Dear Kenyans:
It is indeed true that the British Empire created a segregated state of Kenya through creation of laws that could be responsible for the ethnic division we see today with the tribe in power keeping all of the jobs and money within members of its own tribe to the exclusion of other tribes.
The British custom-made an isolated system to avoid any dangers to the British Supremacy which created a colonial state characterized by selective and restrictive progress that was solely meant to be of benefit to the British alone and thus a recipe for ethnic division. During the colonial period, Kenyans were denied access to the most basic needs, a chance to own land and study for close to 60 years before Kenya got its Independence in 1963.
Post-Independence, Kenya led to infrastructural developments, health improvement, education accessibility and improvement in information technology. This brought about a revolution of social change and centrality of the rule of law in Kenya, a contribution to stability of the nation to date. In as much as Kenya was a colony of Britain for long, the transition from dictatorship to more meaningful multiparty politics also took quite some time. We must accept that effects may have been negative from Kenya’s history and we could do better but we must stop frolicking with her institutions, systems, democracy and elections. This would ensure that the country gains advancement without having tribal affiliations dominate the resources and have political affiliations based on tribe.
The Kenyan Elections took place on August 8th 2017. A good number of citizens turned out to vote and in my opinion, the election observers played their part in witnessing the voting process, from the point of lining up to casting of the ballot and eventually counting of the votes. They were not keen however on the Information Technology infrastructure put in place and lacked experts who would verify that the transmitted data of results were not being tempered with and followed as per the requirements of the law. They however were clear that in case of any irregularities or challenges to the process and outcomes, the opposition should address them through petitions and the courts and not the streets as was the case in 2007 that left Kenya wounded to date. This prompted the opposition leader, Mr. Odinga, through his party, NASA, to file a petition with the Kenyan Supreme Court to challenge the election based on irregularities in the case of Raila Odinga v IEBC and Uhuru Kenyatta that appeared to be a lost cause! But to an unanticipated surprise, the Kenyan Supreme Court made a ruling that declared the elections null and void a clear indication of judicial independence and definitely the first of its kind in Africa, where the President is not above the law!
The social media boom and the digitalization of the Kenyan economy today led to the government becoming more accountable through whistleblowing and freedom of expression of the citizens through such platforms. The courts of law in Kenya and more financial inclusion have also contributed severely to making the Kenyan government unnervingly accountable. If this force is preserved, Kenya’s corrupt institutions and entrenched impunity will disintegrate.
In a country like Kenya where tribalism is a dominant factor, splitting the country into two can create hatred and negative ethnicity bringing about unsustainable social change with many losing focus from education and issues that would bring about progress in the nation and democracy to ethinicty.
Video Link to video I together with other youth made before the August 8th General elections on the country we would like to see as young leaders after elections: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=d70l6PAkA4g