“Why I rejected Okoa Kenya Referendum,” Issack Hassan speaks (Youtube-Clip)

Press Statement: Office of the Public Prosecuter will look into the ‘Chickengate’ at IEBC scandals of 2009-2011 (19.07.2016)

Kenya EEAC IEBC

DP Ruto gives ‘directionless’ KANU a public dress down (Youtube-Clip)

“Deputy President William Ruto gave his former ‘chama cha mama na baba’ KANU a public dressing down at Gideon Moi’s Baringo backyard over the weekend. He said he would campaign not to have KANU divide the votes coming out of Rift Valley in the 2017 General Election. He said KANU had proved itself rudderless following the 2013 General Polls at which the former political giant performed poorly” (Capital FM Kenya, 2016)

Kenya: Statement on the Presidential Strategic Communication Unit (PSCU) – (01.07.2016)

KTN 30.06.2016

We have noted media speculation about the reported disbandment of the Presidential Strategic Communications Unit (PSCU).

Whereas the Unit has faced some challenges in the execution of its mandate, it is working to resolve them.

The Unit and its Staff team remain intact and fully committed to their duties.

The Unit will continue to improve on the coherency and consistency of messaging in order to keep the public informed of the President’s transformative development agenda.

Nzioka Waita
Deputy Chief of Staff and Deputy Head of Public Service.

1 July 2016

Kenya: Update on the Operation Linda Boni in Lamu County (29.06.2016)

KDF 29.06.2016

Wetangula warns Jubilee administration over ‘auctioning’ Kenya (Youtube-Clip)

“Cord co-principal Senator Moses has warned Jubilee Government against auctioning Kenya. He says no one has a certificate of ownership of this country and that they will not accept theft of public properties” (Daily Nation, 2016).

Press Statement: President Kenyatta issues stern warning to the opposition (10.06.2016)

Uhuru 10.06.2016 P3 JPG

The government will not tolerate any more destruction of property by the opposition under the cover of peaceful protests.

President Uhuru Kenyatta said stern action will be taken against anyone who destroys public or private property while claiming to be holding peaceful demonstrations. The President also called on those who take part in the opposition demonstrations over the IEBC to use their intelligence and stop provoking security officers. The President said it was laughable for someone to throw stones at armed officers and expect that the policemen will enjoy the treatment. President Kenyatta said such foolhardy people will only have themselves to blame.

“We will not allow demonstrations to be used to destroy any property,” said the President when he spoke in Tala where he launched development projects. The President gave his warning after observing that the opposition was not genuinely interested in dialogue over the IEBC. President Kenyatta said even after the Jubilee government nominated MPs to sit in a select committee of Parliament, the opposition appears to be backtracking even though it had used the excuse of wanting dialogue to cause destruction of property and lose of lives. President Kenyatta also told the leaders of the opposition not to entertain any thoughts of him sitting down to discuss issues concerning the IEBC with them.

Uhuru 10.06.2016 P2 JPG

“I have no business sitting down with you.  I was elected to steer the development of this country. This other issues are the roles of Members of Parliament,” the President said. Deputy President William Ruto said it was comical for the opposition to appear confounded just when the Government has agreed to have real dialogue on the issue of IEBC. “They have been protesting and saying they want dialogue. We told them it is alright, let us form a select committee then they start retreating. Apparently, they did not even know why they were protesting,” the Deputy President said.

The DP urged politicians to stop being selfish and putting their interest before that of the citizens. “It must not be which position I will get. It must be about how to change the life of the ordinary Kenyan,” said the DP. He said the protests the opposition has been holding will not help Kenyans because it is about the selfish interest of some group of politicians. Machakos Governor Alfred Mutua said the people of Ukambani have no time for the protests because they love peace and are also busy trying to improve their welfare. Governor Mutua said he wants to roll out a National ID card registration program in  Machakos county on every Monday to coincide with the day the opposition has been holding protests.

Uhuru 10.06.2016 P1 Road

“We also want to ask the IEBC to issue the people of this area with voters cards on every Thursday,” said the Govenor. The public rally at Tala was addressed by many legislators who said that the people of the region were supportive of the development initiatives of the Government. The President addressed the rally after launching the tarmacking of the Tala-Oldonyo Sabuk-Kilimambogo Road at the cost of more than Ksh1 billion. The launch of the project marked the beginning of the President’s tour of Ukambani where he will launch development projects and meet local leaders as well us interact with the public.

