Five hopes for 2025 that should lead to a better Kenya and world

Kenyans usher in the New Year at the Carnivore Restaurant, Nairobi, on January 1, 2025. [Elvis Ogina, Standard]

It is 2025 and suddenly 2027, which looked distant, is no longer remote but a foreseeable reality. But before we get into election-related political analysis as D-year beckons, this column is today dedicated to hopes and dreams for 2025.

Firstly, this is the year we must say never again to this business of forced disappearances and abductions. Kenya is not a banana Republic. Years ago, after the madness of 2007, we agreed to bind ourselves to constitutionalism and the rule of law. We know that we are all better protected, including those in power, which in Kenya is transient, if we operate under the law.

Granted, there are basic decencies that we need to accord those we have granted the badge of leadership. I do not condone a free-for-all where we can throw all manner of disgusting epithets at leaders or, for that case, other Kenyans. These people are human beings with feelings, families and friends and there are limits to what people can absorb.

That said, what separates us from bananaism is that we are committed to the rule of law. Those that offend must be dealt with only in accordance with the law; there is no place for barbarity.

My second hope for Kenya is that we would become a kinder, gentler society. I had the privilege of living out of Kenya for a couple of months and the one thing that stuck me was that people were on the whole kinder. Drivers obeyed traffic rules and were pleasantly courteous to pedestrians, cyclists and other road users, hardly hooting and swearing at everybody.

Social media, though critical of societal ills, was restrained. People may not have been as friendly as we are in this part of the world, but they extended basic courtesies in public spaces. I do not know how we became such a brash and discourteous society, but we need to retrace our steps.

Extend common courtesies

I suspect if we sense more respect, and courtesies from our leaders, we will gradually follow. Less annoying sirens and less pushing us off the roads as if leaders have less hours than the rest of us. Less helicopters showering dust on poor villagers struggling with basic needs. Less insults at political adversaries and more courtesies extended across power divides. One is allowed to hope.

My third hope is on the economy. The United Democratic Alliance is now halfway through its term. We now want to see the fruits of its labour for the last two-and-a-half years. Granted, there have been many hiccups along the way, with the death of the Finance Bill and court stoppages on key programmes but unfortunately that is the stuff of leadership. The Bottom-Up Economic Transformation Agenda was a remarkable promise and we want to see it bearing  fruit. Unlike many Kenyans I have faith that the team at the helm is capable of delivering some much-needed respite for the country. This is the year.

My fourth hope is institutional-that that we will settle the Independent Electoral and Boundaries Commission issue before we say goodbye to 2025. We are living precariously. We have already violated the constitutional timelines for boundaries review. Our leaders do not seem to think this matter is urgent but from what we have seen in the past, it takes time for new commissions to gain the necessary competences, to jell, and to win public and political trust which is essential for a credible election.

If politicians can handshake after vicious political wars, they can handshake for the sake of settling this issue which has the capacity of destabilising the country if elections are mismanaged.

My final hope is global. The world needs a settlement in Sudan, Ukraine, Gaza and other hotspots. The daily massacres of villagers in Sudan, the internal displacement of millions of its citizens must come to an end. The wanton sacrifice of young people in Ukraine, be they Russian convicts, North Koreans or late teenage Ukrainians is a sad indictment of today’s leadership. The massacre of Palestinian women and children whose only fault is to be caught up in a war zone is unforgivable. The international community must say No to this madness in 2025.

In the meantime, I wish my readers a blessed and hopeful 2025.

The writer is an advocate of the High Court