President Uhuru Kenyatta meets with IEBC Chairman Wafula Chebukati. [Photo/ Manoah Esipisu]

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Since the Supreme Court nullified the results of the August 8 presidential election, President Uhuru Kenyatta has done everything within his powers to ensure the court orders are followed and a fresh poll is held within 60 days. First, the Independent Electoral and Boundaries Commission (IEBC) did not have the huge amount of money needed for the presidential rerun. The IEBC team had to ask parliament for the extra funds — about Sh12 billion — to make the exercise happen. Jubilee MPs approved the request and President Kenyatta’s Cabinet decided to set aside that amount to ensure the country does not run into a constitutional crisis because of failing to hold the election within two months. With Kenya being a polarised country, violence — sponsored by rogue politicians or not — tends to break out during the electioneering period. But during the August general election, the Jubilee administration deployed a strong team of thousands of police officers to ensure law and order is maintained before, during and after the voting exercise. After the Supreme Court ruling, the strong presence of law enforcement officers in vulnerable areas has greatly reduced the opportunities that thugs take advantage of to rob, rape, kill and even terrorrise law-abiding Kenyans. As we approach the election on Thursday, President Kenyatta has promised that the police officers will protect all Kenyans who will exercise their democratic right to vote and those that will not. The president has warned that no right overrides the other — meaning that the rights of Kenyans who wish to choose the leader of the country through the ballot will not be interfered with by those who do not want to take part in the election. Those who will break the law will be dealt with, police have promised. Unlike Raila Odinga, President Kenyatta has not gone to court to try and derail the efforts of IEBC in planning this week’s election. Raila, despite going to court to seek a rerun, has refused to take part in the polls, while still doing all he can to disrupt it. He has called for the “mother of demonstrations” on election day.