At a time when everyone, except, of course, the loser, is excited about the election outcome in the United States, it is necessary for us in Kenya, and in Africa in general, to ask ourselves how it is that a gruelling 21-month campaign period can be so free of the sort of incidents that always mar our best efforts in the electoral process.

First, running for office is not a do or die issue in the US. The fact that our electoral systems have been pegged on a winner-take-all zero-sum game makes it imperative for the holders of public offices to try and cling onto them at all costs. As a result, those who oppose the policies of the ruling clique are rarely ever convinced they lost elections fairly. Indeed nobody loses an election in Africa - they are always rigged out.

But of more import to us in Kenya is election violence. We have suffered from it for too many

years, culminating in the murderous post-election chaos experienced early this year. If such an outcome is unthinkable in the US, why is it so common in this part of the world?

The answer could simply be that we are incapable of harbouring any tolerance for each other’s points of view. Here is one value that can profit us in Kenya - that true democracy requires tolerance and the ability to give in with grace when we lose a political contest.