IGIHE

Category: Rubrique

  • Carter Center Slams Kenyan vote on tech failures

    {{An American election observer group led by former President Jimmy Carter said Thursday that Kenya’s March 4 presidential election suffered serious technological shortcomings and that election officials at times prevented observers from carrying out their mission, but it said the election’s paper trail preserved the will of Kenyan voters.}}

    The Carter Center said the initial release by Kenya’s election commission of inaccurate vote figures challenged voter confidence in the commission. It also said a lack of transparency in the national count marred the vote.

    The commission named Uhuru Kenyatta the winner with 50.07 percent of the vote. The result was challenged by Prime Minister Raila Odinga and civil society groups but upheld by the Supreme Court.

    Kenyatta is wanted by the International Criminal Court on charges related to the deadly violence Kenya saw after its 2007 election.

    Those charges have threatened to cool Kenya’s relations with the West.

    However, the United States Embassy says its ambassador will attend Kenyatta’s swearing-in next week.

    Britain, Kenya’s other major Western partner, has not yet announced if its high commissioner will attend.

    Kenyatta’s team accused Britain’s top representative in Kenya of meddling in election matters, straining the countries’ relations.

    The Carter Center congratulated the people of Kenya on keeping peace in spite of long lines on election day, the release of inaccurate early electronic results and being provided with uneven turnout figures from vote tallies.

    The center said that the election commission, known as the IEBC, confined party representatives and election observers to the sidelines at the national counting center, “making effective observation impossible.”

    “In the absence of access to compiled documents and to IEBC personnel, the national tally of the presidential results forms was effectively rendered non-transparent for stakeholders and observers,” the Carter Center said.

    Government officials and civil groups tried to ensure violence did not break out en masse during this election, as it did in 2007-08, when more than 1,000 people were killed.

    Five people died in violence after the Supreme Court upheld Kenyatta’s win but most of the country remained peaceful.

    The Carter Center called it “worrying” that the number of registered voters announced by the electoral commission changed in the last weeks of the voting process.

    A variation of 100,000 registered voters suggested that data had changed with no explanation from the electoral board and no opportunity for public scrutiny.

    The Carter Center, echoing complaints by Odinga and the civil society groups, said it regretted that the election commission was unwilling to publish results by polling station.

    The IEBC has said it carried out a free and fair election but it was not able to explain all of the voter number discrepancies before the Supreme Court.

    Gladwell Otieno, the executive director of the Africa Center for Open Governance, which challenged the election results at the Supreme Court, said the Carter Center’s findings — a mixture of positive and negative observations — is the result of a difficult balancing act for observers, given that Odinga accepted the court’s decision to uphold Kenyatta’s win.

    “The flaws in the process were so manifest it wouldn’t be credible if they didn’t recognize them,” she said.

    “As civil society we have to be grateful that the IEBC is being put on the spot because that has to happen. At the same time I don’t see how they could describe the manual tallying as acceptable or credible.”

    Gladwell noted that the judiciary’s own report from the registrar of the Supreme Court lists one Kenyan voting region — Laikipia West, with 70,760 votes — as being unable to verify votes cast.

    Kenyatta secured his majority election win by only 8,400 votes out of more than 12.3 million cast. Field reports for Gladwell’s organization indicated that many constituencies saw turnout over 100 percent.

    “We feel that the IEBC has to answer for its conduct and its use of public money,” Otieno said.

    “We think the IEBC really, really let Kenyans down and we can’t just sweep this under the carpet. We have another election in five short years.”

    AP

  • Sudanese lawmakers to Press Bashir to run for re-election in 2015

    {{Members of the North Kordofan bloc in the Sudanese parliament have started working on a petition to be signed by their peers in order to press president Omer Hassan al-Bashir to reconsider his decision to step down at the end of his term in 2015.}}

    The spokesman of this parliamentary bloc Mahdi Abdurrahman Akrat said that they are also trying to arrange a meeting with Bashir on the matter.

    He said that such a move by the president would have disastrous consequences stressing that Bashir is the only guarantor for the unity of Sudan because he is respected by all political entities in the country.

    In an interview with Qatar’s Al Sharq newspaper published this week, Bashir confirmed that he will not seek reelection saying that he spent enough time in this position.

    The Sudanese leader said that the ruling National Congress Party (NCP) will work on picking a presidential candidate for the next general elections.

