The Eighth of August!

Robert Mbok Madoo
Jul 27, 2017 · 6 min read
Voters at a polling station in Kenya. Photo courtesy of CNN

The voting day in Kenya is two weeks shy. 8th August is fast approaching and the magic of fate fast tip toeing to reality. Kenya will rise to a new dawn on 8th, 9th, 10th or thereabout, a reality of change! As football fans we are quickly getting jam-packed with adrenaline. Some of us have their hopes embedded in seeing a better Kenya while others on seeing continued work and hope as presented by the major political divides.

Whatever side, no one is sure of victory or taking home a defeat as presented in the recent polls if their survey is close or mirror the reality on the bedrock of this battle. The epitaphs of political careers have been made and celebration parties anticipated on both sides. All the arsenal possible in this battle has been drawn. Noting has been completely left to chance. The combat fists have clenched well to this end.

So, how do we wake up to all these and how do we quickly dress up the political wounds that are already created by the constant bruises from the diverse ideologies? The polarized political preferences and stances on both NASA and Jubilee?

The eighth, will certainly be a peaceful day, the morning birds will whisper their usual lulling songs, the crows might get many people already crammed at the polling stations, and the squirrels will dart back to their holes avoiding the monsters of the day readying to make an early riser killing on them. The morning dew will mimic the stars in brightness as they get the first sun strikes. Most certainly the Matatu crews will want to make some quick cash before casting their lots.

In major towns like Nairobi, the usual jam caused by motorists speeding to work and school buses crisscrossing the city to ferry children of the advantaged few from one side of the town to the next will be hardly seen, it will be a public holiday and most work peak activities will be minimal. It will undoubtedly be a quite windy day, many people will be headed to polling stations or coming back after voting. The usual breakneck activities that characterize our industrial park will be dim, little coal will lit furnaces and sounds of grinding metals in the industrial area will subside and submerge in the quietness of a gazetted public holiday.

The police officers will quintessentially wake up calm, wipe their guns, polish their ever shinny boots and checks if their ordnances are loaded with shitty bullets, life cutting weapons that are fashioned to silence the voices of those opposed to the direction of their bosses. They will by then know their duty stations which in most cases will be away from their regular postings. The banks will still be guarded despite Kenya having a shortfall of police officers. Few traffic police officers will rush to the roads not to stare at the minimal traffic but do their usual. Hell on you if you forgot to renew your driving license by a day or not yet received your insurance sticker, laws will still be instilled as it is the norm, either orthodox or else.

People line up to vote

Most presiding officers, DPOs and polling clerks will spend their nights in the cold floors of our dilapidated primary classrooms. August will still be cold and spending the night at polling stations to keep vigil of voting materials and show preparedness before everyone else will be a call for real patriots and those who know the jaws of unemployment. Many polling stations will be fully set and ready for citizens to participate in their civic duties. The BVR Kits will be charged overnight or completely charged a day before as should. All clerks will know how their day should run whether it will be stamping the ballot papers as a way of keeping ballot stuffing at bay or conducting voter verification as shall have been communicated earlier. It will be a beehive at the stations and most of these men and women will not easily take their lunch and breakfast especially in stations with those mammoth voters you might think were sent from hell.

As we all throng the polling stations like a clutch of gamblers getting ready to cast their dice, the lengths of the queues will resemble the hope and want for a better Kenya, the keenness and endurance of the queues will be symbolic of our unwavering resilience we have endured for the past 54 years since independence. If Bob Colimore would allow us to peep private text messages and social media communications (If social media will not be shut for supposedly security reasons) most messages will be like ‘I have cast my vote, I have taken part in change etc.

We will cast aspersions, criticize the IEBC as usual over round tables, sip our wine glasses or booze our nights out to see how the day was. It is always very easy to criticize and further more we are whining country full of criticisms and patronage of ideas. We shall have the rumour mongers generate very heated predictions and some messages will be forwarded a million times through the many Whatsapp groups oblivious of source so long as it as some little leanings on our political poles.

We shall witness dreams becoming nightmares, hopes getting shuttered, we shall see first independent candidates becoming governors, MPs, Senators and MCAs. I am afraid to mention independent candidates being presidents. I think as a country we have not keenly evaluated the possibilities of Independent candidate presidents; for example how they will have their bills pass in parliament but this is a reality thought for another day or maybe a question for the independent presidential candidates. I wish all the candidates fairly well, they are all putting a good fight to enshrine their ideologies to the masses.

As we gawp our TV sets moving from station to station on the many setbox channels, we shall have triumphs and tribulations all over, mixed cheer and cursing. It will be interesting to see gubernatorial race outcomes. Machakos, Busia, if the bull fighter will trample Oparanya. The renewed spirit to floor political elephant Awiti in Homa Bay and if Kiraitu will be crowned the Meru king against the wishes of well rooted Munya. If the allegations of the wheelbarrows will cost Ken Lusaka his seat and if the hyped Jubilee presence in Bungoma will have anything to show for multiple trips the president and his deputy have invested to the county. It will be super interesting to see if Sultan Joho will send Omar packing.

It will be a day full of vile dreams, despicable political tales of a new term, abhorrent revolts and disappointments. So as the cheering squad who are also playing, let’s take the day easy, cheer and concede defeats but also stay vigil that the destiny of many should not be shut by our deeds or lack of it. We have to make sure that all the 19,687,563 registered voters take part in deciding our next government and leadership of our great Nation, Kenya. We should know that our collective decisions will dictate if we shall have Unga on our shelves again or even miss all of it. Our individual single votes will determine if the new crop of leaders will loot our country dry, if all the money will keep moving in a few people’s pockets while the masses stay hungry and cheer the more than full already. We will be deciding the path of our country and a future for our children. Our votes will determine if we keep the slot of the most unemployed youth among the nations of the world with few billionaires who can individually finance our national budgets but will never do so. Whether people will walk with public money in sacks to hide their loot.

The day is set and what remains is me and you waking up to decide the destiny and direction our country take for the next five years.

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