New Book On Kenya’s December 2007 Election Crisis
The book, “Raila Odinga’s Stolen Presidency: Consequences And The Future Of Kenya” by Mr.
Okoth Osewe, takes the position that Hon. Raila Amolo Odinga, the Presidential candidate of the Orange Democratic Movement (ODM), won the December 2007 election in Kenya before agents working for Party of National Unity (PNU) stole the vote and installed Mr. Mwai Kibaki as President of Kenya at a secret ceremony at State House Nairobi.
The book gives a detailed account of Raila’s quest for Kenya’s Presidency over the years and pin-points why Hon. Mwai Kibaki, PNU’s Presidential candidate, lost election to Hon. Raila Odinga. The book walks the reader through the intricate and extra-ordinary process of the December 2007 election rigging and examines ECK and other documents related to election results to arrive at the conclusion that Raila won the vote.
The book, which is well researched and which runs over 350 pages, forms compact reading and Mr. Osewe hooks the reader on the subject matter with an engaging writing style as he seeks to provide a deeper insight into the stealing of Raila Odinga’s Presidency and to demolish the concept that the December 2007 Presidential election in Kenya was not rigged in favour of Kibaki.
It is a significant contribution and forms interesting reading to anybody seeking to deepen understanding on Kenya’s dodgy election which plunged the country into crisis, leading to the deaths of an estimated 1,500 Kenyans, wanton destruction of property and the creation of more than 350,000 internal refugees across the country. HOW TO ORDER:
“Our deepest fear is not that we are inadequate. Our deepest fear is that we are powerful beyond measure. It is our light, not our darkness, that most frightens us. We ask ourselves, who am I to be brilliant, gorgeous, talented, and fabulous? Actually, who are you not to be? Your playing small doesn’t serve the world” – Barack Obama.
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Congratulations Mr. Okoth Osewe on publishing a book that focuses on Kenya’s worst moment politically. The review suggests good reading and I look forward to buying it. You have done “a first” in the Kenya-Stockholm community and I hope the rest will emulate. Good luck.
Bwana Okoth Osewe,
This is the kind of scholarship Kenyans and other world citizens need to be treated to. For too long Kenyans have been fleeced by unpopular politicians who only believe in their power to buty voters, steal from the national booty and boast of being wealthy. Raila Amolo Odinga will go on the Giuness Book of Records as one who restrained Kenyans not to go to war when his victory had been stolen by peole who had never been known to win any well-contsted elections.
I’d like to review the book if your publishers would send me a copy; it touches on isues that I had harped on in my Undercurrents of Ethnic Conflcit in Kenya (Brill, 2002) and in a paper analysing the recent post-election violence.
I have read much of your writing before and this one will be yet another hit.
KSB:
Professor Oucha. No doubt the book needs to be reviewed by independent thinkers like youeself and I will contact my publisher to send you a copy as soon as possible. Thanks for your compliments. Osewe.
“The worst you can do to the truth is to cloth it in lies”. The truth is always absolute, no one can undo it. Go Osewe!
Congratulations for accomplished work.
It is more noble to win a victory so enormously celebrated as brother Obama`s than pseudo victory culminating to fatal fracas as we expirienced in our lovely country.
When will it be available? We look forward to reading it.
Opiyo J.
Jackie: Thanks. The book becomes available on December 15, 2008 and can be ordered in advance through http://www.mapambano.com. We could also link up and fix the order. Cheers. Osewe.
Hey Osewe,
Cheers!
That is a fantastic job you have accomplised. You need to be conglurated. You are a brain box in stockholm.You deserve it. When the book comes out l would like to buy the book as quickly as possible.
Once again conglaturations Good job.
NOTE: I will keep you posted. Osewe.
Without the consistent reminders, this is bound to repeat itself in the next general election 2012. You have done exemplary work, denied yourself sleep and researched the facts that has enabled you to put together that book. Expose the read in Kenya and expect more reactions. Congratulations for the time well spent.
NOTE: Thanks. Let us bild Kenya together in our own unique ways.
OSEWE You have proven the skeptics wrong and accomplished what most could think it`s impossible. There is no doubt that your achievements will be spoken of for some time to come and that the admiration for your accomplishments is felt by all of us within stockholm as well as Kenya
Please accept my heartiest congratulations for your success.
NOTE: Thanks Kip.
Congratulations Mr. Osewe, even if i have not seen nor read your book, i think you deserve praise for your work and just as i reminded you the other day, You have a role in God’s kingdom and if your book exposes the vice that took place during the last disputed General Elections in Kenya, then lets learn from our past mistakes and shape our future positively.Together we can, Yes i can…with God coming first, because thats where we get our strength. Bravo!
NOTE: Thanks Muirani. The struggle for a better Kenya continues.
Ondiek!!, i knew you would pull a fast one on everyone! but i am not suprised because you have always had it in you to accomplish whatever you set your mind to do, especially having been a prolific scribe for a long time.Well!,all your critics are left dumbfounded!! but do i say!!….to add on that ,your chosen subject suits the entire scenario perfectly,i know that you have always been very cautious when you embark on a quest that touches sensitive issues or subjects and i think you did your research well.I hereby request you humbly to sign the copy of the book in my name ones its out.KUDOS!!!!!!again. sasa!1, dont forget to put walambaji at “CHECK”
NOTE: Sure. An autographed copy for you Private eye. Thanks.
Congratulations! I hope the book will answer some of the questions which have been haunting me since Kibaki stole our rights. I look foward to burning the midnight oil!
Makosewe, how can you write a book about Kenya elections when you are in Stockholm? Pliz explain
Number 10,you are still behind. This is a new era of “Yes we can”. With the kind of technology today you can be anywhere in the world at any moment. This is 21st entury not stone age era. Accomplished work must be appreciated. If it bothers you, pull something too and compete constructively instead of being skeptical.You will also be congratulated.
Hi Jack,
Nice comment you gave to Godfrey #10 who wonders how Osewe could have written a book about Kenya while in Stockholm. I may equally ask him how he knows about happenings in Kenya while I assume he is in Stockholm. Information Technology via the Internet is the answer. So many Europeans and Americans write reports, books, even have photos of many remote areas in Africa and elsewhere, yet they have never been there.
By applying secondary data (reviewing and collecting non-empirical data), one can write a scientific report or a best-selling book. I believe that President-elect Obama’s grasp of certain things concerning his Kenyan background were not strictly accounted for only by visiting Kogelo, but through technology and other secondary materials. This is fully allowed in investigative journalism and even within scientific work.
I am confident that Mr. Osewe has followed the strict code of ethics required in publishing and has authenticated all his sources of information in the book.
I haven’t finished going through this book but I think that Osewe has just immortalized himself through this work. Given the time scale, the book is well written. I get two different kinds of Osewes – the blogger and the writer. In the book, Osewe sounds much more serious as he tells this rigging story. Makosewe is surely a talent in our midst. One has to get the book in order to appreciate the amount of work in such a short time. I will pass further judgment when I am through. Osewe, this one is real! Keep it up because Kenya needs brains like yours.
Mr. Okoth Osewe,
I read the first 16 pages of your book on the bus this morning and I was very impressed with how you have presented the historical and political context leading towards the botched 2007 presidential election in Kenya.
Without mincing words, you have stated with facts Mr. Raila Odinga’s long-harbored presidential ambitions. This is unbiased, given that some armchair critics had already assumed you would hero-worship him.
However, nothing gives your work more credibility than the constant citation of sources for support. So far, this elevates it above some cheap journalistic piece of writing.
Without flattering you, this is a worthwhile read so far. I shall give more feedback as I continue reading.
Mr. Okoth Osewe:
I must congratulate you on presenting your case successfully at the book launch yesterday. I mentioned that for some of us who feel Kenya’s political pulse routinely, it was great to hear what we have continually echoed.
Your book forms a framework for more research in the processes of democracy within sub-Saharan Africa which is plagued with similar circumstances.
You now need to forge collaboration with various media houses and research institutions to market this high quality work.
Mr. Osewe:
I am now headed for Chapter 15 (page 275) of your book. The first 14 gave me a sense of déjà vu, as they depicted events that led Kibaki to steal the 2007 presidential election from Raila.
I recall the intervention at the Kenyatta Conference Center with the former Electoral Commission of Kenya Chairman Kivuitu fumbling around with words and lying to Kenyans openly, the GSU being brought in, the media blackout and so forth.
Your book has captured it all and provides evidence that the Imperialists supported Kibaki, even if his return was through brute force. There was no way he could have won that election free and fair, because despite all the vote-tallying flaws on ODM’s side, he was trailing so badly that he had to resort to underhanded tactics.
