Let Christmas peace and optimism linger on in 2024

The festive season came with a breath of quintessential warmth and peace that has had Kenyans transcending the usual hustle and bustle of what constitutes our regular lives.

For a moment, it has been a period of political tone down, with leaders conveying messages with unanimity of content - hope, love and unity. I too seek to share in the carols' melodies and the seasons tranquil imploring us to keep partaking all the positivity that it yields, let's merry country people.

It goes without mention that the year may have subjectively taken a toll on the citizenry, premised on the earlier political contentions that saw the nation plunged into demonstrations and instability.

With the professing of faith that come with Christmas, one would stop to believe that perhaps it should be an opportune phase in which the citizenry and the political class can indulge God in introspection; what is it that we can do to keep this peace as it is now, throughout the next year even amid political discourse?

Our worries aside, an Adventist preacher named Elizabeth Mokoro hit our airwaves with sermons to which every listener has had the latitude to pick what suits them, I too picked an item in which she says, "As we fight and continue to focus on the ultimate, let us remember to thank God for the simple mercies in between".

In my elucidation, that is to say that amid the economic and political difficulties, we should acknowledge the little breakthroughs that this season has presented and leverage them in our pursuit of livelihoods.

The prices of a number of basic commodities and household items have gone down. Prices of petrol, kerosene, diesel, maize, rice, among other commodities, have fallen, albeit slightly.

Our leading product stores and service providers across various industries also deserve credit for their responsiveness to the needs of the season. Let us reap maximum advantage in the prevailing discount windows and offers that various firms have availed. There's an alluded belief for the convenience of humour, that we Kenyans have the tendency to wait for the last minute to do what we really should have done.

I cajole us to be exceptional and super proactive this time, lest we be overwhelmed with the financial reconstruct that comes with January. So, we must heed to our senses of responsibility, regulate our spending and realign our priorities.

May the optimism that this festive has brought us serve as the necessary bedrock for which we transit to a prosperous 2024. Happy New Year fellow countrymen and women.

-The writer is a PhD candidate in leadership and Governance