Much as am shocked and appalled by what happened am just thinking…we need to get off our bloody asses and realize that in most cases the cops are the only guys stopping Nairobi and major cities in Kenya from being burnt to the ground by some very misguided fools being used as political fodder.
Its funny how Kenyans forget and its funny how Kenyans dismiss issues….guys, PEOPLE ARE STILL BEING KILLED IN RIFT VALLEY UPTO NOW!! ETHNIC CLEANSING IS HAPPENING THERE AS WE SPEAK AND RANT ABOUT SOME SOME RIOTERS GETTING SHOT. TRAINED GANGS ARE HOLED UP IN FORESTS WAYLAYING BUSES AND DEMANDING I.D CARDS OF PEOPLE IN THESE BUSES, IF SOMEONE HAPPENS TO BE OF THE ‘WRONG TRIBE’ THERE GETTING HACKED TO DEATH….THIS IS HAPPENING NOW…NOT YESTERDAY OR LAST WEEK….
….and the scariest thing about all this, the targeted tribes are starting to arm themselves in preparation for revenge attacks. Anyone who has passes through the refugee camps in Nakuru can tell you that all the able bodied men are not there…two guesses on where they are and what there doing. And you can guess that if the victims start taking arms to revenge than we have bigger problems than some 2 guys getting shot….WAKE UP PEOPLE, STOP GETTING FOOLED AND SEE THE BIGGER PICTURE

@Kimemia Maina- Are you really serious??!!! You are not trying to make any point…actually you are making yourself look like an idiot! You are contradicting yourself bigtime by at first doubting the credibility of the footage, then suggesting that the camera crew ought to have helped those being murdered. I think I’ve wasted enough time responding to you.

I know this is way of topic but it shows what is wrong with Kenya
http://www.helium.com/tm/462308/master-become-vital-president

It is unjustifiable and unacceptable. I feel they are acting on orders, and the people responsible for issuing these orders have a lot to answer for.

What you see in the video is a blatant execution – The shoot-to-kill policy adopted by dictator Mwai Kibaki must be condemned in the strongest terms.

Even in combat — a soldier is forbidden from shooting an unarmed enemy — with hands raised in surrender.

Internal Security Minister John Michuki — one of Mwai Kibaki’s most despicable thugs, should and I hope will be brought to justice at a later date.

If Kibaki had played fair we wouldn’t be having this crap. I have read some blogs where people compare Odinga’s situation with that of Al Gore in the 2000 U.S. Elections — It doesn’t even come close, for in America there is HOPE for anybody who wants to make something of himself/herself.

In Kenya, even the slightest glimmer of hope is swept away by a thorough and deliberate mis-management and theft of resources that are meant to uplift the poor — hence the desperation and criminal behavior in the streets.

If Kibaki is not removed, the vicious cycle will be repeated in the next election..and the next…

…and please do not compare America and Kenya, for America’s economy is so huge — George Bush (a thief) and his cohorts cannot bring it down no matter how voraciously they mis-appropriate funds via ‘Iraq War Profits’ and ‘Katrina FEMA Trailers.’

Kibaki has driven Kenya’s political progress back 30 years — back to the point where Moi took over from Kenyatta.

Every Kenyan, including die-hard Kikuyus, who feel that only them can lead Kenya — should wake up and size very carefully the amount of damage the Mt. Kenya Mafia has done to the country — politically and economically.

Here are some of my thoughts: http://www.politicalarticles.net/blog/2008/01/13/bush-and-kibaki-certified-election-thieves/

James Opiko
For the record, Raila didn’t play fair either. In some ways, he is a very sour loser too. His comeback tactics only reveal his true character – making me shudder at the thought that he might one day be the leader of Kenya.

But this ceases to be about them at some point. No one’s listening to them anymore. The momentum has been set, and apparently, we are on a spree.
The machetes are out and we are killing and running eachother out of our homes. Meanwhile, the cops have started shooting and can’t/won’t stop. The rest of us are having heated discussions about it over the net or out and about with our multi-tribal groups of friends who all claim to ‘support neither side’, although their criticisms of one or the other often quite give them away.
We all need to stop, come up for air, look around us, take in what’s happening and ask whether it’s worth it. We need to remember that we are Kenyans…
Unless of course, Kenya never really was. The tribal jibes that were a bit of a laugh were actually hostile undertones that were just brewing. Are we truly killing each other because our folks came from different parts of the country? Or is this the eve of a revolution?

@ jm, I agree.
With the degree of violence going on, both involving the police and citizens, we have to stop these arguments and look at the big picture.

When I watch a video like the one posted, read about that church, read of people being hacked in Mathare yesterday, read of that family that was attacked by Machates in Mombasa yesterday, I cease to care about the presidency.

