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No matter how hard I try to run away from the current political impasse, the more I feel a compelling urge to comment on what is going on. History would judge me harshly for ignoring what is happening next door while I seek to analyse international affairs. Well, charity begins at home.

The Azimio Party has finally filed their petition against President-Elect William Ruto on his election to the presidency in the August 9 elections. Who knows, Raila could be third time lucky. But that is beside the point right now.

As he continues in his fight for democracy in Kenya, the former Prime Minister is enriching the country’s jurisprudence. By the time he is done, he will have helped to set numerous precedents for grave legal matters like is now facing the country.

For the avoidance of doubt, we are not talking about vexatious and useless petitions like the one filed by former Gatundu South MP Moses Kuria, which actually end up wasting the court’s precious time. The Supreme Court needs to deal fast with such nuisance from whatever source so that we can focus

Anyway, Kenyans need to change their attitude to the way they perceive certain outcomes, even when they may be on the receiving end. It is sad that we are deriding Raila for the petition, conveniently forgetting that their unbridled freedom to talk is a direct product of the sacrifices of the former detainee.

Our society has learnt to use and dump, which is why we now worship criminals who have achieved a high social status. We are not as pious as we want to appear, which explains why presidential contestant Bishop Mwaure Waihiga trailed at the polls behind the controversial snake oil dealer George Wajackoyah.

Even if he does is not granted the petition bag or ultimately the presidency, Raila will have helped the country to tie the loose ends of our electoral system into a tighter democratic structure. A decade from now, Raila’s philosophies in governance and democracy will be the study of academics in political science and philosophy, and his words sought by leaders of all shades. My community has a saying that a cow is praised for its milk production after it dies.

Going forward, the IEBC needs to get its act together. The fact that the electoral have been taken to court three times on the presidential pool is testament that its act is not beyond reproach. Even without going to the legal technicalities in the allegations of the current petition, a discerning observer can tell the presidential poll was not watertight.

Personally, I find the electoral commission has never inspired the kind of trust that is demanded of such an august body. There are many vested interests and even loopholes both within and without the IEBC that hinder its efficiency. We have no angels any more particularly in Kenya, but we must recruit electoral commissioners whose integrity everyone can vouch for.

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Stop here if you are allergic to conspiracy theories. Now, in the weeks preceding the August 9 polls, there was a wave of murders targeting women in Nakuru County. It was just weird how the gang of murderers targeted innocent women in cold blood. There was simply no apparent reason why anyone would kill women in such a manner, well, unless it is ritualistic.

The result has been a big number of women who have been elected leaders in the County, from Governor to members of the County Assembly. The County is now being jokingly referred to as “Nakuru Girls”. The only other County with a similar feat is Machakos. Forgive my fertile imagination, but I am trying hard not to connect the dots for the Nakuru case study.

— The writer is a PhD student in International Relations. [email protected]