Category: Politics

{A top Congo opposition leader who fled the country has announced his candidacy for president and is commending a new political agreement that might allow him to come home.}

In a statement Tuesday, Moise Katumbi praised the deal signed by political parties that calls for President Joseph Kabila to leave power after an election that will be held by the end of the year. The election originally had been set for November, and delays caused growing unrest.

Under the deal, mediating group CENCO will examine Katumbi’s case. Katumbi fled Congo last year as prosecutors announced their intent to try him on charges of hiring mercenaries, which he has denied.

Katumbi says he will fight for “the rise of the rule of law” as a presidential candidate.

{Governors on Tuesday threw their weight behind the Opposition in calling for the exclusive use of an electronic system in this year’s General Election, differing with Attorney-General Githu Muigai, who rooted for a manual backup.}

The governors said a manual backup system would be prone to abuse and manipulation, agreeing with Opposition politicians who have expressed fears that the system would be so lame that even dead people could be counted as voters in the August 8 poll.

Presenting their views to the Senate Legal Affairs Committee, which is listening to public views on the contentious Election Laws (Amendment) Bill, which was controversially passed by the National Assembly on December 22, Mr Isaac Ruto (Bomet), John Mruttu (Taita-Taveta) and Prof Kivutha Kibwana (Makueni) said the laws could potentially create major conflicts in the country. The three were representing the 47 governors.

The Bill provides for use of a manual backup in identification of voters and transmission of election results in the event the electronic system fails.

Prof Muigai, however, said that besides challenges in managing anxiety in the event of the electronic system failing, many voters could be denied their democratic right to vote.

“Failure of an electronic system is almost guaranteed because that is the nature of electronics. It is not a perfect science,” Prof Muigai said yesterday at the Senate Chamber, Nairobi, on the last day of the hearings, adding that the right of Kenyans to vote is a fundamental entitlement that should not be denied to any eligible Kenyan.

The Independent Electoral and Boundaries Commission (IEBC), he said, should be allowed to resort to an alternative in case of systemic failures to ensure no eligible voters were locked out of voting due to a hitch they had nothing to do with.

“If the system fails, we are empowering IEBC to have a default mode for that purpose. I think that is very reasonable. I shudder to think what would happen if we woke up and were told there was machine failure,” he said, blaming the controversy on “a low threshold of trust that has made it difficult for Kenyans to believe in institutions they have established”.

The Attorney-General said that, contrary to the position of critics, Kenya has a manual system that starts right from the voting stage, supported by electronic components.

“People who don’t vote weaken our democracy. Voters should not be turned away merely because the electronic system failed,” Prof Muigai said.

But Mr Ruto said party agents have in the past colluded to allow ineligible voters to take part in elections as long as they do not go beyond the total number of registered voters.

“Voter turnout will be managed to realistic levels by adapting the electronic system. In the case of a manual method, agents can agree that 99 per cent of voters should vote, 40 per cent of whom would not be seen physically,” Mr Ruto said.

He described the move by Jubilee-aligned MPs to single-handedly amend the election laws arrived at through a bi-partisan approach without subjecting the matter to public participation as driven by mischief.

“It’s not about tyranny of numbers. Out there, Kenyans want fairness,” Mr Ruto said, terming the MPs’ rush to pass the laws as mischievous and ridiculous.

He said electoral laws must be arrived at through consensus lest the country is plunged into chaos as happened in 2008 following the disputed presidential results.

Prof Kibwana said the country should not go back to a manual system in areas such as voter identification and transmission of results, where digital progress had already been made.

“The argument is not that we want to be 100 per cent electronic. We know voting is manual but let us not go back to manual in areas we have moved to digital,” he said.

Tuesday’s session was co-chaired by Legal Affairs Committee chairman Amos Wako and his ICT counterpart Mutahi Kagwe to enable the committee benefit from insights from the team that deals with technology issues.

Cord senator Hassan Omar agreed with the governors that it is wrong for MPs to push for amendments that could polarise the country.

