Who will tell us the complete Bomas story?

Bomas of Kenya before the announcement of the Elections 2022 presidential results. [Elvis Ogina, Standard]

This week, most Kenyans are upbeat as they set goals and make swift new year resolutions. One of my favourite traditions at the start of the year is to carry forward what worked and bury what did not, never forgeting the lessons.

This being the first week of 2023, I have a resolution I would like to suggest to Kenyans. This year, do not over and over again talk about problems you aren't prepared to solve. You would rather live in perfect denial and pretend that a particular challenge does not exist or if it does, it least bothers you and won't blur your vision.

In the same breath, do not listen to people's problems which they talk about mostly for political expediency or self-interest yet they do not expressly show the disposition to sort them out. Whether you are in government or opposition, it is least helpful to draw conversations around sticky national issues when time isn't suitable to address them. Problems or mistakes require amends, not mere chitchats.

Take the controversial land question and the so-called historical injustices. The push for justice continues now and again. There's far more to be done to address prejudices but we only scratch the surface in public debates.

What became of the Bethuel Kiplagat-led Truth, Justice and Reconciliation (TJRC) committee report and can we revisit it?

For the moment, Kenyans worry about impunity as a way of life. From bribe-munching police officers, nepotism in public service jobs, graft in high offices to negative ethnicity, we seem lazy in efforts to stop these vices at personal, institutional and State level.

This year, if we can't influence eloquent change in our own small way as citizens, we should resign to fate. No foreigner will clean up our mess. There's no need, whatsoever, to fiddle with perilous challenges and show no effort to own up and act. Since we went to the polls last year ending up in the August 15 debacle at Bomas, top politicians have treated us to claims of how a clique plotted to rig the election.

We are told the military was part of a scheme to deny Kenya Kwanza's William Ruto victory. If true, this is a serious dereliction of duty in the defence of the state and its interests. I have watched the so-called exposes into the Bomas chaos on local TV stations which only tell the obvious story of how Wafula Chebukati led a topsy-turvy electoral commission held hostage by external forces.

The man, who says the courts vindicate him, refuses to take responsibility for leading a charade in the name of a commission.

In rallies, the rigging matter consistently comes up as it did at a State House media interview on Wednesday. Kenya Kwanza is stuck to the 'State capture' claim while Azimio charges at Jose Camargo and his alleged IT syndicate.

Why are State agencies not going after the culprits? Punishing the 'rebel' poll commissioners is not enough. Or is it a case of who will bell the cat?

In my view, let's not talk about rigging any more if no one is ready just yet to tell the complete story of the filth of the 2022 polls. The alleged Bomas crimes could go the 2007 and 2017 way where perpetrators of poll-related crimes went scot-free. We will then wait for another sham election in 2027.

The question going forward should be whether we will ever hold a credible poll when at the formative stages, the country's electoral agency is stuffed with cronies of politicians, and the Elections Act amended at will. Political parties, on the other hand, abuse nominations to grant tickets to highest bidders.

This year, every Kenyan, not just politicians, should decide the direction we take. A good start would be adopting a New Year resolution to never parrot about problems we aren't prepared to solve. The country is yearning to move on.

-The writer is an editor at The Standard. Twitter: @markoloo