Raila arrested, Ruto shot? - Kenyan Election 2007

Latest from a source within the ODM camp (unverified)

Raila and Ruto arrested after the press conference where they announced the alternative inauguration for tomorrow morning. They were taken to hospital by the security forces to be “treated for shock”. Message went on to say that Ruto had been shot but not fatally.

Planning an alternative inauguration can be interpreted as treason which would explain the security forces heavy approach (if this is true). During the press conference Raila introduced an army Major who stated that the armed forces are behind Raila. Our military is divided.

This is unverified. It is from a source who has been credible thus far.

Previous we had heard that Raila was “under the care of the army for his own safety” and that Raila would spend the night at the US Embassy due to concerns about his safety.

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|  Email This Post | 22 comments Sunday, December 30th, 2007 at 10:41 PM

ODM plan rival inaguration - Kenya Election 2007

Information that is circulating: ODM have rejected the Presidential Result and will hold an alternative Presidential inauguration for Raila Odinga in the next few days. More news as I get it.

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|  Email This Post | Add comment Sunday, December 30th, 2007 at 9:18 PM

Kibaki steals the election then attacks democracy - Kenyan Election 2007

The symbolism could not be greater. Five years ago as Kenya celebrated the election of a democratically elected President Kibaki Uhuru Park in central Nairobi was full to the brim as over a million Kenyans came together in song and jubilation to witness the swearing in of their new president. Today, as Nairobi burns with the anger of a democratic vote disregarded and stolen by a now illegitimate “President” Kibaki, in a quickly rushed ceremony broadcast without any warning Kibaki was sworn in as president in front of the cabinet the Kenyan electorate rejected so emphatically. 5 years ago, a million plus Kenyans applauded and cheered, today a political dinosaurs such as Nyachae and Kombo clapped as they tried to outdo each other in showing their loyalty and eagerness to please in the hope that after being rejected by the electorate they would give a lifeline into parliament as nominated MPs.

I do not blame him. There is no way Kibaki can face the Kenyan public at Uhuru Park. No way. By hiding in StateHouse behind his security detail Kibaki confirms that he is a virtually a prisoner in his own country forever destined to interact with Kenyans behind a living jail cell of men in black suits armed to the teeth.

Meanwhile Kenya is toppling over the edge. Kibera is on fire. I passed a collection of police lorries collecting near the City Mortuary round about all the cops dressed in full riot gear waiting for the situation to calm down before they moved in. Along Ngong Road past Jamhuri park groups of people have started gathering around corners. Everyone is waiting. The whole place is like a gas cylinder awaiting a flint to set it off. In Kibera it has already gone off, from Kakamega I hear reports of houses burning, the same in Kapsabet.

Now Kibaki’s team shows its true colours. Just as ODM were about to give a live press conference they were suddenly taken off air. 10 minutes later Nation TV announce that the Minister for Internal Security, Michuki, has banned all live broadcasts. Kibaki in his rushed inauguration speech said he wants to come together as brothers and sisters for national unity. What an insult to the intelligence of Kenyans. Strangely Kibaki supporters have already started peddling the old excuse, that he does not know the draconian measures his ministers are taking. WHAT? The man was sworn in an hour ago and you say he already doesn’t know what is going on? Is this the democratic space Kibaki keeps talking about?

Meanwhile Kibera burns and people loose their lives. Because one old man and his cronies refused to believe Kenyans have rejected them.

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|  Email This Post | 7 comments Sunday, December 30th, 2007 at 8:34 PM

Something is not right – Kenya Election 2007

In my post on the vote counting procedure I stated that, “once the vote has been placed in the ballot box it is next to impossible to do something dodgy.” Perhaps I spoke to soon. To put it least dramatically, something is seriously not right here.

As an example let me use the constituency of Ikolomani in western Kenya as it is neither in Kibaki’s stronghold of Central province or Raila’s stronghold of Nyanza. I also know that constituency relatively well. Ikolomani is one of the constituencies where the Electoral Commission of Kenya has yet to release the results of the presidential vote.