There are currently 2 struggles going on right now in Kenya: between the political elite and between the poor.

These politicians DO NOT CARE about Kenyan lives – if they did, they would have sat down already. What’s another 60 lives when all some want to do is make a trip (which will be unsucessful) to Uhuru Park. When people lose their lives at the hands of the police (who, btw, while they should be condemned for the shootings, have used some restraint), the videos are played at press conferences and beamed to the world. Why didn’t ODM play a video of the church burning? IT IS CLEAR THAT THIS IS ALL A MEDIA GAME AND POLITICS.

There are innocent protesters that have the good intention of marching peacefully. But there is also a huge group of goons out there looking to kill, loot and rape. This is the second struggle. These neanderthals are under the impression that they are fighting for ODM. Well, my misguided friends, your man is no closer to State House than he was 3 weeks ago. I suspect that these groups are organized and financed. I might not saying that it is ODM but someone is supporting these groups in order to put pressure on the government. Children are dying.

The government is not innocent either (as we all know). I am not endorsing either candidate because neither is worth it. But I endorse Kenya and always will. All these politicians are the same, cut from the same cloth. Heck, they are even friends, laughing and hugging each other during Parliament on Tuesday. Children are dying.

The chest-thumping and bravado is getting nauseating. They are all a bunch of hypocrites. I like how people refuse to meet each other but can sit in the same room for over 9 hours because they are all eagerly awaiting their swearing in and that hefty MP paycheck. THEY DON’T CARE and Kenyans need to stop looking to them to solve this issue. Each side likes to call elaborate press conferences with the international media, cracking jokes and making casual comments like they are at a bash. Children are dying.

Wakenya, we need to wake up. We can struggle for our democracy without bloodshed. Kenya is not the first country to have a disputed election. Yet, some people seem intent on making parts of Kenya into a war zone. THERE IS NOTHING DEMOCRATIC about wielding machetes, uprooting rail lines and looting shops. There is nothing democractic about banning rallies.

What is a democracy? It is all about the people.. not about 2 men. And neither are fit to lead our beautiful country. Why? Because they do not have the compassion to even SIT at the same table and even ATTEMPT to broker a solution. GOD BLESS KENYA

The police spokesman said it was a computer generated clip, and that the cameraman should record a statement for further investigations.
HUh!

as we all continue to say the same thing depending on which side of the divide you belong.bottom line is a police officer trained and given an ak 47 shot someone in cold blood.that guy has committed a bigger sin than the kawaida mwanainchi.if he wanted to join the melee he should have handed over his gun and shield and toughed it out with stones and pangas.that guy under any law anywhere can never be charged the same as a mwanaichi due to the fact that he is trained and armed with an assault weapon.ashikwe,afungwe na anyogwe!

The delusional omnipotent

opposition leader raila odinga is a man who likes many things. He likes big cars, and flashy clothes. He likes to talk politics, he loves fame. He loves propaganda and more than anything he loves cameras. That i suppose is alright, to each his own. But the odm leader also loves anarchy and has an exaggerated passion for destruction, if he cannot have it, no one else will. November last year, raila odinga kicked off a campaign telling his dangerously over-zealous supporters that mwai kibaki’s government was intent on rigging the december elections. He talked of some rigging clerks being trained at anniversary towers’ (fourteenth floor) by an imaginary man he assigned the name ‘mr. Chege”. A few weeks later, he stormed the ngong hills hotel claiming to have received a tip-off from an aide of his that ballot papers were being filled in there. On the election day itself, he stormed the electoral commission’s offices claiming that his name was not on the lang’ata constituency voter register.

All these little sideshows had two things in common; one, they were all proved to be unfounded and two, all the allegations were made in the presence of the press, under flashing lights and into microphone booms. All these cleverly calculated theatrics were to tune the minds of his excitable supporters just right, so that when defeat eventually came, they would have in their crania ‘sound reasons’ for doing what perhaps comes to them most naturally – going on the rampage. I am not in any way suggesting that odm members do not believe the election was stolen and are engaging in violence for the sake it, no. I know they believe the election was rigged because they had been all set and prepared for it. The truth of the matter is that, with or without rigging the only outcome that would have saved kenya from this violence was a victory for raila odinga. That is how much raila odinga likes violence, and his history stretching way back to the coup attempt he so glibly boasts about in his biography affirms just that. But there is something else, besides violence that raila odinga appears keen to adopt; a false sense of importance. Displaying pictures taken with barrack obama to the press, claiming before the world that barrack is his cousin are some of the more dramatic and vicariously humiliating scenes we have been subjected to. Last year raila likened himself to former south african president nelson mandela and believe it or not he also said he was like the christ.

