David Mugonyi And Odhiambo Orlale
22 September 2008
Nairobi — Electoral Commission chairman Samuel Kivuitu has welcomed the Kriegler report.
However, he warned that the country could face similar problems it witnessed after last year's elections if the recommendations were not implemented.
"It is upon all Kenyans to look for a better system... If we don't rectify this time, it will be the same in the next elections and we will be looking for Kriegler again," he said.
But Mr Kivuitu declined to be drawn into the debate that there was no clear winner in the 2007 General Election.
Gravely flawed
When asked to comment on Kriegler's findings that the election was gravely flawed that it was impossible to determine the winner in the presidential and parliamentary elections, Mr Kivuitu responded: "I am not going to answer that question."
He said since Kenyans had moved on with the coalition Government, the leadership should chart the way ahead as regards the report findings.
Mr Kivuitu agrees with the Kriegler team that it would have been very difficult to conduct re-tallying of the presidential votes.
He said the ECK has on many occasions raised the same issues which the Independent Review Commission came up with, and says it is time the recommendations by IREC were implemented to save the country any electoral crisis in future.
The ECK boss said most of the findings like the independence of the commission, procedure of appointment of commissioners, overhaul of the electoral system and laws to govern parties were issues that ECK had raised on many occasions but they had not been acted upon.
The Kriegler team has also proposed that the ECK be radically reformed and a new electoral management body with a new name, image, ethos, and composed of a lean policy-making and supervisory board, selected in a transparent and inclusive process.
However, most of the commissioners declined to comment on the report saying they were busy preparing for the Thursday by-elections in Bomet and Sotik.
Mr Kivuitu is expected to give a formal reaction to the report this week after meeting all commissioners.
He was expected to chair a board meeting on Tuesday where the report would have been discussed. But the "routine meeting" was called off at the last minute according to ECK sources.
National disgrace
The next meeting is scheduled for Thursday.
The disputed December 27 polls triggered violence, looting and destruction of property. The violence left more than 1,000 people dead and 350,000 displaced.
Meanwhile, the national human rights watchdog has added its voice to the renewed wave to have ECK officials step down.
Speaking during the official launch of a Community Aid International report on the citizen's rating of the coalition government, the commission's vice chair Hassan Omar, said Kenyans had lost faith in the ECK long before Kriegler came into the picture.
Mr Omar said all that the Kriegler team had done was to "validate" that indeed the ECK was incompetent and as such, its officials had to leave. The KNCHR official termed the ECK as a "national disgrace."
"The commissioners cannot remain in office and draw earnings from the taxpayers after such findings," Mr Omar said.
Additional reporting by Alphonce Shiundu
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