Abraham Lincoln said that Election belongs to the people. An election is a democratic process that grants voters a civic duty to choose their leaders. Every well-meaning citizen must approach this voting process with great care and sobriety. Voting is an assignment that will determine the kind of life they will lead for the next five years. It is crucial that all of us participate in this coming Election. The change that you yearn for is just a vote away. Barack Obama once remarked, “There is no such thing as a vote that doesn’t matter.”
Some citizens have shown a lack of interest in political matters in the past. We have heard people register ambivalence towards voting based on different grounds. Some have argued that their one vote won’t make a difference whether they vote or not. Some have lamented that even if they participate, their voices will be stifled by those who mismanage elections. Others hold that voting is as if getting a job for an ungrateful individual. For these reasons, a good number fail to make sense of why they should be voting after every five years. Unfortunately, for them, there is no other way to fix our social, economic, and political problems other than by taking to the ballot to cast their votes. Pericles was right when he argued that just because we don’t take an interest in politics doesn’t mean that politics won’t take an interest in us.
Failing to participate in electoral processes such as voting deprives you of the right to lament bad leadership. By not voting, you risk allowing unqualified individuals to get positions of power. Sharon Salzberg maintained that voting expresses our commitment to ourselves, one another, and this country and this world. We can only reshape our destiny as citizens when we participate in democratic processes and fulfill all our civil duties.
Kenyans have a responsibility to uphold peace during and after the Election. They must all commit to a peaceful co-existence with their fellow neighbors and reject a repetition of what happened in some of our previous elections that saw lives lost and properties destroyed. Philosopher and writer Santayana George once said, “Those who cannot remember the past are condemned to repeat it.” Our collective duty as citizens is to abhor any acts of violence during and after the elections.
Elections will always come and go. Political affiliation or preference for a political candidate should not destroy the harmony and communal relationships that have painstakingly been built over the years.
