Tuesday 10 October 2017

"No reform, no election!" says Raila Odinga and means it - unlike Zimbabwe's sell-outs

On 8th August 2017 Kenya’s Supreme Court annulled the result of the country’s presidential elections after finding many serious electoral irregularities from which Uhuru Kenyatta had benefited. The re-run was due to take place on 26 October.

“We have come to the conclusion that there is no intention on the part of the IEBC (election commission) to undertake any changes to its operations and personnel. All indications are that the election scheduled for 26 October will be worse than the previous one.

“Considering the interests of the people of Kenya, the region and the world at large, it was better that I withdraw from the race!”

The response from Uhuru Kenyatta is what one would expect for one whose commitment to democratic values of free, fair and credible elections has been questioned at every turn.

“We have no problem going back to elections,” said Uhuru. “We are sure we will get more votes than last time.

“We are also telling him it is the people’s right to choose their leader. It is their sovereign right to choose their leader of choice.”

If he meant that, then he would have no problem in making sure the reforms are implemented and the irregularities the Courts picked up in their investigation are attended to BEFORE the re-run. The people’s sovereign right to free, fair and credible vote must never ever be called into question.

For the record, Uhuru Kenyatta, has threaten to “deal” with the Supreme Court judges who had annulled the August result. Where is the respect of the independence of the judiciary in that!

The electoral commission has rejected the changes Odinga called for “largely because of contractual agreements with the companies providing key services for the election”. What a feeble excuse!

Was the “contractual agreements” not subject to the companies delivering a quality product fit for purpose?

Kenya has been held back for decades because the country was stuck with a corrupt and incompetent regime which the people could not vote out of office because it rigged the vote! The country has a real chance of making sure it does not fall back into these nightmare years ever again. Allowing the re-run to go ahead with no reform will set the country back to those vote rigging days again!

Whatever contractual penalties Kenya will pay for disregarding the contractual agreements the commission has with the companies involved in this dispute are nothing compared to the material and human cost Kenya will pay if future elections are not free, fair and credible!

The one thing no one can ever take away from Raila Odinga is that he did implement many democratic reforms during his term as Prime Minister in the GNU. For the first time since Kenya gain her independence the country had its first ever free, fair and credible elections in 2012. Whilst this year's elections were not free, fair and credible as the High Court has found out still it was only because of Odinga's reforms making the courts independent that they had the independence to make such a ruling. 

The people of Kenya must now think long and hard about what they want because the decision they make now is not only important for the here and now but will have serious political ramification for generations to come. If they allow elections to go ahead with no reforms then they have accepted the status quo of the incumbent regime tampering with the electoral process. Uhuru Kenyatta will never implement any reforms and fire the people who helped him rig and win the elections.

If the people stand firm and demand the reforms then they will have hope of future elections being free, fair and credible.

As for Raila Odinga, there is really no point in him contesting an election that he already KNOWS is flawed and illegal! To do so is insane!

A prominent opposition senator James Orengo has called for people to protest using the slogan “No reform, no elections!”

Every Zimbabwean must be hanging his or her head in shame! Morgan Tsvangirai, was in exactly the same situation during Zimbabwe’s GNU and he failed to get not even one reform implemented in five years. After the rigged July 2013 elections, he too vowed “No reform, no elections!” but he long since forgotten about that party resolution.

“Mazivanhu eMDC adzidzi kudya anyerere!” (MDC leaders have learnt to enjoy the gravy train lifestyle and not rock the boat!) Zanu PF thugs boasted, as to why MDC leaders had completely forgotten the need to implement the reforms during the GNU.

Mugabe has daggled the promise of a few gravy train seats to those opposition leaders who would contest Zimbabwe’s election regardless how flawed and illegal the process happened to be. It is this this bait that has made Tsvangirai forget the “No reform, no election!” promise.

Many Zimbabweans have tried to compare Morgan Tsvangirai to Raila Odinga the later has given Kenya a real chance to reset its democratic institutions whereas the former has helped invigorate the Zanu PF dictatorship. Mugabe has rewarded Tsvangirai with a $4 million mansion, among other things. Meanwhile Zimbabwe is still stuck with this corrupt, incompetent and vote rigging tyrannical regime.


Of course, it is insane to contest next year’s elections with no reforms in place to stop Zanu PF rigging the vote but what can the ordinary people do! The country’s opposition do not have any common sense to say anything and mean it; their greed has made them blind to reason, they are insane!  

7 comments:

Nomusa Garikai said...

The usual suspects are showering President Mugabe with praise over the reshuffle, "it has emasculated, deflated Mnangagwa", they tell us. But fail to say how because we all know that it did no such thing. Whatever Mugabe does these idiots have wanted it to be seen as the work of a genius, they are doing so here.

The truth is the cabinet reshuffle has done nothing to end the factional war in Zanu PF because President Mugabe knows that he cannot take on Mnangagwa and win.

If Grace Mugabe thinks the coast is now clear for her to takeover she will have yet another rude awakening. She will be back asking Mnangagwa to resign, who in turn will ignore her! She will be back telling her husband to name her his successor, he too will ignore her - as much as a hen perked cock can dare!

Nomusa Garikai said...