Once again, kudos for a well-done job within a very short period.
KSB: Thanks. You are now half way and I can only wish you good reading.
Congratulations Mr Okoth for writing a book that will no doubt interest Mr. Odinga’s supporters greatly. Long before the 2007 presidential elections, Mr Odinga’s supporters had convinced themselves that their man had to win the elections. It was therefore a severe shock when reality dawned after results were announced. Of course, to the loyal band of supporters, the election could only have been ‘stolen’, hence the widespread violence that followed. Now we shall probably never get to know the truth about what exactly happened with the bungled elections- it (the truth) lies beneath the aftermath of the violence that befell Kenya. However books like the one you have written will continue to forever trumpet one side of the story and unabashadely present it as gospel truth. I would not expect a loyal supporter to write any differently, but pray tell me: as a professional or even an academician, do you ever feel a bit cheated when only presented with one side of the story?
KSB: Andy, thanks for your congratulatory note. If you are an academic, the best way to go is to read the book and challenge the facts so that you can expose “the other side of the story” (if there is). If the book trumpets “one side of the story and unabashadely present it as gospel truth” as you say, a good academic would take it upon himself/herself to bring out this aspect in the presentation. This could further academic debate and increase understanding of what may have happened. You are currently trying to pass judgment on a book you have not touched and this hinges on “intellectual mobbing”.
This is the kind of writing that set Kenya on fire. One sided subjective analysis devoid of any facts aimed at glorifying the evil designs of Agwambo. Kenyas shall no longer be fooled. How come you talk of kikuyu elites having stolen the election but your man talked of burning kids in a church(peasants with no connection to alleged election thieves) as part of the fight for democracy? It is time time that some of you started seeing Raila for who he is-a danderous power maniac hell bent to lead Kenya at whatever cost.
KSB: Critiquing a book you have not read is like giving the experiences of heaven when you have not yet resurrected.
Karanja Otuka,How come Raila Odinga is not among the Ocampo Six? You are equally biased by not laying facts on the table concerning the PEV.As noted by the author,you don’t seem to understand anything about the book that you claim was among what set the country on fire. Stupid! The book was written after the PEV. Critique with substance instead of just attacking foolishly.Uhuru is fully connected to the Naivasha massacre,why not write a book to free him from the allegation?Wacha ujinga!!
Osewe I like your cool reply to karanja otuka. First of all it is Kibaki who allegedly stole the elections then let Muthaura marshall State security to murder Luos and other Kenyans in ODM strongholds. Mama Jael Mbogo is alive and gave her personal experience on how Kibaki used the GSU to disperse voters and ordered a blackout in the former Bahati constituency (Nairobi) many years ago when he realized that she was ahead of him in the vote counting.
Kibaki has always been ruthless in using State resources for personal gain. It is Mzee Kenyatta who adviced him to change his constituency to Othaya in 1974 and since then, he has continuously defended the seat without any major threat.
As noted by Waweru, Raila is not part of Ocampo’s culprits. Just like any other Kenyan politician, he has strengths and weaknesses. What karanja should do is to buy Osewe’s book, read it, then use KSB’s free platform to criticize all that he is dissatisfied with. It is bigots like him that set the country on fire. He is so parochial without a single fact to hit back on Osewe.
Am happy that through Wikileaks, Kenyan ministers have been mentioned as the most corrupt in Africa. Why can’t Karanja refute this? There are many ways of debating, but his approach is too pedestrian.
karanja otuka seems to have his head buried deep inside kibaki’s fat bottom he forgets that the president’s closest ally Muthaura, is now waiting to chill in the Hague for authorizing the murder of many ODM members.
Can he prove that Raila talked about the burning of Kiambaa church as part of fighting for democracy? we at least know Uhuru Kenyatta paid Mungiki to murder luos in Naivasha especially the burning of a whole Luo family. was it justified in the name of retaliation?can’t he mention this?Can karanja point on the evil designs of Agwambo that he commented on?
It was kibaki who was hell bent to return to power at all costs.Look at the kikuyu IDPs chilling in camps three years later yet the president is a kikuyu.Kibaki is known to not sympathise with anybody. his own sister languishes in abject poverty somewhere in Nyeri.his own othaya constituency is among the poorest despite having been MP for 36 years.
Kibaki enjoys massive wealth and is only happy with his wealthy Muthaiga golf buddies.he was so ashamed this december he ordered all the State money he normally wastes during useless Christmas and new year parties to be used to provide warm food to the IDPs.
karanja wrote that kenyans shall no longer be fooled and in this case by Raila.why not list how he has fooled in the past?it is kibaki who has fooled kenyans by letting corruption boil to unreversable heights – much worse than during Kenyatta and Moi eras. it is under kibaki that poverty levels have risen all over the country with only a few people (corrupt MPs, top government and parastatal heads) enjoying the taxpayer’s money.there are more blunders than successes in kibaki’s rule and for him and his circle of Muthaiga gluttons, nothing matters more than amassing wealth.
karanja should come back fighting with facts, not empty ukabila ideas.
Raila Odinga still remains the most preferred presidential candidate in 2012. The KKK alliance (Kikuyu, Kalenjin, Kamba) is a tribal outfit bound by threats from Ocampo’s pending prosecution of Uhuru and Ruto, who have no grassroots support. They are Moi’s political creations who are ruthless warlords, Uhuru being a key sponsor of the outlawed Mungiki killer gang, and Ruto being the main sponsor of the Kalenjin Warriors, who killed and maimed thousands of non-Kalenjin in 2007-2008.
News from KBC January 29th 2011:
According to the Strategic Research Odinga is also the preferred candidate to lead the nation come 2012 with 44.8%.
He is followed by Deputy Prime minister Uhuru Kenyatta at 17.1 %, with vice president Kalonzo Musyoka coming in third with 10.5%.
Eldoret North MP William Ruto follows with 8.7 % and Martha Karua follows with 6.3%.
http://www.kbc.co.ke/news.asp?nid=68651
Tell me smth. Orengo,Mudavadi and the entire pentagon were in KCC the whole time. How and when did the so-called rigging take place??
Osewe I was a PNU agent and I have evidence of how ODM rigged massively. In Rachuonyo people voted up to 6 times in the absence of any checks.
The rigging ranged from deceased voters casting their votes, polling station staff colluding with agents to mark ballot papers of those who did not turn up to vote and illiterate people being guided to vote for a certain presidential candidate, among others forms of irregularities.
It is alleged PNU agents were chased away from polling stations while others failed to report at the stations for fear of their lives.
According to the Kriegler Report, six constituencies recorded more than 94 per cent voter turn out during the elections.
Bondo, the Prime Minister’s home and Kisumu Rural constituencies had a record 102 per cent voter turn out. Karachuonyo had 94 per cent, Rangwe 93, Nyatike 95 and Mbita 95 per cent. I personally will not be purchasing your book…
Mr Benjamin Tolo who was a PNU point man in the province and a parliamentary candidate for Kisumu Town East said election irregularities were rampant in the area.
Bribery claims
Kriegler report further revealed that 1.2 million dead registered voters cast their votes in the region.
http://www.standardmedia.co.ke/InsidePage.php?id=2000008868&cid=4&ttl=In%20Kisumu,%20dead%20voters%20%E2%80%98showed%20up%E2%80%99%20at%20the%20polls
YOU GUYS NEVER WON!! You set emotionally set yourselves up to reject everything but a massive win. When reality dawned you reverted to type and are now bleating about stolen elections.
KSB: If you seriously want a debate, you ought to set aside your emotions and avoid matusi (edited). You could have emerged more credible if you could challenge the facts in the book with counter-facts you claim to have and counter-arguments. That is the only known way of challenging a book about such an open subject. With your high level of adrenaline, I too recommend that you desist from purchasing and reading the book because you may commit suicide when you read and discover that election was actually stolen. Strictly, continue thinking inside the “PNU box” and avoid the book like a plague because Mathare Mental Hospital is dysfunctional due to corruption.
Look here,KSB I gave the example of the multiple voters cause my cousin in DAYSTAR had a classmate who openly bragged about her boyfriend,an ODM returning officer in RACHUONYO who told her what he and other did ALL OVER NYANZA!! I quoted the standard and the Kriegler report which both categorically stated that over a million dead voted in NYANZA. That’s the real issue-respond to that if you can.
In case you missed it,here it is again:
Mr Benjamin Tolo who was a PNU point man in the province and a parliamentary candidate for Kisumu Town East said election irregularities were rampant in the area.
