ODM rally on - Kenya Election 2007

(I wrote this post on the morning of Thursday 3rd of January but due to internet connectivity problems can only post it now. It has been overtaken by events somewhat, but as I sat down and wrote it I insist that I be allowed to post it!)

The uneasy calm that settled over Nairobi for the past two days has been replaced by overbearing tension once again. Everybody knows that how today plays out will be vital for how our country will move forward. This is because today is when ODM is planning on holding a massive rally at Uhuru Park in the middle of Nairobi.

Under Kenyan law if you want to hold a public rally you have to notify the local police at least 48 hours in advance. You do not have to apply for a license; you are required to notify the police. The rally can be banned for two reasons,

1. The venue has already been booked by another group
2. On national security grounds

It is for this second reason that the police (allegedly working on orders from the Minister of Internal Security) have banned today’s rally. The ban on this rally is a very bad idea. This is why:

Immediately after Kibaki was hurriedly sworn in on the 30th of December, ODM called for a rally on the 31st of December which was immediately banned. As the 48 hours notice had not been given, as the tensions in the country were very high and as we did not even know if the ODM leaders had been arrested or not, ODM decided to cancel that rally and scheduled today’s rally instead.

It is important, especially as the country is divided, that as PNU has grabbed the instruments of State, that ODM be allowed to meet. By banning all ODM activity the government is sending the message that it considers ODM a nuisance at the best and illegitimate at the worst, which is VERY dangerous especially when a large section of the country feels the president seized power illegitimately himself.

Secondly, everyone recognises that the country is split in half politically. Tensions are high everywhere. Sitting in Kenyan right now is like sitting in a Pressure Cooker. The pressure keeps rising and rising. This tension needs an outlet and there are various outlets that it can express itself in. One such outlet is allowing ODM supporters to see their leaders in person, hear them talk, and express their frustrations. This would significantly cool the emotional temperatures in the country. An experienced peace mediator and negotiator told me yesterday that if the rally was allowed to go on today and if it passed peacefully, tensions in the country could drop by over 50%. If you close this outlet for the tension and frustrations, then other outlets such as violence and looting may be employed instead. For the sake of stability and security this rally should go ahead.

Thirdly, with the ban on live broadcasts (which should also be lifted immediately) it is important that ODM leaders are given a forum through which they can express themselves directly to their supporters. ODM has at least 3 times as many Members of Parliament as any other party, ODM is the largest political force in the country. It is completely nonsensical to refuse them the opportunity to talk to their supporters.

However, this government seems to have taken leave of its sense. I am writing this in Golf Course/Ngummo on the edge of Kibera and as I was coming in this morning I could see lorries of policemen being deployed around us (to try and keep the crowds from Kibera from attending the rally). The water cannons are out with people determined to break through them, the crowd has already clashed with the police on Ngong Road. Unlike Monday today people will reach Uhuru Park. I hope that unlike Monday the police do not resort to using live ammunition.

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|  Email This Post | 1 comment Friday, January 4th, 2008 at 12:19 AM

What is going on – Kenya Election 2007

Like many Kenyans I watched with disbelief as my country slide into violence in the past week. One thing that shocked everyone was the speed at which things escalated. If you had told anyone one week ago as they stood in those long lines to vote that just seven days later the country would reeling from being plunged into violence, supermarkets would be forced to shut and there would be long queues for basics such as bread, that by Monday you would be paying KSH 90.00 for a KSH 50.00 and KSH 330.00 for a KSH 250 Safaricom airtime card, that a church with mainly women and children would be burnt to the ground killing around 30, most people would have thought you were mad. But that is what happened.

