This archive report was first published on 19 September 2019.
Published on September 19, 2019, by Michael Cherambos, a Nation author.
Kenya's recent media headlines should be a cause for concern for every citizen.
The country is witnessing a vicious succession battle, eerily similar to its not-so-distant past when Kenyans were pitted against each other at the behest of their leaders.
For far too long, many of Kenya's leaders have excelled in one area: inciting violence.
While they should have been running the country with the people's interest at heart, many were too busy using the masses as tools in their 'game of thrones.'
However, in recent years, thanks to President Uhuru Kenyatta's vastly different approach, Kenyans are more likely to shake hands in warm embrace than to clench a fist or wield a weapon.
The President showed Kenya a different way, introducing a post-conflict narrative to a deeply divided nation through his outreach to political opponents and projects like the Building Bridges Initiative.
As the country inches towards the halfway point of Uhuru's second and final term, issues of succession are suddenly appearing everywhere.
Almost every issue raised in public forums is about positions ahead of the 2022 elections.
Some potential aspirants are starting to pull the ethnic genie out of the bottle, constantly enraged by events taking place around them.
They create a story or event that ensures outrage, place themselves as victims at the centre of the narrative, and fashion an enemy to finish off their masterpiece.
Under this presidency, tribe and politics are, for the first time in Kenya's history, becoming disentangled, and Kenyans are starting to focus on issues rather than ethnicity.
This is an extremely positive development, demonstrating the maturing of Kenya's body politic.
Most people in democracies put worldview before identity and ideology before tribe, whether actual or manufactured.
This is a vital development because it means that politicians now have to work harder to earn our support and trust, not just rely on ethnic bonds or blood ties.
An aspirant at any level should receive our vote on the basis of their ideas, record, and achievements, not their ancestry.
While using tribalism is easy for a would-be aspirant, it relies on us to render our head secondary to our heart.
We have to decide whether we allow ourselves and our loved ones to become pawns in a potentially bloody struggle that will not benefit us one iota.
Let's let our heads rule our hearts and say a definitive no to any politician who tries to manipulate and abuse our proud tribal heritage for their personal gain.