This weekend he was in church once again calling himself jesus christ. He considers kalonzo musyoka a judas iscariot who cannot chair a session where “jesus and his ‘pentagon’ disciples are contributors”. If you cannot attend a meeting chaired by the vice president, then whose meeting can you attend? since when did kalonzo, the second longest serving elected member of parliament after the president become a disciple of raila odinga’s and therefore in refusing to follow his every footstep a betrayer? the odm mp really needs to improve himself, to stop being that tyrant who cannot contemplate that others have wills of their own, that they are individuals with autonomous desires, with their constituencies that they serve, and outside of his control. Raila must now stop protecting his sense of omnipotence from the fear and vulnerability which surely rest at the heart of his compensatory delusions.

He should start acknowledging others, and respecting them before he can himself command any such acknowledgement and respect. He has to respect authority. Calling eck commissioners “a few clerks seated at kicc” is not smart, it is not witty. It is ridiculous. On tuesday, during the election of the national assembly speaker, mwai kibaki reportedly did not speak to raila. After the session, raila does what he knows best—rush to ‘the standard’. He said that the president didn’t even “greet him because he lacked the courage to do so”. Who between mwai kibaki and raila odinga should be striving to shake the other’s hand? it reminds me of a little story dr. Justin frank gives in his “bush on the couch”.

Frank talks about this little niece of his who was once in a hotel lobby where president ronald reagan was staying. The president picked up the little girl for the cameras and then put her down. Her mother asked her whether she knew who that was. She answered; “yes, but how did he know who i was?” now that is what i call an extreme form of self-love and importance that raila odinga is thriving on. Mr. Raila there were so many other members of parliament whom the president did not talk to. Why should you try to make it a big deal? who do you think you are, mr. Raila?

Opiko,

I’m hesitant to enter into an exchange with you, because you seem to equate opinions of one side of the political divide with facts. To come down and engage you on your rather elementary level, isn’t it ironic that after ODM threw a major tantrum demanding that Kivuitu steward the election else they’ll cry, that same Kivuitu went on to put on the most embarassing display of stewardship that this country has even seen?

If these are the calibre of people ODM puts confidence in, then we must thank our lucky stars that ODM “didn’t win”

When Kivuitu was asked who won the election, he didn’t say Kibaki won. Neither did he say that Raila won. He said the now famous words, “I don’t know…” So how is it a fact that Kibaki was defeated? ODM can scream they won until their lungs give way, but the now disgraced referee called Kivuitu says otherwise. He says, “I don’t know…”

Moving away from the ODM youthwinger, how I wish that one of the demands coming from ODM was for an independent tribunal of Kenyan (or preferably international) judges acceptable to both sides to scrutinise the evidence they have of rigging and pass a verdict within an acceptable time-frame, say a month. That way instead of putting adverts in the papers and trying their case in the court of public opinion, they could prove their case for the sceptics to believe that indeed they were robbed of this election.

Uganda: ‘God Saved Us From Burning Eldoret Church’
http://allafrica.com/stories/200801210140.html

Signs in Kenya That Killings Were Planned
http://www.blueridgenow.com/article/20080121/ZNYT03/801210336/1034/EXTRAS02/ZNYT03/Signs_in_Kenya_That_Killings_Were_Planned

Jogoo wa Shamba and Mugithi,

I agree with both of you wholeheartedly, that the debate should be about how to rebuild and restore.

If you would see my initial response to James Opiko, you’ll see that that is the point I’m making, that we’ve moved away from saying who won or who lost. The widows and orphans outside police stations and inside churches could care less whether it was Kalembe in State House or whether it was Nazlin Rajput. A much deeper thing has happened in this country, and we should be harnessing our thoughts and energies in this direction.

Our tribes, which are meant to be a good thing, reflective of the diversity of this land, have been turned into an ugly thing, meant to distinguish between whether you get past the roadblock or whether you die. The kind of suffering the more vulnerable ones, i.e women and children, in our midst are being put through has no measure. Our collective call should be for an end to this and for a beginning to genuine reconciliation and healing.

The failing of both Kibaki and Raila and their henchmen and henchwomen has been to dig their heels in, firming their political positions, and keep the tempers high. Their failing has been to continue to act as if it is about them, when clearly matters have moved on to another level. Their failing has been to continue to politik and grandstand, while blood continues to flow and livelihoods continue to burn.

I know that a number in this forum are people of faith. I would urge you all to continue to raise prayer to the heavens, that the Almighty would intervene on our behalf and restore sanity in our land, as our national anthem says. Clearly, our earthly leaders have nothing to offer us!

Just to add on to that….the debate over who won is going to go on for a long time and will generate alot of heat in all quarters.

