God, the highest authority, is speaking to us on the fate of election commissioners through the clergy. The college of Catholic bishops has spoken. The National Council of Churches of Kenya (NCCK) has spoken. The two institutions are the shepherds of just about 78 per cent of Christians in the country.
Hence, the State cannot remain oblivious to the ecumenical winds thrashing against poll commissioners. The Government ought to respond to these winds. The Jubilee brigade must open up to the bigger picture, which is Kenya’s stability.
Legalism, the deification of the law, is a danger we as a country, have to guardedly cast aside when necessity demands so. We should have deep respect for the law, but paradoxically, we ought to also embrace the maxim that “man was not made for the law, but the law was made for man”.
In the present IEBC commissioners case, our desired end should manifestly be strengthening and furtherance of our national stability and growth of our economy. What the church is indirectly stating is that as currently constituted, the IEBC is a potent seed for instability.
As a country, we are caught between a rock and hard place. We must walk a thin line between upholding the prescribed avenues in which the IEBC commissioners can be exited and preserving the stability of Kenya. The scales of logic, foresight and pragmatism tilt towards the latter. It is a question of playing the long and slippery game of retaining the current discredited commissioners or the short, prudent, judicious and popular game of recruiting new ones.
It is apparently not obvious to some of the political elite that this is an utterly delicate moment in our electoral history. It is a time of necessity of compromise and balance. President Uhuru Muigai Kenyatta and CORD leader Raila Amollo Odinga should lead their troops into a peaceful dialogue.
Raila and Moses Wetang’ula have so far had discussions on the fate of IEBC commissioners with US Ambassador Robert Godec and EU ambassadors. We need more of such talks among our politicians.
Time and circumstances are certainly not propitious for us to follow the legalism path.
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