    However, several officials including Bashir’s 2nd VP said that it is not up to Bashir to make a decision on his political future but the NCP.

    MP Ismail Hussein from the opposition Popular Congress Party (PCP) expressed doubts on the seriousness of Bashir’s declaration.

    Hussein said in a press statements published Sunday that the president made similar announcements in the past before being talked out of it by what he described as the “Pharaoh’s magicians” who convinced him that he needs to complete his election agenda and to conform to the will of the party.

    He noted that Bashir is wanted by the International Criminal Court (ICC) in connection with alleged war crimes committed in Darfur since 2003.

    “The president not running for a new term will drop his immunity and there will no longer be a barrier between him and the Criminal Court,” he said.

    (ST)

  • Musharraf Returns to Pakistan Amid Death Threats

    {{Former Pakistani President Pervez Musharraf ended more than four years in self-exile Sunday with a flight to his homeland, seeking a possible political comeback in defiance of judicial probes and death threats from Taliban militants.}}

    The journey from exile in Dubai to the Pakistani port city of Karachi is intended as the first step in his goal of rebuilding his image after years on the political margins.

    Since the former general was forced from power, Pakistan’s civilian leadership has struggled with a sinking economy, resilient Islamic extremist factions and tensions with Washington over drone strikes and the secret raid that killed Osama bin Laden.

    Musharraf represents a polarizing force that could further complicate Pakistan’s attempt to hold parliamentary elections in May and stage its first transition from one civilian government to another.

    He is viewed as an enemy by many Islamic militants and others for his decision to side with America in the response to the Sept. 11, 2001 terrorist attacks. On Saturday, the Pakistan Taliban vowed to mobilize death squads to send Musharraf “to hell” if he returns.

    His supporters, including elements of the military and members of Pakistan’s influential expatriate communities, consider him a strong leader whose voice — even just in parliament — could help stabilize the country.

    Musharraf also faces legal charges, including some originating from the probe of the 2007 assassination of former Prime Minister Benazir Bhutto, who also spent time in self-imposed exile in Dubai before returning.

    The flight from Dubai came after several failed promises to return in recent years. Musharraf announced in early March that he would lead his party, the All Pakistan Muslim League, in May elections.

    Musharraf met briefly with reporters in Dubai before heading to the airport wearing a white shalwar kameez — the traditional loose-fitting outfit in Pakistan — and sandals from the country’s Peshawar region near the Afghan border.

    Musharraf took power in a 1999 coup and was forced to step down in 2008 amid growing discontent over his rule. He has since lived in Dubai and London.

    wirestory

  • Tunisian Man Sets Himself Ablaze

    {{A man has set himself on fire in central Tunis, just hours before the country’s legislators were to vote on a new government entrusted with pulling the country out of a deep political crisis.}}

    Tuesday’s gesture recalled the self-immolation of Mohamed Bouazizi, whose death ignited a revolt in the North African country that echoed across the Arab world.

    “This is a young man who sells cigarettes because of unemployment,” the man shouted before immolating himself on Habib Bourguiba avenue, according to a witness.

    Security forces and bystanders tried to extinguish the flames before the man was rushed to hospital, witnesses said.

    A hospital source said he was “in a critical condition and only his feet were not burned”.

    The reason for his action was immediately clear.

    aljazeera

  • Defeated Kenya’s Female Candidate Leaves Politics

    {{Former Gichugu MP Martha Karua has taken a break from politics following her defeat in the recently concluded presidential elections, where she finished sixth.}}

    She, however, declined to state when or if she would make a comeback and the activities she would be engaged in during her break.

    “For now, I am taking a back seat and resting. I am beginning to like it,” Karua said at a luncheon at Narc- Kenya secretariat in Nairobi on Sunday.

    She said Kenyans should learn to give each other space and allow others to concentrate on their matters.

    “When you ask me what next, I will ask you what next for you as well. Don’t worry about me, worry about yourself. Ask yourself, will the ugali on your table get bigger,” she added.

    She reiterated that she has embarked on “minding her own business” after putting down “some baggage”.

    Party members

    “I am intact and ready to march forward. I am now looking for the next highest mountain to climb,” she added, while noting that she spent a paltry Sh50 million on her campaigns. Present at the luncheon were volunteers who worked at the secretariat, staff and party members.

