Leaders on either side of the divide have been holding weekly religious meetings and political rallies through which they have unnecessarily raised competition for attention from the public.

On the one hand are those in government, who have been going around the country thanking voters for putting them in power. On the other are those in Opposition, who have challenged the legitimacy of the leaders elected last August.

This weekly contests do not add value in the lives of ordinary citizens, who are looking for solutions to the problems they are facing. Top among this is the struggling economy, which has made life costly and money difficult to come by.

Six months are yet to lapse since the elections were held and Kenyans made their choices known. As such, it does not add any value for politicians – whether winners or losers — to hold weekly public gatherings as though the country was back in campaign mode.

Kenyan leaders, unfortunately, have not learned how to achieve closure on electoral matters. Because of this, they keep the country on campaign footing even when they are expected to focus on the issues that need to be addressed. For instance, there are many challenges facing Junior Secondary Schools. This is the time when political leaders and policy makers should be putting their heads together to find solutions to such problems instead of organising public gatherings just to chest thump and bring each other down.

Democracy is premised on the idea that elections indicate the direction in which citizens want their country to take. Electoral choices may not always be rational or acceptable across board. However, where there are disputes, there are mechanisms through which these can be resolved. 

These, ideally, ought to bring closure, after which the work of addressing collective challenges must commence, with those in Government offering solutions and those in the Opposition poking holes with a view to examining how such solutions can be improved or altered. Through this structured engagement, the public will be in a position to make informed decisions at the next electoral cycle. That is why the ongoing meetings and rallies ought to be discouraged. They deviate from the template of democracy and depress economic activities especially when called on working days.