Saturday, August 6, was the final day of the official campaigns. The more than 20 million Kenyan voters had Sunday and Monday to reflect before the actual voting day. This two-day reflection time is one's moment with God. It is important to meditate and soul-search as you ponder on the type of people to lead Kenya for the next five years. The future of the nation lies in your hands so listen to your inner voice.
Tuesday is the climactic day of what has been a gruesome electioneering period. The campaign period has been characterised by name-calling, hate speech and high-octane propaganda. Egos have been bruised. Emotions have been whipped. Ethnicity has been evoked to rally communities together. Expectations have been raised. What remains now is the final casting of the ballot.
On this day, Kenyans will elect leaders of their choice. This is our collective day with fate. Everybody's decision must count. Please purpose to vote knowing that not voting for the leader of your choice is actually voting for the wrong leader.
However, and sadly so, only one candidate will win in each of the six elections. We can only elect one president, one governor, one senator and one woman representative for each county, one member of parliament for each constituency and one member of county assembly for each ward. For each electoral seat, we can only have one winner. That is the truth of the matter. Consequently, this raises the stakes, but we must live with this reality.
That is what democracy is all about. The minority will have their say while the majority will have their way. Whichever way, we must remain as brothers and sisters. Elections are not meant to divide us but rather to strengthen our democratic ideals. Democracy comes at a cost. When we promulgated the 2010 Constitution, we collectively agreed to pay the cost of democracy. Thus, as a nation, we must be willing to pay the cost because if we don't pay the price, we will surely pay a cost.
Democratic winners are mindful people. Democrats celebrate their win with decorum. Democrats celebrate with dignity. They do not mock or scorn their competitors. They appreciate them for giving them a run for their money. They sincerely acknowledge the roles they played in making the competition livelier, engaging and stiffer.
They salute the losers for their diversity in viewpoints and perspectives. They do not chest-thump in their victory as they demean those they have beaten. No. They are gracious in their hard-earned victories. They are humbled by their victory. They actually invite them to their victory parties and inauguration ceremony. They value them by incorporating their good ideas.
On their part, democratic losers are kind. They do not play victim mentality. They concede defeat. They lose with dignity. They are the first to call and congratulate the winners. They accept defeat. They are not sore losers. They are aware of the fact that there can only be one winner in a competition and that losing is part and parcel of the race.
They do not resort to violence to resolve electoral malpractice. Instead, they seek redress through the legal justice system. They do not sabotage the economy by creating lawlessness. They do not become crybabies and unruly simply because they have lost. They are humbled by the loss. They embrace the genuine winners.
In conclusion, when both the winners and the losers do so with dignity, democracy wins. Kenya wins. We all subject ourselves to the winners as we embrace the losers for making the competition worthwhile. Violence begets violence. We should shun electoral violence and allow democracy to win.
Founding Chief Executive Marketer, the National Examinations' Hub
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