However i think we miss a major point when we fail to realize one essential truth…no one won with a clear majority! Statistics put Kibakis win at about 46-47% of the vote…Raila says he won with a similar margin…which means whowever won does NOT have the support of the majority of the voters and the population, be it Raila or Kibaki.

Personally I do not think either Raila or Kibaki are the right people to lead the country at this crucial juncture…the reason..the country is so polarised at the moment that it needs a nationalistic leader of the likes of Mandela to pull all tribes together, address past issues (whether real or imagined) and ensure that the national cake is distributed evenly..and is seen to be distributed evenly. However these 2 guys will not do that, they are cut of the same clothe, the ‘take care of myself and my close family and friends and screw the rest of the population’ clothe.
However we are stuck with these 2 buffoons..therefore we are stuck with unrest and riots and a economy downhill for the foreseable future.
In 2002, the former VP Saitoti made his now famous statement saying ‘there comes a time when the needs of a nation surpass the needs of an individual’…actually the needs of a nation always surpass the needs of an individual but thats not the point…..the point is at this crucial juncture the needs of Kenya surpass the needs and ambitions of Kibaki and Raila, but can these two clowns behave like true patriots for once or will they continue behaving like the selfish, power-hungry individuals that they are? Time will tell

I second those who say Kibaki and Raila are not the people to lead our country. People’s memories are short, we forget that Kibaki was a member of the goverment that sought to supress democracy in the early 90′s. At one point Raila joined hands with Moi to deny the then opposition victory (LDP).

We need a new generation of leaders preferably below 50 years old!!

the intelligent folk ‘talk’ too much and do nothing…they blog and post comments and pictures…and so on and so forth…

the ignorant folk ‘do’ too much because they have nothing intelligent to say…they kill and maime(sp) innocent wanainchi…and so on so forth…..

when all is said and done, more is said than done…

AtSanity’sEdge

There are other African leaders who demonstrated such humulity and service. Sir Ketumile Masire of Botswana, Joachim Chissano of Msumbiji and Julius Nyerere from next door come to mind. Oliver Tambo, Patrice Lumumba, and our own Oginga Odinga and Jomo Kenyatta also come to mind.

No doubt Mandela an icon, whose legacy speaks for itself. But you have to remember that he was a product of a different time and different circumstances. Then, the Black South Africans had a common enemy, apartheid. Regardless of the differences between them, the common enemy was apartheid, and it was “easy” for Mandela to emerge, due to this commonality of cause. With the end of apartheid came the need to create a common nation, which again boosted Mandela’s profile. I concede that to Mandela’s credit, and this is what differentiates him from the rest of the pack, he knew when to step aside and let the next generation take the helm. He was hardly an executive president, and he served for one term. This lack of involvement in the nuts and bolts issues allowed Mandela to become the immortal that he is.

However, with this “independence” euphoria gone, and issues of inequality and poverty coming to the fore, you can begin to see the challenges being faced by Mbeki.

The situation facing us in Kenya is different from the one that allowed Mandela to emerge. It is one of two leaders, each of whom commands sufficient numbers, each of whom believes he won. Then we have two sets of followers or Kenyans, each of whom believes in their hearts, regardless of what they say, that their man won. None of our leaders wants to back down, and none of the followers (and that includes you and me) wants their man to back down.

I have no doubt if Kenya was united against a common enemy, rallying around a common cause, leaders of Mandela-esque quality would emerge. What is the common enemy in Kenya? What is that common cause? I think if we can define this common enemy and common cause, and somehow agree as Kenyans on this common enemy and common cause, we will have a Mandela or two emerging.

i totally agree with ABELIAN being under fifty means nothing.we have always heard and said a ‘generational change’ is the best thing for us.it has proved to be terrible thought for three reasons.1)all reasonable kenyans agree that there was irregularity with the elctions yet none of the ‘Younger’ mps on the pnu front have come out even to just say that there was a problem with the process,none not even one.2)we keep forgetting that majority of kenyans live in shaggz and the propaganda and rumours that surrounds shaggz(n pun intended) is unbelivable.but my point is the voters will only pick who they can connect with so unfortunately our leaders will always be a bi-product of the issues surrounding his voters, many mps have fallen in line with this

and last KENYAN POLITICS NEEDS TO STOP BEING ‘SIASA YA TUMBO’ only then can we have reformers,people focused and leaders worth the change they are to bring. along with that change MUST come some cash in the pocket of the people without chums even mandela cant help us!

Looks like ODM isn’t clean either…

http://allafrica.com/stories/200801240369.html

“have no doubt if Kenya was united against a common enemy, rallying around a common cause, leaders of Mandela-esque quality would emerge. What is the common enemy in Kenya? What is that common cause?”

