The election fever is curable but what about the aftermath?

When you look around East Africa today, you cannot miss a common thread that is slowly weaving its way into the lives of the most people in this region. You can get newspapers from each of the five countries and scan them for a common word. The word ‘election’ is likely to be it. Yes it is safe to conclude that the region is witnessing election fever. One of the definitions of the word ‘fever’ besides the medical ones is, the excitement felt by a group of people about a particular public event. The region’s election fever can be felt in all the five countries of the region. But like the fever that takes you to the doctor, each country is at different stages or temperatures right now. Kenya, like I have said before, is one country where the election fever is more of chronic disease… it never really leaves them alone. The political temperature is always high in that country with the politicians sizing themselves on any issue and linking it to how their community is affected and then how the community should vote regarding that matter. I am sure you know how the Ugandan sugar tastes like to the Kenyan political palate. To the east you have Uganda where the fever started a while back and is now high enough for media houses to have special reports when it comes to what the key political players have said done or even what they do with their fingers when greeting crowds of people before them. The elections are set for February 2016 but the fever is enough for one to be admitted and put on a drip to keep them hydrated. In Rwanda the people have petitioned the parliament on the constitutional provision regarding presidential term limits. As you read this, a seven-member commission has been set up to further look at the need to amend the constitution to accommodate the wishes of the people who petitioned parliament. With the elections set for 2017, this whole process is a sign of the fever leading up to 2017. Allow me to skip Burundi and head east to Tanzania where the general election is set for the end of next month (25 October). Here the feel is real now that the top contenders are both drawing massive crowds with each camp employing the best lenses to capture their crowds. On one side you have the hands-on executioner in Dr. John Pombe Magufuli for the ruling party facing off with Edward Lowassa a defector from the ruling party in what is set to be the closest electoral contest ever for the Tanzanians. The Burundians went through a controversial election process that was boycotted by some political players while thousands of Burundians fled for their lives and sought refuge in Rwanda and Tanzania. Before the election there was a coup attempt, protests and killings. I don’t even remember any kind of fever in the form of excitement leading up to the election. Only tensions and tension continue to this day. Election fevers are really not such a problem to be honest. It is often just a temporary moment of excitement that fades away soon after the winner has been announced. A lot is promised and some make a lot of money from making campaign materials but life returns to normal soon after. What is rarely discussed is the aftermath of elections. If you look at Burundi now you can get what I am talking about. The election ended but the tension levels have not subsided. As I wrote this, the head of the country’s armed forces had just survived an assassination attempt. Many others cannot lay claim to the same luck after seven others reportedly died in the attack. The situation in Burundi is further complicated by that old adage; all politics is local. Every EAC member is busy with their own political issues and even Kenya’s Uhuru Kenyatta who hosted a delegation from Burundi was left with egg on his face after a tweet that seemed to imply that all was fine in Burundi contrary to what Burundians on Twitter know. The aftermath of the Burundian election is going to be a big test for the community as far as the mantra of African solutions for African problems is concerned. Other countries set for elections need to mind about what happens after the election. We do not need other scenarios like Kenya 2008 or Burundi now. May peace prevail.

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The election fever is curable but what about the aftermath?