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The clearance by the Independent Electoral and Boundaries Commission (IEBC) of contestants in presidential and gubernatorial races, which has now been concluded, marked an important part of the ongoing electoral process.

The milestones officially opens the window for campaigns for various elective positions at county and national levels to begin, and this is where matters get murky as politicians are wont to go overboard in their quest to discredit rivals.

And this is why we are asking all politicians who will be taking part in the August 9 polls to conduct themselves in a civil manner as they hunt for votes.

 Citizens, and the relevant authorities, ought to put them to account to ensure that they strictly adhere to the Electoral Code of Conduct.

The code is  clear on the dos and don’ts during the electioneering process and penalties that come with its breach are well spelt out. The test of our seriousness will be making a deviation from the rules painful for candidates so that offenders can serve as an example to others. This is the surest way to ensure sanity in Kenyan politics now and in future.

We are making this early caution because Kenya has a history of election-related violence, mostly arising from the utterances and actions of politicians.  Innocent citizens have in the past lost their lives and property while others have been maimed or displaced because politicians were not made to face the consequences of their actions.

What happened in 2007 remains as a scar on our collective conscience that should not be allowed to revisit our motherland.

However, we acknowledge that election violence is not solely limited to politicians. There are other factors that contribute in various ways, among them negative ethnicity, religious rifts, land acquisition, cultural differences and failure by relevant institutions to take stern action against offenders.

Law enforcement agencies, media, religious leaders, candidates, administration officials, local leaders and persons of influence in their respective social stations should take it as their mandate to call out politicians who throw out the rules of decorum and decency.

That we must do. Each and everyone of us should take it as their responsibility to hold politicians to account for words and actions that fly in the face of civil political engagement. We owe it to Kenya.