History was made yesterday after the IEBC chairman, declared Samuel William Ruto as the president elect of Kenya. What people said would never happen saw it happen in a broad say light. Obviously that was a start of a new era in the Politics of Kenya and a lot will change especially on the economy. The election observers had earlier praised the IEBC for conducting a peaceful, free and fair elections and I think I agree with them that the process was very smooth. It’s also an indication that the Kenyans have picked lessons from the past elections where ethnicity took center and thousands of Kenyans lost their lives in the senseless conflicts that could have been avoided if the candidates chose unity and peace instead dividing the people of Kenya basing on tribal lines. If this trend is kept Kenya will be a good example of democracy and rule of law in the entire East Africa and Africa.
Through President elect William Ruto the Ugandan yellow revolution has ably spread it’s wings to Kenya. The UDA political party in the last concluded election was simply a duplicate of the National Resistance Movement party of Uganda. They did not only pick yellow as their official political party color but they also picked some principles of NRM which is social economic transformation and which is summarized as the bottom up system. The Kenya Kwanza Presidential candidate seems to have really read, admired and studied the NRM principles and appreciated them to extent by borrowing some of them to be his top priority in his manifesto as him and his team now embark on the journey of building Kenya and also starting from where President Uhuru Kenyatta has stopped. There’s no doubt that all these programs will work because they have been tried in Uganda and they’ve worked.
President elect William Ruto, proudly associated himself with the President of Uganda even before declaring to run for Presidency in Kenya. He has had several visits to Uganda and at one time he went on podium to campaign for president Museveni in Kapchorwa Municipality. In His words President Ruto said “The young people should be at the forefront of supporting leaders who can guarantee peace and stability so that we can build the economy expand opportunities for the young people so that we can eliminate poverty and create jobs” In that statement, I think he was awakening the youth who had been misled by the opposition then, to go against the NRM government because it has failed to get for them job. The opposition had forgotten that the jobs and other opportunities can only be created when the country is at Peace. William Ruto took it as responsibility to explain to the young people who had been misled and I think they got the message because the NRM won that election, it also means that he understands that the stability of the country should come first before anything and that’s when everything will be possible, that’s what the NRM government has prioritized and it’s the same reason as to why are progressing and unstoppable.
William Ruto’s opponents have been criticizing him for the good political relationship he has with the incumbent president of Uganda. They have accused him of wanting to force the NRM on them. In fact some opposition propagandists in Kenya also alleged that William Ruto was going to rig elections with the help of the Uganda government. They forgot that an able IEBC chairman was in charge and was going to make sure that he presides over a transparent electoral process in Kenya. The Ugandan political actors, who are mostly in opposition have since then gone silent with none of them congratulating the Kenyan President elect. I’m sure they understand that NRM once again won in Kenya and if they’re wise enough, This is the right time for them to understand that the National Resistance Movement is built on a firm foundation that a candidate from another country can stand on and win elections. Kenya has a large population and has a big number of voters as compared to Uganda. It should now be incumbent upon the Ugandan opposition political players to join the yellow revolution and build East Africa, it’s no longer a matter of Uganda but East Africa.
The NRM has always put unity of the population as it’s number one priority and this has kept Uganda United and the population striving for development. This has helped us avoid the mistakes that were done by the past governments where people got divided basing on their religious affiliation and tribal lines. if President elect William Ruto puts unity as his first priority of his administration there’s no doubt that he will not only ably fulfill his promises but he will keep the country peaceful. It’s through those divisions that some extremist elements pick arms and go to fight hence leading to the loss of lives and unending wars that have affected the progress of African countries. Some countries in East Africa have never tasted peace because of the bad politics of tribalism. The leaders who front ethnicity forget that we are one people of Africa, having one culture and suffering similar challenges which would be solved if we were united.
The writer is a deputy RDC Kyenjojo District.
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