Bribery claims
Kriegler report further revealed that 1.2 million dead registered voters cast their votes in the region.
“http://www.standardmedia.co.ke/InsidePage.php?id=2000008868&cid=4&ttl=In%20Kisumu,%20dead%20voters%20%E2%80%98showed%20up%E2%80%99%20at%20the%20polls
This isn’t a quarrel,don’t make it one. Logically refute these claims of neutral and unbiased observers and sworn affidavits of reliable witnesses.
KSB: The Kriegler Report that you so much lean on is well covered in a whole Chapter (23) in my book. We cannot debate until you have the benefit of examining my analysis of the Report. Nevertheless, I share with you a random page (393) of Chapter 23…
To begin with, ODM had disputed results in forty-eight Constituencies that were
named. Although the Kriegler Report says that it looked at all these Constituencies,
the report contains only ten of these Constituencies namely North Imenti,
Molo, Juja, Limuru, Kaloleni, Kajiado North, Kirinyaga Central, Kieni, Lari and
Malava. The question is why findings from thirty-seven other Constituencies are
missing from the report and why the Commission decided to prioritize documentation
(in the report) of eight Constituencies that were not in dispute by the losers
and that forms a total of eighteen Constituencies whose findings are contained in
the report. These eight Constituencies are Wajir North, Maragwa, Bondo, Masinga,
Changamwe, Machakos town, Central Imenti and Saku.
Constituencies whose data and analysis were left out of the report but that were
disputed by the losers were Starehe, Westlands, Kasarani, Embakasi, Kisauni, Bahari,
Malindi, Taveta, Voi, Mandera East, Igembe South, Igembe North, Tigania
West, South Imenti, Nithi, Runyenjes, Ol Kalou, Mwea, Mathioya, Kiharu,
Kigumo, Kandara, Gatanga, Gatundu South, Kikuyu, Turkana Central, Saboti,
Laikipia West, Laikipia East, Naivasha, Subukia, Kimilili, Funyala, Bomachoge,
Nyaribari Masaba, Kitutu Masaba and West Mugirango. The omission of findings
from these Constituencies renders the Kriegler Report incomplete and thus inconclusive.
What was the justification for leaving such a huge segment of key aspects
of the investigation from the final report?
The second quarrel with the report that makes it completely ambiguous, if not
unscientific, is the method used in “noting issues” in the ten disputed Constituencies
and the eight undisputed ones. The report notes rightfully that in these
Constituencies, there were a number of form 16As that were not on file, Form 17As
that arrived from stations without entry of results, some Form 16As not signed by
presiding officers, Form 16As with identical results, wrong tabulation of results by
ECK, a Form 16A signed by a Deputy Presiding Officer instead of a senior officer,
Form 16As with different signatures but with same results, Form 16As that looked
different although they were from the same Presiding Officer, Form 16As with different
signatures although they were signed by the same Presiding Officer and variances
between IREC’s additions and ECK’s final results. Several other irregularities
are also noted by IREC’s report.
The gaping hole in the method employed by IREC in its report and that draws
immediate eyebrows to the trained eye is that there is no data that shows who
benefited from the myriad of irregularities occasioned by irresponsible election
officials although this data exists in the original documents officially submitted
by the protagonists and which are readily available to researchers. For example, an…
Kay, it is the mark of an educated mind to be able to criticize what it has absorbed from its origins instead of relying on second-hand sources. You have already stated you won’t buy/read Osewe’s book. That means whatever arguments you are presenting do/shall not hold. You are not different than those Kenyans in Stockholm who were challenging him at KSb without an idea of the book’s contents.
“Kay, it is the mark of an educated mind to be able to criticize what it has absorbed from its origins instead of relying on second-hand sources. You have already stated you won’t buy/read Osewe’s book. That means whatever arguments you are presenting do/shall not hold. You are not different than those Kenyans in Stockholm who were challenging him at KSb without an idea of the book’s contents.”
I see my comments aren’t appearing-I’ll make one more attempt.The question remains;why did the Kriegler report speak of 1mn dead voters in Nyanza??
That is the crux of the matter.Without those nonexistant votes there would have been no possibility of an ODM win. Why does the report talk of 1.3mn dead voters.
Even Paul Collier,respected int’l development economist categorically blames Raila
” tHe gives very short shrift to the fashionable cause of self-determination or special status for minorities espoused by the Kosovo Albanians, the Luo in Kenya or the rebels in Darfur. He casts Raila Odinga, the Kenyan prime minister, and not President Kibaki as the provocateur in the country’s last elections (in contrast to most foreign media covering the story).”
You can repeat your mantras about rigging til 2111. It will not avoid the truth. Part of growing up is confronting the truth! Only then can we develop as true men.
Mr. Okoth Osewe, your blog is a major repository for Kenyan politics and am happy to read excerpts from your book that resonate with the grim reality which continues to dog Kenya.
I like your wholesome approach which covers a broad spectrum of issues since Independence. In this regard, I wish to share with KSB readers a very important historical aspect that determined Jomo Kenyatta’s presidency.
In a lecture by Professor Mazrui titled: ‘UHURU BADO KIDOGO: AFRICA’S CONDITION OF “NOT YET UHURU”; THE BALANCE SHEET’, he mentioned the role of Jaramogi Oginga Odinga in ensuring that Jomo Kenyatta got the presidency. This is vital in raising awareness among those who don’t know about it.
In addition, history repeats itself and many years later in 2002, Jaramogi’s son Raila Odinga, equally endorsed Mwai Kibaki as the next president, in the spirit of unifying Kenyans and giving them hope after 24 years of terror from Daniel arap Moi’s presidency.
No matter what some Kikuyu think of the Luo collectively and negatively, the two Kikuyu presidents (Kenyatta and Kibaki), both ascended to power through the influence of the Luo (Oginga and Raila). One can rubbish Jaramogi as having been naïve to support Kenyatta and thus lost the chance to lead Kenya when offered the chance by then British Governor. However, he must also be respected as somebody who wanted an all inclusive government for all the so-called small and big tribes. He was for political pluralism which allowed checks and balances.
Instead of allowing all tribes to share the fruits of Uhuru, Mzee Kenyatta consolidated power within his core Kikuyu members that became known as the Kiambu Mafia. His 15 years of leadership contributed to a one-party State rule, tribalism, political assassinations, land grabbing, grand corruption and impunity. Moi continued the same, while Kibaki has become the master of all evil things in Kenya.
Anyway below is a section of Mazrui’s lecture:
Jaramogi Oginga Odinga joined forces with Tom Mboya in the struggle against white settlers’ privileges and for the release of the imprisoned national leader, Jomo Kenyatta.
A more dramatic blow for democracy struck by Oginga Odinga occurred when he was invited to the residence of the Governor, Sir Patrick Renison, and offered the leadership of the first African government in colonial Kenya. This event occurred in Government House (now called State House) in Nairobi in 1960.
The British Governor and the Kenyan nationalist were both standing when the offer was made. It seemed to be the chance of a lifetime. It turned out to be Oginga Odinga’s last opportunity to become premier of Kenya on the eve of independence. Oginga Odinga is reported to have responded as follows to the Governor:
“If I accept your offer, I will be seen as a traitor to my people. The British cannot elect me leader to my people. Kenyatta is around, just here at Lodwar. Release him and allow him to lead us; he is already our choice.”
Sir Patrick Renison was temporarily stunned. He then summoned the driver to take Mr. Oginga Odinga back to his native quarters in Nairobi.
We now know that Oginga Odinga struck a blow against external selection of African leaders. He had sacrificed what turned out to be his last opportunity to lead Kenya. His incumbency could have transformed the ethnic configurations of postcolonial Kenya. If Oginga Odinga had accepted the Governor’s offer, then he could have presided over the release of Jomo Kenyatta, and Kenyatta might have become Odinga’s Vice President instead of the other way round.
If Odinga’s first blow in favor of democracy was to reject the external selection of African leaders, Odinga’s second blow in favour of democracy was to challenge the doctrine of one-party monopoly of power.
The Kenya African National Union (KANU) and the Kenya African Democratic Union (KADU) had merged to form a one-party system. Oginga had prospered under KANU first as Vice-President of the party, then as Minister for Home Affairs (1963-64) and then as Vice President of Kenya and Minister without portfolio (1965-66).
Yet he broke away from KANU and formed a left-of-centre Kenya People’s Union. He gave Kenya a two-party system based on an ideological divide (left versus right) rather than the original two party system based on an ethnic divide (KANU under big tribe leadership and KADU under small tribe alliance).
