Politicians need to assure us that 2016 will be peaceful

The last column that I wrote in 2014 as 2015 was beckoning was a call for peace in Kenya and South Sudan. 2014 was a terrible year for Kenya with the terrorists turning the country into their playground with one attack after the other. The terrorism messed up Kenya’s tourism cash cow and many lost jobs as business at the coast was brought on its knees by Al Shabaab militants. You worried when a friend or relative said they were travelling to Mombasa. However apart from the Garissa university attack, Kenya in 2015 enjoyed relative peace and by the time the year was ending, the tourists were flocking back and things were looking so much better. South Sudan had also gone to the edge with the political rift between President Salva Kiir and Riek Machar bringing war back to a country whose history is full of war. 2015 saw the country having numerous peace talks and negotiations but there was a general reduction of hostilities that even saw the Uganda People’s Defence Forces withdrawing from South Sudan. The worries I had over South Sudan quickly moved down south to Bujumbura which has been on its worst behaviour in a long time. The controversial third term for President Pierre Nkurunziza left Burundi the place to worry about for most of 2015 and the worries seem to continue into 2016. There have been talks of sending in a peacekeeping force by the African Union but Burundi has opposed this idea saying the AU force is not welcome. The politicians in Burundi need to assure us that the violence will stop for it is the only way they can counter those who think a peacekeeping force is needed to restore order in Burundi. I hope 2016 will be the year when Burundians can leave refugee camps and return home to build their nation together. Tanzania went through an election that gave us President John Pombe Magufuli and his ‘Magufulism which many have compared to Nyerereism or Kagameism with all these isms pointing to a leadership style that inspires a nation to get to work and fix things instead of whining and wasting the few resources available. What we seem to have forgotten is that the whole Magufulism phenomenon has drowned the Zanzibar political crisis out of the press. The elections in Zanzibar were quite violent and eventually cancelled. Again, the politicians on the isles and the mainland need to sort this issue as soon as possible so the whole country can move on. Kenya is now a year away from its next election slated for August 2017. The political temperatures are already rising with politicians working on alliances here and there often based on the same old tribal numbers calculation. Western Kenya, particularly the Luhya community, is again the prized possession that both the Jubilee and CORD camps are struggling to woo. My concern is that in the process of politicking along tribal schisms, the country is gradually pushed towards a violent path. The kind of path whose consequences we know quite well and cannot afford as a region. I hope 2016 is a year when the Kenyan politicians with forked tongues like Moses Kuria, William Kabogo, Reuben Ndolo and others think more before they utter any inciting messages to their audiences. Next month Ugandans will cast their votes in yet another general election. The presidential election attracted eight contenders but so far the race seems to be hinged on just three names, the incumbent President Yoweri Kaguta Museveni, his former allies in the former Prime Minister Amama Mbabazi and his (Museveni) former personal doctor Dr. Kizza Besigye. The campaigns for the presidential candidates and other political offices are ongoing and the country is now in a political frenzy with posters of candidates pasted all over the place. The Uganda Police Force recently asked for a resource envelope to cater for post election violence. Their argument is that in case there is violence they should have enough resources to deal with it. Again I call on the politicians in Uganda to ensure that the elections go on smoothly because violence is not something that East Africa needs right now with Burundi on our plate Uganda better be on its best behaviour this year. As a Ugandan, I know we have had our fair share of violence for most of the 70s and early 80s and I pray that 2016 is not like those dreaded years. Happy New Year to my readers.

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Politicians need to assure us that 2016 will be peaceful