Raila: We must ensure next government is no product of fraud

Raila Odinga

NAIROBI: August 8 marked the start of the one-year countdown to our second general election under the 2010 Constitution. We have 364 days to go.

As citizens, let us embark on taking our future in our hands by taking up our civic and patriotic duty to vote in the coming elections. We must register as voters through the continuous process even as we pursue other processes to ensure the credibility of the voter register and that in the end all votes will count and all votes will be counted.

Our best efforts must be focused on ensuring elections that produce a legitimate outcome for future stability and progress while strengthening our democratic process. It is critical that Kenya remains true to the ideals of democracy, and we cannot run away from our responsibility in ensuring this.

We must also embark on a critical review of the past four years, especially the promises made by the Jubilee regime against delivery, the general state and direction of the country today as compared to the same period before last elections and what we must do to ensure a better country and a more accountable and inclusive government in 2017.

It is particularly important for us to understand the link between what the Government has embarked on in recent weeks as nothing other than partisan campaigns. There is nothing new Jubilee can deliver between August 8, 2016 and this time in 2017.

What has not been delivered in four years will not be delivered in less than a year. We must make Jubilee account for its old promises before it starts making new ones.

We must also fact-check and be sure what Jubilee claims to have delivered actually exists on the ground and that the same is not just refurbished Grand Coalition Government projects. We have a duty as citizens to hold the Government to account and to ensure the next Government is not a product of fraud and default.

The writer is ODM party leader and CORD co-principal