December or March, Peace is paramount

The announcement of March 4, 2013 as the date for the next general elections has triggered various reactions divided between the supporters of the date and those that support a December date. Led by the Prime minister, those for a December date have cited risks of running in a constitutional crisis once the next polls are held in March.

Raila says the budget process will be disrupted if elections are held in March next year. According to the constitution, the estimates of revenue and expenditure should be submitted to the National Assembly at least two months before the end of each financial year. And in accordance to this, Raila believes the new treasury cabinet secretary will not have enough time to prepare and submit the financial estimates to the parliament by April 30.

Raila's support for a December date polls has been echoed by KNUT and KUPPET saying the March date will interfere with the learning process. The teachers say the campaigns and subsequent elections would fall in the middle of learning term and significantly affect the examination registration process. The education sector has recently gone through radical changes that have replaced the 8-4-4 system with a new 2-6-3-3-3 system and according to the union of teachers, March election would alter with the implementation of the new system.

These sentiments from teachers, however, have been brushed off by the Education minister Sam Ongeri saying the election process would only affect the learning process for two days.

Led by President Kibaki, those supporting a March date for elections believe the country is not well prepared for a December date. They also flank their argument saying the parliament's current term legally ends in January 15 hence the elections should be held after 60 days. CIC has supported the IEBC March date and urged Kenyans to respect the electoral body verdict.

BUT…

My main concern is not whether a March date or a December date is suitable but rather, Is Kenya prepared to uphold peace and unity through the election process?

Day by day politicians have diverged focus from promotion of public good to propelling ones individual political interest. This has consistently been demonstrated by the manner political aspirants have been exchanging accusations and counter-accusations with less interest on the impact they have on the public unity.

Kenya is coming from a dark stage where reckless public statements by politicians saw us experience the worst post-poll chaos in our history. A repeat of this should never be allowed to happen. It is therefore the obligation of each and every Kenya n to guard the peace and stability reigning today.

Holding the next polls either in December or March will have no difference if we fail to recognize the importance and the value of a stable KENYA.

In my opinion, a good leader should not be giving a damn about the election date; instead he should be preaching national unity and engaging less in politics based on unnecessary accusations.

How I would like to see these presidential aspirants work together first to reallocate thousands of IDPs still in camps before asking them for votes.

Maturity in politics will not only sustain the essential stability we are enjoying today, but will also attract investors in our country. And we enter the next governance let us beware that potential investors from both east and west have their eyes on us. We are obligated to implement the constitution, tackle hard corruption and conduct politics with maturity in order to woe these investors.