• Kenya is barely two months from a closely contested election, so close that both President William Ruto and Raila Odinga garnered almost half of the votes cast.
• This means that half of the voters who turned out to cast their ballots across the country are a disappointed lot.
Image: PSCU
One of the strongest tenets of democracy as propounded by Jean-Jacques Rousseau and John Locke among other social contract theorists is that the majority will have their way while the minority will have their say.
Conversely, Chapter One of our Constitution states that all sovereign power belongs to the people and it can be exercised directly or indirectly and where the later applies, the vote is supreme.
Kenya is barely two months out of arguably one of the most closely contested elections in the history of multipartyism.
So closely contested was the election that both President William Ruto and Raila Odinga fervently fought, and each garnered almost half of the votes cast in their respective corners.
Concisely, President Ruto was declared winner with a majority of 50.49 per cent, crossing the finish line with just 233,000 more votes against his close competitor Raila Odinga who garnered 48.5 per cent of the votes cast.
This means that half of the voters who turned out to cast their ballots across the country are a disappointed lot.
The precarious situation is further exacerbated by the fact that a whopping eight million voters stayed out of the polls.
One must therefore ask, what would be their motivation for failing to exercise their democratic right? Can this plausibly be attributed to dissatisfaction, disenchantment and disillusionment on how the political class operate the affairs of the government?
With President Ruto already sworn in and serving his first month in office, his work is cut out.
It is without doubt that all eyes are on his regime to deliver the Kenya Kwanza manifesto to all Kenyans.
Top of the agenda is promoting and safeguarding national unity through patriotism, magnanimity and nationalism as envisaged in Article 131 of the Constitution.
It is imperative that the President shines the light of hope and portray a government that is responsive and caring to all its Citizens regardless of political affiliation.
If I should borrow from the good book, there is a time for everything. The storm of campaigns is over, it is time to build and grow our economy and the President should with a firm hand, make it as clear.
The mockery of losers will only serve to further divide the nation and breed seeds of bitterness and discontentment.
The winning team should be reminded that in victory, the banner of honour and magnanimity should fly highest. Let us all in our undertakings exercise basic wisdom.
You should not brag about the peculiar characteristics of your children in the congregation of childless women nor the rich discuss their wealth in the counsel of the poor.
Good leaders should be magnanimous in victory. Treating even their opponents with dignity and respect.
Their noble character should exemplify commitment to a higher duty. As Winston Churchill said, “In war: Resolution. In Victory: Magnanimity. In Peace: Goodwill.”
We are one people, one Kenya, under one God. Lead us Mr. President.
Alex Matere is a Public Policy Expert and Political Scientist.