Publisher: Korir, africanpress@getmail.no

<Story by Leo Odera Omolo in Kisumu 8^th May, 2008

Publisher: Korir, africanpress@getmail.no source.nation.ke

Now the loopholes are discovered. What will it help now when a grand coalition is on and working. Yes, it will help in the 2012 elections if one seeks to streamline the rules so that Kenya does not see another post-violence after the 2012 presidential elections. The loopholes although very grave, cannot be sealed before the coming by-elections. To change rules, there must amendments after amendmnets and agreements reached by interested groups. We can only expect changes in sealing the loopholes to come when the constitution is being cleaned to suit the present Kenya. API

Revealed: Flaws in presidential election

Story by DAVE OPIYO

Loopholes that give returning officers unlimited powers to determine the results announced in tallying centres during presidential elections were exposed on Wednesday. 

Mr Jorgen Kilkilt (above), secretary of the Kriegler commission which is inquiring into election irregularities during the last General Election addresses journalists after yesterday’s hearings of the Kriegler commission at KICC. Photos/PETERSON GITHAIGA

Senior officers of  the Electoral Commission of Kenya said the figures returning officers announce can only be challenged within 24 hours after which a winner is declared. Only an election petition can overturn the results.

This means that the word of returning officers at the constituency level can override objections raised by agents for presidential candidates when it comes to compiling the national tally.

The revelations also raised the possibility of figures at constituency level being changed at the national tallying centre.

This emerged as the Kriegler commission, probing into events leading to last year’s disputed presidential election results, heard presentations from top ECK officers for he second day running.

Ballot papers

On Tuesday, the officers, led by ECK secretary Suleiman Chege, had been questioned about the practice of giving voters different ballot papers — one at a time — for presidential, parliamentary and civic seats.

Some members of the Kriegler commission felt that the system could be abused by allowing voters to cast three ballots for a presidential candidate, and that a better way was to give out the three ballots at once.

The session, at Kenyatta International Conference Centre in Nairobi,  rekindled memories of the disputes and chaos which followed the announcement of last year’s presidential election results at the same venue.

The Orange Democratic Movement (ODM) disputed the tallying which gave President Kibaki victory over Mr Raila Odinga, now the Prime Minister.

More than 1,200 people were killed and over 350,000 displaced during the violence which erupted soon after the announcement of the disputed results. Peace was restored when President Kibaki and Mr Odinga signed a power-sharing deal on February 28.

Members of the Kriegler commission heard that ECK has 48 hours — after receiving a petition — to resolve the disputes after which only an election petition can change the figures.

According to electoral rules, ECK is supposed to direct a recount or a re-tallying of the votes depending on the nature of the complaint.

There are currently more than 30 parliamentary election petitions pending before the High Court.

Late last year, ODM disputed results announced by ECK in several constituencies and alleged anomalies at the tallying centre.

President Kibaki had been trailing Mr Odinga but overtook the ODM candidate when results from parts of Central and Eastern provinces were released, sparking an outcry from ODM agents at the KICC tallying centre and protests by party supporters in various towns across the country.

It emerged that returning officers wielded so much power in determining the candidate who won an election because they results they transmitted to the ECK headquarters were deemed to be final.

Said Mr Chege: “It is always assumed that whatever results are brought to our headquarters by the returning officers are correct, that is why they are normally announced as the final results.”

According to ECK electoral rules, other officials did not have the power to make alterations on the results announced at the polling stations.

“These officers are supposed to remain accountable for their actions even if their job has been completed. They can still be called upon to give evidence in court if need be,” Mr Chege said.

Returning officers are also expected to provide all documents to the commission’s headquarters including form 17 – the certificate of results in parliamentary election and form 17 A – a declaration of the election result, both presidential and parliamentary at the constituency level.

He is also expected to present Form 16 – the certificate of results of presidential elections — and form 16 A – the presidential and parliamentary election declaration of the election results at the polling station.