There is a common cause that can give rise to Kenya’s Mandela…and that cause is poverty (damn, i sound like one of those NGO types who move with the current buzzword…btw, which are ‘the current NGO buzzwords??) Why is it that Kenyan politics is so polarised? Why is it so important to a luo in Rarieda for Raila to win? Or for a kuke in Limuru for Kibaki to win? Because politics in Kenya is a winner-take-all story…and to the winner go the spoils…note here the keyword, winner, meaning Kibaki, Raila et al. Therefore a fisherman in Kisumu believes Raila will lift him from poverty and take him to the promised land….same for the peasant farmer in Gatundu. Poor fools!! Kenya’s leaders look out for themselves and their backers and cronies first….if a few crumbs get to Wanjiku then all the better…but wait..how different is this from politics all over the world? When Bush wins he checks in and sweeps everyone out and brings in his cronies and pals…same for Gordon brown and the rest.

The biggest difference between Kenya and these countries is that they have respected institutions, systems and structures to ensure that their is continuity no matter who the leader. So whether Bush rigs or not life goes on in the US. Taxes will be paid, roads will be built, policies will be enacted.

However the last few weeks have shown up how fragile our democracy is. An election dispute has caused (and is still causing) massive disruptions to the economy and its going to take a few years for the country to recover. Institutions like the high courts where the dispute should have been taken to are a joke. Therefore people feel the only recourse is violence and mayhem.

What Kenya should focus on as a matter of priority is building lasting institutions that are respected and impartial. This includes the judiciary, police force, armed forces and government. What I yearn to see one day are structures that ensure Kenya’s needs and resources are distributed in a manner which is not only fair and equal but it also seen to be fair and equal, perception being 90% of reality. Even if it means drafting these processes in the constitution. We need to get to the point of people in the West who deep down inside know that a change of leadership will not affect their lifestyles. The political leader is not ‘mama na baba’…but more of a nationalistic figurehead.
All Kenyans want is change, a chance to live normal lives, give kids a good education, not have to continuously grind just to keep the head above water. Unfortunately life is very harsh for Kenyans, and any leader who can promises a ‘miracle cure’..even if the miracle cure is killing neighbors because there ‘foreigners’….shall be treated as a Messiah and liberator…..until the next liberator comes along!

ECK response to allegations contained in a newspaper advertisement published inthe Sunday Nation and The Standard newspapers on January 19, 2008

The Electoral Commission of Kenya (ECK) has noted allegations made against it and its officers through newspaper advertisement published in the Sunday Nation and TheStandard newspapers on January 19, 2008. The ECK welcomes this analysis and now
seeks to correct the many factual inaccuracies and wrong impressions contained in the
said advertisements to set the record straight in the public interest.
Allegation 1: The Chairman of the ECK is not sure whether Hon. Mwai Kibaki won
the December 27 General Elections.

ECK response: This allegation has been widely circulated in the local and international
media. The actual question posed to the Chairman of the ECK by the media was “do you
believe that Hon. Mwai Kibaki FAIRLY won the election?”. His response was: “I don’t
know. That is until I see the original records which I can’t for now unless the court
authorizes. What we have are records of results from field officers” (Daily Nation,
January 3). The question on whether one has won FAIRLY is a matter of interpretation
and not an issue within the competence of the ECK to determine. The media has
deliberately distorted this question to remove the word FAIRLY to create the impression
that the ECK is uncertain as to who won the elections.

The ECK determines the winner of the presidential election on the basis of the final vote
tally. In this regard, Mwai Kibaki was pronounced the winner having garnered the
highest number of votes – 4,584,721 votes against Hon Raila Odinga’s 4,352,993 votes.

Allegation 2: The Chairman of the ECK announced the results under duress from
PNU and ODM-K.
ECK response:

It is public knowledge that PNU, ODM and ODM-K were all captured
on television at various points pushing the ECK to expedite the process and announce the
final results citing the anxiety in the country. On January 3, the chairman of the ECK
was asked: ” Were you under duress when announcing the results? Did anyone from State
House call you to say this is the winner?”The chairman responded: ” No, no. Kivuitu is
beyond that”. (Daily Nation, January 3).

Allegation 3: That the Chairman of the ECK was aware that in several
constituencies, the total votes cast exceeded the total number of registered voters.

ECK response:

The law empowers the ECK to reject the results of any polling station
whose votes exceed the number of registered voters. In the December 27 elections,
Maragwa constituency was mentioned specifically as having reported more votes than
the number of registered voters. However, these were in respect to Parliamentary not
Presidential votes. Upon verification by ECK at KICC, it was established that the mistake
arose from a double entry of votes from one polling station. This was corrected and the
results announced. At the joint verification of constituency tallies on December 29th at
KICC both ODM and PNU confirmed that the results from Maragwa constituency were
in order.

