Tribalism, Violence not a priority for Kenya in 2017

With only 8 months to the election month, and as the political pressures keep rising, the Kenyan taxpayer has every reason to worry about the August 2017 election.

 To start with, tribal politics have proved to be part and parcel of Kenyan politics since independence. While some injustices are a long time historical, we have carried them to today and the future, making it very difficult to change long- gone differences When most if not all politicians stand on the podium, tribal utterances cannot miss from their speeches.

 It is very discouraging that in the 21st century, as we approach 54 years since independence, Kenyans have not learnt how to live together with people from divergent tribes, even during tempting moment of grief.

 It is at such a time you will see leaders calling for Ethnic Unity, formation of ethnic political parties that will strengthen their ethnic bargaining powers, as well as make one of their own a top person in the country’s leadership chain.

 Both parties of the political divide have vowed to take Kenya’s top leadership position(presidency) at all costs. This means that neither Jubilee nor cord is ready to accept any results that are different from what they expect as a true reflection of the elections come August 2017. The question to ask yourself is what happens if the country goes back to the situation it was back in 2007-2008, and no one can undertake their usual economic activities due to insecurity/ violence?

 As most leaders across the country call for peaceful co-existence while they address various congregations and rallies, one may be tempted to think that they(politicians) might have foreseen a gap existing among the people and are trying to avoid any mishaps that might arise as a result of the gap.

The most Ironic thing is that such keep recurring during the electioneering period, and we Kenyans keep putting the same people back to the same offices. After a peaceful co-existence for four years, we tend to forget the gains we have made together as a nation, be it in business, Education, administration, agriculture and other fields that we participate in on a daily basis.

We all should be reminded that violence is an enemy of development, no one person, family, ethnicity, community or region in Kenya can do without the help of the other. Let us learn to use experience as a disaster preventive measure.

Elections will come and go but our personalities, tribes, our land Kenya, our differences and similarities will remain.