But in 1969 Kenya People’s Union (KPU) was outlawed and Oginga Odinga was detained for a while. He rejoined KANU upon his release in 1971, but the Kenyatta regime prevented him from running for political office. After Kenyatta died in 1978, the succeeding regime under Daniel arap Moi continued to prevent Jaramogi Oginga Odinga from challenging the power monopoly of the KANU establishment.
http://igcs.binghamton.edu/igcs_site/dirton28.htm
Kay, you cannot challenge what you have not read; you cannot successfully criticize Osewe by citing The Standard Newspaper and the Kriegler Report. You have cited Collier, but what is your position (as KAY) in all this? None, as long as you have not read the book, and since you are not willing to, then everything else is pure assumption.
Ragama,you couldn’t be more wrong! I don’t need to read a rehash of unsubstantiated claims from emotional cheerleaders when cold hard STATISTICS of unbiased researchers (the Kriegler report) exists.
The observations of academics like Paul Collier are actually gold plated indictments of our grandmaster of manipulation, doublespeak and chaos.
”
He gives very short shrift to the fashionable cause of self-determination or special status for minorities espoused by the Kosovo Albanians, the Luo in Kenya or the rebels in Darfur. He casts Raila Odinga, the Kenyan prime minister, and not President Kibaki as the provocateur in the country’s last elections (in contrast to most foreign media covering the story).|
http://www.guardian.co.uk/books/2009/mar/21/wars-guns-votes-paul-collier
Btw,ragama,tell me,why did the Kriegler report speak of 1.3 mn dead voters in Nyanza alone?? My position,not that it matters, is that of kyuke (tribalist) of course. Please answer my questions if you can. Mod,stop deleting my Collier link!!
The Kriegler investigation – specifically its analysis of the numbers – was not sufficient to enable it to draw the conclusion that all of the Electoral Commission of Kenya’s (ECK) results were wrong.
http://www.pambazuka.org/en/category/comment/53661
10 QUESTIONS KRIEGLER REFUSED TO ANSWER
1. Why did President Kibaki choose to ignore the Inter-Party Parliamentary Group (IPPG) in selecting the electoral commissioners?
2. Why was the mandate of the experienced deputy chairman of the ECK not renewed and why was he replaced by Kibaki’s former family lawyer?
3. Why were previous demands for electoral reforms ignored?
4. Why did the ECK choose not to utilise the IT equipment it had access to?
5. Why did the ECK recruit staff who lacked competence, and not give them adequate training?
6. Why were the ECK staff posted to work in their home areas?
7. Why did the Nation Media Group’s database crash on the evening of 28 December, and why did KTN (the other major Kenyan news network) management around the same time tell newsrooms to only broadcast ECK data?
8. Why did the ECK chairman, on the morning of 29 December, complain that he couldn’t reach his commissioners in PNU (Party of National Unity) strongholds on the phone and hint at a ‘cooking of figures’?
9. Why was the counting and tallying marred by ‘massive arithmetical errors by returning officers’ when every mobile phone had a calculator function?
10. Why did the commissioner of police prevent the public from coming near the KICC?
http://www.pambazuka.org/en/category/features/53667
KSB: Rama, it’s good that you brought up these issues, much of which are also covered in the book. The opponent thinks that the Kriegler Report is “the bible” of the December 2007 election crisis. As long as he deliberately refuses to examine other available data and analysis, he will never be able to give an objective assessment. In his current posture, the opponent is a gigantic emblem of a lay researcher who refuses to look at a primary or secondary source that may contradict a pre-determined thesis statement for fear of messing up a hypothesis configured to arrive at a set theory to explain the subject under study which, in this case, is the bangled 2007 election.
“The Kriegler investigation – specifically its analysis of the numbers – was not sufficient to enable it to draw the conclusion that all of the Electoral Commission of Kenya’s (ECK) results were wrong.”
WOW! The truth has slipped out accidentally!Then why are only the ODM figures correct-pray tell? I insist on the Kriegler report because it validates anecdotal information I received.
I’ve read all your 10 questions and like everything else you shout about its all hot air.
The most important no. 10 is that ODM had planned a people power coup using their favourite tactic of media manipulation.
Ragama I provided Kriegler report figures which to you are invalid-lets see yours;they must be from a neutral 3d party.Am waiting
Keep waiting Kay. Kenya is moving on
Stealing votes to retain the presidency was a very easy thing for Kibaki who had served under Kenyatta, the architect of Kenya’s corruption, followed by Moi who perfected it.
All these three presidents generated enormous wealth through corruption and that is why they will never appear on the World’s richest list because the origins of their wealth is questionable. They are far wealthier than Dangote the Nigerian who has been recognized as Africa’s richest man at the moment. You don’t get recognized for stealing.
Kibaki has served in all the corrupt governments and has mastered corruption cover-ups. No minister or top government official has ever been prosecuted for corrution since he took over as president.
Kibaki’s wealth has been acquired through inside government schemes financed by the Treasury by a network of GEMA members and corrupt Kalenjin cronies.
The KIBAKI FAMILY owns over 30,000 acres of prime land in Kenya….
SOME HISTORY ON THE BEGINNING OF CORRUPTION AND HOW IT HAS AFFECTED KENYANS TO DATE
By 1964, after independence, the Queen’s powers were transferred to the Kenyan government, which – through the Commissioner of Land – could now dispose of the land without recourse to anybody else.
Many of ordinary Kenyans, had hoped that with independence, the Kenyatta government would facilitate the return of their land.
But this was not to be, yet the British Government had offered funds to help Kenyans buy back the land that was once theirs.
This system of ‘Buy Back’ was administered under the ‘Settlement Fund Trustee’ (SFT), a state corporation that was supposed to buy the land held by British settlers and offer it to the community on the agreed understanding that the latter were to repay agreed sums of money on easy terms.
Today, there is a whole body of literature showing that the SFT aided the Kenyatta cronies and his community to resettle its own people by buying off or grabbing the land offered for sale by departing British settlers in Central Kenya, the Kikuyu political elite – in a way – continued the process of disinheriting their own people. Most other communities were left out by the Kenyatta regime during the allocation of land soon after independence.
KENYATTA DISTRIBUTED THIS LAND TO HIS community the White Highlands formally owned by colonial settlers during the Kenyatta regime. This is evident by names given to huge tracts of land they own i.e. Kiambaa, Kimumu Rurigi, Rogoini, Nyakinyua, Kimuri, Yamumbi, Gitwamba etc.
[b]KENYA CORRUPTION ROOTED IN HISTORY
Kenya as Country was forged on land brutality and brutal land grabbing. First was Imperial British East African Company (IBEA), a private firm that later handed over the territory to the British East Africa, British Crown handed it over to Jomo Kenyatta and he shared it with his Cronies. Moi and Kibaki’s terms have not seen any changes. Kibaki is an insider of the elite club that has ruled and looted Kenya since independence.
Kibaki, who was then the minister for Finance under Kenyatta, via STFS transferred to himself:
10, 000 acres in Bahati
10,000 acres in Nanyuki
10, 000 acres at Igwamiti in Laikipia
10, 000 acres in Rumuruti
1,600 acre Ruare Ranch.
KIBAKI HIS PARTNERS ACQUIRED WEALTH THROUGH DUBIOUS METHODS KNOWN AS LOOTING & CORRUPT DEALINGS
1. KIBAKI With Njenga Karume – own (1) Cianda House in Nairobi’s Koinange Street, (2) the Jacaranda Hotel in Westlands (3) Major investments in land, real estate and shareholdings.
2. KIBAKI with Joe Barage Wanjui, – own considerable shares Unilever
3. KIBAKI with Chris Kirubi — owns UAP Provincial Insurance, one of the largest insurance companies in the region.
4. KIBAKI with Awori/ Ndegwa/ Moi – own East African Building Society and Mercantile Life and General Assurance founded by the late Lalit Pandit.
5. KIBAKI with Moi/Kiereni – owns the giant international Da Gama Rose Group, with more than 20 companies.
6. KIBAKI with Nathaniel Mbugua Kang’ethe – owns the MCL Saatchi and Saatchi — the East African franchise of the Saatchi and Saatchi Worldwide.
7. KIBAKI with Jeremiah Kiereini – owns considerable holding in East African Breweries Ltd.
8. KIBAKI with Kiereini/Ndegwa/ – owns considerable stake in Unga Group Ltd, CMC Holdings Group of Companies, CFC Bank Ltd and Heritage/AII Insurance Company.