“We don’t want dead voters to vote,” said Mr Omar. “We want to cure mischief through the electronic system.” Mr Omar added that the election laws were borne of a negotiated process and could not be amended without consensus.

{{DEAL WITH MISTRUST}}

Deputy Speaker Kembi Gitura (Murang’a) and Stephen Sang’ (Nandi) supported calls for a manual backup, saying the country should deal with mistrust and lack of confidence in the system.

“I suspect what is lacking is mistrust and lack of confidence in the system. We don’t want a system so prone to errors where someone is sent home because the system can’t recognise their names,” Mr Gitura said.

He said in some places, there were people with no thumb prints and they might be denied the right to vote if the manual system was outlawed.

Mr Wako spoke of the importance of a consultative process before coming up with election laws to instil public confidence in the election.

Chamber of Commerce Chairman Kiprono Kittonny called for fair laws to govern the electoral process, saying business people suffered most when disagreements over election turned violent.

“Electronic transmission of results is the most reliable method. We can’t say we are unable to transmit results electronically,” he said.

Law Society of Kenya (LSK) president Isaac Okero said a restoration of the process of bi-partisan participation was the only way to avoid the uncertainty in the preparation of the elections.

He agreed with governors that the contentious laws creating a complementary mechanism for identification of voters and transmission of election results should be struck out because the provision is open to different interpretations.

Kenya National Commission on Human Rights Vice-Chairperson, George Morara also supported an electronic backup, saying reference to a manual method should only be a last resort.

{Kenyans have been asked to present their views on the suitability of the nominees for positions in the Independent Electoral and Boundaries Commission (IEBC) before vetting by Parliament.}

The National Assembly’s Justice and Legal Affairs Committee (JLAC), chaired by Mr Samuel Chepkonga (Ainabkoi), has started assessing whether the nominees indeed qualify for appointment to the positions.

President Uhuru Kenyatta nominated Mr Wafula Chebukati for the position of chairman, leaving out Mr Tukero ole Kina, who was widely viewed as the appropriate nominee, given that the current IEBC chief executive officer Ezra Chiloba comes from the same region with Mr Chebukati.

The President received a list of two nominees for the chairman position and nine for commissioner slots. He was expected to pick the chairman and six commissioners within seven days, to replace the outgoing team led by Mr Issack Hassan.

{{NOT THE BEST CANDIDATE}}

Already, queries have been raised on the suitability of Mr Chebukati following revelations that other candidates, performed better than him in the interview.

“The marks in the public domain show that the chairman nominee was not the best candidate.

“This raises serious concerns of undue influence,” said Mr Mutula Kilonzo Jr, the Makueni senator.

The President also nominated Ms Consolata Nkatha Bucha Maina, Mr Moya Molu, Dr Roselyne Kwamboka Akombe, Dr Paul Kibiwot Kurgat, Ms Margaret Wanjala Mwachanya and Prof Abdi Guliye as members of the electoral agency.

Mr Chebukati will be the first among the four nominees who will appear before the JLAC for vetting on January 10. The remaining three will be vetted the following day.

Members of the National Assembly, who are on recess, will be recalled for a special sitting to consider the committee report after the vetting.

The public can submit their views through affidavits by close of business on January 9.

{President Uhuru Kenyatta led Kenyans in ushering in the New Year with a pledge to ensure a free and fair General Election in August.}

In a televised message delivered from State House, Mombasa, on New Year’s Eve, President Kenyatta said he wanted to complete pending government projects after the next elections.

“We have an election in a few months,” said President Kenyatta. “It will be my great privilege to run as a candidate to remain your President for another term.

“My reason for running is to complete the works that we have started with great energy and to ensure that this nation can continue to rise in the world.

“Let me tell you what I see in my mind’s eye whenever I think of what we are trying to build: A Kenya that is industrialised and where a decent job is available to anyone qualified and seeking it.

“We will be a Kenya whose people have the education to innovate, invent and deliver world class goods and services. We shall sustain our economic growth so that we rise to Africa’s leading destination for investment in manufacturing, logistics, tourism and education.

