Electoral loss mustn’t make the nation fall
A group of voters queue while waiting to vote early in the morning at a polling station during Kenya's general election at St. Stephen School in the informal settlement of Mathare in Nairobi, Kenya, on August 9, 2022.
What you need to know:
- The losers should understand that voters were looking for inspiration that speaks to their needs, not the party one belongs to.
- Both the winners and losers of these elections should accept the results and help the chosen leaders to deliver their manifestos.
- Let’s support the Kenya Vision 2030 strategy, which seeks to accelerate sustainable growth, reduce inequality and manage resource scarcity.
In the August 9 General Election, the country’s third during the current Constitution, more than half of the candidates were defeated.
The losers should understand that voters were looking for inspiration that speaks to their needs, not the party one belongs to.
We need to believe again in the leaders but are continually faced with the greed and distrust that surrounds not only us but also some leaders.
But even with new leaders, the people, who are tired of false and fake promises, are not assured that the incoming government will improve their living standards.
Will this government eradicate the severe poverty mainly caused by economic inequality, corruption and ill-health?
Every competition has only one winner. Both the winners and losers of these elections should accept the results and help the chosen leaders to deliver their manifestos.
Election pledges
For the voters, after the one we voted for lost, how can the leaders who won convince us that they were the best?
Most of the youth who voted for leaders expecting an improvement in employment rates, reducing the poverty levels, taming the huge public debt and stabilising the limping economy is in a dilemma.
That is what the incoming leaders pledged during the campaigns.
Political and economic reforms by successive governments contributed to sustained economic growth, social development and political stability, among others.
But key challenges remain, such as poverty, inequality, lack of transparency and accountability, climate change impacts, weak private sector investment and economic vulnerability to internal and external shocks.
Let’s support the Kenya Vision 2030 strategy, which seeks to accelerate sustainable growth, reduce inequality and manage resource scarcity.
We all must understand that none of the elected leaders is perfect but all need our assistance to succeed.
But will the victor’s manifesto guide the country to harness its natural factors of production to generate wealth and prosperity?
Mr Rono is a communication and media technology student at Maseno University. [email protected].
