantuan. It will – shall – determine whether Kenya becomes a more caring society, or a den of thieving maggots.

But as profound as that choice is, and as black-and-white as it sounds, it's not worth the life of a single compatriot. That's because our Constitution – the national charter, what philosopher Hans Kelsen called the "grund norm" – has set down civilised rules for the contest. On August 9, or as some people believe late on August 8, we will have a victor. But the next day the sun will rise and life will go on.

Second, let's practise what Prof Mbiti observed. Personally, I am secular being. But let's take Prof Mbiti at his word and accept his opined truism that we are notoriously religious. In my interpretation, Prof Mbiti is saying Africans are a caring people. If extrapolated further, he means to say that as an African you don't have to be religious to care for your neighbour.

But you do have to be part of the African cultural universe – spiritual or normative – to believe in what is known as "Ubuntu." This is the philosophy of humanity or humanness, the culturally reflexive kindness that Africans of yore showed their neighbours and complete strangers. The Ubuntu admonition doesn't require submission to a deity.

Third, Prof Mbiti and other thinkers have emphasized the core values of the African universe which are central to being. There's a few. One tells us "I am because we are." In other words, I don't – and can't – exist alone.

My being and existence only make sense because of others in community with one another. I am organic and at one with community. The other is that "a person is only a person through other persons." Let's pause and think here. By "other persons" and "community" the African proverb isn't referring only to those of your faith, race, gender, religion, region, tribe, sexual orientation, social status, or national origin. Nyet – it means everyone who inhabits this earth with you.

Let's see each other in the image of our loved ones as we approach August 8. Kenya has many Christians and Muslims, among other faiths. I also know of many Christians who dearly – dearly – love Jesus although they've never seen him.

Sadly, these same Jesus lovers hate – deeply hate – living breathing neighbours who they see every day. There's a congenital disconnect here. I ask you to love thy neighbour as you love thyself as August 8 beckons. August 8 needn't be Armageddon.

- Makau Mutua is SUNY Distinguished Professor at SUNY Buffalo Law School and Chair of KHRC. @makaumutua