Kenya: Whirlwind weekend underscores election uncertainties | African Arguments

Kenya experienced a remarkable, if seemingly coincidental, series of events this weekend. Nine people were beheaded by suspected al-Shabaab militants. The Secretary of Internal Security died suddenly. President Uhuru Kenyatta appeared to accuse the judiciary of meddling in the elections. And the opposition leader Raila Odinga was briefly hospitalised. All just a month before Kenya heads to the polls on 8 August in what is anticipated to be a tense vote. …  The event this weekend with perhaps the most long-term effects on the elections was a decision by the high court and the president’s subsequent response. On Friday, the court nullified the tender to print ballot papers, which had been awarded to a Dubai-based firm. The opposition claimed that the company has ties to Kenyatta. In their ruling, the judges did not refer to any such connections, but stated that “the failure to consult all the presidential candidates was unfair” and concluded that the Independent Electoral and Boundaries Commission (IEBC) had not carried out the tender adequately. The court ordered that the process be restarted.

Kenya: Fears of rigging ahead of election | Deutsche Welle

Distrust is the best word to describe Kenya’s political mood ahead of the upcoming elections. Just as the country was getting ready for the first presidential debate ahead of the elections, President Uhuru Kenyatta pulled out. When the last election was held four years ago he complained that the moderators’ questions were biased. His main opponent, Raila Odinga, followed suit and the debate was postponed. The move is symptomatic of Kenya’s heated campaigning period, which has seen the debate over political reforms and development take a back seat. On August 8, Kenyans will not only elect the next president, they will also vote for new governors, senators and local governments.

Kenya: Human Rights Watch Reports Threats to Voters a Month Before Kenyan Election | VoA News

With Kenya’s general election five weeks away, Human Rights Watch says some communities in the Rift Valley region live in fear of attacks if they vote against the ruling Jubilee party, and some people have left after young men warned them to stay away from polling centers. The rights organization is calling on authorities to investigate and prosecute those behind the threats and intimidation. “We also had some direct threat of people telling their colleagues, ‘Let us wait for August 8. We shall see where you will go. We shall be coming for you.’ Those kinds of utterances,” said Human Rights Watch researcher Otisieno Namwaya. “So people are afraid, people are leaving. Some of the families told us they were waiting for the schools to close and they will leave the area.”

Kenya: Will Jubilee Try Digital Warfare to Ensure Victory in Elections? | allAfrica.com

In the run-up to the 2013 elections, the then presidential candidate, Mr Uhuru Kenyatta, who had been indicted by the International Criminal Court for crimes against humanity, hired the services of a London-based PR firm called BTP Advisers to manage his election campaign. The PR company, whose slogan is, “We deliver campaigns that change hearts and minds”, advised Mr Kenyatta to use aggressive propaganda tactics that cast the ICC as racist and its supporters, including local civil society organisations (which his propagandists dubbed “the evil society”), as puppets of the West.

Kenya: As Election Season Kicks Off, Can Anybody Stop the Violence? | Newsweek

As commuters in the heart of Nairobi hustle past one another on River Road at the end of a recent workday, young men are buying machetes in a hardware shop before boarding a bus. The tools aren’t for clearing brush or making campsites, chopping food or splitting firewood. Peter Mwangi, who runs an electronics shop, is arming himself in case of election chaos. “I know there will be violence. I need to ready myself,” says Mwangi, holding a giant knife. “In the 2007 elections, we were not prepared. We were attacked, and I lost some of my relatives. But this time, it will not happen.” Mwangi says his shop was looted during the violence in 2007 that followed the election of Kenyan President Mwai Kibaki, who is accused by the opposition of taking power through vote-rigging. More than 1,300 were killed and about 600,000 were displaced from their homes during those protests.

Kenya: Electoral Commission Challenges Ruling on Vote Counts | VoA News

Kenya’s electoral commission is appealing a court ruling that poll results announced at the constituency level are final. The electoral body says that opens the way to manipulation. The bad blood between the Kenya’s political opposition and its electoral commission has been taken to the corridors of justice three months before the August poll. The Independent Electoral and Boundaries Commission is appealing a high court ruling that bans the commission chairman from making the official announcement of presidential vote totals from each constituency. The court ruled that vote totals announced at polling stations and the constituency level are final.

