The story is told of a large engine that failed and no one knew how to fix it. Not until an old man came and after observing it, removed a hammer from his bag and tapped the engine which roared back to life.
A week later, the owners were sent a bill of $10,000 and protested to the old man who had a simple answer. He told them that tapping with a hammer was $2 while knowing where to tap cost them $9,998.
The lesson here is that effort is important, but knowing where to make an effort makes all the difference. And I dare tell the opposition to accept that they lost the election and focus on where it matters.
Last week, the Azimio coalition made a big fuss about the downscaling of former President Uhuru Kenyatta’s security. It was definitely not anything out of the ordinary as this is common practice when regimes change.
The senior officers who were guarding the former president had to be redeployed in line with standard procedure. Additionally, Uhuru, as per the law, is entitled to up to six officers to guard him as part of his escort.
Uhuru has not made any complaints about the security and those who are too loud have no idea how a government is run. The sideshows by the opposition are just an indicator of how clueless and rudderless the Azimio grouping is.
The week before the security issue, we were treated to distractions with the rallies, with more supposedly underway. A visitor to Kenya might be mistaken to think that elections are right around the corner.
It’s imperative that we all support the Kenya kwanza administration and ensure that it delivers on its mandate. If the Kenya Kwanza administration succeeds, this means every Kenyan benefits.
The opposition needs to understand that elections are over and the matter decided adequately by the Supreme Court. It is the time to celebrate as a country; to unite all 44 tribes and the 47 counties, to move as one and build this country, to heal the sharp divisions and to focus on the next five years of building our country.
Azimio should be wise enough to apply pressure in the right places to ensure that the government delivers. It should strive to be remembered as the opposition that ensured that the Kenya Kwanza government has delivered.
The focus now should be on rebuilding the battered economy by focusing on production and making the best use of our resources. We lost billions economically due to the long winding electoral period that came as we were just recovering from the Covid-19 pandemic and it is time we focus on recovery.
We must not forget that we will only win if we work together towards ensuring we have better roads, improved healthcare, expanded water and energy access and improved education standards.
Manufacturing is key to creating jobs, which will ensure that more people contribute to the economy.
A growing economy will also help the government put up more decent and affordable housing, which shall directly benefit the ordinary mwananchi. This is all that Kenyans are asking for and we must all work towards it in our various capacities.
But for us to propel this agenda, these calls for political dialogue and rallies must come to an end immediately. We can actually wait for 2027 for us to think about politics and prepare for the elections.
As I have written here before, this country will outlive all of us and therefore it is our chance to grow it now. The time for politics is done and it is time to transform our nation and discuss economic liberation that will benefit each and every Kenyan.
What the opposition should be focused on is dialogue on how to bring harmony between communities, and how to foster national cohesion. In addition, the opposition must not distract Kenyans at every corner while we all want to focus on development.
Let’s pursue the politics of economic liberation and not the quest for power.
