Fri, 8 Feb 2008 05:41:40


Commentary By Leo Odera Omolo

Kenyans are sure that the man who Electoral Commission of Kenya (ECK) named the President of Kenya on 29th December and swore him in within minutes despite having been rejected at the polls by close to 65 per cent of total voters is not comfortable where he is.

Kibaki cowers in the State House, surrounded by a cabal of hard-line powerbrokers and a bevy of sycophants, totally ignoring the rights of millions of Kenyans.

Unseated former Ministers and MPs,jostle for positions and succession use any means keep themselves important and powerful as the smoke continues to rise from the torched swathes of Rift valley; the gutted, lakeside city of Kisumu; the slums of Nairobi and Mombasa; the devastated farmlands of Kuresoi, Molo, Burnt Forest; and destroyed property along the Sotik- Borabu districts borders in Nyanza.

Is Kibaki adequately briefed about the pile up of containers at the Kenya’s most important sea Port of Mombasa? Is he really aware that Uganda, Rwanda, Burundi, Southern Sudan and the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC) are all dependant on Kenyan transit for fuel and vital supplies? All of these have ground to a halt.

Even the Red Cross Society of Kenya has warned of an imminent outbreak of the cholera epidemic in Nyanza and Western Kenya, regions that have now been deprived for almost a month of electricity and clean water. There are even many strange revelations that some cargo ships unable to off-load cargo have eventually left the port of Mombasa with their cargo intact but still unloaded.

As I write this, a full-scale physical combat is in progress along the borders separating the Abagusii community and their Kipsigis neighbours. The two communities share the common border along Sotik, Borabu and Bomet districts.

Kibaki's recent remarks before the assembly of Heads of State and government of African Unity ( AU) in Addis Ababa, Ethiopia in which he blamed the opposition ODM for instigating the widespread violence that has rocked Kenya for close to one month was devoid of the truth.

Kibaki's defiant insistence that the opposition ODM should seek legal redress over its claims of a stolen victory is just a simple public relations gimmicks, the worst of these being his insistence that the spate of violence was a pre-meditated plot.

Kenya had only erupted spontaneously into widespread post-election violence following the allegations of irregularities witnessed by the international observers from the EU, the Commonwealth and from locals. Kibaki was sworn in despite claims by his rivals, Raila Amolo Odinga and his party ODM, that the tallying of the presidential ballots was highly flawed. This is the hard fact!!

Kibaki told African Presidents in Addis Ababa and members of the international Community that, “For us in Kenya, the Judiciary has over the years arbitrated many electoral disputes and the current one should not be an exception” adding that few closely called elections have passed without being marred by allegations of irregularities even in advanced and even long-established democracies!

Kibaki has, for obvious reasons, underestimated the magnitude and degree of danger posed by the current political stand off--he has either deliberately or defiantly ignored and underrated the effect of the ongoing political upheaval in Kenya. The only sensible course to follow as a gentleman and devout Christian is for Kibaki to step aside and organize a re-run presidential election because his discredited administration will not serve Kenyan's diligently for all of the next five years.

Kibaki should take serious note ofcomments from the likes of UN Secretary General Ban Ki-moon and the AU-appointed mediatior Kofi Annan. All these comments and observations are not in vain but clearly point out that all is not well.