Jonathan Konuche
2 October 2008
Nairobi — The country risked a constitutional crisis should calls for the disbandment of the Electoral Commission of Kenya persist, Vice-President Kalonzo Musyoka cautioned on Thursday.
Mr Musyoka said the Kriegler report, which recommends reforms at the ECK, was yet to be presented to Parliament and adopted by the Cabinet. Kenyans should therefore be patient, he said.
The VP said almost all Kenyans were in agreement that the electoral body needed an overhaul, "but the problem is style and timing in the management of the transition".
Mr Musyoka, who spoke after meeting a delegation of Belgian investors who are in the country, told the country's development partners to guard against what he termed high-handedness in handling the matter.
Painful decisions
"We are capable of organising the state of affairs in this country just like we did a while ago," said the VP, referring to the post-election crisis.
The Belgian ambassador to Kenya, Mr Igor Haustrate, asked leaders in the country to make painful decisions and implement reforms recommended by various commissions.
He said the international community was looking forward to seeing reforms carried out at various Government institutions. "Please make the unpleasant decisions now and avoid unpleasant situations later," said Mr Haustrate.
Mismanagement
Several politicians, among them Prime Minister Raila Odinga, have called for the resignation of ECK commissioners, saying the Kriegler report accuses them of mismanaging last year's polls.
In an interview with a Tanzanian television station recently, Mr Odinga said it was time ECK chairman Samuel Kivuitu and his team left the commission.
But in response, Mr Musyoka said lawmakers asking Mr Kivuitu and team to leave office "are telling us that their election was null".
Pressure has been mounting for the overhaul of the ECK, with the latest calls coming from the European Commission.
EU head Elisabeth Barbier said the public, going by the Kriegler report, had lost confidence in the electoral body and its staff, hence the need for urgent reforms.
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