DECISION 2017: SOUR GRAPES AND VOTER DEJECTION
By Jackson Omondi
Let’s face it, the on going primaries have not been top shelf and it’s clear that they have left many voters seething with anger. From dual ‘winners’ to outright political juntas the 2017 primaries have exposed what ails our nascent democracy. We are nowhere near where we imagine ourselves to be. As a country, we have our work cut out for us.
But that does not mean that we should hang our cleats and call it a day! There is still a lot of work ahead of us. The primaries may have been flawed and outrightly compromised, but they are not final. No defeated incumbent has gone home yet. At least, until you the voter says so in August. Translation? Your candidate may have been shortchanged in these primaries but remember, you still hold the keys to the ultimate prize and until you say otherwise, whatever happened or is happening now is just a beauty contest.
You will have another opportunity to weigh in and this time, the arbiter or referee will not be a partisan party hack. The IEBC will not have stunt doubles in returning officers. Your maligned preferred choice will have a levelled playing field and your vote will count.
My request is simple : jettison the anger and dejection and get back on your feet. Party honchos may have pissed you off and stiff- armed your candidate, but remember that what they did is nothing compared to the outright theft and looting that the Jubilee government has subjected the people of Kenya to. Don’t let your anger prevent you from isolating and punishing the real culprit who has engaged in national theft.
Jubilee is the real enemy and I urge you to stay focused on the key theatre. Vote for your preferred candidates in August and please, I beseech you to consign the certified incompetent Jubilee government to the political slaughterhouse. They have no business hanging around the tiller.
Do the right thing in August because the Jubilee government cannot keep on depleting what used to be Kenya’s booming economy for another five years. We can’t afford another five years of incompetence, trashtalking, sabre rattling, extrajudicial killings, Mugabesque economy and a nonexistent legal architecture.
But you the voters have the answer. In August this year, you will have a chance to choose between pricy unga or affordable maize flour provided by NASA, a choice between a pathetic economy or a vibrant economy led by experienced hands of Raila Odinga and his NASA team, a choice between back-breaking taxes because of Jubilee’s out of control borrowing or a sound monetary policy that puts Kenyans first! It’s a choice between better schools and hospitals or a Kenya where the rich send their kids abroad while they annihilate the local education sector and a health sector in which Jubilee intimidates and arrests medical practioners while they send their next of kin to hospitals beyond our shores.
The choice is yours. And for those who feel peeved by the process and feel like sitting out this election season, Plato had this to say to folks like you: ” the punishment for those who refuse to participate in the political process is that they end up being led by those who are inferior to them.”
Have a patriotic day, sorry a happy labor day!
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