Kenyan Pundit

ODM just finished a press conference, William Ruto spoke missed it because was hanging out at the pool with baby but baba took notes for me (my poor family!)

– ECK is supposed to verify by 3:00 pm

– Results in 48 constituencies have issues. The results announced are not the ones on the form 16A that were signed by ALL party agents.

– Examples of discrepancies – Kandara 16 A figures are 33,825 vs announced figures 70,443; Mwea 16 A figures 62,374 vs 82,374; I. South 45,029 vs 60,050.

– ODM’s total figures as announced by Ruto 4,215,437 Raila vs. 3,748,261 Kibaki.

Nothing yet from PNU/government. This is very very irresponsible and if anything Kibaki should be the one out there appealing for calm. Serious allegations have been made and in my view it is incumbent on them to be out there lowering the temperatures.

The most beautiful thing about Dec 27 was that Kenyans from all over Kenya came out to vote peacefully – IF – the government/incumbent has in some way attempted to tamper with this process it will be a sad day for Kenya and very very short-sighted. If that is indeed the case – and I reiterate that it is not verified, I think Kibaki should concede for the sake of the country and avoid putting us in recount hell.

For those who are asking, Kibaki has not agreed to a recount.

Raila just got done with a press briefing. Here are the main points:

– Started off by appealing to his supporters to be patient while they await a honest count of the vote and to respect the rule of the law.

– Said that the government has lost legitimacy based on the results and that Kibaki shouldn’t govern if he respects the people. Said that the parliamentary results confirm that Kenyans have no confidence in him. Asked him to be a gentleman and concede defeat.

– Has asked for a full recount to be held in view of media and observers. Does not trust the audit that went on last night at KICC. Said that commissioners are being influenced by the government to doctor results.

– Gave an example of Juja constituency whose figures announced by the ECK had changed three times – started at 70k, now a 100k.

– He said that the form 16A results are not tallying up with the results announced by the ECK in a number of constituencies including Gatanga, Nithi and Kiambaa. For a great overview of how the process of counting at the polling stations is supposed to take place and results be confirmed, check out Kenyan Jurist.

– Raila said it was possible to “salvage the situation and avoid plunging the country into chaos” with a transparent audit of the results.

– He said he will not accept a Kibaki win without a recount.

During the Q&A

– He said the courts were not an option, because they will not be impartial.

– When asked about the figures he was challenging, he wondered how he could have only gained 100,000 votes while Kibaki gained 400,000 votes from the additional constituencies when just two of the constituencies in the tally – Sotik and Alego Usonga could have given him 100,000 votes – where are the additional votes and why isn’t the media doing the math.

– When asked where he thought the doctoring was taking place, he said at the ECK top level and not at the constituencies because agents from all sides had confirmed results at the constituency level (except in the ares where there was chaos).

– He said that ODM have sources within the ECK who are not happy with the fact that they are being asked to doctor and who are leaking info.

– He claimed that Kajiado North was openly rigged, as of yesterday Sakuda was leading with 25k votes, but as of this morning Saitoti won by 20k votes. Sakuda and his agents not allowed to witness the whole process.

– When asked about the fact that he had declared himself the winner. He said that he was “not trying to do an Abiola in Kenya” if he loses fairly he will accept the results, but “the people of Kenya” will not accept rigged results.

– Asked what he will do if the ECK refused to do a recount, he said they will cross that bridge when they get there.

– He said that if Kivuitu is being forced to doctor the results he should resign rather than plunge the country into chaos.

– He again asked his followers to be peaceful (in Swahili) and said that we are all Kenyans and we should protect the country. He told his followers to avoid looting, breaking the law, and harassing those who did not support him. He said that everyone has a right to exercise their rights, even those who didn’t vote for him and asked people to be patient and wait for the results.

– He said that even if they have a majority in parliament (ODM has 100 seats right now), Kibaki will do what he did after ’02 and the referendum and co-opt ODM guys into his government.

– He used Ivory Coast as an example of where things could go based on a “small mistake” (which I thought was very very inflammatory).

No word on whether PNU will respond.

For the anxious folks – there’s no news until tomorrow. No data, no results, nada. TV programming is back to normal – movies, soccer etc.

Unfortunately, innuendo and rumors will fill in the gap between then.

Guys, please keep your comments clean until then and avoid baiting. I understand that all of you are supporting one side or another, but I don’t want my blog to degenerate into a place filled with rabid and hateful commentary on side or another – this is not a debating zone!

Please show your appreciation for the hard work I’m doing by respecting my space, and not giving me moderator duties.

If I have to spend time deleting comments again tomorrow morning like I did today, you will be getting your updates from places where you can engage in pointless rhetoric.