All the way, from the deserts in the north to the swamps at coast and the marshes in the west, Kenyans voted. As early as four am, some were already at their respective polling stations waiting patiently to cast their vote. In some estates some youths were blowing vuvuzelas and chanting slogans encouraging people to go vote. There was talk of some touts refusing to carry you if you did not have the voters mark on you! In the scorching march sun, all braved the smothering heat and queued, lines stretching and snaking as long as a kilometer! Still as if not enough, others braved the evening cold! A mother delivered a baby in one queue. The baby was promptly named 'AMANI'. Another lady collapsed and died! She was old. No one should die in an queue. No one!
So far, in the history of Kenyan voting, this election has produced the largest voter turnout! Is it that the population has gone up, IEBC actually did its work or have Kenyans finally decided that they cant afford not to vote? Maybe it is a mix of all that! Perhaps Kenyans want change, perhaps we just want to test out how the devolution government turns out! One thing i can proudly say without any fear of contradiction whatsoever is, we want something new! We are tired of the 'naomba serikali, 'haki yetu' slogans, we are tired of having squatters living in our backyards, we are tired of watching our youth turn into meaningless idlers because of unemployment! We are tired of scandals in the government on who has embezzled funds, we are tired of the numerous commissions that get to investigate ghost cases that more often than not bear no fruit!
Which gets me to the question 'do you know why you voted?' Were just swept along by the crowds, do u have your interests at heart? Do u think whomever you voted in will fulfill or at least address your issues? I know of people whom to the last day did not have any idea why they wanted to vote, i know of some people who said they could not vote because they saw no one deserving enough for their votes, I know of people who were swept into some parties because of their friends and because they did not want to feel left out! I also know of some die hard party campaigners. Noise makers really, The ones who will find u peacefully quiet enjoying your time and start selling u points on their candidate, not caring about yours. "So, why did you vote?"
Kenya is a young nation, As such it has the opportunity of learning from other nations mistakes! It can not a afford to learn from its mistakes, The international world is watching! I hate that by the way, everyone know how difficult it is to ape big brother! Especially if he was the type who aced everything! We are trying to compare ourselves with countries that date back centuries! Britain, France, America etc. Countries whose history is more than one can ever read in a lifetime. Then there is the pressure to do things the 'right way' (read 'their way'). Cant they just let us find our own way? We are barely half a century old with barely any experience in voting at all! Elections held five times do not really qualify as experience to me, If a job were to be advertised and one of the qualifications was work experience, well Kenya could lose out!
Am writing this with fingers crossed, My prayers that Kenyans don't decide to go medieval and replay the 2007/2008 nightmare! That i will wake up tomorrow and have a new president, a new senator, a new governor a new woman rep etc., That all kin and sundry will flock to Uhuru Park to watch the inauguration of our new president! Above all I Pray that everyone accepts the new president with no qualms! Kenya is a strong country, we will survive!
Survivor-muse