The constituencies around Ikolomani, Shinyalu and Butere all voted overwhelmingly for ODM at civic, parliamentary and presidential level. Ikolomani however re-elected Dr Bonny Khalwale who was standing on a New Ford Kenya ticket which is part of the coalition of parties supporting Kibaki. This result has been largely accepted by the people of Ikolomani despite the race being exceeding tight.

Now in my observation of the vote counting process and according to Electoral Commission of Kenya (ECK) procedures ballots are counted in the following order: presidential, parliamentary, civic. The ECK announced the parliamentary result of Ikolomani late on Friday/early Saturday. This raises a few interesting points:

1. As the presidential ballots were counted before the parliamentary ballots and all results are sent from the constituency to the ECK at the same time, why is it that the ECK announced the parliamentary results of Ikolomani two days ago yet have not announced the presidential results which they got at the same time?
2. The parliamentary race in Ikolomani was pretty tight. This made it necessary for the results to go through various recounts to satisfy everybody. In short this was not a straight-forward constituency yet they had results by Friday evening. Why is that constituencies where the parliamentary race was much more straight forward have also delayed in sending in their presidential tallies yet have eagerly shared their parliamentary tallies.
3. Could it be because the people of Ikolomani, like many around Kenya, split their ballot? In this example voting for ODM at presidential level, yet PNU at parliamentary level?

Another more general point, the ECK says one of the problems it faces is that it can not trace around some of the Returning Officers who have the final presidential results of the constituencies they are yet to announce. The ECK chairman said yesterday that many of them had turned off their phones or were not answering their phones.

I can tell you right now that the Returning Officer for a constituency is not small, insignificant person. Of the people I know who have been Returning Officers in the past, one was the chairman of the Headmasters Association (in short the Headmaster of the Headmasters of all the secondary schools in the country), another was the Head of Finance of a large petroleum company, and another was a former very senior civil servant. These are not people who can simply disappear off the map by simply switching off their phones. These are pillars in their respective communities. You can not tell me that they can not be found in 48 hours. Heck if I disappeared in shags I would be found within 12 hours easily, how is it these guys are completely MIA?

A final point, according to official figures released by the ECK at 14.30 on Saturday Odinga had 3,880,053 votes against Kibaki’s 3,842,051 giving Raila a lead of 38,002. Now check out what the Office of the Government Spokesman has on its website:

Kibaki: 2,394,099 and Raila: 2,388,721 giving Kibaki a lead of 5378. Now if that is not inflammatory and irresponsible I do not know what is.

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|  Email This Post | 5 comments Sunday, December 30th, 2007 at 2:16 PM

Blessed are the peacemakers - Kenyan Election 2007

Last night Kenya was on edge. For the first time I started doubting my own deeply held belief that this election would be largely peaceful. News from around the country of serious looting in Kisumu, violent protests in Kakamega, Eldoret, Mombasa, parts of Nairobi under siege were all very disturbing.

There was some fracas along Ngong Road in Nairobi which (combined with the looting of supermarkets elsewhere in the country) led to Nakumatt (understandably) closing all their branches across the city. Kenyans (and Nairobians in particular) have become used to the culture of retail convenience. When people turned up at Nakumatt Junction found it was closed went to Nakumatt Prestige, found it was closed, panic started checking in. Uchumi, perhaps sensing the opportunity to make a killing, lowered some of their shutters but stayed open. Within an hour word had spread that everything was closed apart from Uchumi, the place was PACKED!

People were buying everything. Bread, eggs, canned food, cereal, lots and lots of alcohol, but nobody stopped at the hardware section. With rumours weeks ago about people buying pangas in bulk (big sharp machetes used mainly for gardening) everybody was watching the panga and knives section. I wonder what would have happened if a person tried to buy a set of pangas.

