Why we can’t afford to bungle the coming General Election

In exactly eight days, Kenyans will hit the ballot box in a highly competitive General Election to choose their leaders for the next five years. Political temperatures have consequently reached fever pitch and so many other important matters have been put on the back burner.

And due to the highly competitive nature of our presidential elections, emotions and raw ethnic fissures are beginning to come to the fore. Violent incidents have been reported in several campaign rallies, which is really worrying given Kenya’s history.

We therefore urge all candidates, actors and the authorities to pose and think of Kenya first. The country can ill afford a flawed process, devoid of fairness and transparency. A bungled election can easily put the nation on the edge and roll back all the economic gains we have made in the last few decades. It would kill a dream of a progressive country where systems work and a people feel inspired to work harder for a better tomorrow.

The fresh claims from the National Super Alliance (NASA) that the Jubilee Party has hatched a plot with the Kenya Defence Forces (KDF) to rig the August 8 elections should not be taken lightly. Such remarks put the credibility of the exercise into jeopardy and shifts sharp focus into the conduct of the Independent Electoral and Boundaries Commission (IEBC).

The claims must be investigated thoroughly and the KDF top's brass prompted to assure Kenyans of their neutrality in this election.

Never again should any Kenyan shed blood, die or be rudely uprooted from their homes because of a disputed presidential election. The 2007/8 debacle should never be allowed to recur, when election officials were seen to openly favour one side of the political divide.

IEBC chairman Wafula Chebukati, Chief Justice David Maraga and Inspector General of Police Joseph Boinnet are the three senior-most public servants Kenyans will be looking up to for an orderly and transparent election. They must deliver a credible election and help put out any sparks of chaos.