By Nyandarua UDA Youth Caucus
There is a particular charm about Ol Kalou that has nothing to do with politics. It is the way neighbours share a joke at the market, the way children chase footballs into the next compound without fear, the way a broken fence is mended with borrowed wire with no demand for an invoice.
These are the threads that hold the Ol Kalou and indeed Nyandarua folk together. And as the ruling party conducts its primaries to choose a candidate to step into the late Kiaraho’s shoes, we would be daft to let a handful of excitable individuals set fire to those age-old threads.
We are aware that there are merchants of chaos in our midst, that noisy minority who profit from confusion. They move through our homes and communities like arsonists with a single match looking for dry grass. They trade in trouble. They will hiss that you must shout louder, push harder, and break sooner. Do not buy their cursed wares. Their goods are shoddy, and the returns dreadful. Cracked skulls, or ruined friendships do not alarm them. They are cold-blooded.
The late Kiaraho understood something that these merchants of hate and dissension never will. He knew that a leader is merely a custodian, not an overlord. He held the seat with decency, and his passing has left a space that must be filled through order, not uproar. We owe him no less. But more importantly, we owe ourselves a credible and transparent by-election. Not a perfect one actually for perfection belongs to fairy tales. But one where a voter can walk to the polling station, mark a ballot, and return home without dodging a missile.
Now, the UDA has taken the lead with its primaries. That is the ruling party’s moment under the spotlight. By conducting ourselves with calm, members of the ruling party will send a signal that will echo far beyond our immediate neighbourhood. Every other party watching will note that we are not a people who dissolve into brawls at the first mention of a political contest. That signal is worth more than a thousand slogans. It communicates that we are serious, and stable and that we are ready to uphold fairness and refuse to compete dirty.
The entire contest right from primaries to campaigns then to the by-election itself is a passing event. After it passes life will resume exactly where it had paused. You will still need to feed your chickens, haggle over cabbages, and remind your son to tie his shoelaces. Do not trade that ordinary, precious rhythm for a moment of manufactured rage. Nothing is more absurd than two grown adults shouting themselves hoarse over a candidate who, six months later, might be remembered only for the colour scheme of his campaign cap.
It is a mark of maturity to let a disagreement pass like a cloud. And it is a mark of respect for others to recognise that your neighbour may vote differently without having declared war on you. Needless altercations are the hallmark of people who have forgotten that elections are tools, not trophies.
So let Ol Kalou set a good example. When the merchants of mayhem come peddling chaos, smile and walk away. If someone waves a placard at you, offer him or her a seat, a piece of ngumu or a glass of water. And when the last ballot is counted, we the residents of Nyandarua in general and Ol Kalou in particular will still be here laughing, mending fences, and minding our business.
Nyandarua UDA Youth Caucus champions peace and fair-play in political events