9. KIBAKI with John Njoroge Michuki – owns exclusive Victorian-styled Windsor Golf and Country Club.
10. KIBAKI with Duncan Ndegwa – considerable stake major manufacturing & in several financial companies ( unga ltd, Ambank house, Bullies, ICEA building e.t.c)
11. KIBAKI with Philip Ndegwa – owns the Insurance Company of East Africa (ICEA), which was incorporated in 1964 with a share capital of Sh4 million.
12. KIBAKI with both Philip & Duncan Ndegwa – they own he ICEA Building on Nairobi’s Kenyatta Avenue, Ambank House on University Way, Chester house, Riverside Park, with 150-plus apartments in Chiromo, Riverside Gardens on Chiromo Road and other single houses and apartments scattered in major towns.
13. KIBAKI with Stanley Karuthai Murage – owns Armstrong and Duncan, which chases top-notch contracts.
14.KIBAKI with Eddy Njoroge, who owns considerable stake in KenGen after the IPO.
15.KIBAKI with Eddy Njoroge – owns Royal Insurance and runs Affiliated Business Contacts (ABCON) together with another insider Zeph Mbugua.
16. KIBAKI Holds silent/proxy directorship and considerable stake in Stanbic Bank Kenya Ltd, Aquatech Industries Ltd, Nerifa Holdings Ltd, Proctor & Allan EA Ltd, Proctor & Allan Uganda Ltd, Syndachem East Africa Ltd and Syndachem Uganda Ltd.
17. KIBAKI with Peter Tiras Kanyago, – owns the multi-million giant freight-forwarding firm, Express Kenya Ltd, and East Africa Elevator Company (OTIS).
18. KIBAKI with Peter Tiras Kanyago – owns considerable stake in Toyota Kenya.
19. KIBAKI with Moi/Biwott – owns considerable stake in Yaya Center.
20. KIBAKI wholly owns Deacons K Ltd, and Farmer’s Choice.
The Kibaki, kenyatta and Moi families also own large tracts, most held in the names of sons and daughters and other close family members, all concentrated within the 17.2 % of Kenya that is arable or valued. Remember that 80 per cent of all land in Kenya is mostly arid and semi arid land.
According to the Kenya Land Alliance, more than a 65% of all arable land in Kenya is in the hands of only 20 per cent of the 35 million Kenyans. That has left millions absolutely landless while another 67 per cent on average own less than an acre per person. NO WONDER THE KIKUYU ELITE DO NOT WANT ANYTHING TO DO WITH THEIR OWN KIKUYU IDPs.
Despite keeping details of his private companies under lock and key, investigations reveal that Kibaki and family own shares in various blue chip companies trading at the Nairobi Stock Exchange. It is estimated that the Kibaki family controls an investment empire worth as much as more than SH 20 billion.
Apart from having family business, records show that during the early 80s, KIBAKI teamed up with the likes of former president Daniel Arap MOI, former powerful Attorney General Charles Njonjo and formed and investment company which they named HERI LIMITED
It is said that the company invested heavily in property with its flagship properties such as Norfolk Towers, College House and Kolobot Gardens. The company also invested heavily in quoted securities at the Nairobi Stock Exchange (NSE) and was for many years among the top 20 shareholders of ICDC Investments (now Centum Investments), Nation Media Group, Jacaranda Hotel, Standard Chartered Bank, Lonrho Motors East Africa, Housing Finance Company and the Barclays Bank, Clarkson and Southern Ltd and Taisho Monarch Insurance Company.
KIBAKI also has an interest in International House Limited, the company associated with businessman Chris Kirubi and the one that owns the prestigious International House.
MIND BOGGLING…. HEY WHERE ARE THE IDPs? SINCE 1992-1997-2007-2008 KENYANS MUST CORRECT THESE CORRUPT INJUSTICES!
http://jukwaa.proboards.com/index.cgi?board=general&action=print&thread=3906
The sun has risen on your demigod and his murderous theatrics. The world has seen through his cheap tactics and the sympathy he once evoked as victim of ‘a stolen election’ is gone.
Of course you boys as usual didn’t get the memo and are still regurgitating old distorted figures amongst yourselves astounding each other with your intellect. But among normal people-YOU MAKE AS LAUGH!
Is Kibaki’s succession plan viable?
By MUTAHI NGUNYI
Posted Saturday, January 24 2009 at 17:04
In Summary
* An orange tree cannot bear oranges one year and bananas the
following year
* If President Kibaki has motive and a potential successor, what are his methods of executing this plan?
Today I will beg leave from reason and push a conspiracy theory. I call it a conspiracy because I read a pattern in President Kibaki’s actions. A pattern that suggests a possible manipulation of the 2012 election.
But before I make my argument, allow me to mention Mr Raila Odinga in passing. To repeat myself, I believe Mr Odinga has been set up for failure by the President.
I say so because the Prime Minister can organise people ”against” an idea.
However, he is weak at organising people in ”support” of an idea. This imbalance makes him look like a ”deconstructionist”.
With the cameras on him consistently, he is bound to reveal his true nature.
He actually did so this week. He told reporters to focus on the ”goodies” he brought from India instead of asking ”useless” questions about the maize and oil scandals.
This comment was ill-conceived and in bad taste. And this is why whenever Mr Odinga gets an opportunity to shut up, he must grab it with dear life.
This way, he will have enough time to study President Kibaki’s silent schemes.
Now I must plead temporary insanity and advance my conspiracy theory. For starters, the 2012 election will be rigged. And I say so because nothing has changed.
The players are the same and their motives are intact. In other words, an orange tree cannot bear oranges one year, and bananas the following year.
If nothing has changed, we should not expect them to rig in 2007 and be of good behaviour in 2012. And although both principals are guilty of manipulation in 2007, the man to rig the election in 2012 is the President.
Consider my hypotheses. One, President Kibaki has motive. In fact, his motive is two-fold. During the Moi era, he led the GEMA community for 27 years. They languished in the cold, and their businesses had to fold. Now that they are back, they will protect their turf.
The Kibaki motive, therefore, is to craft a succession that will protect GEMA — at least at face value. And this brings me to his second and real motive. His interest is not GEMA; it is the protection of property. In fact when Mr Uhuru Kenyatta was appointed Finance Minister, I exclaimed aloud “â€|what a joke!” But when I cooled down, it dawned on me that his appointment had only one purpose. The man will not create new wealth; he is there to protect old wealth. Period!
My second hypothesis regards the Kibaki choices and actors. If his motive is to protect wealth, who will execute the brief? Which crony will succeed him?
Is it Mr Kenyatta? My submission is that the propertied are shameless. If Mr Kenyatta is the man to protect their turf, they will install him and swear him in at night if they have to. However, I doubt that he is their choice. More so because Mr Kenyatta himself told us that: “â€| some people claim that I am in the Waki List”. If he is indeed on this list, he will have to climb down from his new high. He will have to resign pending investigations as required by the Waki process. What about Mr Kalonzo Musyoka, the Vice-President?
This man is not wealthy; he is just rich. Riches can be squandered in one generation, but wealth takes generations to exhaust. And because Mr Musyoka does not understand wealth, he cannot be on the Kibaki short list. The same applies to M/s Martha Karua. She is just a peasant from Gichugu; not sufficiently pedigree.
Although she has promise, they view her as nothing but a clever> ”chatterbox”. This leaves us with only one man — Prof George Saitoti. He is Kikuyu and not Kikuyu.
Similarly, he is wealthy and wealthy. But is he acceptable to President Kibaki’s supporters? In my view, this is not important. If they have to beat the GEMA peasants into accepting the good professor, they will. And this brings me to my third hypothesis. If President Kibaki has motive, and a potential successor, what are his methods of executing this plan? He started early. First, he signed the media law.
And on this one, the media owners goofed. One philosopher said “â€|you do not recite poetry to a man carrying a sword: you draw your sword”. The President signed the media law with a pen on one hand and a sword on the other. He was on the war path. But instead of drawing their swords, the media decided to read him some poetry. And, because of this, they lost the initiative and have to negotiate on the President’s terms.
With the media contained, he can impose a successor if he wanted to! His second method of execution relates to ECK. And my take is that ODM was duped into disbanding the commission hurriedly. Although they will appoint the new Independent Commission together, the choice of officials at the commission country-wide will be influenced by Mr Francis Muthaura.
And if this is true, the election bureaucracy will be built to respond to President Kibaki’s schemes. This will make rigging more believable. The third execution method will be force. A curious finding of the Waki Report is that the Administration Police unit had grown exponentially. Expert estimates show that it is now at close to 20,000 or three army brigades. This unit is directly under Prof Saitoti’s command as Minister for Internal Security.
