Mr President, help unite Kenyans and deliver on promises

President-Elect William Ruto addressed the media at Deputy President's residence in Karen, Nairobi on August 5th, 2022. [Boniface Okendo, Standard]

This has been a dark week for Azimio supporters after the Supreme Court ruling. We had our hopes high after the brilliant submissions by our lawyers.

Many of us had our eyeballs stuck to the screens or Twitter timeline, and we were all expecting a positive Supreme Court ruling in favour of Baba na Martha.

However, that was not the case. We undertook a democratic process and unfortunately for us, we did not win this contest. We are now subjected to dance to the tunes of accept and move on. A tune many of us who have previously voted for Baba are well acquainted with.

I am not writing to lament on the matter that got us here, or the heartbreak we feel after the SCORK ruling. My letter today is intended to seek a silver lining in this painful defeat.

To our President-elect, we hope you live up to the promises made to Kenyans on the campaign trail.

The Kenya Kwanza manifesto assured us of an economic revolution, a Kenya where 'every hustle matters,' and where the interests of mama mboga, boda boda riders and small business owners will be protected and safeguarded to ensure dignified sources of income.

Currently, we are at a difficult period with rising inflation and external factors that have affected cost of basic commodities. Cost of living is haunting every Kenyan.

We are suffocated with the heavy burden of taxes that bear no fruit in public service delivery. May your administration empower us, not just a select few. May we see businesses and institutions grow under the new cabinet.

Secondly, you termed yourself a democrat and expressed faith in our democratic systems. We hope you shall stay true to your words and uphold democracy by allowing multi-partism to thrive.

In the last two weeks, we have seen a number of politicians abandon Azimio for Kenya Kwanza coalition. It would be remiss of us not to be concerned by these shifts as they appeared to be weakening the opposition even before it took off.

It is our hope that the moves by these politicians were more about unifying the country and pushing the parliamentary agenda, and less about weakening the opposition.

Lastly, State capture was a recurring theme among the Kenya Kwanza team during the campaigns and I hope this will be among top priorities for your administration.

Further, Mr President-Elect, let it be your earnest endeavour to fight corruption no matter the person, or their allegiance. We hope you will let those accused of corruption carry their own cross and let the courts decide their fate without interference.

Although we vehemently campaigned against you, we hope you will be a President for all Kenyans. We hope you can keep your promise to take us to the land of economic liberation, and unify Kenyans. Over to you Mr President!

-The writer is a communications specialist. Twitter: @DianaNgao