5 Reasons Why You Cannot Afford Not To Participate In The Jubilee Primaries On Friday.
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| An elderly man casting his vote for senator during the last General Elections. |
By all standards, Friday’s Jubilee Party nominations will be
the ‘Final before the finale’ for the 2017 General elections especially in the
Mt. Kenya Region.
The hour of reckoning is nigh for the 8,012 aspirants
seeking elective positions on Jubilee Party tickets as the dreaded primaries
kick off. The looming nominations are causing jitters as the party grapples
with logistical and security nightmares.
Friday 21st April (and some 24th and
25th) marks an important milestone in the 2017 election calendar as Jubilee
Party picks candidates for various seats ahead of the final showdown on August
8. The fight for these seats across the counties is expected to be fierce as incumbents
seek to retain their jobs against other political heavyweights in what promises
to be a cut-throat race.
Jubilee Party is the biggest prize today for any candidate
in this region. For the aspirants, winning the party’s ticket, (depending on
the way the party will handle them) is as good as winning the elections. It will
definitely guarantee the nominees a 99% chance of being the next MCA, MP, Women
Representative, Senator or Governor.
That explains why the stakes are so high in the Jubilee
primaries and if make a mistake at these primaries, it will definitely be a
grave one. The ability to vote allows you to express your opinion and choice on
a variety of issues.
The elite amongst us represents the smartest brains but unfortunately
that intellect does not equal enthusiasm to make the changes we always complain
about. It has been a tendency among the elites,
especially in the urban areas, to treat the voting day as a day of rest or to
strike business deals.
Voting is your only way to back the issues you care about and the
representatives you think can best effect the changes you want to see. It is a civic duty and the desire of people
who care about public affairs to express themselves.
Why it’s a must for you to vote in the primaries.
1. It will give you the
power to create change you desire.
Previously, the elite and business people have always ignored
party primaries and reserved their votes for the main elections, in the
argument that they were not really important.
The end product has always been having to be ruled by the
wrong leaders who, in most cases, have bought their way into nominations. Their
stake has always been decided by a handful of ‘paid up hooligans’ who really do
not care what culminates after the exercise.
That explains why corrupt leaders have been having it easy
as compared to the straight and honest ones who would have otherwise been the
best options.
Considering that whoever wins on Friday might be as well
your next leader, participating in these primaries will give you the power to
decide how you want to be governed by nominating the candidate who best suits your
views and will best represent your views at both the local and national level.
If you really think that a certain leader in office is not
performing their duties satisfactorily, you can only show them the door by
voting against them. Refraining from doing so can result in the same people or
a worse one, being elected for the next five years.
Therefore, if you don't vote in these
primaries, please don’t complain about who wins or the wrongs these leaders
will instigate in the next five years.
2. Elections are not just about the President.
Other than the President, there are many other positions
that definitely way in the future of Kenya and your local area. Through voting
you have the opportunity to influence the government and governance from the
local level up to the national level.
How much the next
president can do will definitely depend on the people we will offer to him to constitute
his government. If you allow dunderheads to get into power, be lest assured
that you be faced with another five years of total agony. The consequences of
ignoring such important exercise can reverberate for years.
If you let in
opportunists and corrupt leaders get their way through the backdoor, just
expect them to cripple the President’s agenda, both in the National Assembly
and in the counties.
3. The margin of victory
is very important.
Any voter might feel that a single vote does not make any
difference. However, the balance tilts when this becomes a ward, constituency
or national attitude, resulting to thousands of votes not cast.
By casting their vote, citizens may not necessarily be able
to get the best candidate elected, politics being what it is, but by avoiding
casting their vote they improve the chances of the unsuitable ones winning the
polls. At the end, it is only you the voter who has to suffer through poor
governance.
One vote, especially in a competitive election is very crucial.
You may assume that it is ‘just one vote’
and cannot make the difference, but all you have to bear in mind there are so
many other people like you who are thinking
the same way as you. In the end, that translates to hundreds or even
thousands of uncast votes which may be the reason your candidate loses.
You must vote because even if the candidate you loathe is
destined to win in a landslide, you can make a dent in their margin of victory.
That limits how much of a ‘mandate’ they can claim once in office, encouraging
them to promote more moderate policies so as not to jeopardise their
re-election. Remember, people elected in squeakers are reminded of it
constantly for the people would not let them forget they were not elected by a
plurality.
Conversely, even if your preferred candidate is poised to
win, adding to their margin of victory can only help their advance their agenda
in office.
4. A vote for a
third force can have an impact.
In an election where there are two very strong candidates, there
are possibilities that the outcome would be decided by a third force.
Some undecided voters might sway towards a neutral candidate,
thus reducing the chances for each of the two frontrunners. In such a scenario,
every vote counts and your vote might be the difference between the loss and
the win for your preferred candidate.
5. Leaders tend to
respond to people who bother to show up.
Elected leaders in most instances respond to voters’ policy
preferences and award a greater chunk of public resources to the people who
bothered to vote them in. that is why in some cases you find leaders neglecting
certain areas they perceive never voted for them.
While it is true that the outcome of elections is seldom
predictable, by not casting your vote, you are simply giving up on the chance
of getting heard.
In conclusion, we cannot deny that Kenyans have been time
and again being disappointed by the people they elect into office. For the past
five decades, we have been struggling with rampant corruption, unsure economy and
other uncertainties. Election after election has seen ineffective governments
come to power that have done more harm than good.
However, not casting one's vote will only worsen the
condition. It is our duty as responsible citizens of to make informed decisions
and choose the best candidates from those presented. Moreover, with the context
of the 2010 Constitution, it wouldn't be long before the system of elections is
improved.
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