It is the unit they used to fix the rioting mobs last year. The officers in the unit look like robots and are better equipped than the regular police.
My point? If we resist President Kibaki’s successor, why shouldn’t these robots be used to fix us? More so if his motive is real?
Sunday Nation, Dec 2003
Why our second liberation is yet to be completed
By MUTAHI NGUNYI
This week I want to give a suggestion to President Mwai Kibaki: He should fire his speechwriter! If we lived in a “banana republic,” these people would have actually been charged with sabotage. What they gave the President to read on Jamhuri Day was flat and shoddy.
In fact, his speech on this day sounded like recycled material from the Madaraka Day and Kenyatta Day addresses. And what is worrying is that his speechwriters did not even seem to notice the repetitions. The question we should ask here is why?
The answer to this is simple: Maybe they also slept through the speeches! The long and short of things is therefore that someone is being negligent.
Let us now turn to the fact that the President has finally put his portrait on our currency. In my view, there is absolutely nothing wrong with that. In fact, there would be nothing wrong if he put a
family portrait on one of the currency notes.
What we must understand here is that President Kibaki is a human being. He has urges and excesses. To deny him some things is therefore ridiculous. It is like placing a pot full of honey in front of a little boy and expecting him not to dip his finger into
the stuff! In other words, our new President is cuddling in the warmth and comfort of the institutions that shaped former President
Daniel arap Moi. And, if this is the case, why should we be surprised if he “hatched” into a dictator?
What we have witnessed in the last one year is the degeneration of President Kibaki from a reformer to a “Toad King”. This process
begins with the President becoming insensitive. At this point, he breaks one pledge after another without feeling a thing. And, as he does this, the question in his mind is: Where can you take me?
In the case of the MoU for instance, we took him nowhere. The begrudged politicians yapped until the cows came home. Now the
President has put his portrait on our currency and we will take him nowhere. The general attitude here is this: If you do not like it, you can sit on a pin!
Numbing his sense to popular voices will definitely degenerate into a state of paranoia. At this point, the President will make one blunder after another. And instead of correcting his mistakes, he will increase his speed in the direction of the wrong. This is where former President Moi was when he introduced “Project Uhuru” to the
country. The crowds booed him, his loyal followers in Kanu abandoned him and even his own people questioned his wisdom. But the more we rejected his “project”, the more determined he became.
There is a lesson for President Kibaki here. He is increasingly becoming like Mr Moi during the 2002 elections. He is not yet
paranoid, but his insensitivity could develop into “political blindness”. Who knows how low he will have sunk by the 2007
elections? And this is what worries me.
Consider a hypothetical situation here. What would happen if President Kibaki decided to run for re-election in 2007 and lost? Would he and his men have the grace to hand over power peacefully? From the way they have behaved in the last one year, I doubt it. And
where would that leave the country? At the risk of sounding crazy, I want to suggest the following: If we thought that Mr. Moi would plunge the country into civil strife, he proved us wrong. Narc is the party to plunge the county into civil strife. You just have to listen to the FM stations and the call-in television programmes to see a pattern. From the name of the caller, you can almost predict what they will say and what side of the divide they will take. In a
disputed election, such polarity would certainly take ugly proportions.
But there are two possible ways out of this. The first one has to do with the agenda of the second liberation. This process was meant to achieve two things – to remove Mr. Moi from power and replace him with reform-minded leaders. This was done successfully. However, as we are beginning to realise, Mr. Moi was not the problem. The problem was the institutions he inherited from the Kenyatta. To change the leadership without changing the institutions is like treating cancer with Malaraquin. This is partly why the “institutional cancer” in the presidency is beginning to affect President Kibaki.
Putting his portrait on our currency and junking the pre-election MoU are just manifestations of this cancer. This is why the other agenda of the second liberation was institutional reforms. Until this is completed, the second liberation will not have happened. More specifically, this refers to the constitutional review process.
And, at this point I would want to address the delegates preparing for Bomas III on January 12, 2004.
It is my hope that you have had time to reflect on the issues at hand in Bomas III. We are also told that the politicians have spent this long break to bribe you. In my view you should take the bribes and use the money to enjoy your Christmas. You must realise at this point that you are involved in politics and that in this game there
is no morality. As such, you should have fun on someone else’s account! However, when it comes to voting, you must reject
the “bribe givers” and vote for the country.
This is important because of the following reasons. If the second liberation had two phases, the first phase of replacing the
leadership had to be carried out by 3.1 million voters. Replacing Mr Moi and his cronies was in my view the easy part. The second phase is the tough one. And this is where you come in. You are only 600 people, and the future of our country depends on you.
I have two questions for you at this point. One, as you vote for issues, will you be thinking of your “tribal chief” or your
children? In my view, your tribe is your children. If you make a constitution for your children, you will have made a constitution for Kenya.
Two, consider the question of the Prime Minister’s post. And the question to you is this: If this post had been created before the 2002 elections, do you think President Kibaki would have “trashed” the MoU? Do you think he would have put his portrait on our currency and retained corrupt ministers in his Cabinet? If the answer to these questions is no, then the cure to the “institutional cancer” in the presidency is the creation of this post. Do think about it!
The second possible way out of civil strife has to do with the Kikuyu. Now that the presidency has returned to the “House of
Mumbi”, some people from the community are convinced that it is there to stay. In my view, this kind of thinking is retrogressive
and could result in ethnic animosity.
Kikuyus should come to terms with the possibility that they could lose the presidency in 2007. As such, they should do two things: One, “bank” with the other
communities. This is important because they cannot survive alone in future. Two, they should disown the Kikuyu “sharks” in the Kibaki government.
Unless they do so, the entire community will be blacklisted simply on account of a few people. In future, a Kikuyu presidential
candidate would be rejected because of the misdeeds of isolated people. My submission therefore is: They should not support this regime blindly!
Kenya Election Questions:
http://media.mcclatchydc.com/smedia/2008/01/30/20/849-20080130-KENYA-ELECTIONS.large.prod_affiliate.91.jpg
How Kenya’s election was rigged:
By Shashank Bengali | McClatchy Newspapers
NAIROBI, Kenya — The spark for Kenya’s firestorm of ethnic violence was lit inside a cavernous meeting hall in downtown Nairobi, where election officials over four days doctored vote counts, dismissed eye-popping irregularities and thwarted monitoring by independent observers to deliver a razor-thin victory to President Mwai Kibaki.
Observers who were allowed into the vote-tallying center on Dec. 29-30, hours before the results were announced, said there was so much systematic fraud by Kenya’s government-appointed election commission that it’s impossible to know who really won.
The extent of the commission’s deceptions has faded into the background as more than 800 Kenyans have been killed in ethnic clashes and police crackdowns. The events also have deeply unsettled the Bush administration, which has relied on Kenya as an ally in the war on terror and a bulwark of stability in East Africa.
Official results gave Kibaki an edge of 231,728 votes, or 2 percent, out of about 10 million cast. Initial results of an exit poll by the U.S.-funded International Republican Institute found that rival Raila Odinga had won by an 8 percent margin. (The IRI says it will not release the poll until it has assessed the validity of the methodology).
Election officials allowed five accredited Kenyan observers into the tallying center in Nairobi only in the final phase of vote-counting, and three of them shared their accounts with McClatchy. All said that the gravest cheating occurred in that room, where commissioners — all appointed by Kibaki — compiled returns before announcing them to the public.
The observers spoke in interviews and quoted from a joint log of their experiences, titled “Countdown to Deception,” which Kenyan rights groups are circulating.
The long-serving chairman of Kenya’s election commission played an active role in the deception, the observers said. When a tallying officer presented results showing voter turnout at 115 percent in Maragua, a Kibaki stronghold in the central highlands, commission Chairman Samuel Kivuitu didn’t invalidate the result as required by law, but allowed a commissioner to reduce the figure to 85 percent and announced the results an hour later.
That was the pattern that observers reported: Results were announced even when documents were missing, incomplete, unsigned by officers or party representatives, incorrectly tabulated, photocopied or forged.
“Both sides stole votes,” said Julius Melli, a 31-year-old Kenyan radiographer who witnessed the tallying of Maragua and other locales. “But Kibaki stole more, and they stole it inside the tallying center.”
The Electoral Commission of Kenya, an independent body whose members are appointed by the president, had run national elections in 2002 and 2005 that were praised for their openness and accuracy.
