By Odumbe Isaac Kute
“No election will ever be stolen again in this country. Never”
Raila Amolo Odinga
I’m going to start by saying that for me, it doesn’t really matter if Raila becomes the next Kenyan President or not. That’s a secondary consideration. What has happened today following the ruling of the Supreme Court is bigger than any one man. What has happened today was the biggest single statement of patriotism and justice that we have witnessed in 54 years of our existence as a country. It is a statement about respect for the rule of law, a statement about the intolerance of impunity, a statement about accountability of our institutions and the respect of our democracy.
David Maraga, Philomena Mwilu, Smokin Wanjala and Isaac Lenaola have to take their rightful place in the history of this country. They have to be recognized for their immeasurable contribution to saving this country from cannibalizing itself. Their decisions and judgement has to be taught to every single Kenyan child so that they learn the importance of the strict adherence to the rule of law and democratic accountability.
The decision today is the beginning of the end for impunity and the “Mtadoism” culture. Now is not the time to celebrate and make merry. Now is the time to dig in and make sure that the resident bandits who believe they own the predatory state do not have a chance to fight back. We have to step on their necks with extreme prejudice while they’re down. We have to make sure that we kill and bury the demons of the hegemony, impunity and corruption that have plagued this country since independence.
Those demons have stolen the hopes and dreams, the aspirations and expectations of millions of Kenyans. Those demons have exploited the fears and insecurities of Kenyans as a collective. We will never get another opportunity to crush these demons and start the process of building and shaping Kenya to what we want it to be.
Our work doesn’t stop with another election. I submit to you that we’ve got a hell of a lot of work to do. The four justices have done their job. It’s now up to us to do ours. It’s often said that politics has to be the second job of every single citizen. Today’s decision will have sent shock waves within the political class. We need to use this as an opportunity to make sure these politicians know that this country has changed. That we will no longer be oppressed and abused by them. That we will no longer tolerate their impunity, theft of public resources, corruption, incompetence and malfeasance.
All of us, individually and collectively must take a concerted effort to ensure that the decisions politicians make, the decisions state and public officers make, the money that we entrust to them is used properly for the public good. They must be able to understand that they work for us and are not demi-gods. They must be able to understand that they’re public servants. We all have to do our part to make them accountable.
To all the “Raira wirr neffa be Plesident, neffa effer” brigade. Get your heads out from the place the sun don’t shine. This isn’t about Raila. This is about you, it’s about me, it’s about the destiny of 46.05 million people who have inalienable rights that must be respected by constitutional duty bearers. This 72 year old man has done his job. Lest we forget, part of that job has been to give you the absolute right to abuse and insult him if you want. Raila’s fight and personal sacrifice for social justice in this country will unfortunately only be fully appreciated long after he’s gone. It’s now time for us to do our job with sobriety and ensure we carry out our responsibility for civic duty.
That duty starts with all Kenyans of goodwill pressuring the Director of Public Prosecution to do his job. Wafula Chebukati, Esra Chiloba, all the Commissioners of the IEBC and all the Directors and senior staff of the IEBC secretariat must be charged with conspiracy and an attempted coup d’état. What they conspired to do and carried out before, during and after the 8th August election is nothing short of treason. If Kiriako Tobiko is not willing or able to do his job, then he must step aside for someone who is willing and able to do the job.
Today was a good day for justice. God bless Kenya, God bless the justices of the Supreme Court.
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