In our case of presidential elections, the winner becomes the President, from one border point to the next. I said again in this space, elections are not a chance to reveal which parts of Kenya supports which leader or political camp. It is a chance to elect a leader for Kenya.
With that in mind, William Ruto was declared the winner of the 2022 General Election, now way behind us, and sworn in as President. That makes him President of the entire Republic of Kenya.
As I said again on this space, a good leader is not a whip, but a charmer. President Ruto must recognize and accept this reality. Though Nyanza region is traditionally the political hotbed of the man he competed with in the last election, he made a decision to make a political tour of Homa Bay County in Nyanza.
In what should shock and equally disappoint any politically mature Kenyan, elected leaders from Homa Bay led by Governor Gladys Wanga and Homa Bay Town MP Peter Kaluma decided to snub the visit by the Head of State and Government. In plain words, that is flat shameful.
The electioneering period is over. It is time to work for Kenyans, political affiliations taking a backstage until the next campaign period.
The two leaders and their group are part of the opposition Azimio-One Kenya coalition party led Raila Odinga, Martha Karua and Kalonzo Musyoka. It behoves the coalition leaders to rein in on their members to summon political maturity and responsibility and differentiate between the time for politicking and the time for nation building.
Just so we are clear with them, this is the time for nation building. There are functions that are still under the national government. For instance, road construction and public works were partially devolved. It is expected that the President will tour various areas in Kenya to launch national government projects as well as those to be implemented in partnership between the two tiers of government.
But what would make these leaders behave this way?
One would read “political loyalty”. Do our leaders from Homa Bay feel that welcoming the President in their region puts to question their loyalty to their party, coalition and party leader? That would be offensively tickling.
The opposition coalition, parties and leaders all sort to be elected to lead, build, develop and better the lives of all Kenyans. It, therefore, makes sense that absolute loyalty belongs to the republic, which is basically the citizens of Kenya.
Once a government is in place, it serves all and sundry, those who voted for them and those who did not. Service delivery and achievement of development are dependent on cooperation between regional and national leaders. It, therefore, only makes sense that leaders, even those in the opposition, cooperate with the government of the day, sit down, and deliberate on local issues that inform grassroots project priorities.
How is that possible with the political childishness we saw on Sunday? Wouldn’t it be utterly embarrassing for opposition chief Raila that his party’s leaders think loyalty to him means playing truant with the national leadership at the expense of discussing development at regional level?
Azimio-One Kenya leadership should strongly disown the attitude of these leaders and challenge them to apply political maturity going forward.
It has been said time and again that a united nation is easier to build and develop. Unity is followed by peace and stability, which erase all uncertainty and inspire investor confidence, spurring growth and development.
Every election cycle in Kenya has been highly divisive. It is thus important for the President to bring the entire nation into the fold for the purposes of development.
On this, the President deserves applause for recognising the need to bring everyone together for the purpose of going forward. Governor Wanga and company, don’t be funny, you can welcome the President, and together with local legislators discuss areas of cooperation between the national and county governments on grassroots development.
Even while doing this, opposition legislators will be able to play their oversight role. As a matter of fact, a governor is not a legislator but a county chief executive who should engage all players to ink development partnerships for the county. Being a first time governor, Wanga, change tact and do better. Do politics again in four and a half years.
All elected leaders should know the campaign period is over. It is time to work with counterparts across the political divide for the common goal of building Kenya and bettering the lives of all Kenyans.
It is not like a leader gets hypnotized by engaging former competitors in public. Remember, the electorate is like a beautiful girl who you woo and keep happy. If she sees immaturity in you, you will be cooked at the earliest next chance. She will be snatched.
