Politicians should be careful not to cause ethnic divisions

A crowd came to welcome ODM leader Raila Odinga as he addressed residents of Githurai on his way back in Nairobi from Mt Kenya region political tour in September 2021 [David Njaaga, Standard]

Timothy Garton Ash, a renowned British historian and commentator, posits; “transitions from the politics of violence to democratic compromise are always messy”. Kenya is a witness to how messy this can be, and who the main culprits are — politicians.

Without belabouring recent alleged cases of ethnic incitement which are currently under investigation, I must state that William Ruto and his political allies in the Rift Valley region should be more alert regarding ethnic profiling. Moreover, Raila Odinga and other leaders seeking the presidency, must put ice cubes in their throats whenever they politic in the Rift Valley.