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• Juja case reveals how presidential rigging was done

  Posted: April 19, 2010, 4:01 pm by Chris

  During the 1997 general elections I cast my vote in a very remote polling station. I noticed at a corner of the room two gentlemen whom I immediately knew were policemen. They stood at a point in the room where they could see how people marked the ballot paper. One of them was even making notes.
  
  The two gentlemen were from the intelligence service and their work was to estimate the number of votes being cast in favour of their candidate as accurately as possible. These figures are later tallied and then the appropriate number of votes “added” in specific constituencies. Bear in mind that careful estimates are prepared in advance so the whole exercise moves very smoothly.
  
  This is how Moi won the elections easily 1992 and 1997. The truth is that the winner in 2002 was Kenneth Matiba and in 1997 it was Mwai Kibaki.
  
  Now you would think that if somebody played such a dirty trick on you, robbing you of victory, you would not want to do the same to others. But I probably think wrong because Kibaki used the same tactics in 2007 only that he did not do such a neat job of it and so got caught so easily.
  
  Folks as you know the Juja seat has been declared vacant after the petition against legislator George Thuo was successful. But during the case some very fascinating things came out. Actually more evidence that Kibaki rigged the presidential poll.
  
  Apparently a staggering total of 10,000 voters voted ONLY for the president and then walked out of the polling station. Even the presiding judge could not hide his amazement. And there’s more. No Form 16A or 17A was signed for Juja constituency. And then the most hilarious part of the whole comedy of an election was that the returning officer announced the winner on 28th December 2007 and then went on to do the tallying on 29th December 2007. His excuse? He was tired after a whole day of drama and stress and so he decided to announce the winner and then do his sums later.
  
  This would have caused me to laugh so hard that my ribs would have been in trouble, if it wasn’t for the fact that these kind of games cost as innocent Kenyan lives in 2007, not to mention innocent women being gang raped etc. So instead of laughing it just makes me angry.
  
  The father in the cap added by the PNU brigade was to stuff a few extra votes in the same manner in ODM strongholds. Unbelievably this had the desired effect because I have heard several people say to me that ODM also rigged. If this is true then Raila did a terrible job of rigging because he should have rigged himself into State house. And I guess the Administration police and the NSIS (the key people used in the rigging) were also taking orders from Raila. Actually they were taking orders from both Kibaki and Raila. COME ON!!! Anybody who believes such a cock and bull story should have their head examined.
  
  But what puzzles me even more was how PNU expected to get away with such massive rigging. At least Moi’s figures were very carefully manipulated with some polling stations getting stuffed with only 300 votes or so (but this tends to add up when you do it countrywide). What happened in December 2007 is that some constituencies were stuffed with as many as 50,000 votes!!
  
  See Nairobi airconditioning services in the current Kumekucha classifieds.Kumekucha

  
  

• Kibaki, Moi, Ruto: 3 Most Consistent Politicians

  Posted: April 19, 2010, 4:00 pm by Taabu

  Give it to these elegant three Kenyan leaders. They can manage to hold their forte no matter the political heat. Not even the fuming church matches their political fidelity. Ex-president Moi saw it ahead of all Kenyans and warned us as much. He was in the NO camp in 2005 and is staying put there. Kibaki likewise is not decamping from his YES stand. These two wise men epitomizes mental and political stability.
  
  Ruto's resolute leadership of the NO camp must come as no surprise to those who know Bill well. William is his own man and unlike his peers, he won't patronize but seeks to be the patron himself. In Ruto the church has a PRINCIPLED leader and partner in the no campaign. He shoots hard from the hip and holds no hostages.
  
  Make no mistake, Ruto's rejection of the porous draft is strongly grounded on merit and merit alone. Passing the CoE's constitution will provide the seed to fertilize ethnocentrism, nepotism and violence. Ruto and his NO brigade have selflessly warned us against the draft's exotic Bill of Rights.
  
  You cannot fault Moi on patriotic matters, or can you? He knows better than having Wanjiku mesmerized by such a weighty and abstract matter as the constitution. Forget all that lofty talk of fundamental rights and freedoms. Nothing is more basic than the God-given right to life, security and privacy. The drive for justice is only meant to keep the civil service relevant, nothing more. And Ruto is not afraid to remind them and even take them head on.
  
  According to Ruto, Chapter five of the Proposed Constitution on land is a sure recipe for eternal friction and chaos if not amended NOW. Well, our independence was fought with lives lost over land and Ruto and Moi have reminded those with ears and eyes as much. What is more, these two know exactly what they are talking about when it comes to land. We ignore their wise counsel at our collective national peril. All the hot air on water towers and environmental conservation must be dismissed for what they are. Vision 2030 can only be secured with enhanced investment including capable Kenyans and foreigners acquiring and modernizing our national parks, forests and water towers.
  
  The draft's pretense on provision of equality flies hollow at the face of our African values. You only hasten your suicide mission in the villages by mentioning gender parity on land matters. No wonder Kenyans turn a blind eye to Moi's timely reminder that the draft is academic crafted to serve foreign interests. Parliament cannot pretend to have the authority prescribe minimum and maximum land holding acreages for our tribal kings. Squatters must jealously retain their status so as to have the opportunity to vote.
  
  Ruto is more than right on his fight against a super-imperial President. He knows and has experienced the perils of bestowing powers on one person to appoint virtually all state officials including ministers, ambassadors, permanent secretaries, security chiefs and heads of government firms.
  
  Passing the draft will deny Kenyans the political excitement derived from MPs jockeying for ministerial posts. Kenya is no US and our Cabinet must be exclusively composed of elected MPs. Pretending otherwise is to spite the squatters who vigorously campaign and vote for their lords.
  
  Ruto and his NO camp must not waiver. It is a new dawn led by Ruto and he deserves the support of every progressive Kenyan. This is 2010 and unlike the hitherto politically-informed 2005 referendum, the present debate is issue-based.
  
  While the No camp articulate their ideologies devoid of raw politics, the deceptive and politically faint-hearted have their eyes singularly trained on 2012 polls. Well, look no further than the two marionettes speaking from both sides of the mouth saying different things about the draft depending on the audience.Kumekucha

  
  

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