Kenya is due to have Presidential elections 4th
March 2013 and this week they had the primaries where the parties each ask the
people to select candidates to stand for them. After the last elections (refer
to my 12 December 2012 Post) there were warnings for volunteers from various
agencies to take care and avoid polling stations etc. Now, the polytechnic
where I work was a polling station and so was the Children’s home where I
live!! Anyway, Kandara is a peaceful place and had no trouble during the last
elections.
So Dorcas the Polytechnic Manager and I decided to attend
the Poly (closed for polling) so we could market the institution. We had 700
people coming from the local area to vote so it was an opportunity not to be
missed. Luckily for us but not for the people wanting to vote, there was a huge
delay in getting the voting boxes and papers to the site. They were due at 6am,
we arrived at 9 and there was a large queue of people of all ages patiently
waiting.
We had given the polling clerks access to a classroom but we
opened up the rest of the school and got benches and chairs out for the older
ones to rest. Dorcas and I then did regular double acts with me attempting my
Kikuyu (local tribal language) that I have about 10 words of and have not quite
got the accent right yet – but always get a laugh!! I am a little better at
Kiswahilli. We were telling the crowd about the poly, our plans for the future,
how we have changed, the computer course etc, etc. This broke up the monotony
of waiting. Eventually the decision was made to extend the voting period for
another day. The boxes and papers returned the following day.
The following day people turned out again in huge numbers,
patiently queued and placed their votes. Over the two days I met some great
people and had some fantastic and informative chats with a diverse range of
people. My understanding of Kenyan politics and the process was significantly
improved, a great couple of days.
Given the concerns and history, it was fantastic that
everyone was so patient and cheerful through this whole process. Despite having
their work and valuable income generating time disrupted for 2 days, Kenyans
took their voting rights and politics very seriously and would not miss the
opportunity to have their say. This is such a contrast to my experience in the
UK where politics is pretty dull, there is significant ambivalence and apathy
towards the whole process and voter turnout is woefully low.
So my over-riding feeling after the two days was a huge
respect and admiration for Kenyans. Politics is taken very seriously. It is a
shame that much of the reporting (especially internationally) was about the
“delays and chaos” and not about how well the people accepted the delays and
coped with the searing heat to ensure they cast their valuable vote. I can’t
help thinking that in the UK a large proportion would have gone to work and
said “forget it!”. There are many things I see and experience in Kenya that are
so much better than in the west. It is a shame that only the bad and negative
things get reported.
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