Allegation 4: That the Chairman of the ECK was not in control of his officials in the
field during the tallying period. In some areas where the results are alleged to have
been rigged, the ECK officials had “disappeared” or “switched off their phones”.

ECK response:

Returning and Presiding officers, Polling Clerks and other ECK
officials, are bound by the rules and regulations of the ECK. At some point, it seemed
that ECK could not trace some of its officers or reach them on phone. The explanations
received by the ECK confirmed that no officials deliberately switched off their phones.
Some were out of network reach, others switched off as they concentrated on the
counting and tallying, others were unable to charge their phones during the vote counting
process having been in the field for prolonged periods, while others were unable to travel
due to skirmishes.

Allegation 5: That election documents have been tampered with by ECK officials
since the announcement of results.

ECK response:
Tampering with election results is a criminal offence. Anyone alleging
tampering is under a legal duty to record statements with the police to facilitate
investigations with a view to instituting prosecution. The ECK ensures proper custody of
all documents and would not condone any breach of the law. ECK has faith in its
officials and could not expect any of them to tamper with such documents. If there is
anyone who can identify such a person who has tampered with the said documents, ECK
would be ready to offer any assistance for their prosecution.

Allegation 6: The ECK allowed Returning Officers to submit their returns in the
absence of agents which is against the law.

ECK response:
There are instances where some agents of political parties may not have
been present to sign Forms 16A when results were announced at the polling station. The
absence of an agent (and therefore his/her failure to sign) does not invalidate the results,
hold back their announcement or their transmission to the tallying centre at the
constituency level. It is the responsibility of party agents to avail themselves to sign
Forms 16A. Absence of agents at polling stations applied to all political parties. It is
their responsibility to be there not ours.

Allegation 7: That in 42 constituencies, presiding officers at polling stations refused
to make Forms 16A available for signature by agents. This was meant to enable
fictitious results in favour of Kibaki to be completed at KICC.

ECK response:
ECK received these complaints and sought explanations from our
officers. We have sent to ODM copies of the statement of those officers for their
evaluation.

Allegation 8: In some cases, ECK officers at KICC altered Forms 16A e.g. Juja
constituency

ECK response:
Form 16A is completed and signed at each polling station confirming
the results. It is signed by the Presiding Officer and the agents of political parties
present. The Returning Officer then prepares Form 16 which is a summary of the results
contained in all the Forms 16A from all polling stations in a constituency.
The case of Juja: The total number of registered voters in Juja constituency is 163,657.
There are 231 polling stations. There was no evidence for anybody to conclude that
alterations to any documents were made by ECK officials at KICC. The Chairman noted
alterations on Form 16 with no explanations. He did seek explanations from ECK
officials at KICC and Returning Officer. Both groups confirmed the provisional results
announced were the unaltered ones. He then ordered the files to be secured. Later on
when the Chairman found the results announced included the altered results, he directed
the Returning Officer to write a statement explaining how the errors arose and what
eventually were the final results.
The Returning Officer explained that as at 1.00 pm on December 28th, he had tallied
votes from 111 polling stations. By then, President Kibaki had 48,293 votes as clearly
indicated in the Sunday Nation advertisement. After results from the remaining 120
polling stations were tallied, Mwai Kibaki’s votes totalled 100,390. By the time the
Commission had no way of verifying this further since there were no other channels
available. The voter turn-out in Juja was 73.3%. The total votes cast in the presidential
poll was 119,964 while the total for parliamentary elections was 114,808.

Allegation 9: Agents of ODM were forcefully thrown out of some polling stations

ECK response:
The ECK has not received any written complaint from ODM regarding
any of its agents being thrown out of any polling station(s). Any such complaint should
be formally made to the ECK.

Allegation 10: The ECK failed to establish a national tallying mechanism as obliged
by law

ECK response:
The law mandates the ECK to announce the results of the presidential
poll upon receipt and verification of Forms 16 from the 210 constituencies. This is the
legal requirement and procedure used in all past elections starting 1992, 1997 and 2002.
It is, therefore, misleading to say that the ECK failed to establish a national tallying
mechanism as obliged by law.

Allegation 11: 5 ECK Commissioners have come forward to confirm rigging

ECK response:
This is news to us! All the ECK Commissioners were present to
confirm the final results of the Presidential Poll as announced by the Chairman of the
ECK on December 30. The ECK is not aware of any Commissioner(s) who has
confirmed this allegation of rigging.

Allegation 12: The ECK received “results” away from public scrutiny from
candidates or their agents, and then announced these “results” which is against the
law.