Because Uchumi was packed and everywhere else was closed, the small shops at petrol stations which have been largely deserted since the arrival of 24 hour supermarket shopping were also full. I queued for 20 minutes to try and buy some Safaricom airtime only to be told the only ones available were KSH 50.00 which explains why this post is coming to you this morning rather than last night.

Things were not helped with the flurry of irresponsible txt messages flying from phone to phone. One alleged that PNU bigwigs (Kibaki’s party) had mobilized Administration Police across the city with orders to torch slums, another one alleged that ODM (Odinga’s party) had bussed it battle harden troops from South Sudan ready to cause chaos across Nairobi. And on and on it went. Strangely with everyone assured that “their side” had made contingency plans for violence everyone was slightly reassured. Now I know what it must have felt like at the height of the cold war when both sides had the ability to completely destroy each other so no one made a move. A weird illusion of peace as violence is balanced.

It is not all bad news however; together with the violent, rumour filled txts came the calls for peace. Soon my phone book was over flowing with peace messages many of them religious. At midnight thousands of Kenyans knelt in pray in a prayer chain. Calls for prayers came from all over even the blogosphere. For sure churches and other places of worship are full to the brim this morning.

I know that as I write this a meeting of influential but non political Kenyans from across tribal, gender and religious lines is being planned with the aim of convincing all big three presidential candidates to appear together in public and make a joint appeal for peace. (This effort may be overtaken by events as all eyes are now on TV screens as the Electoral Commission of Kenya is about to give a press conference where presidential results are expected).

I leave you with a txt message I received this morning, it also leads as one of the longest txt messages I have ever received:

An Open Appeal: For the record the MP-Elect from my constituency in which I voted, Ikolomani, is from New-Ford Kenya, a PNU affiliate party, and this has been taken peacefully by people because there was OPEN fairness even though almost as many voted ODM. Please let us note that Biblically God promotes peace when founded on God’s standard of truth and justice. Let us pray for truth/justice and fairness to prevail amongst all decision-makers and in all our hearts in the nation as the foundation for building peace now and forever. We note that the previous regime’s (Moi’s) “peace” legitimized oppression and unfair deals. People and God reject that and this negatively tainted whatever was done. Let us who have worked in Rais Kibaki’s government give a legacy worthy of our National Anthem. Thank you for praying. God bless. Please pass this on.

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|  Email This Post | Add comment Sunday, December 30th, 2007 at 11:12 AM

Citizen Media - Kenyan Election 2007

A big thank you to all Kenyans both here at home and abroad who are blogging this election. Whether it is the live blogging of results or sharing your thoughts and fears it is good to hear so many voices. Thank you also to all of you who have left comments and sent emails over the election coverage on this blog or on something you may have read on KenyaUnlimited. Comments and interaction are an integral part of the blogging process; your efforts are also appreciated.

What we are doing is revolutionary in terms of local news coverage and in generating local web content; imagine the impact we will have on coverage of the 2012 election. There are a couple of reasons why this blogging effort is important:

• We are showing that citizen media is alive and well in Kenya.
• We are showing that Kenyans regard the Kenyan citizen media is a valid source of information.
• We are showing that citizen media can react and publish faster than the main stream media in Kenya.
• We are showing that you do not have to be “on the inside” within the ECK nerve centre at KICC or within a major media house to report on what is going on with the election with authority.
• We are showing that the internet is a valid tool for spreading and sharing information.
• We are showing that the Kenyan street is aware and articulate.
• We are creating local and original web content.

And perhaps most importantly (for our brothers and sister in the main stream media)

• We are showing that citizen media and the main stream media can not only co-exist but even compliment each other.

Now a call to arms literary rather than literally, if you have a blog write your thoughts about this election. Whether you are in Kenya or not, whether you are Kenyan or not. We need more voices from the wanainchi writing about their country. If you have left a comment or sent an email and do not have a blog, please start one. If you can send an email believe me you have enough technical skill to write and post a blog post. Register at WordPress.com for free and you’ll be on your way. Then register on the Kenyan Blogs Webring (KBW), which is also free, and you will have a wide readership from your first post.

