By Elizabeth Equbay

Yes, after those dreadful days - killings sufferings, and displacements -Kibaki and Odinga are shaking hands. Kibaki said the post-election violence was a shame to both the Party of National Unity (his party) and the Orange Democratic Movement, Odinga’s party.

Odinga, on his part, sent messages of condolence to the families that lost their loved ones in the violence and said, “We have been to hell and back. Never again should we return to the bad situation”.

When those speeches were delivered and the ceremony of swearing in of the new cabinet was held, the dead ones are gone forever, never to get a chance to witness what happened to their votes.

The injured ones are there to curse the so-called Election Day, suffering from their physical and psychological damage. The displaced are somewhere longing for home, suffering from camp life and frustration. There are also returnees, having so many unanswered questions in mind. As a nation, Kenyans seek answers to questions that are not answered by the established cabinet.

At this point, no one can tell, what the future holds for Zimbabwe. Citizens are still denied the result of last month's elections. Robert Mugabe’s ZANU-PF and Morgan Tsvangirai’s MDC are at loggerheads concerning the result. Both sides have their own opinions about the situation. The government accuses the opposition of treason while the opposition condemns the government of trying to steal the polls. Whatever the truth, Zimbabwe is in crisis. Citizens are not in a position to know what is going to happen next. They do not know where their votes will get them.

The delay in the election result is not only the concern of the Zimbabweans. The former UN secretary general, Kofi Anan, was busy on post-Kenyan situation. The current secretary general Ban Ki-moon has called on the authorities to make the election results public.

The African Union as a prominent political body in the continent has observed and monitored the general elections held in Zimbabwe. On the statement  made by the union on April 17 in Addis Ababa on the situation in Zimbabwe, the African Union expressed its concern over the delay observed in the announcement of the results.
 
The union said that it is not in the least conducive to the consolidation of the democratic process. The Union urged the competent authorities of the Republic of Zimbabwe to announce the results without any further delay transparently, thus contributing to reducing the prevailing tension.

The two cases are recent experiences; and the process is still going on in both countries. However, those are not the only cases of election in Africa.

As I said earlier, it is too hard to predict the situation in Zimbabwe. In general, as an African citizen, I want our leaders, both in the opposition and in government to shake hands before a single life is lost. Leaving citizens to enjoy their life by keeping them alive is a civilized way of reward than passing condolences to those who lost their loved ones. In addition, they have to stop playing such games at the cost of human life.