As the public is wont to say, the two horses in the coming August 8, 2017 General Election have been identified?
There may be other candidates out to try their luck but clearly, the frontrunners are incumbent President Uhuru Kenyatta on the Jubilee ticket and Raila Odinga on the National Super Alliance ticket.
The run-up to the party nominations exercise saw heightened tension that in some places culminated in fights. And this is because a few candidates refused to accept the results.
There were places where repeat nominations had to be ordered but it is hats off to party leaders who largely, unlike in the past, did not exert their influence to give party tickets to leaders who may have lost favour with the voters.
Those that fell by the wayside have the opportunity to prove their popularity by running as independent candidates since the law proscribes party hoping.
The work is cut out for the front runners. Kenyans have heard the rhetoric and propaganda being peddled back and forth. Nevertheless, the just-concluded party nominations should by now have sent a warning shot across the bow.
The Kenyan voter today is more enlightened and believes in tangible results. Leaders who failed to deliver in their respective mandates were shunned in the primaries on that score.
The campaigns must be informed by issues. As leaders traverse the country seeking favour with the voters, they should know that unworkable promises might not get them anywhere.
Voters should be on the lookout to sift fact from fiction, the wheat from chaff and, aided by Chapter Six of the Kenya Constitution 2010 that describes values of a leader, pick only those who have proven they can make a difference.
Proof of how presidential candidates plan to address the runaway cost of living, social inequalities, rising unemployment, the neglected agricultural sector, factors that deny many children a good education and a declining health sector, will help voters make informed choices.
