As
I write, the presidential ballots are being counted and Uhuru Kenyatta,
scion of Kenya's first Prime Minister, first President and the father
of the nation, Jomo Kenyatta, is leading Raila Odinga by around ten
points. Raila Odinga, Kenya's second Prime Minister and scion of Jomo
Kenyatta's first Vice-President and perennial bete noir,
Jaramogi Oginga Odinga, is surely hoping to overhaul Mr Kenyatta's lead
in the hours ahead as more and more ballots are counted and more and
more counties transmit their figures. To say that we are anxiously
awaiting the final results is like saying the sky is blue or kittens are
cute: stating the obvious!
But the decision is already made; all that remains is for the Independent Electoral and Boundaries Commission to confirm the figures and announce who will succeed Mwai Kibaki. We all hope that the election will not be forced into a run-off. It is the way Kenyans voted that is instructive. Month after month of exhortations to peace,Kenyans voted peacefully, save for violent acts intended to disrupt the polls in Mombasa, Kilifi and Garissa where policemen and a polling clerk were murdered in cold blood. The Fourth witnessed long queues, some going back four kilometres, at polling stations. In these queues, Kenyans were stoic and patient, intent on proving to the naysayers at CNN and the BBC wrong about the peaceful elections we were holding. Even despite scaremongering reports by these international media outlets leading up to the polls, Kenyans largely demonstrated that we had learnt the lessons of 2008 and would not need to re-learn them any time soon.
Despite the shambles in the IEBC organisation of the polls - the long queues an busted Electronic Voter Identification Devices - these elections are a success. The IEBC was quick to admit the challenges it was facing; it was even quicker to prescribe solutions that many accepted and applied. It was forthcoming with information when requested; officials did not hide from unpleasant truths or hard questions. The phrase "beefed up" took a new meaning in the context of security preparedness; despite the murders of policemen in Mombasa and Kilifi, the National Police Service and the security establishment have acquitted themselves admirably. There was no repeat of the 2007 claims that Administration Police officers were deployed as agents for one camp or the other. It seems Raila Odinga may have scuttled whatever nascent plans existed to "rig" these elections. Kenyans demonstrated that they had inhered the peace messages of the past three years; hate speech was eerily absent from social media sites and no fear-inducing text messages were sent out to rile up the voters. Even the talking heads on TV have tried their hardest not to appear as overtly, spitefully partisan though the obvious joy of some and bitter despondency of other at the presidential tallying shows that we still have some way to go before we can agree to disagree without being disagreeable.
All that remains is for Kenyans to receive the results without going out of their minds. Last time round we didn't trust the late Samuel Kivuitu's numbers. This time we must place our faith that Ahmed Issack Hassan and his Commission have done all that they must to secure the integrity of the tallying and transmission process. Those who would challenge Mr Hassan's numbers must approach Dr Mutunga's Judiciary; it has demonstrated that it is no one's poodle and that it'll jealously defend its independence. It's up to the counting now.
But the decision is already made; all that remains is for the Independent Electoral and Boundaries Commission to confirm the figures and announce who will succeed Mwai Kibaki. We all hope that the election will not be forced into a run-off. It is the way Kenyans voted that is instructive. Month after month of exhortations to peace,Kenyans voted peacefully, save for violent acts intended to disrupt the polls in Mombasa, Kilifi and Garissa where policemen and a polling clerk were murdered in cold blood. The Fourth witnessed long queues, some going back four kilometres, at polling stations. In these queues, Kenyans were stoic and patient, intent on proving to the naysayers at CNN and the BBC wrong about the peaceful elections we were holding. Even despite scaremongering reports by these international media outlets leading up to the polls, Kenyans largely demonstrated that we had learnt the lessons of 2008 and would not need to re-learn them any time soon.
Despite the shambles in the IEBC organisation of the polls - the long queues an busted Electronic Voter Identification Devices - these elections are a success. The IEBC was quick to admit the challenges it was facing; it was even quicker to prescribe solutions that many accepted and applied. It was forthcoming with information when requested; officials did not hide from unpleasant truths or hard questions. The phrase "beefed up" took a new meaning in the context of security preparedness; despite the murders of policemen in Mombasa and Kilifi, the National Police Service and the security establishment have acquitted themselves admirably. There was no repeat of the 2007 claims that Administration Police officers were deployed as agents for one camp or the other. It seems Raila Odinga may have scuttled whatever nascent plans existed to "rig" these elections. Kenyans demonstrated that they had inhered the peace messages of the past three years; hate speech was eerily absent from social media sites and no fear-inducing text messages were sent out to rile up the voters. Even the talking heads on TV have tried their hardest not to appear as overtly, spitefully partisan though the obvious joy of some and bitter despondency of other at the presidential tallying shows that we still have some way to go before we can agree to disagree without being disagreeable.
All that remains is for Kenyans to receive the results without going out of their minds. Last time round we didn't trust the late Samuel Kivuitu's numbers. This time we must place our faith that Ahmed Issack Hassan and his Commission have done all that they must to secure the integrity of the tallying and transmission process. Those who would challenge Mr Hassan's numbers must approach Dr Mutunga's Judiciary; it has demonstrated that it is no one's poodle and that it'll jealously defend its independence. It's up to the counting now.
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