This is very important for those of you who have asked me to remove certain KBW members from the webring or remove their posts from the KenyaUnlimited Aggregator as you do not agree with what they are saying. Many of you already have own blogs yet I notice that your own blogs are silent on the issues you raise with me. If someone writes something you disagree with by all means let your voice be heard as you present your counter view, and the best place to do this is on your own blog (which if you are a KBW member will appear on the same aggregator where the post you objected to appeared).

Finally, I have been getting many requests asking if you can reproduce the content on this blog in your newspapers, aggregators etc. Everything on my blog is published under a Creative Commons Attribution 3.0 Unported Licence.

This means you are free to:

• Share — to copy, distribute and transmit the work
• Remix — to adapt the work

Under the following conditions:

• Attribution. You must attribute the work to me. A link to the original blog post with a line saying written by Mentalacrobatics or written by Daudi Were should be fine.

I think that is fair. You can read a short version of the license here or if you are very particular about these kinds of things you can read a full version here.

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|  Email This Post | 3 comments Sunday, December 30th, 2007 at 10:24 AM

ECK needs a press team - Kenyan Election 2007

The Electoral Commission of Kenya (ECK) needs a strong and experienced press officer and press team to support the ECK chairman, Samuel Kivuitu, or if the ECK have such a team already he needs to let them do their job.

What is the point in having the ECK chairman read out random figures from polling stations around the country in the middle of the night? This can be handled by a press team. Then once we have news of presidential results the ECK chairman flanked by his commissioners can read those results. I also feel that the ECK should let a spokesperson handle the press briefings as Kivuitu’s rambling at press conferences are becoming increasingly shambolic.

Early this afternoon for example, he insulted the Chinese (by saying that anyone who attempts to rig the election will probably only be able to find refuge in China as the west would never grant them asylum), he stated that returning officers who haven’t not returned results should be ready for death by mob, he told journalists off for not being religious as they were reluctant to answer his call for someone to say a prayer at another briefing a few days ago. And all this was in the 5 minutes I caught of the press conference.

To be fair we all say a lot of things that in hindsight can be embarrassing and Kivuitu who has been working flat out with his team and must be exhausted and thus less cautious than normal. This is exactly why a dedicated press team in necessary for such events that last 3 or 4 days.

Another example, the ECK officials at KICC are eager to repeat that they have no idea why results from some areas are yet to arrive (52 constituencies are still to report). They say this over and over again. That is not good enough and a experienced press officer would tell them that they need some information from the ground which can explain what is happening as the tension in Kenya is rising rapidly.

All that said Kivuitu has some random jokes and insights that come with being a mzee that are quite funny like when he told off reporters for running to their computers to do simple sums instead of using mental arithmetic, I nearly turned to look around as that is exactly what my father is always telling me!

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|  Email This Post | 3 comments Saturday, December 29th, 2007 at 2:07 PM

Tension as we wait - Kenyan Election 2007

Nairobi is calm but tension is high as everyone waits with baited breath for the Electoral Commission of Kenya (ECK) to announce the results of the presidential poll. There were reports of street battles in central Nairobi along Tom Mboya and Moi Avenues but by the time I got there the streets were empty.

After five days of public holidays covering the Christmas and election period I expected to find downtown Nairobi full of people trying to conduct some business (banking, dry cleaning, household shopping etc.) Instead this is what I got:

Empty streets, boarded up businesses, closed shops. The tension in central Nairobi is unbelievable. People are even talking in whispers. Kenyatta International Conference Centre which is acting as the nerve centre for the ECK is still a fortress.