“We will be secure and an anchor for stability in a region that will have overcome its destructive conflicts.”

The Head of State added: “None of this will come overnight. But considering how far we have come in the past four years, I know that we will make giant strides in the next few years.

“I will travel to every corner of this country in the coming months. I will listen to your concerns and work with you to make things better for you and your family. I invite all of you, and especially those in the Opposition, to join me in the work of making our country continue to reach for its destiny of greatness.”

{{WARNED AGAINST VIOLENCE}}

The President warned against election violence and criticised opposition politicians for resorting to protests to push their political agenda, adding that echoes of the 2007-2008 post-election chaos should be wiped out.

“I want to also say to all Kenyans: We will not allow our efforts and those of Kenyans to be destroyed by politicians who seem to have embraced the lesson that confrontation and provocation are the only way for them to operate politically,” the President said.

He said threats by the Opposition to call for mass action if the government did not drop controversial amendments introduced in the election laws were a recipe for unnecessary political tension.

“They have announced demonstrations and even the so-called ‘mass action’ in the coming days,” said the President. “Let us be honest with one another when assessing what they mean by mass action. In the past, when the same politicians have used this phrase, they have meant violence is on the way.

“I tell our young people: Do not allow yourselves to be used so badly. These people care nothing for you. Their way is the way of division and agitation, not development and nation building.”

The President said the Opposition refused to accept the results of the last General Election and had tried to portray themselves as the victims of rigging although no credible poll observer had corroborated their claim.

“They have threatened to make Kenya ungovernable,” he said. “They have shouted insults in rallies and held the Presidency — which belongs to all Kenyans — in contempt.

“They have even in the past threatened to march to the Seat of Government and overthrow the government of the people. This is not opposition politics; this is disruption and undermining of a country.”

{{YEAR OF HONESTY}}

The President added that 2017 will be a year of honesty, sobriety and firmness, adding: “Elections come and go but Kenya and our families remain. Together, we are strong.”

The Head of State said his government was making efforts to fight corruption, which had led to the loss of billions of shillings of public funds during his tenure.

“We continue to make every available legal effort to prevent and deal with corruption in the public service,” he said. “The multi-agency approach has continued to bring more cases against senior officials suspected of fraud and theft.”

The President asked the Judiciary to play a major role in ensuring graft was eliminated. He warned against politicising issues touching on corruption, saying it was disruptive and unnecessary.

“One pending matter from 2016 concerns the management of our team at the Rio Olympics,” he said, adding that the Director of Public Prosecutions was reviewing the file to decide whether or not there was evidence on which to base action against the Sports ministry’s top leadership.

On security, President Kenyatta said: “Kenya is unique in Africa, and much of the world, for being a country that can fight global terrorism while strengthening democracy.”

He noted that there are more than 60 major global companies based in Nairobi, which had offered job opportunities to Kenyan professionals.

The President also talked of significant growth in infrastructural development in Kenya and praised devolution as a major stride in the country’s growth plans.

{{BRIGHT FUTURE}}

“We have urgent business with a bright future for our people,” he said. “The countries of the world that have gotten rich in the past 50 years that we have been independent are countries that value stability and economic performance.”

He reiterated that countries that had achieved sufficient development in the West and in the East worked on their infrastructure, made their education systems world class and gave security to their people.

In his New Year message, opposition leader Raila Odinga said he was optimistic the President and his government will be kicked out of office this year.

“The Jubilee government is essentially the one Kenyans rejected in 2002,” said Mr Odinga, the Orange Democratic Movement (ODM) party leader.

“What we have gone through from 2013, compared to the period from 2003, proves that we were right to reject this team when it first attempted to seize power.”

The Cord co-principal blamed corruption on individuals who he said had the support of the government. He further claimed the public service was plagued by negative ethnicity and that many people had lost their jobs under President Kenyatta.

Delving on the government’s competence, The former Prime Minister said the country lacked well-thought out policies to drive its growth agenda.

Wiper Democratic Movement (WDM) leader and Cord co-principal Kalonzo Musyoka called for free and fair elections and warned the government against playing tricks with the polls.