But except for Kivuitu, who’d served as chairman since 1997, this was a largely different commission. As members faced term limits in the months before the vote, Kibaki — facing the stiffest presidential challenge ever in Kenya — packed the 22-person body with 17 new commissioners. All were considered Kibaki allies, and none had ever run an election.
In at least 44 out of 210 constituencies, officials in Nairobi had announced vote totals without any supporting documents from the polling centers. In most places the announced totals were off by hundreds or thousands from what journalists, party agents and foreign observers had witnessed at polling places.
The team prepared to work through the night. When commission staff members brought a stack of folders, observers asked to check whether vote totals had been added correctly.
The commission’s legal officer, Jemimah Kelli, rebuffed them.
“She said, ‘We can’t correct the tallying now. The commission will take care of it,’” Sihanya recalled.
At another table, Muli was scratching her head over results from Mathira, in central Kenya, where nearly everyone voted for Kibaki. Election officers had failed to sign the tallies from nearly three dozen polling places, and one form had two different totals. Muli took out her cell phone and began adding up the numbers.
She calculated 77,442 votes for Kibaki, some 2,600 fewer than what was recorded on the final tally sheet and announced to the public. Later she discovered inflated vote totals for Kibaki in several other areas — “3,000 here, 3,000 there, 1,500 here, 2,500 there,” she said. “It added up.”
At his table, Melli saw numerous constituencies that lacked tally sheets or official signatures, but whose results had been certified anyway. In one folder, he found two tallies for the same place — one a signed original, the other an unsigned photocopy that had been altered to give Kibaki about 3,000 more votes.
The photocopied version had been used.
“It looked very ridiculous,” Melli said. But Kenyan election laws didn’t authorize observers to do anything more than note inconsistencies.
The legal officer, Kelli, moaned that officials had gone without sleep for several days, and she harassed Melli for paying too much attention to detail.
“She told Melli, ‘You seem to be very keen. Are you being paid to do this?’” Sihanya said. (They in fact were not paid.)
When Sihanya questioned inconsistencies in one Kibaki stronghold, a Kibaki party representative, Martha Karua, accused him of being an opposition agent.
“The whole thing seemed extremely stage-managed,” Melli said. “It was not a sincere verification exercise.”
As the night wore on, officials became cagier. Melli asked an official for the file from Nithi, where turnout was a suspiciously high 80 percent and nearly all the votes had gone to Kibaki. The official blanched, pulled the file close to his chest and, for the rest of the night, carried it with him everywhere he went, Melli said.
The file for Kieni in central Kenya showed 87,500 parliamentary votes — nearly 3,000 more than the number of registered voters. The file for Imenti South district, where Kibaki had 96 percent support, showed 4,315 more presidential votes than parliamentary votes but contained no supporting documents. At 5 a.m. on Dec. 30, the file for another central district, Molo, finally appeared showing 50,145 votes for Kibaki. The chairman later announced 75,261.
“They just gave Kibaki 25,000 votes from the air,” Muli said.
Finally, at around 9 a.m., Karua, the Kibaki aide, said the verification had to be halted so that the commissioners could get “back to work.” An Odinga aide said he had concerns about other files, but Karua and three election officials at the table stood up to leave.
One of the commissioners, Luciano Riunga Raiji, told the observers, “You are done.” Shortly afterward, a message blared over the loudspeaker ordering all observers and party agents to leave the room. By then, Melli said, it was clear that the commissioners had no intention of investigating the irregularities.
“We were waiting for them to announce the final results,” he said. “But we knew Kibaki had stolen it.”
Muli, who’s helped train commissioners for 14 years, said: “We didn’t imagine that the electoral commissioners could in a massive way influence the conduct of the election. We were wrong.”
The next several hours were surreal, the observers said. As word swept through the convention hall that Kibaki would be declared the winner, Odinga called a news conference and accused the commission of rigging the vote in 48 constituencies.
A few hours later, the opposition trotted out an election staffer, Kipkemoi Kirui, who said that officials were manipulating results at the tallying center. “My conscience could not allow me to see what I was seeing and keep quiet,” Kirui told reporters. He’s now fled the country, according to media reports.
An hour after that, the lights went off in the convention hall, and paramilitary police cleared the building. In a sealed room, the election chairman announced Kibaki’s victory on state television. Within minutes, rioters were tearing through the streets of Nairobi.
Kenya’s nightmare had begun.
http://www.mcclatchydc.com/2008/01/31/25830/how-kenyas-election-was-rigged.html
Raila’s address at the Center for Strategic & International Studies: Good Governance and Democracy
http://www.ustream.tv/recorded/13974558#utm_campaigne=synclickback&source
Friday, April 15 2011 at 11:34
In the political sphere, Prime Minister Raila Odinga remains the most preferred presidential candidate (38pc) followed by Finance minister Uhuru Kenyatta at 18pc.
Vice President Kalonzo Musyoka (13pc), Eldoret North MP William Ruto (8pc) and Gichugu MP Martha Karua (6pc) are the other preferred candidates in that order.
http://www.nation.co.ke/News/politics/-/1064/1145102/-/7que7d/-/index.html
You boys have so much energy! I wish you could channel it into productive ways. Let me think,umm,ohh I know lets all volunteer to reduce gastroenteric infections in Luo Nyanza by digging pit latrines. After that we can design irrigation schemes and make the whole province with horticulture like a giant Naivasha!
Fyi,it seems you didn’t get the memo Iwani,your info is extremely outdated.Kirui is an impostor pure and simple. He claimed to have been a returning officer in upper Eastern but his name wasn’t on ECK files and got political asylum in the immediate aftermath. He returned and guess who employed him-the PMs office.
Incidentally Kiema please explain how Kibakis’ wealth affects you negatively. Was it stolen from a family member? Did he con anyone you know?
Those IDPs your ilk are so happy to see are a direct result of ODM misdeeds;smth the whole world know.
To Laugh or Cry Over Kuria’s Letter To Raila?
Wednesday, 06 April 2011 00:05 BY SARAH ELDERKIN
I DIDN’T know whether to laugh or cry when I read Moses Kuria’s open letter to PM Raila Odinga (The Star, Monday, April 4). Laugh because the writer and some of his colleagues are as jumpy as a box of frogs and their desperation is so obvious; cry because our political class and our political maturity, which should be benefiting from everything people have struggled for over decades, have been horribly degraded by the abysmal level of debate – if one can even call it debate – prevailing among some so-called leaders and their acolytes.
We can’t even say that these much-touted youthful pretenders have taken us backwards, because past leaders, for all their faults, were nothing like this. Today’s children of privilege are a breed apart, and they are taking us somewhere we have never been before. Contrary to all the hope for the future we had when they were elected, the tribalism and personal hatred they preach are marching us relentlessly into a stinking garbage heap that threatens to destroy us all.
And what utter nonsense Mr Kuria writes! He blames the PM for the Ocampo Six’s Hague tribulations – has he forgotten how hard the PM campaigned for the (then unknown) post-election violence suspects to face a local tribunal? Some people, worried that they might be on the list, resisted this with every fibre of their being, and went about boasting that the preferred Hague option would take 90 years to come to fruition. It was only after this proved somewhat inaccurate that the suspects did a U-turn. The PM had nothing to do with it.
Mr Kuria also naively imagines the PM and his supporters greeting with celebrations the start of the Hague process and the potential removal of the suspects from the political equation. Doesn’t Mr Kuria realise that, if the PM were only interested in his personal political chances (rather than justice for 1,300 dead and many more injured and displaced), it would be deeply advantageous for him to have the two so-called “presidential frontrunners” on the ballot? What with Kalonzo, Saitoti, Karua and Kenneth also there, along with Wamalwa, Wetangula, Balala and whoever else wants to pitch in – the larger the number of ways the vote is split, the better Mr Odinga’s chances of winning.
And incidentally, a question the media is not asking, but should, is – how are all these aspirants going to choose among themselves when push comes to shove? Make no mistake about it: there are going to be some major and bitter fall-outs, and the whole so-called unity thing is likely to end up in complete disarray.
In any case, what kind of ‘unity’ are we talking about? If what is on offer is so amazingly good, why aren’t displaced non-Kalenjins returning to their homes in the Rift Valley? What are they afraid of?
Among Mr Kuria’s other non-points and outright lies are that the PM admitted plotting to overthrow the government in 1982 (he did no such thing, and there was no evidence against him, much as the authorities would have liked it otherwise); he wrote a thesis on making nail bombs (a complete myth); he “meted untold violence on Kijana Wamalwa” (when and where? This never happened).
