Few will have the greatness to bend history itself, but each of us can work to change a small portion of events…
Elections play an integral role in democracies. They provide a platform in which political parties competitively refine their policies to capture the attention of the electorate.
Ideally parties are supposed to use the five-year election cycle to do a SWOT analysis in order to crystallise the strategic objectives they will pursue to win elections.
Elections also afford the citizens an opportunity to participate in the governance of the nation by electing their leaders. Elections thus provide an opportunity for the citizenry to rally together to define the destiny of the nation.
They create a sense of nationhood and a sign of patriotism. The citizenry and all institutions involved in elections have a cardinal duty to uphold this sense of nationhood.
However that has not been the case in Kenya. The last three elections have been divisive and a source of strife. In 2008 we lost thousands of Kenyans to post-election violence. In 2013 there was a dispute in the election outcome that ended in the Supreme Court.
In 2017 we were close to anarchy in that we had a duly elected president and a people's president. There was talk of a parallel government being established. The country was torn apart. There was one institution at the centre of all these crises—the Independent Electoral and Boundaries Commission.
As pointed out by the five-judge bench that declared the BBI unconstitutional, constitutional commissions are a fourth organ of the government. The commissions, as stipulated in Article 249 of the Constitution, are intended to protect the sovereignty of the people, ensure observance of democratic values and principles and protect constitutionalism.
They should not be subject to direction or control by any person or authority. These commissions are a seminal pillar of the nation and play a critical role in holding the nation together. They are tasked with safeguarding emotive and highly flammable issues such as land, human rights, elections and security.
In view of the roles constitutional commissions play, the IEBC must appreciate that on three occasions the nation nearly went to war on account of its commissions and omissions.
But the coming election finds the country in a far palpable and precarious position. The country has been weighed down by a five-year period of economic ruin and pain; the Covid-19 pandemic has wreaked havoc on the nation. The private sector, more so the informal sector, has been hit hard.
The mental and emotional health of the nation is at an all-time low. The constant politicking of our politicians and the turmoil in the ruling party have deprived the nation of strategic direction. Kenyans are thus looking towards the 2022 general election as a turning point.
But this will require the election agency to punch above its weight and deliver a credible, transparent and verifiable election. The commission must be able to regulate the actions of its officers.
The commissioners and the secretariat being state and public officers must bring honour to the nation and offices they hold. They ought to promote confidence in the office they hold and must serve the public impartially.
In the 2017 general election, the presiding officers and their deputies in Eldas constituency were all picked by a politician. On Election Day the ODM candidate and his agents in two wards were locked out by security agents on the instruction of the aforementioned politician.
The agents of the powerful politician all donned IEBC regalia and had a field day in the polling stations. Results of the elections were manipulated in the constituency tallying centre and ODM lost a parliamentary seat and two wards.
Such actions do not inspire confidence, put the IEBC into disrepute and are likely to plunge the nation into turmoil. Such an election is not an expression of the will of the people and deprives voters of proper representation.
Parliament, religious institutions, civil society and political parties must help the IEBC in the remaining months to build its capacity and enact the necessary legislation and regulations needed to hold a credible election.
The nation must prioritise and focus on the general election. It’s an apt time for the IEBC to consider and internalise the gravity of issues at stake, put behind us the accumulated errors of our past political path and deliver an election that holds the nation together as has been done on several occasions by the electoral commission of Somaliland with rudimentary resources.
Secretary general, Eldas Professionals Association