CORD Statement on the IEBC (10.06.2016)

Cord 10.06.2016

10th June 2016,

Over the last three days, we have had, indirectly, positive and fruitful engagements with the Jubilee administration in which the religious faiths, the diplomatic community and business leaders have played a constructive role.

These engagements have not collapsed. From our standpoint we believe that seventy per cent of the sticking points have been agreed upon including the size of the committee, the independence of the committee, timelines and the subject matter.

However we need to conclude discussions on the question whether or not the committee could be subject to the standing orders of Parliament and controlled by the legislature in terms of secretarial services.

We believe the questions affecting IEBC are leadership and integrity challenges and management issues that must be addressed at a political level before the legislative processes are assumed by Parliament at the appropriate stage.

Political will and good faith must be exhibited by all parties and a conducive and enabling environment created. The talks and dialogue will be as good as they start as when they end. We recognise the steps made by Jubilee so far, but they are not enough for purposes of ensuring that success in reforming the IEBC is guaranteed.

As CORD, we hold no cards under the table. Our commitment and objective is limited to resolving the IEBC crisis and ensuring that the people of Kenya can have, as of right, free, fair, transparent, credible, verifiable, peaceful and accountable elections in 2017 and beyond.

Cord 10.06.2016 P2

In the meantime, our programmes for demonstrations are still in place for Monday and Thursday next week. But we are quick to point out that demonstrations are not an end in themselves and once we have an agreement and pathway to reform IEBC, they will not be necessary.

We note that the President on one hand, and Cabinet Secretary Nkaissery and the Inspector General on the other hand, have different and conflicting views and understanding on the right to peaceably assemble and to demonstrate. That internal contradiction among themselves must be resolved in accordance with the Constitution of Kenya which is clear and without a doubt.

We remain keen to see that peace prevails and the unity of the nation maintained.
Signed.

Statement by His Excellency Uhuru Kenyatta on the IEBC (08.06.2016)

Kenyatta Ruto Madaraka Day 2016

Dear Kenyans, Good afternoon,

The debate around IEBC reforms has been raging for a while now. And as President, I wish to give direction regarding this matter.

Let me begin by affirming Article 1 of Chapter 1 of our Constitution, which states that “…All sovereign power belongs to the people of Kenya…” But the Article goes ahead to emphasize that this power “…shall be exercised ONLY in accordance with the constitution” Any attempts to exercise it outside the provisions of the constitution not only undermines both the spirit and letter of the constitution, but is also a recipe for confusion and anarchy.

Secondly, let me reaffirm Article 3(1) of the constitution that states; “…every person has an obligation to respect, uphold and defend this constitution” This obligation is NOT an OPTION. It is imperative, mandatory and an irreducible civic duty. As your President, I have sworn to defend it; but as citizens, you have this irreversible duty to protect it.

It is in the spirit of these constitutional provisions that today I held consultations with Religious Leaders drawn from most faiths in the country. I also invited our two speakers, Hon. Justin Muturi of the National Assembly and Hon. Ekwe Ethuro of the Senate to attend.

Cord Presser 06.06.2016

At this meeting we agreed on the following steps on how to move the country forward.

FIRSTLY, Subsequent to the agreement of the Speakers, a Joint Select Committee of both houses of Parliament be set up in accordance with the standing orders of both houses. The mandate of the committee will be strictly and exclusively the matter of IEBC.

SECONDLY, As provided for in the standing orders of both houses of Parliament, and in the constitutional spirit of public participation, all stakeholders, public and private should be accorded an opportunity to make submissions to the joint select committee.

THIRDLY, We expect that other initiatives by Parliament will harmonize their work within the framework of the joint select committee.

FOURTHLY, As the leader of Jubilee, I have convened a meeting of the Parliamentary Group tomorrow morning to agree on the membership and Jubilee’s participation in the joint select committee.

Uhuru Kenyatta, CGH

President

8th June, 2016

DP Ruto: “Cord protests are not different from what Al Shabaab is doing to Kenya” (Youtube-Clip)