I have been receiving txt messages all morning which state the ECK is planning on rigging the election. The txts end with the plea that “We need 1 million patriotic Kenyans to march to KICC NOW!” These messages have started to irritate me. I am dealing with them by immediately calling the person who sent it and asking them, “which route are you using into town? I want to join you in the protest.” Of course you will find that the clown is sat at home probably still in their pyjamas. I then give them a quick lecture telling them NOT to send me txt messages imploring me to attend a protest they are not willing to attend themselves and to contact me only when they have reached town. I doubt I will be hearing from them again!

Let me state right now that anyone thinking of marching on KICC better have a plan B. The security forces out there are not in the mood for anything. (It is telling that today’s small protest happened all the way on Tom Mboya and not near KICC, clearly even rowdy people have a sense of self preservation.)

There is so much to talk about this election and I will do that once all the results have come in. The two big stories now are:
The Kenyan public have rejected Kibaki’s cabinet emphatically.

The Kenyan electorate has a habit of kicking out the occasional cabinet minister. What is different this time is that it is big names the so called regional “kings” who can gurantee you a block of seats in parliament that have been sent packing. Roads minister Nyachae who has been in politics for over 40 years and politicsl King of Kisii is out. Kombo, Minister of Local Government and political King of the Bukusu, has also been overthrown. Vice President Moody Awori who has been MP for 25 years was beaten. Education Minister Saitot,i a former minister of Finance and Vice President ,was also sent packing. Even in central province, Kibaki’s stronghold, the electorate had no respect for this cabinet. Defence minister Karume, Kibaki’s closest political ally, was kicked out. Information and Communication minister Mutahi Kagwe was also shown the door. In all at least 20 cabinet members have been rejected by the electorate.

The second big story is that former President Moi is increasingly the angel of political death. The self proclaimed Professor of Politics is now a political disaster as anyone he campaigns for ends up soundly beaten. In 2002 his project was Uhuru Kenyatta’s presidential bid which ended in disaster. This time round he tried to set up a little fiefdom with three of his sons running in adjacent constituencies, all three lost! Including Gideon who was the incumbent in his father’s old seat. On top of that men who used to hold the fate of the nation in their slimly hands, former powerful figures such as Biwott were destroyed at the ballot box. The biggest causality of Moi’s kiss of death looks like it will be Kibaki as Ralia takes the lead in the presidential polls. Moi had tears in his eyes in 2002 when his project failed, I hope he is weeping wherever he is sitting now.

Meanwhile Kenyans wait to hear of the man who will be president.

More pictures on my Flickr page

Check out AfroMusing’s and Kenyan Pundit’s coverage for the latest.

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|  Email This Post | 4 comments Saturday, December 29th, 2007 at 1:34 PM

The count - Kenyan election 2007

The final part of the electoral process that takes part at the polling station is the counting of the votes. This is a change from the previous practice where the ballot boxes were transported to a central location in each constituency for counting. It was during this transit phase that massive rigging would take place. Ballot boxes would mysteriously double or halve between polling station and count station, sometimes a whole van of ballot boxes would be replaced. A change in the law now means that counting takes place at the polling station once voting has come to an end. The count takes places in front of a team of observers from the political parties and monitors.

First an Electoral Commission of Kenya (ECK) official explains to everybody the exact procedure for counting. She also takes time to point out the different roles the various ECK officials who are counting will play.

monitors and observers listening to the ECK Official

The ECK official then requests a volunteer from amongst the observers and monitors to cut the cords that have kept the ballot box closed.

Once the cords are cut they are not thrown away but kept securely in case they need to be examined later, for example if there is a suspicion that they had been tampered with previously.

The lid is then removed from the ballot box and displayed to show that there are no ballots stuck onto it.

The ballot box is then emptied of all the ballots on to a table under the watchful eye of everybody. The empty box is then displayed for everyone to confirm that it is indeed empty.

The empty ballot box is then returned to the police officer present who guards over it as well as the yet to opened ballot boxes.

