The
games politicians play cost us time, money and national cohesion. When
Mwai Kibaki appointed 47 county commissioners as part of his programme
for reorganising the Provincial Administration so that it conforms to
the devolved structure, he seemed to be laying the ground for his
preferred candidate in the next general election, presumably Uhuru
Kenyatta, the Deputy Prime Minister and former Minister for Finance.
Raila Odinga objected to the appointments claiming that he had not been
consulted. Perhaps his objections had little to do with the lack of
consultation with the President and more to do with the fact that he too
would have wanted his preferred county commissioners in place for the
general election. His anger was perhaps in recollection of the
appointments the President had made before the 2007 general election to
the Electoral Commission of Kenya, which he blamed for his loss to the
President. Then, he had argued that by making unilateral appointments to
the ECK, the President had not only ignored the principles behind the
1997 IPPG deal, but was packing the Commission with his appointees with
the intention of rigging the general election in his and his party's
favour.
Kenyan politicians do not trust each other, especially when the President uses the Provincial Administration as his preferred tool in the rigging of elections. The Prime Minister and his ODM colleagues do not know what the end-game will be in 2013, but their experience in 2007 means that they will not trust any changes that the President makes to the Provincial Administration without the substantive input, and agreement, of the Prime Minister. However, it is difficult to see how the elections could be rigged using the Provincial Administration, given that the Independent Electoral and Boundaries Commission has been structurally and functionally separated from other instruments of the Executive Branch. Indeed, if the ODM fears that the election will be rigged, they should consider the fact that the IEBC has gone to Parliament with a request for 35 billion shillings to finance the general election but Parliament is determined to allocate only 17.5 billion shillings, one-half of the sum requested. The IEBC claims that unless it gets the full amount approved and allocated by the National Assembly, their ability to hold free and fair polls will be compromised.
There are many moving parts in the machinery of a general election. With the next polls, the IEBC is called to ensure that the election of the national Parliament, the County Assemblies, Governors and civic leaders is as smooth as possible. After testing a tamper-proof electronic voter-registration and polling system for the Constitutional Referendum, the IEBC is determined to roll out this system for the whole country. This will cost a great deal in capital costs. The IEBC states that for it to hire the personnel and facilities required for the general election, it must have the funds to do so. Otherwise, it will have to operate with a smaller elections staff, and this may prevent the proper monitoring of its systems and processes, giving unscrupulous elements an opportunity to interfere with the integrity of the polls.
ODM is facing its own challenges in the run up to the general election. Because of its recalcitrance in accommodating Musalia Mudavadi's concerns, it gave him the excuse he needed to strike out on his own. The party's excuse that the party constitution could only be amended by its governing body, it ensured that he would leave the party, taking with him a significant number of ODM MPs and supporters. Coupled with the departure of William Ruto and his Rift Valley cohort, the party has effectively lost its Parliamentary majority. The party is therefore, looking for any and all excuses to prepare its claim for irregularity in the general election. It refuses to admit that the actions of the party leader and his Luo Nyanza cohort are swiftly alienating large chunks of the electorate, creating the impression that the party is a Luo party. Irrespective of the vacuity of Mr Mudavadi's and Mr Ruto's claims, and Raila Odinga's continued personal political popularity among voters, ODM is creating the circumstances that may ensure its eventual defeat at the polls.
Because of their desire to win at all costs, Presidential candidates are unable to address the issues that affect Kenyans. Rather than concentrating on these questions in their poll plans, they are reading intrigue and conspiracy in every move the President and the government makes. Perhaps the President knows this, so his Executive decisions are designed to give Mr Odinga and ODM something to concentrate on rather than selling their message to voters and allowing the ever-fractious anti-Raila brigade the opportunity to set their house in order. If ODM is to weather the next months successfully and prevail at the general election, it must start worrying about the how it is perceived by voters and not on how the Executive branch is setting the stage for President Kibaki's succession.
Kenyan politicians do not trust each other, especially when the President uses the Provincial Administration as his preferred tool in the rigging of elections. The Prime Minister and his ODM colleagues do not know what the end-game will be in 2013, but their experience in 2007 means that they will not trust any changes that the President makes to the Provincial Administration without the substantive input, and agreement, of the Prime Minister. However, it is difficult to see how the elections could be rigged using the Provincial Administration, given that the Independent Electoral and Boundaries Commission has been structurally and functionally separated from other instruments of the Executive Branch. Indeed, if the ODM fears that the election will be rigged, they should consider the fact that the IEBC has gone to Parliament with a request for 35 billion shillings to finance the general election but Parliament is determined to allocate only 17.5 billion shillings, one-half of the sum requested. The IEBC claims that unless it gets the full amount approved and allocated by the National Assembly, their ability to hold free and fair polls will be compromised.
There are many moving parts in the machinery of a general election. With the next polls, the IEBC is called to ensure that the election of the national Parliament, the County Assemblies, Governors and civic leaders is as smooth as possible. After testing a tamper-proof electronic voter-registration and polling system for the Constitutional Referendum, the IEBC is determined to roll out this system for the whole country. This will cost a great deal in capital costs. The IEBC states that for it to hire the personnel and facilities required for the general election, it must have the funds to do so. Otherwise, it will have to operate with a smaller elections staff, and this may prevent the proper monitoring of its systems and processes, giving unscrupulous elements an opportunity to interfere with the integrity of the polls.
ODM is facing its own challenges in the run up to the general election. Because of its recalcitrance in accommodating Musalia Mudavadi's concerns, it gave him the excuse he needed to strike out on his own. The party's excuse that the party constitution could only be amended by its governing body, it ensured that he would leave the party, taking with him a significant number of ODM MPs and supporters. Coupled with the departure of William Ruto and his Rift Valley cohort, the party has effectively lost its Parliamentary majority. The party is therefore, looking for any and all excuses to prepare its claim for irregularity in the general election. It refuses to admit that the actions of the party leader and his Luo Nyanza cohort are swiftly alienating large chunks of the electorate, creating the impression that the party is a Luo party. Irrespective of the vacuity of Mr Mudavadi's and Mr Ruto's claims, and Raila Odinga's continued personal political popularity among voters, ODM is creating the circumstances that may ensure its eventual defeat at the polls.
Because of their desire to win at all costs, Presidential candidates are unable to address the issues that affect Kenyans. Rather than concentrating on these questions in their poll plans, they are reading intrigue and conspiracy in every move the President and the government makes. Perhaps the President knows this, so his Executive decisions are designed to give Mr Odinga and ODM something to concentrate on rather than selling their message to voters and allowing the ever-fractious anti-Raila brigade the opportunity to set their house in order. If ODM is to weather the next months successfully and prevail at the general election, it must start worrying about the how it is perceived by voters and not on how the Executive branch is setting the stage for President Kibaki's succession.
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