Kivuitu Headed For The Chopping Block?

I always try very hard never to brag or gloat. So that is the last thing on my mind as I remind readers here about the warnings we gave to former Finance Minister Amos Kimunya that he would end up being used as a scape goat in the Grand Regency scum. Sadly Kimunya never saw it coming until it was too late and he was being undressed in parliament in a most humiliating way.

Now there is another man whose neck is rapidly headed for the chopping block and he does not seem to have the faintest idea. That man’s name is Samuel “I will not resign I did not beat up anybody” Kivuitu.

As you read this Kivuitu cannot travel to the United States courtesy of a travel ban slapped on 22 commissioners of the ECK. Although the travel ban has been imposed by a foreign power, at the very least this new development should have made the ECK chairman sit up and smell the coffee. Instead Kivuitu is busy discussing “retirement perks” and it would seem that he is even demanding more cash to leave office to make way for major reforms at the electoral body.

If truth be told, politics in Kenya has changed considerably since last December and the ill-fated general elections and the situation continues to be considerably fluid. Increasingly we are seeing public opinion and the will of masses winning the day. What happened to Kimunya should be a stark reminder of this. Kimunya’s case is particularly instructive because some extremely powerful forces were behind him and he made the mistake of thinking that this was enough “cushion” against anything. In fact Kimunya has been assured by these powerful forces that he will surely be re-appointed to the Finance docket in the next cabinet reshuffle by which time he will hopefully have been cleared from all wrong-doing. Ever wondered why for the first time in the history of the country we have an acting Finance minister (John Michuki) and yet the Finance minister is not sick or hospitalized?

Samuel Kivuitu seems to have sentiments that are quite similar to those that Kimunya had before he was quickly bundled out of office under intense public pressure. The difference is that Kivuitu’s ultimate fate could make Kimunya’s look like a walk in the park. There is an extremely high possibility that the chairman of the ECK might just end up behind bars.

There is no doubt that Kenyans are very upset. I dare say the vast majority of Kenyans are extremely angry about what the ECK did last December that cost the lives of so many innocent Kenyans, not to mention property of an untold value. But what has aggravated things is the insistence of people like Kivuitu and his fellow commissioners that they will NOT resign. This has just added insult to injury.

I am of course keenly aware that Kivuitu was taking instructions when he did what he did. Indeed Kenyans will remember that at one juncture he called a press conference where he fell just short of naming some very nasty Kenyans who “should not have been born” who seem to have put immense pressure on Kivuitu to announce some “prepared results.” A few days later that story together with a denial by the ECK chair that he did NOT sign a paid advertisement sent to the daily press detailing election results fizzled out. It was clear that somebody somewhere reigned Kivuitu back in line. Rumours have been flying that threats were made while others insist that cash was paid. Interestingly the Kriegler commission did not dare touch these bizarre chain of events that happened shortly after the election results were announced.

Now there is the business of the next general elections and there are high possibilities that certain powerful elements within PNU will want to distance themselves and their candidates from allegations of election theft. Now what better way to do this than to sacrifice a high-ranking official of the ECK?

The first time this information came to me, it sounded extremely far-fetched. But then I have remembered that there are a lot of other even more far-fetched things that have happened in politics over the last few months. One of them was of course the dramatic resignation of one Amos “I will NOT resign” Kimunya.

Of course Kivuitu and the commissioners would have been on much safer ground had they resigned much earlier this year, heading calls from most Kenyans and many bloggers here as well. But alas, that opportunity is now long gone. And there is real danger ahead for these guys.

Let us wait and see shall we?

Read more about the travel ban on ECK commissioners

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The Standard Reveals Electoral Theft

The Standard on Sunday has today published a story that has confirmed massive irregularities, blackmail and theft that were behind Kivuitu’s astonishing declaration that Kibaki was the winner of the presidential polls.

Indeed, the story reveals a scheme that was mooted to deliberately prevent the ODM candidate Raila Odinga from ascending to the presidency through a fair, transparent and democratic means and it is not surprising no single observer group gave the election a clean bill of health.

The standard story further corroborates some truly tragic events captured in the Kriegler IREC report as well as those that were sensationally revealed by whistleblower Mr Kipkemoi arap Kirui who became a marked man as soon as he addressed an international press conference called by ODM leaders at KICC in which he said:

"I am speaking to the people of Kenya. My conscience would not allow me to see what I have seen and not speak about it. ECK is responsible for this mess. They (results) are altered here, not in the field. Form 16A is sufficient. I did it for the first time but could not proceed to the second constituency because of shameless, blatant, open alteration of documents presented by the returning officers. My conscience would not allow me to sit and keep quiet."

The publication comes against the backdrop of sustained pressure on ECK commissioners to resign and pave way for reforming Kenya’s electoral laws and institutions. It is emerging that a certain group within government does not want ECK commissioners to resign for fear that they will spill the beans with information that will be a threat to the viability of the grand coalition government and their own individual positions with it.

Interestingly, the riggers considered all bizarre possibilities including “allowing” Raila to win the presidency but lose the Langata parliamentary seat by force, and in process create a constitutional crisis that would allow the runners up (Kibaki) to continue ruling the country.

The report puts Kalonzo Musyoka – ODM-K presidential candidate and party leader – in an awkward position. Kalonzo was appointed Vice President in mid-January, just weeks after fighting a 'bruising bitter electoral contest' with Kibaki and Raila. It also shows Kalonzo’s agents actively participated in denying Kenyans the constitutional and democratic rights by putting undue pressure on Kivuitu while abetting what was clearly an electoral theft through fraudulent tallying.

What is the purpose of spending huge resources and have millions of citizens vote in general elections if the winner is already predetermined?

Read the standard story here.