MUGWANGA: Voting is over: Kenya moves on, whatever the outcome

On Tuesday, Kenyans from all corners of the country and those in the diaspora turned out to make their choice though the ballot.

As at the evening of August 9, voting had been closed save for Eldas where voting was postponed to August 10 due to insecurity.

The time to have influenced the outcome of these polls ended on August 6, when the period for campaigns ended officially. With voters having made up their mind during the campaign period, the final decision was left to their choices at the ballot.

Kenyans have literally cast their ink on the ballot, and nobody can change those marks. What everyone awaits is for the Independent Electoral and Boundaries Commission to complete their tally and make the final declaration on the voice of Kenyans.

Every politician pledged to respect the verdict of the people through the ballot. As things stand, Kenyans already have a leader elected for every elective position. The holdup is the vote tallying, which should be done in a calm and orderly manner to ensure accurate reporting. While this is going on, patience is essential.

Maturity by leaders from all the involved political camps is the ultimate responsibility right now. This is in light of the reality that we are in the digital age, where there are numerous sources of information, making it very difficult to control the dissemination of unverified, even false information.

It behooves the leadership to maintain sanity and reign in on their online troops not to share false or unverified data. This way, supporters from all sides will be able to remain calm and be prepared to accept the eventuality of the tallying process.

What has been witnessed lately has been a highly irresponsible campaign by online influencers making claims of victories and loses of various popular leaders, affiliated or opposed to their camps, as appropriate. This is wrong and could have the effect of hyping emotions of ecstasy and convictions of victory by supporters of both leading camps.

What will follow this is the natural inability to process and accept a different outcome, and this could easily cause tension in the nation. Wrongful reporting must be stopped as a matter of individual responsibility to the Republic of Kenya.

A good leader is magnanimous in victory. The maturity that reflects in a magnanimous victor is what is key in uniting all the citizens of the republic and rallying all the players in the just concluded political process to building a better country. The humility in handling victory avoids soring the losing side and their supporters, setting the stage for unity and progress.

It is only an arrogant, self-centered leadership that is expected to blow their own trumpet, mock their opponents. The same caliber of people are also not expected to be able to handle defeat graciously.

Fellow Kenyans, politics is a way of life, not war. As such, there is no need to be defiant in defeat. It is most patriotic for every leader who will not come out victorious in the contest to graciously accept defeat, show great respect to Kenyans and the Nation itself, and allow the country to move forward.

Azimio-One Kenya candidate Raila Odinga and United Democratic Alliance candidate William Ruto are the two top candidates in the presidential contest.

This is to them both-Dear Mr Raila, Dear Mr Ruto,

Your request to Kenyans to give you a serving mandate is not an entitlement. It is the ultimate choice of the people of Kenya, who are the supreme authority of their country.

It is expected of the both of you to show statesmanship and respect and accept unconditionally the decision of the Kenyan electorate. It will be a shame on both, or either of you to react to the outcome in a manner that could trigger tensions amongst the millions of Kenyans that support you.

You will be fully responsible for how the nation progresses. Be selfless, not selfish. Let the winner be accommodating, and the loser respectful to the voice of Kenyans.

Dear Kenyans,

It has severally been said, that “there comes a time when a nation is more important than any individual”.

I dare say, all the time, the nation of Kenya is always more important than any individual. No matter who you support, you owe it to your country and fellow citizens to respect the choices of the majority as is the principle of election victory and defeat. Democracy is a great way of life, yet very delicate. T

he strength of democracy is anchored in the political maturity of the society. Let all Kenyans carry themselves in the manner that shows that we appreciate and are able to manage our democracy.

Let us respect the voices of each other-which is the basic description of democracy.