Let us respect tenets of democracy

President Uhuru Kenyatta advises children after the thanksgiving service for Disciplined Service Officers at Holy Family Minor Basilica, Nairobi, on November 12, 2017. Mr Kenyatta has the mandate to rule now and it does not matter that only 38 per cent of the registered voters voted. PHOTO | PSCU

What you need to know:

  • The August 8 General Election was Kenya’s sixth since the re-introduction of multiparty politics in the country.
  • Political interference has been the main hindrance as Kenya tries to chart the path to true democracy.

“Legality” versus “legitimacy”. These have been the words that have been harassing many politicos since the Independent Electoral and Boundaries Commission (IEBC) declared President Uhuru Kenyatta the winner of the October 26 rerun presidential election.

Members of President Kenyatta’s Jubilee Party say the President was legally elected and, therefore, the question of legitimacy does not arise.

For the National Super Alliance, the opposition coalition, the President was not elected legally and he, therefore, lacks the legitimacy to govern the nation for a second five-year term.

POLITICS
The August 8 General Election was Kenya’s sixth since the re-introduction of multiparty politics in the country.

One would imagine that after experimenting with plurality for over 20 years, Kenyans would be confident with their electoral processes by now. This has, however, proved not to be the case.

Political interference has been the main hindrance as Kenya tries to chart the path to true democracy.

Even the 2010 Constitution that was hailed as the magic bullet to all our governance and political mess has been ineffective so far with many quoting our lack of fidelity to the laws as the real problem.

RULING
When the Supreme Court annulled the presidential election results on September 1, it cited a number of errors of commission and omission by IEBC in its management of elections.

Although many were taken aback by the decision, few pointed out that the ruling was one of the few instances where the Constitution was performing its job as set.

Although the Jubilee Party chose to politicise the ruling that knocked the wind out of the sails of its presidential bid, its legal advisors should have seen it coming.

BOYCOTT

It’s however noteworthy that the party gathered itself together and pursued the repeat election of President Kenyatta with zeal as Nasa prevaricated.

Eventually the opposition announced that it was boycotting the election on October 10.

President Kenyatta won the repeat poll with 7.4 million representing 38.84 per cent voter turnout.

This percentage figure has now become fodder for the Opposition supporters who are now arguing that given the low turnout, the President has no legitimacy to lead.

ELECTION
In arguing so, Nasa seems to have forgotten that in boycotting the election, it has no right to discuss the numbers.

Indeed, Nasa’s attempt to discredit the election can be deemed a disappointment for it failed to give its supporters the chance to show the party’s true political might.

And who is to say that had it campaigned vigorously, it might have not bitten off a chunk of the Jubilee vote?

By failing to take part in the October 26 election, Nasa should admit that it handed President Kenyatta the win on a silver platter.

Whether IEBC would have bungled the poll again is neither here nor there.

TURNOUT
Mr Kenyatta has the mandate to rule now and it does not matter that only 38 per cent of the registered voters voted.

Indeed, apart from merely being a talking point, no one has gone to court to challenge the figures.

But let’s have a rethink!

Is a 38 per cent turnout in a repeat election really low enough to elicit a debate on the legitimacy of the resultant presidency?

Haven’t we had precedents both here at home, Africa and the so called developed world.

LEGITIMACY
Did the election that brought to power current President of The United States Donald Trump, the office touted as the most powerful in the world, witness so much higher a turnout?

How about the one that saw Emmanuel Macron become France’s president?

As it stands, Mr Kenyatta is the legally elected president of Kenya.

If elections cannot guarantee legitimacy then it is hard to see what can.  

The writer is a communications consultant. Email: [email protected]