[Photos/ Courtesy]
Some rival youth groups reminded us just how volatile Kenyan politics are when they engaged in ugly stone-throwing battles in Nairobi last week.
They were facing off merely because the leaders they support are in different camps of the divide ahead of the next general election.
But two opposing factions in Kakamega County gave the rest of the country a priceless lesson on how to handle the heat of politics when they encountered each other recently. Apparently, ODM Governor Wycliffe Oparanya’s convoy was heading to Bukhungu Stadium for a NASA rally when it came face to face with a mega procession of Jubilee supporters; complete in the party’s branded T-shirts.
Despite their close proximity courtesy of a narrow road, the two factions cheerfully waved at each other while shouting slogans, before proceeding to their respective destinations. Amid the admirable show of tolerance, the police accompanying the groups had the easiest of tasks; maintaining peace where peace was in abundance.
The two seem to have perhaps realized that August 8 will come and go, that their deep-rooted brotherhood transcends our divisive politics, and that they will need Kakamega, their town, in one piece once the political temperatures cool down.