Counting then begins. An ECK official picks up one ballot at a time and reads the vote while displaying it to everyone to confirm whether or not they agree. Once agreement is reached the ballot is placed in the pile of that particular candidate and the next ballot is picked up and the process repeated.

This process is a much better system that the previous one of transporting ballot boxes to a central location to be counted. I can confidently say that once the vote has been placed in the ballot box it is next to impossible to do something dodgy. There are simply too many eyes watching every single move during the count. And they watch EVERY single move. It is next to impossible to introduce a ballot that was not in box to start of with and it is even harder to try to sneak away with some marked ballot papers.

The only way to rig elections in Kenya these days is to ensure that your opponents do not vote at all. That is why so much emphasis has been made on ensuring registration is fair, that polling stations do not change at the last minute, and great lengths are taken to ensure that voter’s registers are not tampered with. Because once the ballot has been cast, it will be counted.

That’s all from me today on the day Kenyans went to the polls in record numbers to show they care about their democracy.

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|  Email This Post | 3 comments Friday, December 28th, 2007 at 12:54 AM

24 hour news radio – Kenyan Election 2007

This election has highlighted again that Kenya seriously and urgently needs an independent 24 hour news/current affairs radio station available nationally. Preferably on FM! Yes we have many independent 24 hour music stations and religious stations, now we need a hard hitting news/current affairs station. Something like the BBC’s radio 5 Live.

It is not sufficient to get a quick 3 minute update every hour or so from the music stations’ “team on the ground”. They just repeat what the official news conferences say and add very little insight or analysis. I feel sorry for the reporters, how much depth can you explore in 1.5 minutes leaving 1.5 minutes for a Q and A session?

Thank goodness for the BBC World Service which not only dispatched reporters around the country but also made the Kenyan election the lead story for the day (until the assassination of Benazir Bhutto (RIP) took over as the lead story). A lot of information I am using today is coming from the BBC World Service.

I haven’t had much time to check out the TV coverage. But with TV penetration at 60% (pdf) and Pay TV (where a 24 hour news channel would probably lie) penetration at less than 1% of that 60%, while radio penetration is 90% it makes sense to use radio as the platform to keep the public informed.

If no such service exists by 2012 when we next go to the polls in a General Election perhaps the ECK can apply for a month long license to broadcast election related news to the country? Food for thought!

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|  Email This Post | 4 comments Thursday, December 27th, 2007 at 5:57 PM

Kibera displays her maturity – Kenyan Election 2007

During today’s General Election in Kenya the moment that had the most potential to spark disorder arrived when ODM presidential candidate, Raila Odinga, turned up to vote only to find that his name was not on the Voter’s Register. As he has been registered to vote in Kibera for over a decade and that you have to be a registered voter in order to vie for the presidency it was a ridiculous situation for the Electoral Commission of Kenya (ECK) to find itself in. Especially as ODM have repeatedly claimed that there has been a serious illegal attempt to lock Raila out of the Langata constituency seat (in which Kibera lies) as this would bar him from the presidency were he to win the presidential vote as one of the sections of the Kenyan constitution that does not make sense requires the president to be an elected member of parliament. If there was one polling station in the country you would expect the ECK to ensure everything would go smoothly it would have to be this one!

Raila made a quick dash to the ECK where he was assured it was technical glitch and the correct Voter’s Register would be made available at the polling station.

The problem affected some voters whose surnames start with letters O, P, Q, R, A and W in the incident that forced the ECK chairman, Mr Samuel Kivuitu to visit the centre. These letters are significant bearers of names with these initials hail from communities where the ODM presidential candidate enjoys a large following.

The international and national media descended on Kibera as “Sub Saharan Africa’s Largest Slum” (™) would surely explode in a ball of violence.

Well it didn’t happen. Tensions were high but as word spread that Raila had finally managed to vote at 12.30 tensions eased; people continued queuing and continued voting. Many expressed that the whole drama was cooked up in order to get Kibera burning but they would not fall for that trick. Many presiding officers are talking of expecting a turnout of around 80%! Compared to 57% 5 years ago this is a massive leap.

