BOI: Kenya, like US, can do with either Raila or Uhuru Presidency!

It’s been six months since Donald J Trump became the President of the United States of America. So much has taken place, embarrassing moments from tweeting that all media houses are fake news to shoving a president so as to be in the first line during a photo shoot. Trump has made it a habit of embarrassing the world super power.

His administration has been engulfed with scandal after another. Starting from his Attorney General to his son in law; the Russian investigation has picked on almost everyone in his administration. How the Russian investigation will end is still unknown but it has led to unnecessary distraction and the Commander-in-Chief is not making it any easy.

America, however, will overcome all these since the founding fathers put in place measures to ensure that in an event of a ‘mad man’ or demagogue ruling the nation, the country will still remain strong. The institutions in the country are strong from the individual states to congress. The economy of the nation has never been this great and for that fact, America can survive with a bad President for four years or even eight years if need be.

In Kenya, we are in an election process which most people refer to as the most decisive of all. I have my reservations with regards to this statement. The 2017 General Election is not any different from 2002 or 2007 elections. Kenya is on the move and there has never been a better time to be a Kenyan. I understand the citizens’ concern about the high cost of living. However, it is important to note that the rest of the world is not in any better situation. Compared to the rest of the world, Kenya is the place to be… and why this position?

The devolved system of governance is not something to be taken for granted. If you would take stock of progress in your village in the last four years, you would surely know the authenticity of this statement. Projected to the next ten years, Kenya will be way ahead in terms of development.

Then there are the constitution bodies from the office of Director of Public Prosecutions (DPP) to Ethics and Anti-Corruption Commission (EACC). The Institutions are already well structured with just lack of political goodwill to drive the agenda. The country therefore owes them support to ensure that the dreams of our founding fathers are met.

The infrastructure investment in the country is great and nothing fuels economic activities than good infrastructure and that’s why the SGR is a very welcome project. The expansion of the road network in the nation is very important and whoever wins on Tuesday, August 9th will mostly likely not reduce the momentum in this sector.

Judging from the Party manifestos for both Jubilee and NASA, there is great likelihood of improvement in Standards of Living. Corruption, however, is still a big issue in Kenya. It is the source of our misgivings. It is one area where whoever makes a milestone in, shall have moved Kenya to the next level, literally.
This nation is on the move just like the US.

We can afford to have anybody as the President and the nation will still emerge great. However, such victory can better be cemented by a free, fair and credible election results.
In all these, what are our roles as citizens? Our primary role is to take part in the electoral process, and let other institutions do their part. See you on August 9!

The writer is a Monitoring and Evaluation Specialist. Email: dboi@iasr.co.ke