Opinion: Unbelievable Mediocre Response from Kenyatta to the 26th October Elections Petitions!

President Uhuru Kenyatta, the Incumbent president and the head honcho of the Jubilee Party. He is supposed to be in control and understand the laws, the issues in Kenyan society and the reasons for the stalemate between him and Raila Odinga. Clearly, he has lost touch and his allies isn’t giving him proper advice. He had a botched birthday on the 26th October this year, as the turnout was low, the trust in the Independent Electoral and Boundaries Commission (IEBC) was all-time low, as the IEBC Internal Memo’s flooded the public with key information. As the Jubilee Party and their Cabinet Secretaries didn’t make the situation better. All of this has create a vacuum and problems that are steaming from several parts of Kenya.

Therefore without further ado, lets eat the key statements from the Kenyatta response:

That Mr. Kenyatta was legitimately elected by 7.6 million Kenyans who were given fair opportunity to enjoy their sacrosanct voting right” (…) “That the petitions are only challenging the processes but not the numbers for he was the absolute winner in the repeat poll” (…) “That even if the process were to affect the numbers, it would not be substantive enough to close the margin of victory to warrant an annulment” (…) “That the contradictions in the communication of voter turnout number was a mere mathematical confusion experienced by such electoral bodies” (…) “That in the interest of the public, the petition should be dismissed in order for the perpetual politicking to end and for normalcy to return” (Kenya Today, 2017).

When this sort of response comes from a seasoned politician as Uhuru Kenyatta, I start to wonder if he is a milkman only or if he is presidential. Since, these sort of arguments are whack. That you start with an arbitrary number, that is hard to be proven even by the IEBC, the Electoral body and later says you we’re the absolute winner in an election where the main opponent didn’t show up and boycotted. Is just mere speculation of a victory, in that election there wasn’t any winner. There was only losers. Nobody won on the 26th October Fresh Presidential Elections. There was only losers, as the Kenyan people lost the used state funds to hold the exercise and to keep the charade going. Therefore, the “victory” is a bad blood and PR Stunt in Cambridge Analytica way, which is just amazing that Jubilee are working so hard to sell it.

That the President, the Incumbent President says there wasn’t any grounds in the process. Is just a mere lie, as he knows about the flaws and the factual misgivings within the IEBC. The IEBC didn’t push the laws and codes of the electoral law, instead they we’re renegade cowboys who wanted to support their milkman. Pardon me, Kenyatta. That again, the man praising his victories number of 7 whatnot millions voters, while not questioning the turnout in a boycotted affair. Is just blazing guns without trying to hit a target, you either hit or miss. In this aspect is a miserable miss, who fails even to find what you shot or even if did even shoot.

Kenyatta continues that the petitions just should be dismissed on the grounds “perpetual politicking to end and for normalcy to return”. That is again just himself politicking himself the petition, as he wants the Supreme Court to just let the nation go back to normalcy, because that benefits his ruling regime. Not that it matters if the IEBC followed the Constitution or the Codes in the Electoral Law. That is just mere problems and can only matter as provisional codes, not codes that should stop his successful botched birthday.

We can wonder if Kenyatta really believes this, if he has faith in his own response, if he thinks it will be considered. Even taken into account. As the Supreme Court has already nullified it ones, they have as much grounds to repeat that again. Since, the Jubilee and neither IEBC has been truthful, neither honest about their approach to yet another “victory”. The gig should be up and Kenyatta knows this.

He knows if it is nullified again, he is humiliated and has lost in the courts twice. Again he has to run for the third presidential election, as the IEBC are already misused and also political partisan as their numbers are cooked the way Kenyatta needs.

So will Kenyatta accept another humiliation and be laughed at as the press-pool gathers to read the verdict of the Supreme Court! Will he accept it and not use the army to actually steal the nation by the guns, since he cannot win the grace of the people and their hearts. This can be said, since the National Super Alliance boycott of the 26th October Elections has undressed the master and his personal gains of the office. Not of his wish to serve the republic or be there for the people. That is why they left him and his institutions, that is why they are now boycotting his milk and his cartels.

Kenyatta and the IEBC are playing a losing hand. We just have to see in the coming days, how they will take it! Peace.

