I am really excited that I will be voting for the first time, come 8th August. For the first time, my voice will be heard and count in determining who will be the president for the next five years.

However, I am troubled. I am unsure of the state of the nation after 8th August. At the end of the day, one side wins and the other loses. I understand no one wants to be on the losing side. If my preferred candidate doesn’t win, I will concede defeat.

Whatever happened in 2008 was shameful and should never happen again. We are yet to heal from the bloodshed in 2008. What if the losing candidate actually conceded defeat congratulated the winner and urged his supporters and the country as a whole to leave behind politics and focus on nation building? The nation would move on well without any violence.

I want reassurance that I will feel at peace in my own country. Kenya is my motherland and like a mother, it is her job to deliver whatever values she raised us with. Values in the national anthem and the loyalty pledge: peace, love and national unity. After all, values do not disappear because one side lost. Or do they?