Temba is Wrong, Raila is not an Obstacle to Democracy in Kenya

The article that was written by Kizito Temba titled “Democracy has winners and losers – ask the rest of the world” in the Standard Newspaper on 25th August 2017, cannot go unchallenged because it misrepresents facts.

It is true that all presidential candidates except Raila conceded in the just concluded election.

However, it did not take long before candidates like Dr Aukot realised massive irregularities on the election outcome.

At the same time, it would have been abnormal for a presidential candidate who got less than 10,000 votes not to concede.

Temba thinks that we should ask the rest of the world about democracy. As a result, he alleged that Raila should concede because Al Gore accepted the defeat after the controversial 2000 US presidential election where George Bush was declared the winner by the US Supreme Court.

But I wish to remind Temba that Raila, in 2013 elections, did exactly what Al Gore did in 2000. Like Raila in 2013, Al Gore disagreed with the US Supreme Court ruling, but he accepted the defeat because he believed in the rule of law.

These were the exact words of Al Gore when he was being interviewed by Barbra Walter from ABC media, “I strongly disagreed with the Supreme Court decision and the way in which they interpreted and applied the law. But I respect the rule of law, so it is what it is."

Did Raila not say similar words in 2013 immediately after Supreme Court ruling? This means that Raila does not have to ask the world about the meaning of democracy because he already subscribes to the international standard of democracy.

Just as Raila calls Ruto and Uhuru “computer-generated leaders”, US leaders like Clinton, Joe Biden, and Jimmy Carter referred to Bush as “selected” president.

I don’t know much about what happened in the 1997 elections, but I don’t think no one expected Raila to concede defeat in 2007, especially after it became apparent that election was rigged. Kivuitu did not know who won, and as late as 2017, SK Macharia the owner of Royal Media Services, made it clear that Raila defeated Kibaki.

People do not just concede defeat for the sake of conceding but based on legitimate election outcome.

Therefore, Temba is wrong when he insinuates that Raila is an obstacle to democracy in Kenya. It is in record that Raila fought for the democracy we enjoy today. If Raila wanted power at all costs, then 2007 would have been a different story.

Hence, to Temba, democracy is not about winning and losing, democracy is about legitimate winning and losing.