The pattern of rigging repeated itself over and over again
As the rigging continued at KICC, more votes were stolen from Raila in Gatundu South and given to Kibaki after ECK officials at KICC altered Form 16A dated December 28, 2007, and inflated Kibaki’s votes by 10,644. Results declared at the Constituency was 41,836 (441) votes but after they were worked on by ECK officials at KICC, the figures changed to 52,480 (442), a change that benefited Kibaki. Apart from the general pattern in the rigging style, there was one telling aspect of events at Gatundu South. A Form 16A that was intercepted by ODM and signed by Jane Njeri Ndungu (ID 08163448) on December 28, 2007, at 5.40 PM shows that the figures were altered manually by hand. On this form, at least nine handwritten alterations exists for PNU, Republican Party, Saba Saba Asili, People’s Party, Kenya Patriotic Trust Party, Chama Cha Uma Party, ODM-Kenya and Workers Congress Party.(443)
The interesting aspect in this case is that in another Form 16A containing the same altered information and purportedly signed by the same Njeri,(444) the results are typed clean with a computer, probably because the altered Form 16A looked so dirty that it could not be filed. The fake Form 16A was purportedly signed on December 28, 2007, at 1:05 AM, seven hours after the handwritten original results were filed. This is further evidence that rigging was taking place at KICC with ECK officials as the main masterminds. Another tendency when one examines the original Form 16A’s and the versions containing fake results is that the originals are slightly faded as though they had passed through many hands. The fake forms look very new, as if they had just been printed. It is a difference that is difficult to miss, especially if one does not just give them a cursory look.
The pattern of rigging repeated itself over and over again. In fifteen Constituencies where documentation exists that rigging took place, votes were not just inflated but Raila’s votes were stolen and added to Kibaki. Out of the forty-seven documented cases of rigging, several votes were stolen from Raila and added to Kibaki with the greatest number of votes (7,671) having been stolen in Juja and given to Kibaki. Malava was number two when it came to vote stealing from Raila (6,087) while Molo came third with 4,073 votes having been stolen. In forty-two Constituencies where rigging was unearthed by the ODM Investigative Team, returning officers refused to avail Form 16A to ODM agents and, naturally, the purpose of this move was to facilitate election rigging. ODM says in its report that in twenty-one Constituencies, its agents were denied entry into polling stations: “ODM agents were denied entry to constituency tallying centers in 21 constituencies. In these cases, security agents were used to intimidate, threaten and forcefully evict ODM agents. This facilitated the rigging of elections at the constituency level through the introduction of more ballot papers, mainly to inflate votes cast in favour of Mwai Kibaki”.(445)
Without going into further details, other Constituencies where documentation exists about the number of votes that were stolen in Kibaki’s favour included: Westlands (6,059), Kasarani (4,033), Kisauni (6,382), Bahari (1,466), Malindi (3,929), Taveta (3,267), Voi (1,517), Mandera West (900), Igembe North (5,729), Tigania West (4,384), South Imenti (4,315), Runyenjes (4,947), Mathioya (5,709), Kiharu (1,822), Kigumo (1,105), Gatanga (3,833), Kikuyu (1,378), Turkana Central (4,098), Saboti (1,750), Laikipia West (5,194), Laikipia East (2,676), Naivasha (8,680), Subukia (4,950) Malava (2,923), Funyala (1,217), Bomachoge (7,241), Nyaribari Masaba (7,241), Kitutu Masaba (1,922) and West Mugirango (4,396).
At the end of the tabulation, the total number of votes that were added to Kibaki by ECK officials who were tallying results at KICC totalled to a whooping 471,063 while Raila’s votes were reduced by 2,772 votes. The extra votes stolen from Raila were then added to Kibaki to inflate the total votes stolen to 473,835. Out of 210 constituencies, available documentary evidence indicates that ECK did a superb job in at least 161 constituencies in which results announced at the constituency level and certified by agents of political Parties (including PNU) tallies with results announced by ECK at KICC. This makes the determination of the winner even easier because an investigator only has to deal with 48 problematic constituencies whose documentation is also available. At this level of “good work” by ECK officials, Raila’s votes stands at 3,734,972 while Kibaki’s votes stands at 2,269,612 . In simpler terms, Raila was leading at this stage with 1,465.360 votes.
The confusion that reigned supreme after ECK officials stole Raila Odinga’s presidency was so serious that in the final tally, two official results were actually declared. On December 30, 2007, results released by ECK indicated that Kibaki had obtained 4,584,721 while Raila was said to have obtained 4,352,993 votes. But when the same ECK printed the same results, the figures stood at 4,579,337 votes for Kibaki while Raila is said to have obtained 4,353,035 votes.
To understand why Kibaki lost the vote, one needs to add Kibaki’s votes in the undisputed 161 constituencies and the total votes he obtained in the disputed 48 constituencies then compare the results with Raila’s votes using the same process. When this is done, Kibaki emerges with 4,109,014 votes while Raila scores 4,356,001. The last stage in determining Raila’s victory in this election is to determine the difference between Kibaki’s and Raila’s votes. If this is done, the result is that Raila Amolo Odinga won the December 2007 election with 246,987 votes and anybody claiming otherwise may have to prove that Kibaki won. To suggest that the winner cannot be ascertained when ECK documents are available is to take the middle ground for purposes of “shielding Kenyans from the truth” for undisclosed reasons. In summing up, there were serious discrepancies at two key levels:
(1) The number of votes announced at the Constituency and endorsed by ODM agents, observers and other sources were different from those that were released by ECK officials at the Constituency level.
(2) The number of votes announced at the Constituency and endorsed by ODM agents, observers and other sources were different from those that were released by ECK officials at KICC after tallying.
(3) The number of votes announced at the Constituency by ECK officials were different from those announced by ECK officials at KICC after tallying.
It is against this background that the Electoral Commissioner, Samuel Kivuitu, hurried to call a press conference at a secluded room to make the final announcement about the winner of the Presidential election thereby plunging Kenya into a post-election crisis. Anybody claiming that the December 2007 elections were not rigged without first disputing available evidence to the contrary is either ignoring reality because of certain circumstances or working for the purpose of satisfying another undisclosed agenda. Documents in the forty-eight disputed Constituencies where rigging has been alleged existed and any serious investigator should be in a position to examine them independently and draw conclusions.
Raila Odinga’s Stolen Presidency: Pages 289-294
Excerpts from Chapter Sixteen: “How Raila Odinga’s Presidency Was Stolen”
RELATED:
- How Raila Odinga’s Presidency Was Stolen: Part 1
- How Raila Odinga’s Presidency Was Stolen: Part 2
- How Raila Odinga’s Presidency Was Stolen: Part 3
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