@ Alan Wenyika
“Mugabe’s recent cabinet reshuffle left a trail of hilarious carnage on the landscape of Zim politics. This was after Mugabe unlocked his gun cabinet as he drew his most effective weapon for mere political survival and aimed it sniper-style at Ngwena, his Second in Command and leader of the Lacoste bandwagon of disGraced fellow thieves and murderers,” you say.

This is all wishful thinking. If all President Mugabe can do to stop Ngwena becoming his successor is to take away his Minister of Justice portfolio and remove Bonyongwe from CIO and think that is enough then he is more naïve than I gave him credit for. The truth is, after booting out the Mujuru faction, the Ngwena faction is the only faction left in Zanu PF. The President has tried to create this G40 faction but failed.
Removing Bonyongwe from CIO will not change anything much because there are still many CIOs, war veterans, who know that should G40 come to power they will all be booted out.
President Mugabe has been “sleeping with one eye open because he is fearful of a coup”, Grace said. After this reshuffle, he will still sleep with one eye open because nothing has changed! He is smart enough to know you view of roasting Ngwena of a spittle is the product of any overzealous simpleton. The reality is totally different, it is Mugabe and his wife who are cornered and have nowhere to go.

Patrick said...

The AU praised the Supreme Court judges for annulling the results of the August vote; where are they now?

It will be a great pity if the ordinary people in Kenya do not comprehend the importance of this matter in terms of growing a health democracy in the country. This is not a party political issue but a national one. The chances are, the ordinary person will probably see it as a party issue because their political understanding everything is seen through party lenses. Little wonder all our efforts to build democratic government has rarely ever survived more than a few years. Party allegiances are more powerful than national ones just as individual interest trumps party interests.

It would be a great tragedy if Kenya's experiment with democracy should start to unravel so soon after it was born!

Zimbabwe Light said...

The demo on Wednesday demanding the reforms was well attended.

All the other candidates who contested in the August vote are going to contest the re-run. If is not clear if they too are joining the boycott, one would think they would do so!

Zimbabwe Light said...

There has been street protest in three big cities in Kenya as opposition supporters continue to demand the implementation of the reforms before the 26 October re-run.

The fighting going on in the streets in Kenya today is about something that transcends personality or party politics – it is the fight to decide whether Kenya is going to be a healthy and functional democracy in which the people’s right to free, fair and credible elections is guaranteed or the country descends back into the dark decades of de facto one-party dictatorship and vote rigging!

If the re-run election is allowed to go ahead with no reforms to guarantee free, fair and credible elections then this will set a precedence for all future elections to follow. Having got away with vote rigging once everyone who comes after that will want to rig the elections too if they can.

Kenya has failed to live up to its full economic potential because for decades after independence the country was stuck with corrupt and incompetent regimes who rig the vote to stay in power. Whether the people of Kenya are smart enough to realise what is at stake here is the big question!

Patrick said...

This argument makes sense but one has to also look at the political reality in Kenya. When the Supreme Court gave its initial decision to nullify the August result Uhuru Kenyatta threated to "deal" with the Judges. Kenyatta is the incumbent president in a country with a history of tyrannical presidents it will be naïve to think that all those in the judiciary would have failed to sit up and listen.

The basis of annulling the August result was the failure by the Election Commissioners to conduct the elections with due diligence. So implied in the judgement is the call for something to be done to ensure the same or similar mistakes are not repeated in the re-run. Raila Odinga was very clear and explicit on what, in his view, the commission must do to ensure a free, fair and credible process.

The commission's refusal to implement the reforms Odinga called for on the grounds that they had contractual obligations with the subcontractors is flippant, to say the least. Surely those contractual obligation must have included the contractual obligation to provide quality service fit for purpose.

Yes, Odinga could have gone back to the Supreme Court and let it issue a court order demanding the reforms he was after. However, many will say he did not need that as it was implied in the original court ruling.

It is a common sense position that holding the re-run with nothing in place to stop the irregularities pickup in the last vote is madness.


The real tragedy here is that many people in Kenya failed to see this matter as a serious national issue with serious national ramifications for generation to come. By allowing the re-run to go ahead with no reforms Kenya risks the danger of back sliding to the dark years of the corrupt and tyrannical de facto one party state.

If the reforms were implemented and the re-run was free, fair and credible, it will be just another feather in the country's fight for a health and functional democracy. 

The political crisis in Kenya is far more important than the here and now of the individual leaders or party politics. Sadly, it seems the people of Kenya failed to grasp this.

Patrick said...

In their application, Ndegwa and Onyancha say the September 1 judgment that invalidated President Uhuru Kenyatta's win was erroneous and should be overturned.

The duo argue this will save the country from spending Sh12 billion on the repeat polls set for October 26

This was a frivolous argument for reversing the Supreme Court ruling; the irregularities had or could have had an material effect to the results and that is good enough to justify the re-run. The important of free, fair and credible elections that are beyond dispute is key to a healthy and functional democracy, the political stability and economic prosperity of the nation. Whatever it costs to stage a re-run must be considered an investment in the country's stability and prosperity.

What our clever Aleck should have done is sued all those who had a part in the election irregularities to recover the cost of the re-run which could have been avoided and, more significantly, to send a clear message electoral fraud will not the tolerated!