Nairobi — On Tuesday night, Mr Samuel Kivuitu made a damning admission that he announced results of the fiercely contested presidential election under pressure.
The announcement plunged the country into a post-election violence of a scale never witnessed before.
The magnitude of the Electoral Commission chairman's admission and the further dent on the credibility of the election was captured in his answer when asked if indeed President Kibaki won the elections: "I do not know whether Kibaki won the election".
Kivuitu continued with his stunning revelations when he said he took the presidential election winner's certificate to State House, Nairobi, after "some people threatened to collect it while I'm the one mandated by law to do so".
"I arrived at State House to take the certificate and I found the Chief Justice there, ready to swear-in Kibaki," Kivuitu said.
On claims that he was under undue pressure to declare results, Kivuitu said: "Some PNU (Party of National Unity) and ODM-Kenya leaders put me under pressure by calling me frequently, asking me to announce the results immediately".
President Kibaki ran for re-election on a Party of National Unity ticket, while Mr Kalonzo Musyoka, made his bid on an ODM-Kenya ticket. Mr Raila Odinga, who has said he was robbed of victory, ran on an Orange Democratic Movement (ODM) ticket.
On Tuesday, Kivuitu said the alleged pressure to declare results came in the wake of parallel pressure from a number of ambassadors from the European Union countries and Mr Maina Kiai of the Kenya National Commission on Human Rights not to announce the results until complaints, which arose, were addressed.
"I had thought of resigning, but thought against it because I don't want people to say I'm a coward," he said. The embattled ECK chairman made the revelations shortly after meeting with 22 ECK commissioners.
On Tuesday, Kivuitu conceded that matters that arose from the poll results were so urgent that they should be taken to court, and the ruling done with minimum delay to ease national tension.
Court settlement
"If this matter is finally taken to court, the ruling should be made urgently so that if it were decided that Raila is the President, so be it. If it is Kibaki, so be it," he added.
Kivuitu said he made the decision, whose far-reaching implications are now being felt across the country. He said he announced the results because the commission had no legal mandate to investigate complaints raised by the opposition immediately.
Kivuitu fell short of naming the individuals from the two parties - PNU and ODM-Kenya - who coerced him to announce the disputed poll outcome, but went on to announce that the commission was consulting eminent lawyers over the next course of action "so that its actions remain within the law".
The EU observer team has discredited the poll results and urged for an independent audit.
On his part, Kivuitu said he backed independent investigation into what may have happened, but added that this would be only if the law would provide for it.
"We are culprits as a commission. We have to leave it to an independent group to investigate what actually went wrong," the chairman said, stunning local and international journalists, who had gathered at his Nairobi residence.
It has also emerged that some countries concerned with the poll outcome, like South Africa, had sent in their electoral officials to the country.
Kivuitu said the officials would be arriving on Wednesday "to look into the matter".
On Tuesday, Kivuitu was in a meeting with his 22 commissioners, which his deputy, Mr Kihara Muttu, described as "a house-keeping meeting".
In a signed statement, the 22 commissioners condemned the violence, which up to last night had claimed the lives of about 300 people.
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If you saw the mood in which Kivuitu read the contversial "kibaki winner" statement, the you will concede that the poor old man was indeed under pressure as he now confesses. This comes closer to speculations that he was ordered at gun point to declare kibaki the winner. If a whole ECK boss is unsure whether what he was reading was right, what does that tell us? Him together with Kibaki should resign to allow fresh probe into the controversial elections results. The precious lost lives in Kenya will forever haunt them and we, the electorate will not keep quiet untill justice prevails. We cannot give away the democracy we painfully fought for at such a cheaper price.We, the sons and daughters of Kenya - and the world are watching, and every single truth will be revealed because Raila is the "pressident elect" and Kenya's fourth president for that matter. No Raila, No peace in Kenya!
I agree entirely, both Kivuitu and Kibaki should go. These are shameless elderly men. Had I been in Kivuitu's position, with a gun trained at my head I would have done the honourable thing and beg them to please shoot me because I was not going to butch. He has a responsibility to do the right thing by Kenyans, come rain, come shine.
Now all Kibaki will be remembered for is the mayhem he caused, bringing the country to the brink of civil war, all for what? The shamelessness of these old men is just beyond. I hope they are brought to book not only as a punishment for their crimes but also as a warning to others that the kenyan people who queued from dawn for many hours, have the final say on who governs the country and not some shameless, corrupt old men who cannot recognise that Africa is on the march to freedom.
Long live Kenya! Long Live Freedom, long live democracy!
With Kivuitu running a flawed electoral process and Kibaki appointing him for another term, unfortunately they have got what they deserve, however the people of Kenya have been robbed by morally corrupt officials.
I am with you, the poor old guy should step down and be taken to court for failure to fulfill his duties according to law and proffessional ethics,he brought chaos in Kenya.
Kenyans made their point clear long before the elections. Nobody wanted Kibaki and his team and that was clear from the opinion polls and the voting turnout in which still Raila led upto the last minute before the final results were read.Let people die since the price of democracy is expensive. Having Psycho Kibaki to rule for another Five years is like death itself. Im swearing no peace untill Kibaki resigns. About Kivuitu, maybe he was promised something big to declere Kibaki the president.He's the Stupidest traitor as he was warned that his decision is a matter of life annd death and he even threatened the people at Kicc whose help could have saved the country.Its too late for him to Apologize after people have died and more are still dying until the 'thief' self proclaimed president resigns. He was sworn in the dark, forced everything to work out. For the blood of innocent Kenyans that have died, Kibaki is accountable together with Kivuitu. Kenyans will not accept any Thief to rule while they are the ones to choose their leaders. The more of the story is, Let Kenya fight for what is rightfully theirs until they get it. God bless Kenya.
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