ECK response:
Under Kenya’s electoral law, results are announced at each polling
station in the presence of party agents before transmission to the constituency tallying
centre. In fact ECK had offered to train the agents at its cost and very few came forward.
So if some did not sign the forms it was either out of arrogance or ignorance for which
ECK cannot be blamed. The law does not provide for the presence of agents when the
ECK is receiving election returns from Returning Officers.

Allegation 13: ODM agents were barred by armed police and paramilitary officers
from accessing the tallying room at KICC.

ECK response:
This is misleading. Ordinarily, the tallying room at KICC was limited to
the ECK and not to party agents since the facility was to merely receive and verify results
from Returning Officers. These results would already have been witnessed by party
agents at the polling stations and constituency tallying centre. If they had asked to access
the facility ECK could have considered it. As a matter of fact on December 29, the ECK
allowed each of the three main political parties – ODM, ODM-K and PNU – to send their
representatives in to the tallying room to verify the presidential tally from all the
constituencies. These representatives were: ODM (James Orengo, Dickson Ogolla),
ODM-K (Mr Muteti) and PNU (Martha Karua, George Nyamwea).The following
observers were also present: KEDOF( Hassan Shanman, Nassir Ahmed, Koki Muli);
Association of Professional Societies in East Africa (Julius Melli, Ben Sihanya). It is,
therefore, misleading to say that agents of political parties were not allowed into the
KICC tally room.

Allegation 14: In 48 constituencies, results had no Forms 16A which made them
unacceptable under the law as true and accurate results.

ECK response:
For the record, Forms 16A are completed by Presiding Officers in the
presence of party agents and observers at each polling stations. The Returning Officer
then prepares Form 16 which is a summary of the results contained in all the Forms 16A
from all polling stations in a constituency.
The claim on the 48 constituencies was first made by the Hon. William Ruto on
December 30th when ODM addressed an international press conference at KICC. Hon.
Ruto knew or ought to have known that his claim was misleading and misdirected. At the
conclusion of the tallying exercise on December 30th, only results from 11 constituencies
did not have Forms 16 received at KICC. The Returning Officers from all these 11
constituencies had already phoned in the results (as required), but by law, the ECK could
not announce the final results until it had verified the returns from each of these
constituencies. The chairman of ECK announced that a helicopter had been dispatched to
collect these returns from the pending constituencies and these were received and verified
before announcement of the final results.

Allegation 15: That the law gives the presiding officer a legal duty to ensure every
voter marks the three ballot papers and places them in the proper ballot boxes.

ECK response:
On the election day, there were three distinct elections — civic,
parliamentary and presidential. While each voter is expected to fill in three ballot papers,
it is not mandatory that one must vote in all the 3 elections – civic, parliamentary and
presidential.

All along ECK has said it publicly that it is ready to go with all the parties concerned and
look at all Form 16s and verify what they state and tally them. But instead of ODM
taking advantage of this offer it has preferred to aggravate the dispute by involving the
public in the streets which has lead to injuries and deaths of innocent Kenyans, and also
by making it an international agenda.

Reply

Forward

@Joe (#92), the ECK could also shed its light on one mystery that has been baffling for some of us: Could ODM also have rigged?

There have been repeated claims by the “government” and the Party of National Unity (PNU) that their rival, ODM, also rigged the votes in its strongholds. But nobody seems to question how ODM could have managed such a feat.

Some in the international community, including the EU Observer Mission and the US assistant secretary of state for African affairs, Ms. Jendayi Frazier, seem to be falling for the ruse and lending credence to the allegations.

If the government/PNU and the ECK were so convinced that the opposition also rigged, why did they not follow the country’s electoral laws — the same laws they are sworn to protect and obliged to enforce and which they are now “urging” ODM to abide by — and address these issues within the stipulated time period as lawyer Donald B. Kipkorir brilliantly explained in a recent article in a local daily (“Why Kivuitu must be held accountable for poll chaos”, the Daily Nation, 5 January, 2007)?

As Kipkorir noted, the electoral laws require that “the ECK gives all parliamentary and presidential candidates 24 hours to lodge complaints, if any, including demanding a recount or retallying. The ECK is obliged to, within 48 hours, allow the recount or retallying. All candidates and the ECK therefore have 72 hours to resolve any disputes. It is only after the period that the ECK can announce the winners of each of the 210 parliamentary seats and issue a certificate known as Form 17 to each elected MP and Form 18 to the elected president. The results are then gazetted.”

