Residents, political leaders and Mijikenda elders in Malindi have called for peaceful campaigns as the country gears up for the August 9, 2022 General Election.
They condemned chaos that have rocked several campaign meetings in the sub county and other parts of the country and called upon politicians to avoid inflammatory remarks as well as tame their supporters.
The residents of Shella ward in Malindi constituency took to the streets Monday to create awareness on the need for peaceful campaigns that would allow voters to elect leaders of their choice without intimidation.
Led by Ms Zuena Rashid Ngolo, a candidate for the Shella County Ward Representative seat, the residents condemned last week’s attack on Azimio One Kenya Alliance presidential running mate Martha Karua in Kisii where a police officer discharged a teargas canister on the crowd Ms Karua was about to address.
“Let us not perpetrate acts that will take back to what happened in 2007. We should fight against killings and destruction of property in the name of politics,” she said.
Barrack Islam alias Obama, a youth leader in Shella ward, urged the youth not to allow themselves to be misused by politicians, noting that politics is seasonal while the youth will continue living together even after the elections.
“If we destroy property because we have been paid by politicians to do so, we are the ones who will suffer because we will have destroyed our own development,” he said.
Their sentiments were echoed by Rahael Mlewa Mkare and Agnes Kombe who said they would do everything possible to ensure peace prevails before, during and after the elections.
On their part, Kaya elders Joseph Karisa Mwarandu and Stan Kiraga urged politicians to sell their policies peacefully and let the electorate choose the leaders they prefer without being intimidated to vote in a particular way.
“Leadership comes from God and God will not be happy if blood is shed because of people who aspire to be leaders,” said Mr Mwarandu. “We should not go to the past when for people to be elected to office, blood had to be shed,” he added.
Mr Kiraga called on the Independent Electoral and Boundaries Commission (IEBC) to conduct this year’s General Election with a lot of professionalism and transparency so that the outcome may not just be legal but also legitimate.