Right thinking people have a reason to worry. Cross-party altercations are intensify as the election countdown begins. The power elite is going mad - again. This power-induced insanity is a nation-wrecker.
The Independent Electoral and Boundaries Commission's defender is a player in the 2017 General Election. The agency's avid critic is also a central actor. Supporters of these parties are watching the situation with informed anxiety. They saw this kind of hostility degenerate into violence eight years ago. A repeat of post-election mayhem is not an option.
One party has confidence in IEBC, the other is raising doubts on the impartiality of the electoral referee. The clash of opinions on IEBC shows the electoral agency does not enjoy cross-party confidence, which it needs to execute its mandate.
It should also worry right-thinking people that one party is asking for the reconstruction of IEBC. The other is protecting the status quo. The stalemate does not advance the public interest.
Deputy President William Ruto is sending Cord a coded message -'wajipange'. But the Opposition is saying, the country needs a credible electoral referee to secure democracy. There should be no hurdles. The country cannot risk flawed planning.
Interested parties should agree on an independent referee for the elections. This is the clearest way of ensuring no Kenyan goes to the International Criminal Court again for human rights abuses. Those who have been to The Hague should ensure no Kenyan suffers their trauma again.
The electoral environment is already poisoned. It is not enough for one player to promise free and fair elections when the other is crying foul. There will be no free and fair ballot on voting day if the process is skewed.
An embedded electoral commission is a recipe for chaos. The country is looking at a countdown to a possible post-election showdown. Something must be done now to ease the tension.
The Church - Catholics and Protestants - wants serious national engagement to secure the peace. The National Council of Churches of Kenya wants Parliament to initiate the process of removing the IEBC commissioners following allegations of corruption.
The Church believes, like other right thinking citizens do, that a tainted commission cannot preside over the elections of credible leaders. The Church says a tainted commission can not deliver free and fair elections.
Rigged elections was the trigger of the 2008 post-election violence. A sense of grievance has intensified. A repeat of the mayhem would show the power elite has not learnt from the mistakes of 2007.
The IEBC chairman Issack Hassan is central to the claims of impropriety. He showed contempt for one of the players during the Supreme Court hearing of the 2013 presidential election petition. Hassan is also among those cited in the 'Kitchengate' scandal - an resolved procurement bungle haunting the commission.
Hassan has belabored his innocence, and no court has proved his guilt, but Ceasar's wife has lost her innocence. She is no longer the paragon of justice. Neither does he represent fairness.
The Church, the Opposition, and the Civil Society are saying if Hassan cannot disqualify himself, out of conscience, from chairing the commission, a way must be found to give him lighter duties. The country needs dialogue to protect shared interests. No one party, not even the Jubilee Alliance or Cord, can decide on this matter.
The excuse often given to shield the IEBC from probity is that, it was constituted during the coalition government. The excuse is bandied by Jubilee insiders to shield the institution from probity. There is no reason to stick with a commission that suffers a credibility deficit.
The logic of the defenders of the electoral agency seems to suggest all parties should take responsibility for the discredited institution. This responsibility entails reconfiguring the commission.
Matters of historical record are not in dispute, but the times have changed. The post-2010 IEBC has shown the agency suffers a credibility deficit, which should be addressed.
The country needs protection against the insanity of the power elite. The voice of the Church and the Civil Society should be seen to represent the best interests of the country. The defenders of IEBC have no choice on this unless they are plotting mischief.