Kenya Poll: President Kibaki in tight battle with challenger
December 28, 2007 (NAIROBI) – Unofficial results on Friday showed Kenyan President Mwai Kibaki in a tight battle with his main challenger after a vote praised as smoothly run despite sporadic violence and rigging accusations from both sides.
With counting proceeding slowly and no official results given by electoral officials early on Friday, unofficial tallies showed a race just as analysts had predicted: anyone’s.
The Institute for Education in Democracy (IED), a respected non-governmental organisation, gave Kibaki 50.3 percent versus 40.6 for opposition leader Raila Odinga — but the figures were based on 309 polling stations out of a total 27,000.
Unofficial results tallied by Kenya’s main TV broadcasters were split. Based on counts of about 200,000 votes, NTV and Citizen TV had Odinga leading Kibaki, while KTN had Kibaki ahead.
Fourteen million Kenyans were eligible to vote, but analysts expected 8-10 million to actually have done so. Turnout was high, but no official figures were yet available.
Voting in Kenya largely goes along tribal and geographical lines, and analysts said it was too early to call the tightest electoral contest since independence from Britain in 1963.
Odinga, 62, is determined to realise a long-held dream of leading the region’s top economy and becoming the first member of his Luo tribe to claim the presidency.
Kibaki, 76, wants a second term before retiring to his highland farmstead after a political career spanning Kenya’s post-independence history. He has the firm support of his Kikuyu tribe, Kenya’s largest and rival to the Luos.
Official results were expected on Friday even though tallies came in slowly from the corners of the east African nation, from its Indian Ocean coast to its lush green highlands and its arid northern reaches touching Somalia, Ethiopia and Sudan.
‘PEACEFUL ATMOSPHERE’
Kibaki’s Party of National Unity (PNU) on Thursday complained of alleged election fraud and intimidation, and urged the Electoral Commission of Kenya (ECK) to investigate.
The complaint joined Odinga’s relentless fraud accusations, which he raised again on Thursday claiming his name was missing from the voter rolls in his constituency. The government said he had gone to the wrong voting booth.
ECK Chairman Samuel Kivuitu acknowledged some technical problems but said that “none of these have been for rigging purposes … ECK is run by humans and it is bound to err.”
Kibaki, who became Kenya’s third president in 2002 in a landslide vote that ended 39 years of one-party rule, was narrowly behind in pre-election polls despite a 5 percent average economic growth record.
If he lost, he would be Kenya’s first sitting president to be ousted at the ballot box. Diplomats consider this vote to be the country’s only second truly democratic election.
“The day has fulfilled our hopes in that it has been conducted in a peaceful atmosphere with no intimidation,” chief EU election observer Alexander Graf Lambsdorff told Reuters. Other diplomats gave the same assessment
Nonetheless, at least three people were killed on election day in politically-tinged violence, a regular feature of Kenya’s polls despite a reputation for stability in a turbulent region.
Police also fired teargas when voters became angry over missing names or when they were turned away for coming late in a handful of remote areas.
While Odinga’s style contrasts with Kibaki’s, both pledge to boost growth and provide free secondary education.
The candidate who receives more votes than his closest challenger, plus 25 percent in five of eight provinces will win.
(Reuters)
chomwalimu
Kenya Poll: President Kibaki in tight battle with challenger
BY:Chol Dhoor Riak.
The kenyan people secured the fundamental understanding of sensible political maturity.The independency of the electoral commission of Kenya had uniquely withstand the most crucial and sensitive issues in Democratization process of Kenya as the most cental organ that had shaped KENYA through successive regimes.
The people of Kenya are voters who pray for their politicians with both eyes opened.A nation with citizens aware of their prime rights and freedoms make a dynamic political destiny in their country.When there is a political out cry,one significant issue is worth mentioning, and that is when the rights and freedons of the citizens are violated,squeezed and being ignored.
When you looked at the tallies in Nairobi and Nyanza,there is one thing that will rushed into your nerves and make you rushed into conclusions.Kibaki scored the highest votes in Nairobi,Raila scored the highest votes in Nyanza and things did not workout quiet well with Kolonzo in Ukambani.All these reflect one thing and that is TRIBALISM RIGHT THERE!.
From our experiences in Kenya,kenyans have walked great great distance of miles with long stides on many things but “TRIBALISM” is dragging them back back to 1940s.Kenyans have secured their freedoms as their best friend and keep tracks of performance
of their presidents to avoid making mistakes comes general election.They wit out their leaders when they made empty promises during campaigns. they read between political sence to avoid being cheated by leaders who can not keep and fulfill their promises.
The new techniques adopted by many African countries such as rigging of election,assasination of political oponents,and unecessary detention of opposition leaders are aimed at making opposition leaders toothless puppets or robots and these practices are long gone in kenya.When these peaked the worst climax,developments varnished and tribalism threatens mutual coexeistence of various communities and wars follows.
When a leader is obsessed of saying “my people”, he is hiding one thing and that is his tribal nakedness.It is unless the citizens wisdom help them to differentiate between leaders who says “my people” or “our people” they will be in a traffic of dilemma to excerice thier democratic rights.Many times, it is always hard to tell who is misleading who between the leaders and ordinary citizens but,there is a definite clue to rule out undebatable answer that labelled leaders to be the wrong shepherds.
Kenya is a living role model with positive values that are helpful to many African countries if their Democratic steps are followed.Its people vote with wisdom to make kenya abetter place for kenyans to live.
My Turn,
My opinion.
By Chol Dhoor Riak.
Email:[email protected]