“To our Jubilee competitors, I urge you to avoid placing any bottlenecks against a free and fair General Election,” said the former Vice-President as he called on the Opposition to register as voters in large numbers to defeat Jubilee.

{Government and opposition agree that President Joseph Kabila will step down after elections are held next year.}

Joseph Kabila will step down as president of the Democratic Republic of Congo after elections are held before the end of 2017, under an agreement apparently finalised by the government and the opposition.

The deal was concluded on Saturday in the capital Kinshasa, according to negotiators, ending a lengthy stalemate in the country.

“We have reached agreement on all points,” said Marcel Utembi, the bishop who chairs the Episcopal Conference (CENCO) overseeing the talks.

Alexis Thambwe Mwamba, DRC’s justice minister, confirmed that a deal had been reached, saying: “Everything is settled.”

The negotiations, launched on December 8, took place under the aegis of the influential Catholic Church, which had initially set Christmas Day as the deadline for a deal.

The draft deal was made on Friday, but the finalisation of the agreement was delayed due to new demands.

Al Jazeera’s Fahmida Miller, reporting from Kinshasa, said one of the sticking points was the issue of a referendum.

“The government representatives said they wanted to reserve the constitutional right provided by Article 5 to have a referendum before elections are held next year. But they didn’t say what the vote would be about,” she said.

“The opposition said they wanted to remove any loopholes from this agreement. They of course opposed the referendum and said the government was trying to keep President Kabila in power.”

Kabila has been holding on to power although his second and final five-year term ended on December 20.

{{‘Political transition’}}

The deal envisages a “political transition” with fresh presidential elections to be held at the end of 2017.

The vote was supposed to be organised in late 2016. The government had previously said it was impossible for elections to be held before April 2018.

A transitional government will be put in place by March next year.

The agreement also guarantees that Kabila will not seek a third mandate and lays the groundwork for a “national transition council” charged with carrying out the agreement.

In return, the opposition headed by Etienne Tshisekedi, 84, would accept that Kabila can stay in power until he hands over to an elected successor.

It had previously demanded Kabila’s immediate departure from public life.

In May 2016, Kabila managed to get a court to rule that he could remain in power until a successor was chosen.

The deadline for his departure from office prompted clashes that have left between 56 and 104 people dead.

If Saturday’s deal is followed through, it will be DRC’s first peaceful transfer of power since independence in 1960.

International and African powers feared the failure to secure a peaceful transition of power could lead to a repeat of conflicts seen between 1996 and 2003 in eastern DRC in which millions died, mostly from starvation and disease.

{Agreement reached by Congolese political parties aims to have transitional government in place by March next year.}

Joseph Kabila will step down as president of the Democratic Republic of Congo after elections held before the end of 2017, under a draft agreement reached by political parties, according to a lead mediator from the Catholic Church.

Under the deal, reached on Friday but not yet signed, Kabila will be unable to change the constitution to extend his mandate and run for a third term, said Marcel Utembi, president of the Catholic Bishops’ Conference in the Congo.

A transitional government will be put in place by March next year, said Al Jazeera’s Fahmida Miller, reporting from neighbouring Kenya.

“During the time of the transitional government, they will be looking at appointing a prime minister from the opposition. That was vital for the opposition because it needed a bigger stake in the government,” she said.

She said politicians in exile may also be allowed to return without a fear of prosecution.

However, “there seems to be a number of questions around opposition politicians within DRC who have been arrested. They won’t necessarily be freed anytime soon,” she said.

“What this agreement is talking about is a sort of commission to be set up that would look at these political prisoners case-by-case and determine their fate.”

If the deal is finalised, it will be Congo’s first peaceful transfer of power since independence in 1960.

Kabila’s two-term mandate ended on December 19, but authorities have effectively extended it until 2018.

His actions led to demonstrations, with security forces killing about 40 people just last week alone.

Western and African powers feared the failure to secure a peaceful transition of power could lead to a repeat of conflicts seen between 1996 and 2003 in eastern Congo in which millions died, mostly from starvation and disease.