Oliver Mathenge And Mike Mwaniki
27 August 2008
Nairobi — The two main political parties in last year's General Election on Wednesday traded accusations and blamed each other for the violence that erupted.
ODM and PNU were giving evidence before the Waki Commission during the last day for public hearings in Nairobi.
On Wednesday, ODM secretary-general Prof Anyang Nyong'o, who was the first to take the stand, told the commission that the government then was responsible for the chaos that rocked the country early this year.
Prof Nyong'o said the government and the security agencies had schemed to manipulate the poll results and anticipated the violence that followed.
The ODM leader said what immediately triggered the chaos was the security forces' violent reaction to the rejection of the presidential results.
"The police, the Administration Police and the General Service Unit reacted violently to the rejection of the results announced by the Electoral Commission of Kenya (ECK) and in perceived ODM strongholds, they used live bullets to disperse angry demonstrators, resulting in deaths and injuries" said Prof Nyong'o.
But PNU spokesman George Nyamweya dismissed the claims and told the commission that the violence was a result of ODM's unwillingness to accept the results.
He said the announcement of the results had nothing to do with the violence that followed.
According to Mr Nyamweya, the Orange party had already proclaimed in public that it would not accept anything less than an ODM win.
Power-sharing deal
"ODM made it clear that if President Kibaki won the election then it would only be through rigging," Mr Nyamweya said.
The dispute was settled through the signing of a power-sharing deal between the two parties that also led to the formation of the Grand Coalition Government. The new arrangement was as a result of a mediated negotiation spearheaded by the African Union.
Prof Nyong'o told the commission that in ODM's view, the party had won the election but it was stolen by PNU. This, he claimed, led to protests from ODM supporters to which the government reacted violently.
However, Mr Nyamweya insisted that President Kibaki won the election in a fair and democratic manner.
"In the Rift Valley, some ODM leaders called for the removal of people they referred to as madoadoa (outsiders), who were perceived to be against Mr Odinga in the presidential race.
"They (ODM) were also advocating the introduction of majimboism in their campaigns, which was perceived by some people to mean the forceful eviction of ethnic communities who had settled in ODM strongholds."
Prof Nyong'o said it was the state and not the people of Kenya who organised the violence.
He accused the ECK of announcing manipulated results, which led to the violence. He added that ODM was ready to accept the election results as long as the polls were free and fair.
According to Prof Nyong'o, the National Security Intelligence Service had a duty to forewarn the state of the violence that would follow the elections.
He added that the chaos was also fuelled by the historical injustices.
To illustrate the purported organisation of a flawed electoral process, Prof Nyong'o told the commission that some AP officers were taken to ODM strongholds on the eve of the elections as PNU agents.
He said as a result of this, the country's security forces should be investigated by an independent body. "ECK commissioners should also be prosecuted for abuse of office," said Prof Nyong'o.
He added that it was also the position of ODM that all the youths arrested following the violence be released.
During cross-examination, Prof Nyong'o denied allegations related to majimbo but alluded to the fact that he issued a statement that there would be no peace without Mr Odinga.
Mr Nyamweya maintained that PNU believed that the violence that occurred after the announcement of the presidential results "was planned and was not spontaneous".
The two PNU and ODM spokesmen were, however, in agreement that the security forces may have acted excessively in some areas.
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