Politics have dominated the country since 2016, which has had a toll on the country’s economy. So when President Uhuru Kenyatta and Former Prime Minister Raila Odinga shook hands in unison in front of cameras at Harambee House, it was a moment of relief in the country.
Kenya has always been a peaceful country but after the presidential election results get announced, a period of confusion, finger pointing and blame game ensues.
This confusion is usually brought about by reluctance by leaders to accept defeat, inefficient electoral commission which is so much unwilling to conduct free and fair elections or at least accept they made mistakes when conducting the election and a poorly trained police force tasked with maintaining peace and monitoring demonstrations, which they do by killing innocent people.
After every general election, the stability of our country becomes fragile to a point of near breaking.
From what I understand, shaking hands means friendship and friendship means working together. The former Prime Minister accompanied by his daughter and Suna East MP Junet Mohammed agreed to bury the hatchet with President Kenyatta and team up for the good of the nation.
The opposition and the ruling government can never work together or at least can never be on the same side. The opposition in itself is an office and it has its duties and responsibilities just like the presidency does.
The media, the clergy, and the opposition have similar responsibility especially towards the government, the duty of keeping the government on it toes and checking its excesses. The opposition is the most efficient of all the other bodies responsible for checking the excesses of the government. It is the biggest, fiercest and the strongest watchdog, or at least it should be.
In the past, some of the biggest corruptions perpetuated by the government or by the people in the government have been unearthed and the perpetrators exposed by the opposition. The Anglo- Leasing Scandal, The Goldenberg Scandal, and the more recent Eurobond Scandal have all been brought to the public eye by the opposition.
This grand union between the government and the opposition begs the questions, who will monitor the government? Who will champion for the rights of the common citizen? Who will protect the citizens against unscrupulous leaders? Is this union really for the good of the people or does it have undertones of individual ulterior and selfish motives?
It is good that the peace of the country has been restored but in the quest for peace other important facets have been compromised. In the words of my lecturer, every problem has a solution but every solution creates a cycle of its own problems. Let’s hope we have not kickstarted the cycle by just a handshake!
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