The people of Kibera have decided that the ballot will speak for them. No doubt this will disappoint some people, however, it is yet another reason why I am extremely proud to be Kenyan today.

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|  Email This Post | Add comment Thursday, December 27th, 2007 at 5:03 PM

Voting experience - Kenyan election 2007

Election fever has gripped Kenya as long queues stretch out of polling stations. I passed a queue from the polling station at Kilimani Primary School that stretched all the way to Yaya Centre. The one pictured below was around 1 kilometre long from Lavington Primary all the way down to James Gichuru road. People waited around 5 hours in the queue before they could vote.

Queue at polling station

Same queue as above around the corner

I arrived at my polling station at St. Mary’s School at 07.25 approximately one and half hours later than my plan to be there at 06.00. Delay was mainly because Safaricom GPRS would not let me upload my previous post. At Saint Mary’s the first thing that struck me was the queues were much shorter than the ones I had seen at other polling stations on my way in.

Voting queues at St. Mary’s School, Nairobi

So here is the first lesson of this election: choose your polling station carefully! Two polling stations next to each other in the same ward can have a huge difference in terms of registered voters.

The polling station had five separate voting points. We were arranged in five queues alphabetically according to last name. Although some queues seemed shorter than others they quickly filled up to more or less even things up showing the officials had calculated the numbers for each queue correctly.

One thing I noticed was that no one was wearing any political party merchandise and the conversations in the queue were distinctly non political. Rather than being divided, by queuing together to exercise our civic duty and responsibility we were bound together in a sort of patriotic camaraderie. We all felt it was worthwhile to take part in the vote and that ultimately was what mattered. Of course it helped that the polling station opened on time, voting was taking place and the queues were moving.

The way the system worked was as follows

When you got to the front of the queue you handed over your National Identification card/Passport and your voter’s card to the first official (1) who checks to make sure that the details on the two documents match and he then passed the documents to the second official (2) who checks that the name on the voter’s card appears in the Voter’s Registrar. Satisfied that I am entitled to vote at this particular polling station they pass my documents on to a third (3) and fourth (4) person who hand me my ballots which consisted of three sheets in total, one sheet for presidential, one sheet for parliamentary, one sheet for civic candidates each one a different colour paper, red/pink, yellow and blue respectively.

The Presidential ballot was printed in colour and had a passport size photo of each of the nine candidates next to their name, party name and party symbol. The parliamentary ballot was printed in colour as well but did not have the photos. The civic ballot was printed in plain black on blue paper.

Once you collected your ballots you left your ID and Voter’s Card with the last official (5) as you made your way to the voting booth to mark your ballot. The voting booth was a table partitioned into three using cardboard. Simple and functional. You had enough privacy to mark your ballot without your neighbour seeing your choices.

Once you were done you then cast your ballots into three boxes, one for presidential ballots, one for parliamentary, one for civic. Each box had a label on the top to ensure that you put the correct ballot in the correct box.

Once you cast your ballot you went back to the desk to collect your documents from the official (5) and for the all important ritual of dipping your finger in the purple dye which signifies you have voted and stops people from voting twice.

All of this process is watched by an eager team of observers from (amongst others) Kenyan civil society, agents from each of the political parties, representatives of religious groups, the African Union, The Commonwealth, The European Union.

Disabled and elderly voters went straight to the front of the queue where a seat was reserved for them as their documents were checked before being allowed to vote.
And that was that. I was finished by 0910. 1 hour and 40 minutes.

I then started driving around Nairobi to see what else was going on.

Argwings Kodeck Road – empty

Valley Road – empty

Kenyatta Avenue – empty

(These empty roads are only relevant to people who spend hours in morning rush hour as I do! Hehe).
In the city centre most businesses and shops were closed. From major multinationals to small kiosks. All closed. The only places open were food places such as Java and Dorman’s coffee houses and some fast food joints.