So what are people doing? One important thing to repeat is that no one expected this and therefore, understandably, no one had a contingency plan in place for the country going up in flames. However, once the shock subsided, Kenyans swung into action. The first response was humanitarian, getting food, clothing, blankets, medical professionals and medical supplies in. The humanitarian response comes first because if your house is on fire, you immediate priority is to stop it burning. Once you have stopped the fire then you can start examining whether it was petrol, diesel, a faulty gas cylinder etc that caused the fire. Right now we are still fighting the fire, literally and metaphorically. The biggest challenge, apart from the usual logistical challenges of mounting such an operation, was the lack of safe passage into the area as the security situation deteriorated. As the government was nowhere to be seen, the humanitarian response revolved around identifying and talking to local Community Based Organisations (CBOs) on the ground in areas of violence and using their networks to reach those affected. CBOs are very important in situations like this because, they know many of those who are perpetrating the violence personally, they know where tensions are the highest, they know key people who can help reduce those tensions, and they have distribution channels through which supplied can pass. It has been heartening to see big international NGOs recognise and work with small CBOs on the ground.

However, there was one big problem, communication. The severe lack of mobile phone airtime vouchers meant that information could not flow up from the ground. Many of us in Nairobi and other urban areas were running around looking for airtime vouchers which we can send directly to another mobile phone enabling them to make calls and send txts. Another problem was that as these CBOs are, as the name suggests, embedded in their community, many of them were caught up in the violence and were displaced themselves. So for example, some people had airtime on their phones, but couldn’t charge their phone batteries. It has to be repeated again that the government’s response has been pathetic thus far (that is a separate post on its own).

After the humanitarian response to the crisis, there is now movement for a political solution. Whatever you think about the long term roots of the current situation, economic inequality, ethnic tensions or even perhaps that everyone has been possessed by “devils” we all need to recognise that what sparked this violence was a political crisis and that crisis is that we have what many Kenyans consider to be an illegitimate president. That is not a partisan statement, even members of Kibaki’s cabinet say that we simply do not know who won the election.

Yesterday I attended a strategy meeting of concerned citizens a group pulled together by Ambassador Bethwel Kiplagat, George Wachira and former Armed Forces Generals Daniel Opande and Lazarus Sumbeiywo. This is a very powerful group, multi-racial, multi-ethnic, and across religious lines. The aim now is to get Raila and Kibaki to sit down and talk to discuss ways to stop the violence and to discuss political solutions to this crisis.

The aim of this post is not to explore the issues around the issues but to highlight that there is a sophisticated and dedicated response to the crisis in our country. We ALL have to recognise that there are some long term issues here that will have to be dealt with to hopefully stop this from ever happening again.

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|  Email This Post | 13 comments Thursday, January 3rd, 2008 at 9:11 AM

Site Administration

Thank you for all the messages. Yesterday was a pretty taxing day all around. Today has been much better as I have been running around participating in various peace initiatives that are taking place around the country. There are many patriots working to pull our country back from the brink and I believe these efforts will prevail, they have to. I will share my insights in my next posts.

Some administration information, in the past few days my blog has moved servers. (When I had scheduled it I was pretty sure that the 31st of December would be a quiet night on this blog – little did I know what fate had in store for us.) Apologies if your comment disappeared, it probably fell between the cracks. If you can see this you’re cool. Cheers.

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|  Email This Post | 3 comments Wednesday, January 2nd, 2008 at 7:02 PM

New Year’s Day - Kenya Election 2007

Apologies for silence today, I have been running around trying to keep tabs on the various initiatives to save our country. I will put up some posts in the next few hours. Right now I have to get home safe. One quick note:

Eldoret, ladies and gentlemen, things are very very bad in Eldoret. Homes being raided. Churches being burnt. Shops being looted. Murder and rape in broad daylight. Ethnic groups after each other. Let me tell you this is much much bigger than Kikuyu –v- Luo.
Pamoja.

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|  Email This Post | 22 comments Tuesday, January 1st, 2008 at 8:08 PM

ODM Press Conference – Kenya Election 2007

The ODM Pentagon members are alive and well, looking determined and serious. Following a meeting with the diplomatic corps at InterContinental Hotel, the Pentagon held a press conference at the hotel poolside. I arrived as Raila was talking; he appealed for calm and restraint on the streets and repeated his call for a mass protest on the Thursday the 3rd of January at Uhuru Park. The international press were there in full force. I expect news from the press conference will make many of the major news channels. (Thanks M4 for the tip!)