Reference:

Kenya Today – ‘Here is Uhuru’s Weak Response To Petitions Challenging His Win, A Clear Indication He’ll Lose’ (13.11.2017) link: https://www.kenya-today.com/politics/uhurus-weak-response-petitions-challenging-win-clear-indication-hell-lose

Kenya: Secession Bill by The Hon. Peter Kaluma. MP, Homabay Town (November 2017)

NASA Statement: “Postponement of NASA Peaceful Protests” (09.11.2017)

South Sudan: Gen. Paul Malong Awan letter – “Re: Position statement on the ongoing Crisis and Peace initiative” (08.11.2017)

#NASABoycott: Kepsa – “Let’s Business do what it does best: Business” (08.11.2017)

NASA Statement: “NASA Directs Members of Parliament to Attend County Assembly Debates on People’s Assembly Motion” (08.11.2017)

NASA Statement: “Motion for County Assemblies on Creation of People’s Assembly in Kenya (07.11.2017)

26th October Elections: The Fresh Presidential Election Results will be questioned by SCOK!

The best fortress which a prince can possess is the affection of his people.”Niccolò Machiavelli

Today is the deadline day for Election Petitions against the announced results of the Fresh Presidential Election on the 26th October 2017 and the result announced on the 30th October 2017. The initial petitions that might be powerful and question the election will be the ones served by Kura Yangu Sauti Yangu (KYSY), Institute for Democratic Governance and Harun Mwau private petition.

Because this elections has been filled irregularities, the Independent Electoral and Boundaries Commission (IEBC) and their proceedings as the timeline, the nominations and all the other appointments, which can be questioned. Not only the results in mind, where you can question the registered voters, the amount of voters and the turn-out. There are so many numbers that was pulled out of the hat, that the IEBC could cook anything, horse, rats and beef at some point.

The IEBC and this petitions will have a hard time to answer the findings of KYSY, Institute for Democratic Governance and Harun Mwau. All of these petitions can show different finds and also question different parts of the Fresh Presidential Elections. There are enough breaches and codes broken that is simple to find within the Constitution of 2010. That is something the IEBC knows and should know as they have already been nullified once in 2017.

The IEBC Chairman Wafula Chebukati and CEO Ezra Chiloba should be shaken and questioned for their acts and behavior. The Internal Memo’s that has been released and come to the public view, all of them has showed their appointments, their agreements with tenders and how they have discussed the Fresh Presidential Election. Clearly, the IEBC have not done this properly.

That is why we can look with interest what the Supreme Court of Kenya will look into petitions and what they are finding, the possible breaches. All of them will be vital to prove that the recent presidential election in Kenya was a shambolic and botched event, that no-one should be promised to have won. The winner Kenyatta, should have wished he lost to Dr. Ekuru Aukot of Thirdway Alliance, since he didn’t really win and the election have no credibility. That in mind of how IEBC kept themselves in public while counting ballots and also how they forged 34A forms and 34B forms.

This time James Orengo and National Super Alliance (NASA) has not filled any petition, as they are boycotting it as they did during the polls as well. We can just await the verdicts of these or if they will dismiss them, but they will prove important steps through the protocol and expectations as those days in question has not been used as the provisions of law are saying it should be. That is why the gazetted changes and possible days ahead of 26th October can be questions as either lawful or unlawful.

We have the rights to question it, as it is easy to say that some parts of what the IEBC did and compared to the current law are open breaches, but if the Supreme Court has the same understanding. Will be told as the petition and the trials will start in the coming days. Together with the gathered evidence and possible questions it arises. Peace.

Kenya: Election Petition – “Re: Notice Access to Information pursuant to Article 35 of the Constitution of Kenya Nairobi Court of Appeal Civil Application 246 of 2017” (06.11.2017)

Harvest season provides meagre respite to South Sudan’s hunger crisis (06.11.2017)

The number of people experiencing severe food insecurity across the country is likely to drop to 4.8 million for October to December, down from six million in June.

