After many elections, the winner tells the people that they will be the president for all, those that voted for them and those that didn’t.
This is almost obvious it doesn’t need to be said but there is something comforting for us to know the elected leader is thinking about a unity of purpose.
The question that rarely gets asked is about the nature of our responsibility as citizens to our duly elected leader. Many will have voted for the winner but at least a significant minority did not.
Do we rally around the leader of the nation, wish him well and pray for his or her success? Unfortunately, in Kenya, we seem to be pushing in a different direction.
A vibrant democracy should have an opposition that provides checks and balances, and supports the government on good policies and stresses an alternate path when they feel that a particular policy is not in the nation’s best interests.
In the United Kingdom, those not in the governing party are called the “Loyal Opposition”. The term loyal indicates that the non-governing parties may oppose the actions of the Cabinet while remaining loyal to the source of the government's power.
What they don’t seem to care about is the simple fact that if Uhuru fails, then Kenya fails.
Raila Odinga has played this role well and has partnered with President Uhuru Kenyatta on the fight against corruption and the Big Four agenda.
Nevertheless, many others, from within the opposition and even within the government, have been anything but loyal of late. In fact, with an eye on petty politics leading up to the next elections, far too many politicians are hoping for Uhuru to fail.
What they don’t seem to care about is the simple fact that if Uhuru fails, then Kenya fails.
Not just because he is the head of state and the Commander-in-Chief, but also because he has such a broad agenda that seeks to change the face of the country for the better.
It is clear in the affordable housing, the thousands of roads built, the hundreds of thousands of Kenyans now receiving free healthcare and the senior officials being arrested for corruption, that Uhuru is undertaking unprecedented efforts to develop this country.
It is my belief, however, that he will achieve greater things if we are united behind him. The incessant sniping and politicking within his own party and opposition parties will only derail this agenda
Take, for example, the recent visit to China. Although there is certainly a conversation and debate to be had about the Sino-Kenyan relationship and the loans Uhuru is seeking from Beijing, the almost glee from some quarters when he returned without the loans is beneath contempt.
Uhuru is not taking any loans or securing agreements, as he did in Beijing, to line his own pocket or help him politically in the future. They are about the betterment of Kenya and its people.
Those who express joy at any perceived failure are enjoying the loss and decline of the people.
We, the people, should remember who these naysayers are when it comes time for the next election. We should ignore their injunctions about helping or supporting the people because they have proven this to be a lie.
We demand that all politicians think very hard about their role in Parliament, both government and in opposition. Measured and credible criticism is an important pillar of democracy, but shilling for our failure is unacceptable and to we should say that these people should not represent us or receive a wage from the public purse.
For the next three years, Uhuru is our President and represents his interests, arguably far more than any other Kenyan President in history.
It is time we should rally behind him.
MP Samburu West