Mr Chege was responding to queries from commissioner Francis Aywa who also wanted to know what happens if the returning officer did not bring with him all the required documents to the tallying centre just before the results were announced.

The secretary said that in such instances, returning officers are issued with fresh forms to fill at the commission’s headquarters.

The revelations sparked fears from members of the Kriegler commission that this could be used to manipulate the results in favour of an individual. However, Mr Chege said that all documents related to the elections were intact and available and could also be produced on demand except in areas where the vote counting process were marred by violence like Kamukunji constituency.

Present during the session were Mrs Jemimah Keli, ECK’s  senior legal officer and Mr Philip Chepsat, the elections manager.

The Kriegler commission was represented by Justice Johann Kriegler, who is also the commission’s chairman, the Vice Chair Lady Justice Imani Daud Aboud and commissioners Horacio Bonee from Argentina, Prof Marangu M’Marete, Mrs Catherine Muyeka Mumma, Ms Lucy Kambuni and Mr Francis Angila Aywa all from Kenya. Also present was Mr Jorgen Elkilit, the Kriegler commission’s secretary.

The Kriegler commission is among others expected to assess ECK’s efficiency and its capacity to discharge its mandate. It will also investigate the vote counting and tallying for the entire election and investigate the organisation and structure of the 2007 electoral operations among other key issues.

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African Press Internatiuonal – api

Publisher: Korir, africanpress@getmail.no source.apa

Against the background of its slogan: “Somalia: War Crimes Must Stop”!, Amnesty International on Wednesday, issued a desperate call to Western governments to act urgently and save the human race further executions, gang rape and violence attacks that characterise the political upheaval prevailing in Somalia.

Condemning the disastrous effects of these crimes on teenagers, with all the ‘human rights crisis, Amnesty declares that: “Somali and Ethiopian soldiers are to blame for most of these atrocities.

“The world governments must rise up and intervene”, said the human rights charity.

Amnesty’s Africa deputy programme director, Michelle Kagari, has also warned that: “Attacks on civilians by all parties must stop immediately.

Somalia has been ravaged by chaos and civil war since 1991, when warlords overthrew Mohamed Siad Barre and sparked brutal clan infighting.

Ethiopia’s invasion in December 2006 to install the transitional government in Mogadishu – ended up uniting various Islamic militant groups in Somalia, who launched a guerrilla war that has lasted for more than a year.

The United Nations documents that the level of violence is very high in Somalia but in particular Mogadishu is going through its worst time in terms of war for the last 17 years of the conflict.

Deaths of civilians rising each day, with unspeakable displacement of civilians from the war-torn region.

The United Nations Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon has consistently expressed concern over the renewed violence and the substantial loss of life, especially among civilians.

Crimes have persisted despite the UN warnings, urging parties to the conflict in Mogadishu “to refrain from the indiscriminate and disproportionate use of force that endangers the lives of civilians, particularly in heavily populated civilian areas – and that any targeting of non-combatants is a violation of international humanitarian law”.

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API

Publisher: Korir, africanpress@getmail.no source.apa

A former child soldier witness in the ongoing criminal trial of the former Liberian leader Charles Taylor at the special court for Sierra Leone, TF1-143, completed his evidence on Tuesday morning, as the defense finished its cross-examination and the prosecution conducted a brief re-examination, according to a release issued by the court at The Hague.

When the prosecution sought to call its next witness, whom it said was under protective measures, the defense requested that the protective measures be lifted. After lengthy arguments and deliberations, the judges ruled in favor of the defense and ordered that the witness testify in open court. The prosecution however responded by instead calling another witness.

The day began with Defense Counsel Terry Munyard continuing his cross-examination of prosecution witness TF1-143, focusing his effort on pointing out inconsistencies between the witness’s testimony and his prior statements to the prosecution. Munyard also suggested that there had been tensions between the Revolutionary United Front (RUF) and the Armed Forces Revolutionary Council (AFRC).