JUBA, South Sudan, November 6, 2017 – The current harvest season in South Sudan will not end the hunger crisis as conflict persists in most of the country and hyperinflation puts food out of reach for many, according to the updated Integrated Food Security Phase Classification (IPC) released today by the Government of South Sudan, the UN’s Food and Agriculture Organization, UN Children’s Fund, the World Food Programme, and other humanitarian partners.

The number of people experiencing severe food insecurity across the country is likely to drop to 4.8 million for October to December, down from six million in June. However, the 4.8 million who are severely food insecure are 1.4 million more than at the same time last year, and much of this growth has been in the Emergency category (step 4 on the IPC’s 5-step scale).

“The harvest season has not brought much relief to the millions of people in South Sudan who don’t have enough food. The country’s greenbelt has been ravaged by fighting, and finding a peaceful solution to this man-made tragedy should be the top priority or the situation will get even worse next year,” said Serge Tissot, FAO’s Representative in South Sudan.

The food security situation is projected to deteriorate at the start of 2018 and the ‘hungry season’ – when households typically run out of food before the next harvest – is forecast to start three months earlier than usual. Many people have few means of coping with the stresses of the lean season, and the situation is forecast to become increasingly fragile.

“A massive humanitarian response helped stop famine in parts of the country this year. But even in the current harvest period, millions of people need sustained assistance to survive,” said Adnan Khan, WFP Representative in South Sudan. “It is chilling to see that in a worst-case scenario, similar conditions could appear in multiple places in the lean season in 2018.” 

The teams who conducted the analysis identified two counties, Wau and Ayod, where a total of 25,000 people are facing catastrophic conditions according to the IPC scale. Of greatest concern is Greater Baggari, a sub-area of former Wau, where 10 per cent of the population is facing famine-like conditions because insecurity has heavily constrained livelihood activities and humanitarian assistance.

There is an urgent need for a humanitarian corridor from Wau to Greater Baggari area to allow agencies to provide comprehensive assistance.

Critical levels of malnutrition

Malnutrition has also worsened compared to the same period last year, with surveys showing malnutrition rates in most communities well above the World Health Organization’s emergency threshold of 15 percent, and with more than 30 percent of the population malnourished in several counties.

More than 1.1 million children under the age of five are forecast to be malnourished in 2018, including nearly 300,000 severely malnourished and at a heightened risk of death.

“Too many children are going hungry in South Sudan. More than one in five of those struggling to feed themselves is a child under five years of age,” said Mahimbo Mdoe, UNICEF’s Representative in South Sudan. “This has created a malnutrition crisis that is putting many lives at risk.”

Food prices soar

Insecurity continues to hamper food production and disrupt markets. Coupled with a failing economy, this has led to extremely high food prices. Large sacks of staples such as sorghum, maize, and wheat flour have increased in price by up to 281% compared to last year, and were as high as 560% during May, the peak of the lean season.

In Juba, a 100kg bag of sorghum costs 11 285 South Sudanese Pounds (SSP), compared to 4 314 SSP a year ago, and is vastly beyond what most families can afford.

Nationally, millions of people are surviving on humanitarian assistance in South Sudan, and if security conditions further threaten organizations’ operations the situation will rapidly worsen.

The report warns that continued conflict coupled with further access constraints on aid agencies and economic instability will likely result in the deterioration of already dire conditions in multiple locations across South Sudan in 2018.

Rapid response

Humanitarian teams are facing enormous logistical and security challenges to reach communities in need.

FAO has provided fishing, crop- and vegetable-growing kits to more than 4.2 million people, many in difficult to reach or conflict-affected areas, to support them to grow or catch their own food. FAO has also vaccinated more than 4.8 million livestock, to protect these livelihood assets for vulnerable families.

UNICEF, together with its partners, has treated more than 160,000 children with severe acute malnutrition (SAM) so far this year. It has a target for the year of reaching 207,000 malnourished children across the country. As part of its multi-sectoral approach to addressing the issue, UNICEF has also provided over 750,000 people with safe drinking water and a further 230,000 people with access to sanitation facilities.

WFP and its partners have has assisted 4.6 million people in South Sudan so far in 2017 with cash or food, including nutrition support for children under the age of five years. Emergency mobile teams usually travelling by helicopter on over 135 missions to areas isolated by conflict have supported 1.8 million people this year.