For the sake of all Kenyans, presidential candidate must accept August 8th results

One candidate has repeatedly and unequivocally made clear that he will accept the results whatever they may be. The other candidate has consistently refused to do so, instead casting doubt over the results. The ramifications are huge. One clearly understands that the election is about our nation’s future, not his own career.

If reaching State House means sowing the seeds of tribal strife and communal discord, is it a price one of them is willing to pay?

When Uhuru said plainly on Madaraka Day, that everyone should be ready to accept the verdict of the Kenyan people and move on, it should not have made headlines. When Uhuru commented earlier this month, that if defeated he will stand aside for a peaceful transition, it should not have been noteworthy.

After all, this is precisely how a democracy should work. But in a country such as ours, which knows election-related violence all too well, the obvious must sadly be reiterated.

For this reason, it is even more worrying that one candidate does not follow the other’s lead. It isn’t just about what hasn’t been said. Raila recently claimed that awarding the tender for ballot papers to a Dubai-based firm would somehow benefit Jubilee officials and that it casts a dark shadow on IEBC. What followed was his threat to boycott elections entirely, unless the courts force the IEBC to announce Presidential results at constituency level. Then there was NASA’s pledge to establish parallel tallying centres.

This tactic disregards the very foundations of our society; the primacy of state authority, the rule of law, the institutions of democracy and the judicial process, all in pursuit of political ambition.

We have been here before. In 2007 itself, he claimed that identity fraud had robbed him of the presidency and that boundary changes to electoral constituencies had been designed to devise his defeat. In 2013, he blamed the tallying system for his loss, challenging the result in the Supreme Court.

Uhuru has been explicit in the need to accept the validity of August’s election. It is not only the candidates who will be judged on election day. Kenya, will be too. We must show the world that we are a trusted democracy – a loud, animated democracy perhaps, but one which can peacefully deliver the will of the people.

If both candidates really want what is best for Kenya, they will help make this happen and pledge to accept August’s results, win or lose.

Mr Mugolla is a high school teacher in Busia County.