NASA should swallow its pride and let Jubilee serve Kenyans

The declaration of Uhuru Kenyatta by the IEBC as the president-elect confirms Jubilee Party’s victory in the August 8 General Election. Although the victory is subject to legal battles, which have commenced at the Supreme Court, Jubilee won the election in a free, fair and credible contest after the Opposition, NASA, pulled out of the polls.

Human rights activist Okiya Omtata has moved to the Supreme Court, seeking the nullification of the October 26 fresh presidential election. But what is clear is that NASA leader Raila Odinga and his brigade has maintained a hardline stance on reforms on IEBC following Justice David Maraga’s ruling for a repeat election on October 26.

Every action has consequences and NASA should have learnt from what happened in other parts of the world including Zimbabwe where Opposition contestant, Morgan Tsvangirai, opted to pull out of the race in 2008 citing unfairness in the electoral process. But our case in Kenya is much different from Zimbabwe concerning the turnout which IEBC estimated at 38.84 per cent after Mr Kenyatta garnered 7.4 million votes of the total votes cast.

It will be irrational for the Opposition to turn the 38.84 percent of turnout as low considering that other potential candidates equally received votes in the polls that were marred by violence in some parts of the country.The election mood in the country was tense as there were those, especially in NASA strongholds, who scared Jubilee potential voters from turning up to vote.

It goes without saying that Jubilee could have got votes in areas like Migori, Kisumu, Siaya, Kakamega or even Bungoma where violence marked the vote process. Even though NASA supporters boycotted the elections, it does not necessarily mean that Opposition leader Raila Odinga could have scored over 50 per cent of the national contested votes if he had participated in the polls.

It’s the constitutional right of NASA leaders to move to court and challenge the outcome of the repeat presidential election but from the look of things, majority of Kenyans are tired of prolonged electioneering period which has impacted negatively on the country’s economy.

Opposition leaders should swallow their pride and give the Jubilee administration the opportunity to implement its agenda and instead strategize for 2022 elections where they will meet Deputy President William Ruto on the ballot.