    The figures from all the 290 constituencies plus the Diaspora put Karua’s votes at 43,881, just ahead of Restore and Build Kenya’s James ole Kiyiapi’s (40,998) and Paul Muite of Safina (12,580) votes.

    Ms Karua said she respected the outcome and would work with Uhuru Kenyatta, the winner of the presidential election.

    Her concession was posted on her Facebook page where she also revealed that the candidates for the top seat had pledged to abide by the results. On Sunday, Karua said she is not looking for a job and would not accept any offer. “I am not looking for a job because my hands are already full,” she stated.

    During the meeting, Karua offered words of encouragement to her team and told members that they may be down but not out.

    She said her team, though lean, did a splendid job and was “super-efficient” because her messages got to the people even before she reached out to them.

    “We should continue to advocate for what we believe in. What we have been telling people will not end with the elections,” she explained.

    {Standard}

  • Tsvangirai Concerned About Integrity of Elections

    {{The party of Zimbabwe’s Prime Minister Morgan Tsvangirai is concerned about the “hygiene” and integrity of crucial elections expected later this year amid voter registration and violence issues, the finance minister said Saturday.}}

    “There’s massive challenges with the voter registration exercise that is taking place,” said Tendai Biti, who is also the Movement for Democratic Change (MDC) secretary general.

    “It’s the ordinary hygiene issue of the election, the integrity of the election, we are talking about,” he added.

    General elections expected in July should end a shaky coalition government between Mr Tsvangirai’s MDC and President Robert Mugabe’s ZANU-PF party.

    Mr Biti said there was need to “vaccinate” the vote against violence as “self evidently in the last few weeks there have been signs, sprouting shoots of violence … potential replication of the 2008 status quo.”

    The MDC has since the start of the year recorded over 120 incidents of violation and abuse of individuals, he said.

    These and other concerns such as inequitable access to the public media by the MDC, have been raised with the regional bloc Southern African Development Community.

    An SADC security organ comprising three presidents met in Pretoria on Saturday to discuss Zimbabwe and South African President Jacob Zuma said the grouping “will take necessary action” on the issues raised by the MDC.

    Mr Biti said voter registration is underfunded and inaccessible to many citizens.

    NMG

  • Suu Kyi Selected to Remain Myanmar Opposition Head

    {{Aung San Suu Kyi was selected Sunday to remain head of Myanmar’s main opposition party, keeping her leadership post even as the party undergoes a makeover to adjust to the country’s new democratic framework.}}

    The Nobel laureate was named chairwoman of the National League for Democracy’s new executive board on the final day of a landmark three-day party congress attended by 894 delegates from around the country.

    The congress also expanded the group’s Central Executive Committee from seven members to 15, in a revitalization and reform effort ahead of Myanmar’s 2015 general election.

    The party is seeking to infuse its ranks with new faces, expertise and diversity without sidelining long-standing members.

    “We have to see how effectively and efficiently the new leaders can perform their duties,” said Suu Kyi, who has led the NLD since its inception in 1988. “We hope they will learn through experience.”

    Suu Kyi is the sole holdover from the party’s original executive board when it was founded, but the other new members are also mostly long-serving party loyalists.

    A broader Central Committee of 120 members was elected by the delegates and endorsed the executive board, which was given five reserve members.

    The party, which came into being as the army was crushing a mass pro-democracy uprising in 1988, won a 1990 general election that was nullified by the then-ruling military.

    The NLD boycotted a 2010 general election, but after a military-backed elected government took office in 2011 and instituted democratic reforms, it contested by-elections in 2012, winning 43 of 44 seats and putting Suu Kyi into parliament.

    Emerging from repression that limited its actions — not least because Suu Kyi and other senior NLD members spent years under detention — Suu Kyi vowed in her opening speech Saturday to inject the party with “new blood” and decentralize decision-making.

    She said the NLD would go through an experimental stage with the new leadership and should anticipate some obstacles but “not be discouraged.”

    Although the 2012 by-election results showed that the NLD still has broad and deep appeal, the party faces challenges.

    {Associated Press}

  • Uhuru Kenyatta Declared 4th President of Kenya

    {{Kenya’s Independent Electoral and Boundaries Commission IEBC chairman Issack Hassan has declared Uhuru Kenyatta duly elected President of Kenya after he garnered 50.07 % of votes cast.

