The ongoing political standoff should make us reflect more profoundly on the opening words of the preamble of our Constitution. "We, the people of Kenya''. In this single sentence, we are reminded that despite administrative and geographical boundaries, regardless of differences of faith and ethnicity, disparities of wealth and social status, we all belong to one indivisible family; Kenya.
The Kenyan family must consciously come together in moments such as these to ensure that we are not consumed by the rabid hate of savages. We should intelligently and creatively join in integrating disparate parts of ourselves in creating more just more tolerant and cohesive nation. We should build for ourselves a country that is constantly in touch with the path it has travelled, its missteps and miscalculations, that are always too common in the history of every country and more most fundamentally, its grandest vision.
What is our grand vision, you may ask.
The answer lies majestically in the third line of the first stanza of our national Anthem. "Peace, liberty and plenty within our borders."
We, the people must interrogate how best our politics can serve us as opposed to us serving our politics and politicians. How do we bring down walls that have held us back and apart? How do we flesh out our common humanity and common aspirations even as we banish old dogmas that have exploited our fears and set us against each other? How do we integrate the philosophy to the practical, the spiritual to the physical, compassion to common sense.
Let's face it, we find our best interests as individuals in the interest of community. Not in the sense of petty distinctions at the expense of the general wellbeing. Community in the sense of ecumenism. As president Lincoln put it during his now famous Gettysburg address, "One indivisible nation under God".
This country has risen again and again whenever it has been tried and tested. Not much due to the skill of the politicians but because of the faith of ordinary people in the country they love. This country rejected the mindless violence that almost brought it to its knees in 2007 and went ahead to reimagine our political and constitutional architecture by enacting the new Constitution in 2010. We the people refused to sit idly by as fellow Kenyans were facing death via starvation in 2011. We came together in the form and shape of "Kenyans for Kenya".
In 2022, we rejected the beaten path of challenging election results on the streets and gave our institutions a chance to pronounce themselves on any dispute. In 2023, in face of gathering storms of political anxiety and economic hardship that has gripped the entire globe, we must demonstrate both in word and deed that we have a role in creation through peaceful resolution of political disputes and giving institutions the last word and ncouraging politicians to reach out to their competitors after elections.
In moments such as these, we must spare a thought for families who for, no fault of their own, have had their dwelling places washed away by floods. This is happening hot on the heels of a prolonged drought that has left many people in a tight spot. It serves no purpose when we continue to heighten political temperatures while so many people can barely survive. Children from informal settlements are now falling behind in learning because they can't go to school on days that we have showdowns between protestors and police. When one child's future is put in jeopardy because of political grandstanding that can be resolved through diplomacy, it makes my own life poor.
In the timeless words of Mario Cuomo, "No nation that chooses to ignore its troubled regions or people while watching others thrive can call itself justified". Time has come to summon our collective moral imagination and demand that both sides of the political divide engage one another with reason and humility to find a way out of these tear gas and water cannon festivals.
Mr Kidi is a governance and policy expert. kidimwaga@gmail.com
