The Star (Nairobi)

Kenya: Leaders Must Be Prepared for Poll Outcome

editorial

Photo: The Star
Low turnout mars mock IEBC election.

With less than a week to go before Kenyans go to the polls, candidates are going out of their way to convince those who have not decided to vote for them and their alliances.

In as much as there will be a winners and losers after the March 4 contest, there has been little discussion about how to handle the results.

We do not expect any of the candidates to articulate or envisage the possibility they will lose--after all, the only reason they are in the contest is the belief they will win.

But we do expect them to be preparing themselves and their supporters to be able to accept the results without acting out in a violent manner.

For those who lose, we expect the candidates to graciously concede unless they have pertinent grounds to challenge the results in which case the course of action is clear.

For those who emerge the winners in the contest, they should celebrate but not gloat and should remember that they have to serve all the people, irrespective of who they voted for.

We say that even as the candidates carry out their last minute campaigns, they must also prepare themselves and their supporters for the outcome.

Quote of the day: "The pain passes, but the beauty remains,"Pierre-Auguste Renoir, a French artist who was a leading painter in the development of the Impressionist style was born on February 25,1841.

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