Kenya: Spat over electronic vote tender goes to court | AFP

Six Kenyans urged a court on Wednesday to suspend a controversial decision by election officials to scrap a tender process and directly procure an electronic voting system for the August polls. The petition is the umpteenth disruption to already chaotic election preparations, a sensitive process in a country where accusations of rigging accompany almost every vote. The tender was awarded to French defence and biometrics company Safran last month, pushing aside another French company Gemalto, which was lined up to win the contract in a bidding process launched in December. In court documents seen by AFP, the six petitioners argue that the entire process was “manipulated and rigged… to culminate in an artificial crisis that would then be used to justify the single sourcing”.

Kenya: Party Elections Halted Amid Confusion, Accusations | VoA News

Kenya’s top opposition coalition is wrapping up primary voting this week ahead of August general elections as the ruling Jubilee coalition gears up to start its primaries on Friday. The voting is seen as a key test of cohesion for both coalitions. Confusion and accusations abound in Nakuru County after the names of some opposition Orange Democratic Movement Party candidates were missing from paper ballots. ODM Party election officials called off the vote and rescheduled it. Some results were canceled because of allegations of rigging and some constituency elections were postponed because of logistical issues. The party has held elections in at least 10 counties. “The exercise is very big, and therefore in an exercise like this there will be mistakes here and there, but they are being corrected as they occur,” said Robert Arunga, a party election board member.

Kenya: With Kenya’s election looming will technology deliver a free and fair election? | CNBC

Elections present a milestone beyond which countries either strengthen their democratic credentials or become failed states. Often states fail when there are either perceived or blatant election malpractices. This in turn can lead to prolonged civil unrest.
Numerous cases exist across the continent. But I will use the Kenyan case to illustrate how election processes can be compromised, and then brought back from the brink with the use of technology. Following the election in 2007 Kenya erupted into two months of unprecedented conflict. People were unhappy with the outcome which saw Mwai Kibaki of the incumbent Party of National Unity being declared the winner ahead of Raila Odinga and his Orange Democratic Movement. Many disputed the final tally. To preempt a similar situation in future elections, a commission led by former South African judge Justice Johann Kriegler was set up. The Kriegler Commission made several critical findings. These included instances of double voter registration, widespread impersonation and ballot stuffing. It concluded that, as a result, it was impossible to know who actually won the election.

Kenya: Electoral Commission Defied Expert Advice in Sh3.8bn Polls Kit Tender | allAfrica

Electoral Commission chiefs went against the advice of their own tender evaluation committee and went ahead to award a Sh3.8 billion contract for the supply of voter technology to a French firm which had failed to meet the criteria set out in the bid document. The Nation has learnt that the firm – Safran Identity and Security – had been disqualified by a six-member committee set up to evaluate the bids by 10 companies that had expressed interest in supplying a system for voter identification and results transmission for the August 8 General Election. Despite the disqualification, the Independent Electoral and Boundaries Commission announced last Friday that it had resolved to directly procure the election equipment from Safran, following the cancellation of a previous tender awarded to Gemalto SA – another French firm.

Kenya: Opposition warns of protests if elections ‘rigged’ | Reuters

Kenyan opposition leader Raila Odinga said on Wednesday mass protests were possible if August elections were rigged, comments likely to scare Kenyans fearful of a repeat of the widespread violence that erupted after a disputed poll in 2007. Then, more than 1,200 people were killed in weeks of fighting after political protests turned into ethnic clashes, but 2013 polls, when Odinga accepted the result after a court ruling, passed relatively peacefully. “This country is not ready for another rigged election. Kenyans will not accept it,” Odinga said, noting that multiple people had been registered to vote with the same identity card in a registration period that has just ended.

Kenya: President signs election amendments law despite opposition rigging fears | Reuters

Kenyan President Uhuru Kenyatta approved a law on Monday requiring back up plans for an August election if electronic voting systems fail, despite fierce opposition from rivals who say any manual arrangements will open the ballot to rigging. Veteran opposition leader Raila Odinga disputed the result of the 2013 race, which he lost to Kenyatta after electronic voter identification and other election systems collapsed. He has led opposition to the new law. The build-up to the 2017 vote has already been marred by protests and clashes with police that led to at least four deaths. Last year’s demonstrations were sparked by a row over who sat on a committee overseeing the conduct of the election. The government agreed to replace the commissioners in a deal with the opposition.