Mr Kuria tries to fault Mr Odinga over evictions from the Mau forest. Isn’t everyone by now aware that this prime water tower must be restored for the benefit of the nation? History will vindicate the PM’s foresight. But while we are on the subject, what happened to the millions of shillings raised by the young pretenders for the evictees? Anyone know? Another question for the media to ask?
Finally (space is limited), Mr Kuria criticises Mr Odinga for joining Kanu. Mr Kuria doesn’t recognise political strategy when it stares him in the face. If Mr Odinga had not destroyed this then-powerful monolith from within, we would still be in Kanu’s thrall. Though according to some, this would apparently be no bad thing. In fact, those who enjoyed the fruits of dictatorship seem quite keen to return to those days. The glorification of Kanu’s past has become a disturbingly recurrent theme. Have the media noticed?
Why aren’t newspapers asking some of these questions? The Star is busy congratulating itself on appointing a ‘public editor’. What use is that, skimming over the surface with a few politically correct platitudes about accountability to readers – while the same newspaper simultaneously publishes such spiels of dishonesty and libel (indeed, hate speech if ever it existed) as that spewed out by Moses Kuria?
In doing so, The Star joins sections of all our media in engaging in what three-time UK prime minister Stanley Baldwin (quoting his cousin, Nobel literature laureate Rudyard Kipling) described as “power without responsibility, the prerogative of the harlot through the ages”.
Sadly for my own profession, there is no other word for it. Sections of our media are prostituting themselves. There is no shortage of clients and it’s a seller’s market. And even if the clients are only members of the public whom the media would like to entice to buy their products, the principle is no different.
Veteran journalist Philip Ochieng had it eloquently right in the Sunday Nation this week, when he criticised the press for its commercial eagerness to publish “the shameless lie, the false witness against the rival, the ethnic hate speech ….. no matter how irresponsible, how reckless, how provocative, how mindless”.
Will The Star continue participating in this headlong rush towards catastrophic conflict? There is a choice for newspapers when they place their bets, and there was never a more precious jewel at stake than this nation’s future. Publishing blatant lies and distortions is not a service to the public.
KKK is fleecing Treasury daily, stiffling Parliamentary scrutiny, anddistracting the public in diversionary political rallies, as the people starve and suffer consequences of their looting. We must not forget to join Miguna in penning these for the dailies.
Something drastic must be done by the ODM hence the Rulling -class Mafias draining Public coffers Using Uhuru the thug & a wanted criminal in Hague!
Kenyans ‘among world’s saddest’
Some Diaspora Kenyans think that Kibaki is the best answer for Kenya depspite his thieving nature from the time he worked under Jomo Kenyatta. Here is a Kikuyu journalist writing the truth:
By GATONYE GATHURA, gathura@ke.nationmedia.com
Posted Wednesday, April 20 2011 at 21:20
Kenyans are among the saddest people in the world with many of them struggling to survive, a Gallup poll released on Tuesday revealed.
Out of 124 countries in the world, Kenya ranks 13 among those with the largest number of people most dissatisfied with their lives.
This is two points behind Uganda and four ahead of Tanzania while Chad lies at the end of the pack.
The most satisfied people in the world are in Denmark, Sweden and Canada, in that order.
The most dissatisfied people live in poor African countries while the happiest live mainly in rich European countries, indicating a relationship between wealth and satisfaction in life. For example, in Denmark 72 per cent say they are thriving and happy with their lives and only 27 per cent say they are getting by while only one per cent are suffering, according to a Gallup news alert.
In Kenya, with a huge gap between the poor and the rich, only six per cent say they are happy with their lives, while almost 80 per cent are struggling to survive and 16 per cent living in agony.
A similar trend was observed in the other two East African countries but in Tanzania the number of those who are sad is the same as those struggling and those suffering.
Gallup warns governments against depending solely on Gross Domestic Product to assume their people are satisfied.
“As the uprising in Tunisia and Egypt showed earlier this year, leaders should not rely on GDP alone as an indicator of how well their countries and their citizens are doing. Monitoring and improving behavioural economic measures of wellbeing are important to helping leaders better the lives of all their residents,” say the Gallup alert.
The Gallup’s global wellbeing surveys were carried out last year in face to face interviews and phone calls.
Another global Gallup survey released earlier this month indicated more than half of adult Kenyans found it difficult to buy food.
When asked: “Have there been times in the past 12 months when you did not have enough money to buy food?” 57 per cent of Kenyans responded affirmatively.
About 60 per cent of Ugandans answered in the affirmative.
Seventy nine per cent of Kenyans said they were generally finding it difficult to buy food.
http://www.nation.co.ke/News/Kenyans+among+world+saddest/-/1056/1148456/-/13y926xz/-/index.html
Western Envoys in Kenya should bring this Kikuiyu Family in Europe where these hand-caps would be using Limousines to and from hospitals>
It is believed the US is keen to have Mr Raila Odinga take up the presidency once president Kibaki term expires.
http://intelligencebriefs.com/?p=934
It is silly to mention that Raila attempted to overthrow Moi, thus is not worthy of the presidency. Know your history: in 1971 Kenyatta faced a major rebellion which not only implicated seven former KPU Luo members, but also top Kambas like then Yatta MP Gideon Mutiso, Chief of Defence Staff, Major General Ndolo (then overall army boss) and Chief Justice Kitili Mwendwa. Coup attempts, soldier mutinies and other forms of rebellion existed right from the time Kenya gained her independence and involved many non-Luos. There were also other Kikuyus not happy with Kenyatta’s rule like then Nyandarua MP J.M. Kariuki and Nakuru Town MP Mark Mwithaga. Many others were against the GEMA association which they saw as a source of enriching a few Kikuyus. Why not mention Koigi wa Wamwere (also a Kikuyu), who was totally opposed to Moi and had attempted to assemble a militia via Uganda to overthrow him in the 1990s?
With proper investigation into Kenyan politics, Raila has some qualities of a good leader and some that beats this. I would gladly vote him in for presidency were it not that the Luo’s are so arrogant with leadership. They bloat from this and tell you what the smell is foul. By Raila being a president, A genocide would be seen in Kenya. How can one think that in a capitalistic state s/he do net have to pay rent whereas the house s/he stays is owned by some other individuals? How can one correct a doctor treating him because the minister in charge is a Luo? By voting Raila in, Kenya can no longer remain at ease.
Freeman #49 I have laughed so much because your comment started off well until you asked: “How can one correct a doctor treating him because the minister in charge is a Luo?” This is a mere stereotype. Kenya has never had a Luo president so stop assuming what floats around is the reality. Kikuyus have been tested and the truth is that many times non-Kikuyus have been spoken to in the Kikuyu language in public offices. I was once asked by a Kikuyu why I did not speak the national language – Kikuyu. Who is more arrogant then?
its clear to me now than before that 80% of Kenyan’s don’t read. nothing affirms this clearly than the likes of karanja.am pretty sure he does not even read drug prescription from the doctors ,i suppose that is the reason many in muranga and its neighborhood are dying of drug abuse .it pain me at this age and time that a man with any level of formal education can choose to ignore reading.honestly i don’t know his reason ,but whatever they are , they’re born out of ignorance i also doubt if this guy even reads newspapers.
Mr karanja people don’t buy and read books to enrich the author.they do so to enlighten themselves.people who read selectively are also selectively informed & often see what they don’t know as wrong .that explains why Kenya is so tribally divided coz each of as feel their tribes are superior to others .
think of this if luo’s think they are well educated than any other community do you think they will be ready to be lead by a semi literate fellow like UHURU?.
If Kikuyu are rich will they be ready for kalonzo to lead? and would the maasai, turkana teso kalenjin be ready for karua given traditional perception of women .
Keen observer,give us your facts and we’ll point the way to KACC hq. Contrary to what people say, IDK Kibera bartalk is acceptable as evidence. Btw,your boy will still not win. Here are the latest figures
Raila Odinga was ahead by 34.7%, Uhuru kenyatta got 30.1%, Kalonzo Musyoka got 8.2% while William Ruto got 5% by Insight strategic solutions. What this means is a runoff where Ojinga will do what he always does-FAIL! Publicly and massively. You’ve been warned. There’s no way he can win!
We need this BOOK in Kenya right now! Bwana Okoth this really is the time to sell it here! Going into the elections we need to remind the ever-forgetful Kenyans that the thieving PNU mandarins may just be planning the same thing or even worse atrocities!!!! They should know people! And the PEOPLE should be aware and remain VIGILANT!!!!
KSB: It’s in circulation but not in book shops after book-sellers were intimidated by election thieves. I get back to you through the other channel for yr copy.