Tribe: The only real issue in the August 8 polls

The wise men of ancient times have told us that you can never step twice in the same river. About 500 BC Heraclitus, a pre-Socratic Greek philosopher, famously said even if you step into the waters at exactly the same point as you did only a few moments ago, it is a new river. The sage wrote that since the river is endlessly flowing, it is eternally changing, moving with fresh waters. In like vein, you never fight the same enemy twice, even when it is the same individual.

The principal protagonists in the August 8 presidential race, President Uhuru Kenyatta of Jubilee and Raila Odinga of NASA, will want to remember this. At a superficial level, nothing has changed as the focus remains on the same main contenders, as was the case in 2013. Then, as now, all eyes were on Uhuru and Raila. Deputy President William Ruto often scoffs at the Opposition with caustic remarks to the effect, “Are you not the same people we beat in 2013?”