Kenya: Pre-Election Fears Center on Electronic Voting System | VoA News

Kenya’s electoral body says the technology to be used in this year’s elections will not fail. The opposition is warning of unspecified consequences if elections are rigged for the ruling Jubilee party. Kenya is preparing for its sixth general election in August. Political tensions are high, and fear the country will see a repeat of the deadly violence that followed the 2007 election is growing. But the electoral commission says it is up to the task of delivering a credible election reflecting the will of the people. The commission is still haunted by its handling of the 2013 polls, in which most of the electronic equipment collapsed a few hours into election day.

Kenya: ICT experts brush off manual IEBC back-up system | The Standard

Computer experts say it is possible to conduct the 2017 General Election without a manual back-up system. A cross-section of experts disputed claims by ICT Cabinet Secretary Joe Mucheru that a manual system is necessary in case the electronic voting system fail. In a memorandum sent to the Senate under the lobby Kenya ICT Action Network (KITCAnet), the experts drawn from both the private sector and academia have asked Parliament to revise the amendment to sections 39 and 44 of the Elections Law (Amendment) Bill, 2016. “The employment of technology in elections management is meant to address questions of integrity of the election and efficiency in transmission of the results,” explains KITCAnet in part. KICTAnet further states that once the IEBC system has been procured, it is possible for the technical committee to agree on the best way of mitigating potential system vulnerabilities.

Kenya: Electronic voting system bound to fail, Attorney General tells Senate | The Star

The emphasis on electronic voter system is ignorance of what happens in Kenya, Attorney General Githu Muigai told a senate committee on Tuesday. The AG noted that many commentators on the amended election laws have misled Kenyans to think Kenya has an electronic voting system. Muigai, when he faced the Senate Legal Affairs Committee during the public hearing on contentious election laws, said the assertion was ‘far from the truth . He said Kenya has a manual voting system that is supported by an electronic system, and not the other way round.”In Kenya, we have a manual voting system with few electronic interventions. Voting largely remains manual,” he said.

Kenya: Al shabaab can interefere with electronic voting system, CS Mucheru says | The Star

ICT Cabinet Secretary Joe Mucheru on Thursday based the state’s push for alternative manual voting system on fears of al Shabaab interference with the 2017 poll. Muc heru, while appearing before the senate committee on legal affairs chaired by Amos Wako (Busia), defended the government’s plan to amend election laws. “We are at war with al Shabaab who are known to interfere with communication systems . The Ministry fully recommends manual back up system,” he said.He said that the option of manual system was viable not only because of terrorism but also for reasons related to challenge in the country’s telecommunication infrastructure. Mucheru said technology has failed even in the best of countries, adding that network failure and hacking can actually happen.

Kenya: Senate Moves Cautiously on Contentious Election Bill | VoA News

In Kenya, a controversial amendment to the electoral law is now before the Senate. The bill would give the electoral commission a workaround if biometric voting equipment fails, but the opposition has rejected the change for fear of voter fraud. But as political temperatures rise ahead of next year’s polls, Senate members are advising caution and careful consideration. The Senate did not vote on the amendment to the electoral law Wednesday. Instead, Senate Speaker Ekwe Ethuro sent the bill to committee. “The standing committee on legal affairs and human rights must, therefore, proceed with dispatch and be ready to table its report on 4 January 2017 when the Senate is expected to assemble for the special sitting,” Ethuro said.

Kenya: Opposition Vows to Protest Over Amendment of Electoral Laws | allAfrica.com

Tension is rising in Kenya after the Jubilee administration and the opposition took hard-line positions on amendment of laws that will govern next year’s elections. The Jubilee side on Thursday forced the amendment to the Election Law (Amendment) Act, 2016 after the Coalition for Reforms and Democracy (Cord) MPs walked out of Parliament Buildings, where a special sitting had been convened. This has set the stage for street protests and possible violence in the countdown to the elections, scheduled for August next year. The Election Law (Amendment) Act, 2016 had been passed in September after being drafted by a special joint parliamentary committee comprising Jubilee and Cord members. On voter verification and results transmission, the law provided that the Independent Electoral and Boundaries Commission (IEBC) would carry out the verification of voters in all polling stations using biometric data for 30 days. This was to be done 90 days before the election.

