For all of this week, the attention of Kenyans has been riveted on voting and the tallying of votes at the Bomas of Kenya. Tension has been relatively high with claims of rigging doing rounds.

This is quite expected as what is at stake here, is nothing less than the future of the country. The process of electing leaders is therefore a matter of great public interest.

The fact that it took longer than anticipated to release the presidential results cannot, however, escape the attention of Kenyans and the international community.

While the Independent Electoral and Boundaries Commission must be hailed for conducting the actual vote counting impressively, Kenyans are at a loss as to what became of the voting equipment that were purchased at an incredibly high cost.

That the IEBC has been compelled to resort to the manual tallying system is beneath the legitimate expectations of Kenyans. We had every right to expect better than this.

Be that as it may in the run-up to this election aspirants for various seats made countless promises to the electorate. While some promised to develop the infrastructure of their counties, others vowed to ensure that the perennial problem of insecurity is ended.

Others assured Kenyans that if they are elected, youth unemployment will be a thing of the past and women will be supported with loans to start businesses.

Once the dust settles on this election, Kenyans must hold these leaders to account. In the past many politicians have made promises to Kenyans even when they knew they had little chance of honouring these promises.

Kenyans cannot afford to have these kind of leaders anymore. The country needs to move forward. This can only happen if elected leaders fulfill at least the greater part of their promises.

Those who used promises to bait Kenyans into voting for them when they knew that they will not honour them have no business being in public office. They are the very enemies of progress against whom Kenyans must be on guard.