The polling station at Holy Family Basilica had the longest queue I had seen today. For those of you who know Nairobi the queue starts at Post Bank on Koinange Street and heads straight across towards the gate of Holy Family. Then it takes a right turn, all the way around the GPO building, past Nyayo house, onto Kenyatta Avenue, back on to Koinange towards Holy Family, then it turns right again but this time goes down towards Intercontinental, passes between City Hall and KICC, back up onto Standard Street, along the back of City Hall around the corner, into the gate of Holy Family to the forecourt where you are then finally split into the lines alphabetically. That queue is easily 3+ kilometres. I talked to some ladies who joined the queue at 05.00 and at 10.30 were only around halfway through the queue. 5.5 hours and they were nowhere near close to voting! Remember my whole process took less than 2 hours, I repeat choice of polling station is VERY important! They sent me for coffee and settled in for the long haul. They were not going to leave without voting.

I then went to a polling station at Uhuru Gardens Primary School in Langata constituency. Here there was a lot of tension in the air. People had been queuing from 04.00 and the ballot boxes did not arrive until a few minutes to 09.00. A friend who joined the queue the same time I joined the queue at St. Mary’s had not moved forward at all. The queue was just starting to move when I got there at 11.00. They finally voted at 14.00.

This shows just how different voting experiences can be across one city on the same day. Outside Nairobi in Kisumu bars and nightclubs remained shut on Wednesday night so that people would be sober to vote on Thursday and in Kakamega bar are refusing to sell alcohol to people who haven’t voted!

The Electoral Commission of Kenya has set up camp in KICC and, my goodness, that building is surrounded by the most serious bunch of military personnel armed with everything from heavy fire power to serious looking rungus.

They won’t smile, they won’t even blink, they just look at you with a very mean stare. I can tell you right now that only the ridiculously brave (or foolish) would try to cause any fracas anywhere near KICC today. This is the closest I was brave enough to get to take a photo!

More photos on my Flickr pagem.

Please remember to use the kenyaelection07 tag on your blog posts and photos.

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|  Email This Post | 9 comments Thursday, December 27th, 2007 at 4:41 PM

Kenya decides – Kenyan election 2007

6am is fast approaching, dawn is breaking, and Kenyans are already making their way to their polling stations to take part in the general election.

No doubt the last few weeks have been hot, politically and literally. Rallies have been attended, promises have been made, speeches have been revised, accusations and counter accusations thrown.

Despite the political heat there are many signs that we are a rapidly maturing democracy. I have seen people from across the political divide sit and debate the merits and demerits of their candidates vigorously but without the traditional violence. The electorate is aware and on its toes for any irregularities. There is not much you can sneak past the Kenyan public these days.
That is not to say that problems, big problems, do not remain. I have been dismayed by the treatment of many women up and down the country punished cruelly for exercising their democratic right to stand for election.

However, I take refuge in the knowledge that as I type this at 5.15am thousands of Kenyans are already walking towards polling stations, hundreds of thousands will queue up for hours to vote, supermarkets and shopping malls are closed so that workers can vote. Many, like me, had taken steps to ensure they are not disenfranchised on a technicality. My voters card, together with my National Identity card have been well hidden in my equivalent of a bank vault (inside a lockable pouch, in a shoe box, behind a speaker – hehe). We understand the importance of today. Like many I will not be voting “three piece” that is to say my choices for president, member of parliament and councillor will not come from the same party. Let those we elect learn to work together when they get to parliament.

I do not believe (and pray) that the streets of Kenya will be flowing with blood as some predict. There will not be running battles across the country.

I will be blogging and posting pictures from around Nairobi today and I hope other bloggers out there will be doing the same from wherever they are. Today is the day. Let’s make it count.

I suggest the following tag for technorati, flickr etc for all election related posts: Kenyaelection07

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|  Email This Post | 2 comments Thursday, December 27th, 2007 at 6:34 AM