Kenya: Lawmakers scuffle amid fears of election-rigging | Associated Press

Kenyan legislators came to blows Thursday as opposition members tried to block an emergency session that passed a bill to allow manual counting of election results, calling it a back door to manipulating next year’s presidential vote. Opposition leader Raila Odinga called for mass protests from Jan. 4, saying, “No transparency, no elections.” Parliament’s deputy minority leader, Jakoyo Midiwo, said they are challenging the bill’s legality. “They are trying to force a law to rig the elections,” Midiwo said. The bill needs Senate passage and approval by President Uhuru Kenyatta, who is running for re-election.

Kenya: Crowdsourcing tool will work to track reports of voter fraud, suppression on Election Day | McClatchy DC

Republican presidential nominee Donald Trump has refused to say he’d accept the outcome of next week’s election if he loses. He has claimed, despite lack of evidence, that the ballots will be “rigged” against him. If that does happen, a crowdsourcing tool invented in Kenya is prepared to document it. Kenya knows a thing or two about contested elections, which some speculate may be a situation the U.S. finds itself in next week. In response to violence following the country’s 2007 presidential contest when Raila Odinga refused to acknowledge the victory of opponent Mwai Kibaki, a group of coders developed a platform to document where protests were occurring. They named the crisis map Ushahidi, which means “testimony” in Swahili. The organization thinks the technology will be useful in the American election.

Kenya: Controversial election commission quits | AFP

The election commission that oversaw Kenya’s flawed 2013 polls and was tarnished by a corruption scandal will receive a $2 million pay-off in return for agreeing to leave office early, local media reported Thursday. The nine commissioners will share the pot of cash, according to local newspaper reports. Statements issued by both the Independent Electoral and Boundaries Commission (IEBC) and the government said they had “agreed on the terms for a dignified vacation from office for current IEBC commissioners”. The government said it had sought to “strike a balance between public interest, legal and constitutional demands, the contract of appointment to office of each Commissioner and the guidelines of the Salaries and Remuneration Commission,” but did not state publicly what the exit package was worth.

Kenya: Kenya clears out electoral officials after deadly protests | Reuters

Kenya will replace its top electoral officials, a cross-party parliamentary committee said on Tuesday, granting victory to the opposition which had branded them biased and led protests for them to be sacked. Nine new commissioners will take over the Independent Electoral and Boundaries Commission well before next August’s general election, a key demand of Raila Odinga’s opposition CORD coalition which said it had feared a rigged vote. At least four people died in protests that CORD had been staging weekly, raising concerns of a return to ethnic violence that killed 1,200 people after a disputed election in 2007.

Kenya: Poll body officials yield to Opposition pressure, to exit | The East African

Commissioners in Kenya’s polling body have finally agreed to leave office after months of anxiety regarding their fate as the country inches closer to the 2017 elections. The nine commissioners, led by Chairman Issack Hassan, on Wednesday told a joint parliamentary committee comprising members of the country’s National Assembly and the Senate that they are ready to leave office through a political settlement for the sake of peace. That means the joint committee, co-chaired by Senators Kiraitu Murungi and James Orengo, will now have to craft a bill that allows the commissioners of the Independent Electoral and Boundaries Commission (IEBC) to leave office before the end of their term in September 2017 as part of the larger electoral reforms.

Kenya: Opposition Gives Ultimatum on Electoral Body Reforms | Bloomberg

Kenya’s main opposition Coalition for Reforms and Democracy said its supporters will resume protests on Thursday if the government doesn’t meet its demand for talks on changes to the national electoral body. The group has staged weekly demonstrations in the capital, Nairobi, and other cities since April to demand the resignation of officials at the electoral agency over alleged corruption and bias. Clashes with police have left at least five people dead. “CORD has called off Monday protests because of high level engagement involving the church, business community and diplomats pending a response from the government,” spokesman Dennis Onyango said in a text message. He said he expected the U.S. to appeal to the government to take part in talks.

Kenya: President Moves to Resolve Electoral Body Stalemate With Joint House Committee | allAfrica.com

Kenya’s president Uhuru Kenyatta has set up a joint committee of both the National Assembly and the Senate to resolve the stalemate over the electoral body. Speaking at State House Wednesday shortly before the reading of the budget, President Kenyatta agreed to the formation of the committee outside parliament that will hear and collate views of various stakeholders on the issue of the Independent Electoral and Boundaries Commission (IEBC). The move could be a breakthrough for the country which has been facing a standoff between the government and the opposition over IEBC. Five people have been killed and properties destroyed in the weekly demonstrations called by the opposition.

