No election is worth the blood of a Kenyan

National Cohesion and Integration Commission (NCIC) chairman Kepha Omae. [File,Standard]

Kenya stands at a crossroads. As the country moves toward another General Election, the political temperature is rising. Political competition is hardening into ethnic competition, hate speech is finding new platforms, and a disturbing culture of political goonism is becoming harder to ignore.

As Chairperson of the National Cohesion and Integration Commission, I cannot remain silent.

The commission's mandate is not merely to respond once violence has occurred. It is to help Kenya prevent the conditions that produce violence in the first place. That mandate compels us to speak whenever the social fabric of this country comes under strain, and to remind the nation that peace is not the responsibility of government alone, it is a responsibility every one of us shares.

I therefore speak directly to political leaders, to young people, to communities, and to every Kenyan. We must not allow another election to become another chapter in Kenya’s history of political and ethnic violence. Politics must never again be allowed to masquerade as war between communities.

Democracy requires competition. It requires disagreement, robust debate, and the freedom to support one political party over another. There is nothing wrong with political ambition, provided it is pursued within the law and with respect for fellow citizens. The danger begins the moment political competition is deliberately transformed into ethnic competition.

When politicians tell communities that their survival depends on defeating another community, that is not leadership. That is the manufacture of fear.

When political mobilisation becomes “our people against their people,” the political opponent ceases to be seen as a fellow Kenyan and is recast as an enemy. That is precisely how dangerous divisions take root. Kenya’s ethnic diversity is a fact of our national life. It must never become a weapon. Our communities have lived together, traded together, intermarried, worked side by side, and built this country together. No political ambition, however fierce, should be allowed to unravel that bond.

We must also confront the culture of political goonism directly. I am deeply concerned by the growing normalisation of political violence and the emergence of organised groups of young people mobilised to intimidate, disrupt political meetings, and confront opponents.

This is unacceptable. Young Kenyans are not political weapons. They are not instruments to be hired out whenever a politician wishes to demonstrate strength. They are citizens with dreams, talents, and aspirations of their own.

Yet, we continue to watch young people who should be pursuing education, employment, enterprise, and productive livelihoods being drawn instead into political mobilisation that can, in an instant, turn violent. The greatest tragedy is that it is the young person who pays the highest price. The politician who mobilised them walks away with political capital, protection, and influence intact.

The young person is left with injuries, a criminal record, imprisonment, or worse death. We must ask ourselves honestly: who really benefits when our young people are made to fight one another for someone else’s political interest?

The answer is clear. Kenya’s youth deserve opportunity, not manipulation. They deserve jobs, skills, enterprise, and dignity not stones, clubs, political slogans, and ethnic hatred.

Hate speech is not leadership. Words matter. A political leader addressing thousands of people wields enormous influence. A single statement made at a rally can travel across the country within minutes, carried by television, radio, and social media.

A careless word can become a weapon. A deliberately provocative statement can deepen ethnic suspicion. A lie repeated often enough can harden into belief, and hatred, once

normalised, curdles into violence. We must therefore draw a clear line between legitimate political criticism and dangerous speech.

You can criticise a presidential aspirant without insulting his or her community or family. You can oppose a political party without demonising its supporters. You can challenge a candidate without attacking the ethnic group he or she comes from. You can campaign vigorously without ever calling on Kenyans to hate one another.

Political freedom does not carry with it the freedom to destroy the peace of the country. The commission will continue working with relevant institutions and stakeholders to prevent, monitor, and respond to hate speech, ethnic contempt, and incitement. But enforcement alone will not solve this problem.

Ultimately, Kenya needs a political culture in which leaders exercise restraint even where the law has not yet caught up with their words.

Leadership is not merely about winning elections. It is about knowing what not to say when saying it may endanger the country. A responsible leader does not exploit the fears

of his or her community for political gain. A statesman does not convert historical grievances into political ammunition.

A national leader does not build a career by convincing citizens that another Kenyan is their enemy. We need leaders who can mobilise without dividing, disagree without demonising, and campaign without inciting leaders who understand that the Kenya they hope to govern must first be protected.

My message to our young people is direct. Do not allow yourselves to be used. Do not let any politician convince you that a fellow Kenyan is your enemy simply because you support different political parties. Do not let anyone hire you to disrupt meetings, attack opponents, or spread hatred online.

Do not trade your future for a few thousand shillings today. Your life is worth more than any political rally. Your future is worth more than a politician’s temporary interest. The politicians will move on you will be left to live with the consequences.

Choose to be the generation that refuses to inherit the politics of hatred. The generation that competes without killing, that disagrees without hating, that votes without fighting.

Elections, political parties, and governments come and go. Kenya remains. This is the truth we must keep reminding ourselves of. The person who wins today may lose tomorrow. The person who loses today may win tomorrow. The Kenyan who is your political opponent today may be your business partner, your neighbour, and your friend tomorrow. Why, then, should we destroy those relationships over an election that will last only a single day?

We have no other country. As Kenyans, we must reckon with the enormity of what is at stake. This country belongs to all of us.

It belongs to every community. It belongs to those who support the government and those who oppose it, to those whose candidate wins and those whose candidate loses. Kenya is bigger than any political party. Kenya is bigger than any politician. It is bigger than any single election. And because Kenya is our common home, none of us has the right to burn it down for political advantage.

Our history has taught us painful lessons. We know what happens when political competition curdles into ethnic mobilisation. We know the cost of violence. We know how quickly rumour becomes hatred, and how quickly hatred becomes violence. We know that once communities are divided, rebuilding trust can take decades. We have no excuse, therefore, for repeating the same mistakes.

As the National Cohesion and Integration Commission, we will continue working with Kenyans, political leaders, State institutions, civil society, religious organisations, the  media, young people, and other stakeholders to promote peaceful coexistence and to confront hate speech, ethnic incitement, and political intolerance wherever they arise.

But the Commission cannot do this alone. Every Kenyan has a role to play. If you hear hate speech, reject it. If you see a young person being recruited into political violence, speak up.

If social media is being used to spread ethnic contempt, report to the relevant agency. If your neighbour supports a different political party, respect their democratic right to do so and when politicians attempt to divide us, let us remind them that we are

Kenyans first and supporters of a political party second.

The 2027 General Election will come. It will pass. There will be winners and there will be losers. But after the results are announced, we will wake up in the same country. We will

still need one another. Our children will still grow up here. Our businesses will still depend on one another. Our communities will still share this land. Let us not, therefore, allow temporary political interests to destroy our permanent national interests.

No election is worth the blood of a Kenyan.

No political office is worth the destruction of our social fabric. No political ambition is greater than the life and dignity of a single Kenyan. Let us never forget: we have no other country, and Kenya is our home.

Let us compete for power without destroying the country we seek to lead. Let us disagree without becoming enemies. Let us choose peace. Let us choose cohesion. Let us choose Kenya.