President Obama called on Kenyans to resolve any post-election disputes “in the courts, not in the streets

Nathan Wangusi is a former Organizer on the Obama campaign and a PhD Candidate at the University of Florida in Gainesville, Florida. Kenyans are pleasantly surprised that their most celebrated kinsman the President of the United States Barack Obama finally broke the silence on his take on the coming elections in Kenya. In a carefully worded two and half minute Youtube address, the President outlined that the US does not endorse any candidates and respects the will of the people of Kenya in choosing their leaders during the coming polls on March 4th. In his characteristic diplomatic yet subtle forceful style he reiterated the United States Government’s commitment to fostering a strong alliance with Kenya and called on Kenyans to be peaceful and cognizant of the rule of law during the elections. Superficially, the message seemed obvious, direct and to the point. Like everyone else I was initially elated but unlike most and having worked within his presidential campaign I know to read between the lines of every word this master politician and skillful diplomat says. The genius of President Obama is his ability to communicate his vision, thoughts and intentions without sounding threatening. He is also a leader who is acutely aware of the power and timing of his words and presence. On this occasion I questioned whether his motive was to exhort Kenyans, whether he was using the bully pulpit to put questionable presidential candidates on notice or whether he was using his foreign policy philosophy of “soft power” to stave off a potentially volatile election reminiscent of the bungled 2007 election. Perhaps, he was going on record to counter the common misconception that he has a bias for Prime Minister Raila Odinga’s CORD alliance because of their common ethnic background. What folks seemed to have missed is that the message was loaded with conditional political promises and overtures that isolated a particular candidature without giving any endorsements and conversely without making any veiled threats. The saying goes that an accused is innocent until proven otherwise hence one cannot make judgments. The saying also goes that the guilty are afraid hence one can only make the observation that those the message may have been directed to quickly responded. In a hastily convened press conference shortly after the video message was released, the Jubilee Alliance presidential candidates gave a rejoinder to President Obama’s message thanking him for reiterating his neutrality. As though they had the authority to question it all along. Now the million dollar question is whether Deputy Prime Minister Uhuru Kenyatta and Honorable William Ruto were responding out of trepidation of being put on notice as unfit leaders given their ICC woes or out of overconfidence of a decisive election victory because of what political pundit Mutahi Ngunyi called the “Tyranny of Numbers”? Was President Obama speaking as a big brother intent on saving Kenyans from themselves and protecting them from the Hague bound duo who have successfully tied their personal criminal fate to the destiny of Kenya or in concession to an obvious triumph by the Jubilee Alliance in which case the world will be forced to deal with the intrigue of an Uhuru/Ruto presidency? Your guess is as good as mine but the President of the United States does not take two and half minutes out of the worlds pressing problems exactly a month to the election unless it is a priority. Kenya’s fate lies in the answer to this question and while it is still a mystery, the answer will be determined at the ballot box this Election Day. The message that was resoundingly clear in President Obama’s White House address to the people of Kenya was that we must conduct these coming elections peacefully and with civility. Disputes in such a contentious elections are inevitable but how we resolve them will determine whether we have learnt from the lessons of our past and who we will be into posterity. There is a broad recognition that this being the first election under a new constitutional dispensation is crucial. Evidently, March 4th and will be possibly one of the most important days for Kenya. It will either go in history as a day when we rose to the occasion and embarked on a new era of prosperity, the rule of law and ethnic tolerance or a day when we squandered our future. On Election Day as President Obama succinctly put it, vote not just as a member of a tribe, but as a citizen of great and proud nation. senior U.S. State Department official says the United States is not endorsing any candidate in Kenya's upcoming election, but warns Kenyan voters that “choices have consequences.” The message follows a direct call from U.S. President Barack Obama for a free and peaceful vote. In a telephone briefing with journalists Thursday, Assistant Secretary of State Johnnie Carson said Kenya's general elections on March 4 represents a “wonderful opportunity” to “demonstrate to the world the vitality of Kenya's democracy.” But he was asked repeatedly about Washington's position on the candidacy of two politicians charged by the International Criminal Court for crimes related to the inter-tribal fighting that followed the last presidential election in 2007. "Choices have consequences," Carson said. "We live in an interconnected world and people should be thoughtful about the impact that their choices have on their nation, on the region, on the economy, on the society and on the world in which they live. Choices have consequences.” ​The National Alliance Party (TNA) presidential candidate Deputy Prime Minister Uhuru Kenyatta right, and his running mate William Ruto, talk during a rally at Uhuru Park, in Nairobi, January 12, 2013. ​​Presidential candidate Uhuru Kenyatta and his running mate William Ruto have both been charged by the ICC, and are facing trial at the Hague. They are accused of crimes against humanity in relation to violence in which over 1,000 people were killed and more than 300,000 people were displaced. The two ICC suspects have been cleared to run in the election by the country's independent elections board (IEBC). They are awaiting a verdict from Kenya's high court, due next week, on whether their candidacies violate the terms of the new constitution dealing with the integrity of the country's leaders. Carson declined to speculate on what sort of “consequences” the election of two ICC suspects might have on relations with the U.S. He noted that the United States is not a signatory to the court, but does support what it stands for. He said Kenya's leaders must be held accountable for election-related violence committed today as well as in the past. “Accountability for political violence, including that perpetrated during the 2007-2008 electoral crisis, is an important part of building a peaceful and prosperous country," he said. Carson's comments came after U.S. President Barack Obama released a video message, subtitled in Swahili, urging Kenya to hold free and fair elections. “The choice of who will lead Kenya is up to the Kenyan people," he said. "The United States does not endorse any candidate for office, but we do support an election that is peaceful and reflects the will of the people.” Obama called on Kenyans to resolve any post-election disputes “in the courts, not in the streets.”