President Uhuru Kenyatta has called for an end to growing intolerance on all sides of the political divide, saying that a peaceful electoral process was key to securing a prosperous Kenya beyond August 8, 2017.
President Kenyatta told thousands of mourners at the burial of Interior Cabinet Secretary Major-General Joseph Kasaine ole Nkaissery that incidents of heckling, jeering and even open abuse of opponents at rallies and social media was retrogressive, sow hatred, but offered little for Kenya’s unity and prosperity.
At a high-octane emotional event, the President spoke out strongly for a united, peaceful Kenya in which politicians realized that after the elections next month, the country would remain. He said the issue really was that a stable country in which all Kenyans felt secure was what the Kenyan people wanted to see and experience.
He spoke directly to supporters of the Jubilee party he leads as well as to those who back the opposition leader Raila Odinga, who spoke at the funeral as well, but had indicated that he would not discuss politics.
“What we have seen in the last few days has no place in our country, it is not a democracy. It should be brought to an end. Abuse, jeering, heckling will not add a single vote to the tally of those you support,” the President said pointedly.
“Kenya will remain, after August 8. It has to be peaceful. It has to be secure. It has to be united. That is the legacy General Nkaissery would have loved to see. That’s what we must give him,” said the President, adding that when he needed someone to fix the security sector in 2014, he turned to the General, then an opposition MP, because he saw in him someone who put Kenya first at all times.