Political rallies should not divide Kenyans

Jubilee and CORD have been holding rallies ostensibly to outdo each other ahead of next year’s General Election. While this is the essence of political competition, the parties must be careful not to throw the country into chaos in their quest to woo voters.

During some of the rallies in Nairobi, we have seen how badly their supporters have clashed. In the end, we hear of injuries and even deaths. Definitely, this is not what we want for our country.

As Jubilee was launching its new party in Nairobi the other day, ODM was celebrating its 10th anniversary in Mombasa. But this was not just an anniversary as the meeting was organized to counter Jubilee’s.

Then there was tension in Nairobi at the weekend after both coalitions booked the same venue for their political rallies on Sunday. So, who allocated CORD and Jubilee same venue on the same day?

It is not clear whether one side booked the venue and the other one later laid claim on it just to cause chaos and confusion. However, whether the booking mix-up was their mistake or not, I would have expected leaders of both coalitions to behave maturely; but what did they do instead? They started exchanging words publicly and this is the same example their supporters will follow.

President Uhuru Kenyatta and ODM leader Raila Odinga must guide their troops to start working on uniting Kenyans before the elections. And those spreading hate messages should be dealt with firmly. We don’t want to witness what happened in Kenya after the 2007 elections when our people were slaughtered and hundreds of thousands displaced from their homes.

Leaders should just sell their policies so the country will have a united nation even after elections.