    Hassan today announced Uhuru garnered 6, 173, 433 votes against his rival CORD’s Raila Odinga who got 5, 340, 546.}}

    The IEBC chair said Uhuru got 105 % of votes cast in at least 32 counties.

    Uhuru has promised the Kenyan people that his government will introduce a one laptop per child policy to all school pupils.

    He also said every Kenyan child will be required to study until they are 18years before dropping out.

    Meanwhile, Raila Odinga has said he will contest his challenger Uhuru Kenyatta’s win in court.

    “Raila has no intention of conceding and will be challenging this in court,” Mr Odinga’s advisor Salim Lone told the Nation.

    “The level of the failures in the system makes it very difficult to believe it was a credible result, and if Uhuru is declared president, Raila will go to court.”

  • Kenya Elections: Mudavadi Accepts Defeat

    {{I Kenya, Presidential candidate Musalia Mudavadi conceded defeat Friday as tallying after the Monday March 4 General Election showed two rivals had secured most of the vote.}}

    The Amani coalition flag bearer was third in the presidential results ranking, with a huge margin between him and the leading candidates Uhuru Kenyatta and Raila Odinga.

    He becomes the second of eight contestants to make a concession.

    {{Below is the verbatim statement he issued:}}

    {My Fellow Kenyans:

    I want to thank all of you for all the support you have given to me in this year’s elections and indeed over the period of campaigns while running for the Presidency of the Republic of Kenya.

    I thank you for keeping the peace as preached by the Amani Coalition throughout the campaign period.

    To my supporters, you did your best and as in every competition there will be a winner. We are not that winner for now and I appeal to you
    to keep the faith as we look to the future with hope.

    We must now join other Kenyans and be part of building our institutions in accordance with the new Constitution for the country
    to move on. We want to all move ahead and write a new, brighter chapter in our country’s history.

    This election has been a living demonstration of universal and popular democracy at its highest and noblest levels. So far, Kenyans have had
    their say without fear, favour or ethnic or regional strife. As a result, our democratic experiment under the new Constitution is much
    stronger today than it was just a few weeks ago.

    Consequently I appeal to IEBC to also do everything possible not to be seen to cause anxiety or to precipitate contention on the final results through acts of omission or commission in the tallying of results.

    This election has not been about an individual. This election has been about all Kenyans making their leadership choices for the country. Up to this point, it is clear the choice of Kenyans for the presidency is between two formations – the Jubilee and Cord coalitions.

    I have spoken to my colleagues Uhuru Kenyatta and Raila Odinga. I have congratulated them on their excellent performance so far.

    The gist of our conversation has been to impress on them the need to ensure that we remain peaceful and that the country is not ruptured by
    whichever way the outcome of the ongoing presidential tally goes.

    I have pointed out to them that all of us may have misgivings about some issues in the conduct of elections. However, Kenya is bigger than
    the sum total of presidential candidates and our supporters’ wishes. I have therefore reminded them that we made a pledge to the country to keep the peace whatever the outcome of the elections.

    I have also indicated to them that there is a very uneasy calm that wholly dependents on their ability to manage emotions of their supporters moving into the final announcement by IEBC.

    Furthermore, I have particularly requested my brothers Raila and Uhuru not to allow any statements from within their ranks that will be
    misconstrued and hence lead to break-up of the prevailing civic order.

    I have assured them of my full support and that of all my supporters across the country in this endeavour for peace.

    Thank you very much and God bless our country.}

  • Mois Sons win Parliamentary Seats

    {{Two sons of former Kenya President Daniel Arap Moi have won two parliamentary seats from Central Rift Valley constituencies.}}

    Gideon Moi, who represented Baringo Central between 2002 and 2007, won the senate seat, despite high-profile campaigns by Jubilee presidential candidate Uhuru Kenyatta and his running mate William Ruto to elect Rev. Jackson Kosgei of URP.

    Mr Moi’s other son, Raymond, trounced Mr Ruto’s ally Luka Kigen, to bag the Rongai constituency seat. Both flew Kanu flags.

    The election of two of Moi’s sons must have come as a comfort for the retired president who in 2007 bore the ire of ODM supporters who destroyed his property for supporting Mwai Kibaki.

    In the previous elections, Mr Moi had lined up three of his sons, Raymond, Jonathan and Gideon, with the former managing to succeed him in the Baringo Central seat in 2002. In 2007 none of them withstood the ODM wave.