The declaration of Uhuru Kenyatta by the
IEBC as the president-elect confirms
Jubilee Party’s victory in the August 8 General Election. Although the victory
is subject to legal battles, which have commenced at the Supreme Court, Jubilee
won the election in a free, fair and credible contest after the Opposition,
NASA, pulled out of the polls.
Human rights activist Okiya Omtata has
moved to the Supreme Court, seeking the nullification of the October 26 fresh
presidential election. But what is clear is that NASA leader Raila Odinga and
his brigade has maintained a hardline stance on reforms on IEBC following
Justice David Maraga’s ruling for a repeat election on October 26.
Every action has consequences and NASA
should have learnt from what happened in other parts of the world including
Zimbabwe where Opposition contestant, Morgan Tsvangirai, opted to pull out of
the race in 2008 citing unfairness in the electoral process. But our case in
Kenya is much different from Zimbabwe concerning the turnout which IEBC estimated
at 38.84 per cent after Mr Kenyatta garnered 7.4 million votes of the total
votes cast.
It will be irrational for the Opposition to turn the 38.84 percent
of turnout as low considering that other potential candidates equally received
votes in the polls that were marred by violence in some parts of the
country.The election mood in the country was tense as there were those,
especially in NASA strongholds, who scared Jubilee potential voters from
turning up to vote.
It goes without saying that Jubilee could
have got votes in areas like Migori, Kisumu, Siaya, Kakamega or even Bungoma
where violence marked the vote process. Even though NASA supporters boycotted
the elections, it does not necessarily mean that Opposition leader Raila Odinga
could have scored over 50 per cent of the national contested votes if he had
participated in the polls.
It’s the constitutional right of NASA
leaders to move to court and challenge the outcome of the repeat presidential
election but from the look of things, majority of Kenyans are tired of
prolonged electioneering period which has impacted negatively on the country’s
economy.
Opposition leaders should swallow their
pride and give the Jubilee administration the opportunity to implement its
agenda and instead strategize for 2022 elections where they will meet Deputy
President William Ruto on the ballot.