Kenya: Tensions Rise in Kenya as Opposition Rejects Ban on Protests | Bloomberg

Kenya’s main opposition party rejected a government ban on political protests and said it will intensify rallies calling for changes to the East African nation’s electoral body. Interior Secretary Joseph Nkaissery on Tuesday outlawed demonstrations in the country after a least five people died in weekly rallies by supporters of the Coalition for Reforms and Democracy that began in April. He threatened to crack down on protesters until differences between the opposition and the government over the Independent Electoral and Boundaries Commission are resolved through negotiations. The ban “doesn’t change anything,” Dennis Onyango, a spokesman for CORD, said by phone from the capital, Nairobi, on Wednesday. “The courts have cleared us to hold demonstrations.” The protests will be held on Mondays and Thursdays, he said.

Kenya: Government Bans All Protests Against Electoral Body | Associated Press

Kenya’s government has banned all opposition protests against the country’s electoral body, a day after witnesses said police killed two demonstrators, the internal security minister said Tuesday. A 6-year-old boy was also hit in the back by a police bullet Monday during protests in the opposition stronghold of Kisumu, witnesses said. He was among 21 people hospitalized with bullet wounds, according to hospital sources who insisted on anonymity for fear of reprisals. The security minister, Joseph Nkaissery, said the chaos does not fall within the parameters set by the constitutional court, which had called the demonstrations a constitutionally guaranteed right and ordered the police to protect protesters.

Kenya: Kenya’s Collective ‘Uh-Oh’: Another Election Is Coming | The New York Times

By 9 a.m. on Monday, clouds of black smoke blotted out the sky. A mountain of tires burned. Roads were blocked. Young men poured into the streets of a slum in Nairobi, gleefully carrying huge, jagged pieces of concrete. In Kisumu, a city on Lake Victoria, witnesses said police officers had fired on a crowd. A 5-year-old boy was in critical condition after being shot in the back. A demonstrator was killed. For the past several weeks, Kenya’s opposition leaders have turned Mondays into protest days. Now they are threatening to hold demonstrations twice, and soon four times, a week. Many Kenyans are shaking their heads with a sense of fatigue and dread, saying, Here we go again. Kenya is a relatively prosperous, developed and politically tolerant African nation. But elections have not been its strong suit. In the past 25 years, almost every presidential race has been marred by violence; the worst one was in 2007-8, when ethnic rivalries cracked open and more than 1,000 people were killed, many in deadly protests.

Kenya: Opposition Says Five Killed as Election Protests Resume | Bloomberg

Kenya’s main opposition Coalition for Reforms and Democracy accused the police of shooting dead five people in the western city of Kisumu during protests to demand electoral reforms. “At least five have been shot dead as of now, it could be higher,” party spokesman Dennis Onyango said by phone from the capital, Nairobi. The demonstration in Kenya’s third-biggest city will continue as it has been declared “legal and legitimate,” he said. Calls to police spokesman Charles Owino didn’t connect when Bloomberg sought comment. The party’s supporters marched on all but one Monday in the past month to demand the resignation of officials at the Independent Electoral and Boundaries Commission over alleged corruption. At least three people were killed during one of the demonstrations when police fired at protesters, according to media including Nairobi-based broadcaster Citizen TV.

Kenya: Brutal Crackdown on Election Reformers in Kenya’s Biggest Slum | National Geographic

Last Monday, Kibera slum was a chaotic scene of stone-wielding protesters in conflict with Kenyan police forces armed with live ammo, water cannons, and tear gas. In the fourth so far in a series of weekly protests against Kenya’s Independent Electoral and Boundaries Commission (IEBC), many protesters were prevented from leaving their homes in order to demonstrate peacefully in the city center. Calls for election reform have a long history in Kenya. The nation’s 2007 presidential elections led to what was widely termed “ethnic violence,” resulting in over 1,000 deaths and 600,000 displacements. Kibera, one of the world’s largest slums located in the capital of Nairobi, is home to the opposition leader’s stronghold and saw a disproportionate number of murders and displacement. As the August 2017 presidential election draws near, tensions are rising in Kibera once again.