Why broad-based government offers a promise of unity

President William Ruto and Opposition leader Raila Odinga have entered a pact that has seen the formation of a broad-based government. [File, Standard]

Nation-building is a continuous exercise that good citizens do. We also all feel glad when unity hugs patriotism. President William Ruto has not only extended a hand of friendship to Nyanza, he has firmed the grip of his handshake.

Today, we have the first Treasury Cabinet Secretary John Mbadi hailing from Nyanza. Add that to the first CDF we had before this, history is made.

But in the words of Winston Churchill, “This is not the end, maybe not even the beginning of the end. But it is, perhaps, the end of the beginning.” You are aware the first female Attorney General nominee Dorcas Oduor, is also from Nyanza.

Earlier, when we invited the President to our constituencies, he came and demonstrated a willingness to initiate development projects. That was despite pockets of resistance and propaganda.

Undeterred by the baggage of history, Ruto has shown that a broad-based government is best when challenges confront our nation. Some Kenyans have questioned the value of elections when the line blurs between the winner and the opposition. That concern is well-meaning, in a democracy.

As such, the answers can be summed up in three past and present examples. First, in times of crisis, only coming together is wise. We saw that in the government of national unity following the 2007/08 electoral skirmishes.

Second, the old wisdom is that when in a hole, you stop digging. The Kenyan house was ablaze and Ruto chose not to fuel the fire – but to extinguish the fire. The country reached an inflection point – and with thorns on our path, a chance to remove them was seized. The possibilities he considered were likely enormous. One would have been to resign and precipitate uncertainty.

Yet the other road he chose was to ask the Raila-led wing of patriotic Kenyans to help steady the nation. Kenyans feel safer now because the President was persuaded by wise counsel into a brighter road. We all can feel amazing change in the air.

You see, with the emerging climate, the highway to development is now clearer. It is not like the President did not have other equally persuasive options. He did have the status quo but chose progress. He could have elected to make hardliners hilarious but decided to put Kenya first.

And here is a good story by the great author, Jonah Berger. ‘The Grand Canyon is one of the most spectacular gorges in the world. It is so deep that it takes over four hours to walk from the top to the bottom. And so massive that it can create its own weather patterns. But it was nothing that sudden or momentous. It was
water, slowly wearing down the rock, over millions of years.

A trickle that became a steady flow that eventually became the Colorado River. Big changes tend to be more
like the Grand Canyon: a slow and steady shift with many stages along the way.’

Finally, the people deserve service-delivery. The Rift Valley is Kenya’s breadbasket. Nyanza is home to mouthwatering fish. We can therefore take ‘omena-ugali-mursik’ when we choose to. The challenge then is: Can we the opposition, translate our good talk into good deeds? Yes, we should.

-The writer is Uriri MP