Elections of the Kenya Social Forum in Sweden (Kesofo) went on smoothly despite earlier fears that the elections could degenerate into a “war of attrition” between ODM-K Scandinavia supporters and Narc-K Scandinavia enthusiasts who have been arming themselves “to the teeth” in preparation for the titanic battle for Kesofo’s leadership.
Although there was tension during the opening moments of the Annual General Meeting, tempers were low. What saved the day was a religious adherence to the Constitution. Potential areas of conflict were quickly neutralized through voting while debates were limited through strict control of debating time.
The agenda was followed to the letter, having been extracted from the Forum’s Constitution. When it came to voting time, a “Code of conduct” that was agreed upon by the Committee ahead of elections became the bible.
Registered members who were not present at the meeting were called by Mr. Moses Trubadur, the Electoral commissioner, who guided them through the voting process. Ballot papers contained all the names of those who were in the race while other names were added at the last minute after a mutual agreement that such a move was in order.
Elections were eventually conducted but when the results were announced, there was a major shock. Mr. Daniel Mwaura, the Narc-K Scandinavia Chairperson, failed to garner enough votes to get into the Committee. It took a second round of voting for Mr. Mwaura to sail through because he had tied with three other members.
The final line up of eight Committee members was as follows: Okoth Osewe, Moses Trubadur, Silas Njuguna, Susan Mukami, Dancan Munala, Serah Nielsen, Makan Macharia and Daniel Mwaura. The failure by Mwaura to get elected during the first round of voting will, most likely, weaken his bargaining power within the new Committee in ways that cannot, at the moment, be predicted.
Mr. Dancan Munala, who chaired the meeting, was a surprise candidate whose entry into the Committee will remain a huge puzzle to Kesofo observers in Stockholm. During campaigns, Mr. Munala had not only kept a low profile but addressed the issue of Kesofo elections as someone who was not in the thick of things.
In other words, Mr. Munala conducted himself as a person who was out of Kesofo election politics. When he surfaced abruptly as a candidate, many faces registered surprise. In fact, Munala is one of the candidates who was added on the ballot paper at the last minute because the Constitution did not disallow such an addition.
After elections and other business having been completed, the meeting voted for a dinner at Kesofo’s expense, not just to welcome the new Committee but also to thank Officials who have been running the Forum on an interim basis.
The Committee was mandated to convene in two weeks to distribute responsibilities among itself.
Okoth Osewe
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