Whatever the ruling, we must protect, preserve the country

There is an eerie sense of unease that is hanging over the Supreme Court’s ruling on the second presidential petition today. The death and destruction from the violence that engulfed Nairobi when police officers confronted NASA supporters on Friday is cause for fear.

Obviously, the police mishandled a bad situation, leading to five deaths (going by police reports or 13 from accounts from family and mortuary reports as we report elsewhere). The clampdown that was mounted on supporters of NASA leader Raila Odinga has only further embittered huge sections of the population that feel excluded and unappreciated. And today’s ruling, if mishandled, could exacerbate the tense situation.

There are those who feel that since NASA boycotted the elections of its own volition, it should respect today’s ruling by accepting the verdict and moving on like Jubilee did in September. That is neither here nor there. The situation the country faces makes us invoke an old truth; that the law was made for man, not the other way round. Today’s ruling will not of itself put an end to the legitimate concerns of those who have lost faith in the ballot.

At the centre of this is genuine grievance over our brand of politics that is largely exclusionist. And whose mantra is encapsulated in anti-corruption crusader John Githongo’s autobiography; It is our turn to eat. Where the party in power will do everything – by hook or crook – to maintain power while the Opposition tries all it can to get into power.

Indeed nobody discounts the thinking that addressing this will help us avoid another bout of violence at the next election. Yet it is frightening that none of the leading politicians – especially in the ruling Jubilee Party- want to step forward. The price of inaction is too high to contemplate.

Make no mistake, we are not advocating for the co-option of losers in political contests. That would kill the need for the ideology and robust debate that a political competition brings out.

We recognise that losers must be reassured that they will live to fight another day. Sadly, the stakes remain oddly stacked against those who lose elections. Ask Mr Odinga.

The point of contention is that the party in power shuts out sections of Kenyans from Government jobs and access to opportunity on the basis of their tribe and political inclination. Look at the Jubilee Cabinet and top State corporations' appointments for example, it is as if the State is a preserve of two communities.

Yet this didn’t start with Uhuru Kenyatta’s Jubilee. No, it started with the ill-fated Rainbow Coalition of which Mr Odinga was a key member. As Narc took over power after defeating Kanu in the 2002 election, the public had been made to believe (wrong or rightly, depending on which side you listened to) that it was their turn to eat. In fact, it would be fair to say Mr Odinga is the victim of a system that Narc failed to dismantle. And therein lies the rub.

There is indication that the channels for dialogue are open. We should pursue further discussions on the matter if only to save the country further trauma.

For we have to restore faith in the ballot as a means by which citizens delegate authority to elected leaders. That should start with a root and branch change at the Independent Boundaries and Electoral Commission.

Although its chairman Wafula Chebukati had raised the red flag and warned it would guarantee a free and fair repeat presidential election, some in the country gave it the benefit of the doubt. No doubt, the issues that were raised then still remain.

The commission would do itself and the country good by purging from its ranks those perceived to have compromised the August 8 presidential election.

The voters need assurance that they can vote but also that their vote will count. We hasten to add that however dysfunctional our democracy is, the alternative is unpalatable. We should not even contemplate it.