I personally think that these allegations are a red herring designed to throw us off the track and to cover up the real issue here–that the government was caught with its hands firmly stuck in the cookie jar. Let’s consider what we know to be facts (not suppositions):

1) The government was always in complete control of the election process—as government officials, including then outgoing president Mwai Kibaki and the Electoral Commission of Kenya (ECK), were falling all over themselves to assure the public when ODM and Kalonzo Musyoka’s ODM-K first raised the prospect of the government rigging the election;

2) President Kibaki appointed all the ECK commissioners without reference to anybody else;

3) the government, through the ECK, awarded contracts for printing the ballots papers—and again went to great lengths to assure us that no fake ballots could be introduced into the system;

4) the government/ECK kept these ballot boxes and ballot papers under lock and key (and again assured the public that no one, except the ECK, had access to them);

5) the ECK transported the ballot materials using government transport, under heavy police guard, to the polling stations (and once again assured the whole country that the ballots were safe and sound);

6) the government/ECK appointed, trained, and paid all the election personnel (returning officers, clerks, etc) without reference to the opposition;

7) the ECK generally oversaw the voting, counting, and tallying of votes in all the constituencies;

8) thousands of observers, voting clerks, party agents, the media, and voters observed every step of the voting and tallying processes at the constituency level—and not one of them was reported as complaining about ballot stuffing or any such shenanigan at that stage;

9) party agents signed off on the results announced at these polling stations;

10) the returning officers announced the results in front of all present as soon as the counting and tallying were completed at the constituency level—that is how those elected knew immediately that they had won and could celebrate—and the results were also recorded by voters, party agents, election observers, and the mass media.

The process that I have outlined above was more or less the same everywhere in the country, except in a few locations such as Starehe, Kamukunji, and Kajiado North, where there were complaints.

(Later, opposition party agents and observers reported that they were denied access to the tallying areas and denied the chance to sign the now infamous Forms 16, 16A and 17A, at various constituencies, particularly in the PNU strongholds of Central and Eastern Provinces; PNU in turn claimed its agents were intimidated out of ODM strongholds in Nyanza.)

Interestingly, the presidential results in some of the PNU strongholds were held back while civic and parliamentary results were announced.

It therefore boggles the mind why the government would turn around and expect people to believe that ODM could have found a way to also rig the vote—not after all the multiple assurances that it (government), the ECK, and the state security apparatus gave to the public in the period leading up to the vote.

To me a more plausible explanation is that if any ballot stuffing occurred, it was carried out by someone with full access to the system. And who could this be if not the government and ECK?

I think whoever did the stuffing (if that is how it was done) did it in collusion with the ECK or inflated figures from selected opposition areas deliberately (after all the rigging claims are based on supposed “suspiciously” high voter turnouts in certain ODM strongholds, something that could easily have been achieved by inflating numbers) in order to find an excuse to cry foul in the event that their own rigging was discovered.

Unfortunately the international community/ observers are doing Kenyans a great disservice by repeating these claims, without any attempt to analyze the facts, in their enthusiasm to appear neutral.

When all is said and done, the government/PNU complaints are just a red herring.

@Jose:
No, not really. All I’m saying is that based on what the government (or PNU) and ECK said when ODM and ODM-K claimed there were signs that rigging would occur–remember claims that certain people were doctoring voters’ registers and that some people were printing parallel ballot papers in Belgium?–the onus is on the government and ECK to explain how ODM could have breached the system to rig. When and where did the breach occur? Where did they get plain ballot papers to mark and stuff into ballot boxes? How did they know what the ballot papers looked like, such that they could make them indistinguishable from the genuine item, given that the government had them under lock and key until the voting day? Why did the government insist that NOBODY was printing extra ballots and that even if they did print fake ballots, the system was impregnable and they could NOT introduce them into the system? Go back through your newspapers and you’ll find all these assurances–right up to the time that some APs were being killed on allegations that they had been sent to stuff ballots, at which time the government/PNU/ECK again insisted that there was no way that was true because there was no way anybody could reach the system!

If my memory serves me right, we have a very efficient NSIS that would normally smell out even the tiniest whiff of such shenannigans and nip them in the bud (unless someone can convince me that NSIS has become useless).

So now are we supposed to believe that all the assurances were merely lip service? If we believe that, then what else are we being told/assured of today that will turn out not to be mere lip service, lies, or bravado?

I’m not claiming that any side is right and the other wrong; that is why I asked the ECK to shed light on the issue. Of course if you know any better please enlighten me.

Kenyans who live in the US please contact your Senator and arge them to support the Kenyan bill mentioned in the link below. No ODM Pentagon member and PNU government official and their families should be allowed to travel to the US until they show a concerted effort to stop the killings and find a solution to the current crisis. ! PLEASE CONTACT YOUR SENATOR!!!

http://www.nationmedia.com/dailynation/nmgcontententry.asp?category_id=1&newsid=115623

May kibaki’s soul never rest in peace, until the Souls of those duly departed because of his money and power hunger get their revenge in the afterlife.