AFRICANEWS

Kenya

The Elections Are Over, It's Time to Work

Politics

Throughout 1997 Kenyans' attention focused on the preparation and campaign for the General Elections. The exercise took place the 29 and 30 December 1997, and was marred by irregularities and bad logistics. Now that willy-nilly most people have accepted the results, Kenyans expect a government that will put the country back on the development road.

Election year 1997 did not start well in Kenya. Investors had pulled out or halted their interests all together. The fear was worsened by the bloody violence that hit the coastal region mid last year, claiming close to seventy lives.

Millions of shillings were lost in one of the worst crisis to hit Kenya's tourism sector. Thousands of tourists cancelled their bookings while hundreds of employees in the hotel industry lost their jobs. It might take years before the industry makes any serious recovery.

Demands for constitutional and administrative reforms by members of the opposition gave birth to violent street demostrations that rocked the country and saw the shilling tumbling and the economy shrinking. It looked as though Kenya was bent on destroying itself.

Then came the Inter Party Parliamentary Group (IPPG) brokered by the then Saku Member of Parliament Jilo Falana. It brought together reformists from the ruling party Kanu and the opposition. They came up with a formula that eventually saved Kenya from a crisis similar to the one that gripped Rwanda and the Democratic Republic of Congo. Together they charted out reasonable administrative and constitutional reforms that allowed for a political playing field more level than the one in existence during the 1992 elections.

When the campaigns kicked off in mid December, politicians from all parties could freely move around the country campaigning without the fear of being brutalised by the police and members of the provincial administration. Even President Moi was for the first time opposed in his Baringo Central Constituency. A little known Amos Kandie of the Social Democratic party challenged the incumbent president.

The new laws trimmed the enormous powers of the chief and de-linked the provincial administration from the electoral process. The IPPG package had profound effect on the political consciousness of the people and significantly toned down the dangerous climate of confrontation and violence.

More political parties, including Safina, were registered bringing to 27 the number of registered parties in Kenya. Fifteen Kenyans vied for the top seat as compared to eight in 1992.

All presidential candidates who wanted were provided with 24 hour police security throughout the campaign period. Kenyans saw changes they had never before imagined taking place.

Irregularities and Violence Although several lives were lost especially on December 29, the actual election date, violence was mild compared to that witnessed in 1992.

But the voting process itself was marred by logistical problems. Ballot boxes were wrongly marked, ballot papers from different regions appeared in other areas, election officials opened their stations late, certain voters names went missing from voter registers. The irregularities were so many that the electoral commission did a rare thing - extended the voting process by an extra day.

A week after the election date, and hours after the Kanu's President Daniel arap Moi had been inaugurated for his last lap as President of the Republic of Kenya, people in some remote parts of the country were still voting.

Tribal voting patterns In terms of voter turnout and education, last year's elections were more successful than the 1992. Yet they missed the charisma of the doyen of opposition, the late Jaramogi Oginga Odinga and the flamboyance of former Ford Asili chairman Kenneth Matiba who opted not to participate in the elections. Matiba claimed the elections had been flawed from the beginning and that Moi was in office illegally.

But people were still determined to change and that is probably why political giants and veterans, both Kanu and the opposition fell by the wayside. Several Cabinet Ministers, including Health Minister Jackson Mulinge, Education Minister Joseph Kamotho, Tourism Minister Protus Momanyi, Minister of State John Koech and Commerce Minister Joshua Angatia were beaten by political novices. Many were knocked out of the race for the eighth Parliament at their parties nomination stages. Veterans like Martin Shikuku, former Butere MP, and James Osogo who have been around since the first Parliament tumbled. The old generation, even within Kanu, was slowly being phased out.

At the end of the day, the voting pattern emerged. Democratic Party Chairman Mwai Kibaki, who was Moi's biggest challenger emerged second with approximately 1.9 million votes.

Kibaki had garnered 25 per cent of votes cast in three provinces; Central, Eastern and Nairobi. He received overwhelming 89 per cent of votes cast in his ancestral Central province where he completely locked out President Moi. His party captured 39 seats. Raila Odinga, Jaramogi Oginga Odinga's son, was third with his National Democratic Party. Raila garnered more than 600,000 votes and swept almost all the seats in his Luo Nyanza province. Ford Kenya's Michael Kijana Wamalwa and Social Demoratic Party's Charity Ngilu emerged fourth and fifth respectively.

Unfortunately, even as Kenya marches into the next millennium, tribal voting patterns were prominent. Kibaki and Raila got many votes from their Kikuyu and Luo tribes. Moi managed to gather enough votes from most other smaller tribes. None of the opposition leaders had garnered 25 per cent in five out of the eight provinces as required by the law. Moi had six and was eventually pronounced the winner.

Other factors created by mother nature influenced the voting process. The El Nino weather phenomenon had devastating effects on the whole process. Heavy rains and flooding hit most parts of the country destroying bridges and roads, completely cutting some areas from the rest of the country.

In the and North eastern Province, the Coast province and parts of Nyanza province helicopters had to be used to ferry ballot boxes and officials to voting areas. In one instance, some election officials actually drowned in the Tana river. The roaring waters swept them away with some of their ballot boxes. Many eligible voters therefore could not cast their vote because of foul weather. With the flooding, came epidemics. The filth related cholera, and the deadly anthrax swept across the country, from Busia on the Kenya Uganda border to Liboi on the Kenya Somalia border, claiming lives.

It must be recalled that these epidemics visited Kenya with the backdrop of deep crisis within the health industry. Since November 28, 1997, more than 30,000 nurses in public hospitals have been on strike demanding better pay.

Despite IPPG recommendations and setting of election coverage rules by the same body, the incumbent took advantage of the State owned Kenya Broadcasting Corporation (KBC) radio which reaches more than 15 million Kenyan listeners to foster its campaigns. Even the KBC TV with close to 500,000 viewers was dominated by Kanu.

But at last, Moi was inaugurated on January 5. Raila Odinga, who together with Kibaki had issued an ultimatum to Moi for a repeat of the Presidential race within 21 days at last announced his recognition of the results.

Monitoring groups led by the National Council of Churches of Kenya, the Institute for Education in Democracy and the Justice and Peace Commission of the Catholic Church and the US State Department recognised the results as representative of the people's wishes.

Kenyans know that the exercise had many flaws. But they hope that at least peace at stability will set the country on the road of development.

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