Tuju, Kibaki’s Foreign Minister who was amongst the senior cabinet members to lose their seat at the polls, gave a statement saying ODM should accept the result. (I think Tuju may also have been in the meeting with the diplomatic corps in his capacity as Foreign Minister although some of the local press at InterContinental whispered that he is not in Kibaki’s new cabinet due to be named any time soon.)

Here are some pictures:

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|  Email This Post | 22 comments Monday, December 31st, 2007 at 7:38 PM

Uncertainty grips Kenya – Kenya Election 2007

Uncertainty is the word I would use to describe the mood around Kenya this morning in contrast to fear and anger last night.

Where are the ODM pentagon members?

Last night’s report that they had been arrested and shot have been rubbished by the police. The police say they have not arrested any pentagon members. Which of course leaves the possibility that they were apprehended by another branch of the security forces for example the army. What I do know is that many senior opposition figures are attempting to contact them with no success, which in itself is pretty scary. Of course this could all be part of an elaborate plan to keep the location of the ODM Pentagon secret, especially from those of us outside the inner circle such as myself.

Those of us in Nairobi with a network of information are lucky. The further you get from Nairobi the wilder the rumours. For example, in Kakamega in western Kenya, the story circulating is that all the members of the Pentagon are in jail for treason/sedition and their lives are in danger.

I suspect that until Odinga appears on TV or at some other public forum these rumours will not die down.

I feel in the Kenya we have today (despite the chaos of the last two days) it would be impossible to keep the arrest, shooting or death of key opposition leaders secret for long. Someone somewhere would have leaked that information, which would have made its way into the media. For this (albeit flimsy reason) I feel that the Pentagon are safe. I hope I am right.

Will the rally at Uhuru Park go ahead?

Last night ODM announced a rally for 14.00 at Uhuru Park today where Raila would be sworn in as the “People’s President”. The police were quick to ban the rally stating that correct procedure had not been followed. In addition the police added that any member of the public attending the rally would be, “dealt with”. This has not stopped large groups of people trying to make their way to Uhuru Park out of Kibera only to be met by security forces with tear gas. For those who know the area, the area around Mimosa court was the scene of fighting amongst rival gangs, pro and anti government. Ngong Road earlier today was also a no go area.

If the Pentagon are unable to attend the rally for whatever reason then i doubt it will go ahead. The problem is with the media blackout no one knows whether the Pentagon will or will not attend and so may just end up going to Uhuru Park anyway. Having gambled a large part of their credibility in ensuring the rally does not go ahead I expect the police response to be vigorous.

Are supplies getting through?

I met a clever blogger stocking up on supplies at Uchumi Ngong Road a few days ago. I gave up standing in the long queue. Now I am regretting that decision. As supermarkets remain closed and major roads impassable there is concern that food and petrol supplies are low. One of the most valuable thing around here after food and fuel is mobile phone airtime cards, such is the scarcity! Kenya has also been on holiday for practically two weeks. People need to bank, businesses have to be run, the school year is due to start next week arrangements for that have to be made. Tomorrow should be a normal working day. Will it be?

What is the media going to do?

After yesterday’s directive restricting what the media can and can not broadcast the Media Council and Media Owner’s Association are meeting today to formulate their response. Will they obey the government’s order? Will they disregard it? Are they united? Are they divided?

Who will be Vice President?

Kibaki’s Party of National Unity only has 37 MPs most of who are from his Central Province. Logic suggests that there is no way you can have the president and vice president from the same tribe. In addition Kibaki needs to bring in many more political parties to have any semblance of a working parliamentary majority. This probably means that ODM-K are being courted heavily at the moment. Kalonzo, the leader of ODM-K and third in the presidential race, will probably demand nothing less than the Vice Presidency in return for his political support. This would not go down well with people who have been with Kibaki since day 1 of these campaigns.

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|  Email This Post | 5 comments Monday, December 31st, 2007 at 11:23 AM

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