Ahead of the October 26 repeat election, Kenya’s President Uhuru Kenyatta has rallied Kenyans to maintain calm and vowed to counter any threats to the security during and in the aftermath of the election. He said that the country is “at historical crossroads” before warning those intending to disrupt the polls that they will be sanctioned.
Kenyatta said this on Friday while addressing the nation during Mashujaa Day celebrations in honor of the country’s heroes at Uhuru Park in Nairobi.
“For those who thrive in chaos and relish anarchy, your days are numbered; the law will take its course and sanction you accordingly,” Kenyatta warned.
He reiterated that elections are one off events that must never divide Kenyans.
“My Administration is ready to counter any threats to our national security during and after the elections. Towards this end, the security apparatus has been enhanced and appropriately deployed to maintain law and order.”
Kenyatta did not spare political leaders who harbor intentions of plunging the country into chaos. Kenyans, he said, “have the choice and means of resisting such leaders and their evil schemes, and should do it now”.
Opposition leader Raila Odinga who came second to Kenyatta in the August disputed election and his National Super Alliance (NASA) compatriots have recently been rallying Kenyans to hold protests until electoral reforms are put in place. They also mounted pressure on the electoral body to sack some of its officials accusing them of incompetence.
However, on Friday, Kenyatta said the threats and intimidation targeted at the electoral body must stop.
“We must trust, nurture and safeguard our institutions to enable them to grow and perform their functions,” he said.
The President used Mashujaa Day to pay tribute to among others political leaders, sportsmen, scholars; late Prof. Wangari Maathai, the late Prof. Ali Mazrui and Mary Mokaya, who died while saving fellow students from a fire. He said these laid the foundation of a united Kenya which Kenyans must uphold.