Residents of Nakuru are calling for peace and calm following the declaration of the final results of the August 9 General Election, saying the choice of leaders should not cause disharmony.
A section of the locals interviewed lauded the public for conducting themselves peacefully during the electioneering period and urged them to do the same after the vote results as they awaited newly elected leaders to assume office.
Chairman of Mulika Mwizi boda boda operators association in Nakuru Town West Sub-County Mr John Odongo said the over 42 communities in the country should continue co-existing despite their political preferences, adding that every Kenyan has a democratic right to pick a leader of their choice. He told Kenyans to accept the election results because only one candidate wins for every elective position.
“I Congratulate Kenyans. We have gotten this far without throwing a stone at each other, save for minor skirmishes here and there, but more than that, we have been able to conclude an important part of our history. I know the pain someone would go through if they were expecting something different,” stated the chairman.
Independent Electoral and Boundaries Commission (IEBC) Chairman Wafula Chebukati on Monday declared Dr. William Ruto and his Running mate Rigathi Gachagua President-elect and Deputy President-elect respectively after garnering 7,176,141 votes, representing 50.59 percent of valid votes cast, beating rivals Raila Odinga and Martha Karua who had 6,942,930 votes (48 percent).
Mr Odongo added, “Kenya and Kenyans will remain after this entire process. Don’t let politics divide us. We must remain united because leaders come and go but the country of Kenya lives forever.”
Following the recently concluded elections, outgoing Nakuru Senator Susan Kihika and industrialist Tabitha Karanja popularly known as Keroche were elected as governor and senator respectively, while Lizza Chelule successfully defended her seat as women representative.
Mr Odongo called on newly elected leaders to make a unified approach in formulating strategies and policies that will enable the county and national governments address high cost of living, spiraling fuel prices, youth empowerment and inadequate water supply.
“The first item on the tray of our incoming leaders should be addressing the food price crisis. Emergency food assistance, release of public grain stocks, cash transfers, food safety nets, food subsidies and school feeding programmes are some of the short-term methods to address it,” he said.
The Mulika Mwizi boda boda operators Association chair suggested that both levels of government invest in agricultural and rural infrastructure, focusing on extension services to disseminate technologies to farmers as a long term measure adding that roads and electricity catalyze growth of processing factories, thus enabling value addition.
Members of parliament, who were re-elected for a further five year term in the county include Jayne Kihara (Naivasha), Martha Wangare (Gilgil), Charity Kathambi Chepkwony (Njoro), Kuria Kimani (Molo), Samuel Arama (Nakuru Town west) and David Gikaria (Nakuru Town East).
In Bahati Ms Irene Njoki (Jubilee) defeated outspoken incumbent MP Onesmus Kimani Ngunjiri (UDA), while Former Sirikwa Ward Member of County Assembly (MCA) Alfred Mutai clinched the Kuresoi North parliamentary seat after trouncing the incumbent Moses Cheboi who is also former National Assembly Deputy Speaker.
While Samuel Gachobe of Subukia and Joseph Tonui of Kuresoi South also successfully defended their seats, while in Rongai constituency parliamentary elections were postponed after a mix up of ballot papers.
Trader Joseph Mayieka who operates at Kaptembwa Soko Mjinga Market urged Kenyans not to allow leaders who have lost to incite them to violence. “We have voted peacefully, we have gone through this process peacefully and it’s my prayer that we end this process peacefully,” Mayieka, 64, said.
He hailed Azimio presidential candidate Raila Odinga and UDA’s William Ruto for conducting peaceful campaigns and appealed to the candidates to use legal channels to address their grievances instead of resorting to uncivil actions.
“We have gone through an election, highly competed, and at the end of all, a leader has emerged as declared by the IEBC. Any candidate or party with election grievances should use the law of the land to address them. We want life to continue without any disruption,” he said.
Mr Mayieka noted that there is a need to provide affordable farm inputs to farmers thus urging the incoming government to develop techniques and plans to lower the costs of farm inputs and incentivize farmers to increase food production.
Lydia Njeri, a 23 year old hairdresser from Kivumbini Estate stated that youth empowerment programmes would only succeed if both levels of government put in place a welcoming and safe environment where youths feel safe and valued and were involved in all development initiatives.
She added that though devolution must start being seen in light of youth empowerment, innovative approaches must be sought.
“Youth emancipation ought to start with mindset change – a change of perception about their circumstances. This should be the first tier in the structure of youth empowerment by both county and national government,” Ms Njeri pointed out.
Ms Beatrice Moraa, 44, a vegetable vendor at Ponda Mali market reached out to newly elected leaders, saying, “And the one who has been given the mandate to lead this nation at whatever level, our prayer is that he or she is going to embrace everybody, those who elected them and those who did not because Kenya belongs to us all. We have an economy to grow and we can grow that economy when every Kenyan participates,” Ms Moraa said.
“We also want to urge that the whole country be kept together so that we are able to be a nation that will continue to thrive,” she said.
On his part, 25 year old Martin Kamau, a resident of London Estate, indicated that county and national governments should streamline regulations and tax systems to attract investors aiming at making profits.
“To attract new investors and sustain the existing ones, newly elected leaders ought to oversee implementation of appropriate macroeconomic policies, establish stable legal systems, develop infrastructure to enable products to easily reach the market, maintain political stability and put favorable tax rates in place,” Kamau stressed.