whyilovekenya

A few days to voting day there were rumors that goverment was going to shut social media and there was hue and cry until GOK made it clear that they have no plans to do that.

Then enter Chebukati who decided that Form34A will be loaded at polling station real time. This is something that caught many Kenyans by surprise including the media houses and the political parties.

In the past more so 2007 when Kenya almost tipped we did not have any social media and the closest we had was SMS which at some point was even jammed due to the heavy use as Kenyans tried to get any information in tallying of votes. We were also left to depend on TV and all we could see was very similar to what we have witnessed at Bomas yesterday and last night where there was push and shove before IEBC decided to act tough and locked all the non designated persons from Bomas tallying centre.

We are now able see live coverage and we are also able to see behavior of political leaders from both divide . You will also note that many who lost in the polls want to be seen to be rabidly loyal to either Azimio or Kenya Kwanza and it is one way to position themselves for any future appointments.

In the past without social media ( like what I am doing right now and real time) all we had was to wait for some ” breaking news presser ” by each side both claiming a win. In some cases that presser will be how votes were stolen and in the process Kenyans will get emotional and riots would break out.

What is different in 2022 is the high level of transparency and open social media which has given Kenyans alternative source of information without overly relying on propaganda from either side.

I would like to salute Kenyans who have decided to play calm. This morning during my morning walk close to where I live I spoke to two groups of Boda Boda riders each supporting Azimio and the other side Kenya Kwanza. They are all back to work and one of them said it loud and clear ” Wacha IEBC wamaliza Watangaze mshindi , sisi hatuna shida”. Let IEBC complete the tallying process and declare a winner , we don’t have a problem with that.

Good people due to open social media and high level transperancy it means that Kenyans are able to get information first hand . The other beauty is that reasonable Kenyans who are not too obsessed with who becomes president are able to share their balanced thoughts .

Finally whoever is declared a winner will have to reach to the other half , please do not gloat and chest thump. To whoever wins trust me they will have alot to do to fix a broken nation and unite a divided country. The vote is split right the middle hence the 50+1 analogy.

Yes we can God Bless Kenya and as always I choose to remain an optimist

Mohammed Hersi
Mombasa