Prosecutor Mohamed Bangura conducted a brief examination of the witness, focusing on underlining that the witness had made corrections to previous inconsistent statements, and re-establishing which accounts were final. The witness stated that he was not present at the explosion that killed Saj Musa. He reiterated that he had only met Adama Cut Hand when the rebel forces entered Freetown.

After the release of witness TF1-143, Prosecutor Julia Bailey called the next witness, TF1-215, and stated that this witness was subject to a protection order of Trial Chamber 1. She said that the witness should testify behind a screen and with use of a pseudonym.

After a long arguments between the prosecution and the defense as to whether the new witness should be granted protection, the court adjourned for lunch, and when the request was rejected, Prosecutor Bailey responded by saying that the prosecution would not call TF1-215.

Prosecutor Shyamala Alagendra called the next witness, TF1-028, who introduced herself as a 42 year-old Sierra Leonean, uneducated, and of the Mandinka tribe. She narrated how she and her family fled Freetown in 1998 during the ECOMOG invasion to end the rule of the AFRC/RUF junta.

At that point, the proceedings were adjourned to resume the following morning.

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API

Publisher: Korir, africanpress@getmail.no source.apa

Senegal will pay its first national tribute to Sembene Ousmane on 8-9 June which coincides with the first anniversary of the director’s death.

Thus, an international conference will be organized at the Sheik Anta Diop University of Dakar, a close friend of Sembene and member of the steering committee, Magueye Kasse, told APA Tuesday.

This conference will bring together academics, art critics and other personalities of the world of art, Pr Kasse said while acknowledging that more is in stock to honour the great writer and film director.

“It is a unanimous will of Senegal and Africa to pay a deserved homage to Sembene,” he added, revealing the Senegalese authorities set up a steering committee for the occasion since months ago.

The Senegalese director was one of the founding-members of Fespaco, a cinematographic meet in Ouagadougou which has become a reference in the African and world 7th art.

He was also a renowned writer whose literary works such as “God’s bits of wood” (Les Bouts de bois de Dieu) or “The Money order” (Le Mandat) are classics still studied in high schools and colleges of the continent.

Sembene died in Dakar at 84, following a long illness.

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API

Publisher: Korir, africanpress@getmail.no source.apa

The lower house of Liberia’s bicameral legislature on Tuesday ratified the ECOWAS Convention on the proliferation of small arms in the sub-region.

The ratification of the ECOWAS convention is part of the process to make it a part of Liberian law which must be upheld.

The ECOWAS Convention on the proliferation of small arms was promulgated by the Economic Community of West African States to discourage conflict, terrorism and hijacking in the sub-region.

The plenary of the lower house ratified the convention during its Tuesday session. The upper house (senate) has to however also pass it before the convention becomes part of Liberian law.

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API

President Mwai Kibaki will this coming Monday, May 12, 2008,lead a fundraising ceremony to raise urgently needed funds for the resettling of Internally Displaced Kenyans.

The Government had already allocated kshs 1 billion to establish the Humanitarian Fund which is led by Archbishop Ndingi Mwana Nzeki, but requires at least 30 billion Kenya shillings. The Presidential ceremony will launch the fundraising activities for the Fund so as to bridge the substancial financial gap.

The Government is inviting all Kenyans to participate in this noble venture. Private companies, all leaders, Wananchi and other well-wishers are requested to support the Fund so that our brothers and sisters can be relocated back to their homes.

The Government humbly requests media to prominently highlight this request so as to galvanize all Kenyans and well wishers for this National cause.

The ongoing resttling operation is proceeding better than expected and the Government appreciates the fear some people have of going back to their homes but assures them that security has been beefed up and is being provided in all areas. It may take some time for some people to feel comfortable and the Government understands this, and reiterates that the resettlement is for those who feel ready to go back to their homes and farms.

<Dr. Alfred N. Mutua
Public Communications Secretary &
Government Spokesperson