Today is october 26th, the fated day of Kenya’s election rerun . Not much has changed since then… Well maybe a lot has actually.
We’ve had between 50 and 67 mostly Luo citizens killed by police (And no real investigation or acceptance of guilt).
We’ve had a Supreme Court judge’s bodyguard get shot. Speaking of people getting shot, did y’all see that clip of Boniface Mwangi getting shot with a teargas canister at point blank range? Yeah we’ve also had that.
You can, nay, should have a look at the clip in case you thought the whole thing was ‘’stage managed’’ or funded by foreign powers
We’ve had RAO withdraw from the elections. We’ve had the chair of the electoral commission declare he couldn’t guarantee credible elections. And if that sounds familiar then it’s because it’s happened before….remember when Samuel Kivuitu said he couldn’t said he wasn’t sure who had won the elections… yeah, not good times.
All this happened after the rather dramatic exit of Roselyne Akombe, one of the IEBC commissioners, who has since fled to the states. And in truth, who can blame her after the way Chris Msando was killed.
Speaking of Msando’s murder, we’ve not had any significant signs of progress on that front, and if the history of those kinds of investigations is anything to go by (think Pio gama pinto, J.M , Mboya, Kodhek, Ouko, heck, even Jacob Juma) I don’t expect any meaningful changes in this latest investigation.
We’ve also had an escalation in social media battles, coupled with an increase in the number of ‘’patriots’’, with everyone from Ababu Namwamba (what happened to the third force btw) to my next door neighbour finding it fashionable to dress up in military fatigues. (Who are they fighting anyway?)
Perhaps more remarkably for me, in the period between the last election and today’s selection…..eh sorry election.The line between both sides in this election struggle has become so clear, our differences so evident, that I wonder whether anyone posting these weareonekenya messages truly believes it, or is willing some sense of national unity into existence.
Fela Kuti (yes I listen to Fela, you should too) in a track that I consider a personal favourite, who no know go know, warns Africans about the need for unity, citing warnings from some of the continents founding fathers like Kwame Nkrumah.
This warning I feel, is particularly relevant for places like Kenya, where we tend to gloss over our issues with a blanket call for national Unity and Patriotism.
There are deep deep divisions within this country. And this divisions did not appear, but have been bred over the years through the actions of the four presidents we have had so far.
In the words of Fela,
‘’ who don't know go know.
You go know before you die’’
