Statement of the Rt. Hon. Raila A. Odinga on the Judgement of the Supreme Court of Kenya

29th March, 2013

 
Fellow Kenyans,

Members of the media,

Ladies and gentlemen,
 
Good afternoon,

You will recall that on 9th March 2013, I issued a statement on the conduct of the elections which had just been concluded.

I expressed my deep gratitude to all Kenyans who had turned out massively to exercise their democratic rights to vote and elect their leaders.

I however expressed my dismay that contrary to the expectations of Kenyans, we witnessed the failure of virtually every instrument the IEBC had deployed to ensure free, fair and transparent elections.

I outlined such failures, with concrete examples of the anomalies that all of us witnessed. It was clear that the constitutionally sanctioned process of electing new leaders had been thwarted again by another tainted election. Democracy was on trial in Kenya.

But that has not dented my commitment to constitutionalism and the rule of law.

Enforcing the spirit and letter of the constitution remains the only sure way to peace and prosperity for our young democracy.

My decision to file a petition in the Supreme Court to challenge the validity of the election was a testament of my faith in the independence of our judiciary.

We did so for the sake of our democracy and for the sake of all Kenyans who wanted to exercise their constitutional right to elect their leaders through free and fair election.

We were joined in this endeavour by Africog, which separately filed a petition seeking to nullify the fourth of March Presidential election.

This proves that my petition had nothing to do with personal grudge as contended by the IEBC, Hon Uhuru Kenyatta and Hon William Ruto.

In the petition, I expressed our belief that the court would uphold the letter and spirit of our constitution. I pledged to abide by the court decision.

We prosecuted the case to the best of our ability.

Our legal team, led by Senior Counsel George Oraro compiled formidable and logical evidence showing that massive malpractices occurred during the elections.

We unearthed evidence of technology failure that required a full audit, inappropriate conduct on the part of IEBC staff, irregular and unethical arrangements such as the sharing of servers by IEBC with a competitor and unmarked registers.

We regret that the court disallowed evidence on the grounds that it was either filed late or the court did not have time to inquire into these discrepancies. In the end, Kenyans lost their right to know what indeed happened.

Ladies and gentlemen,
 
The court has now spoken. Article 140 of our constitution states that “the Supreme Court shall hear and determine the petition and its decision is final.”

Although we may not agree with some of its findings, and despite all the anomalies we have pointed out, our belief in constitutionalism remains supreme.

Casting doubt on the judgment of the court could lead to higher political and economic uncertainty, and make it more difficult for our country to move forward.

We must soldier on in our resolve to reform our politics and institutions. Respect for the supremacy of the constitution in resolving disputes between fellow citizens is the surest foundation of our democratic society.

And the courts should always act within the evolving constitutional culture.

I and my brother and running mate Hon Kalonzo have no regrets for taking our case to court.

Indeed, it is our view that this court process is yet another milestone in our long road towards democracy for which we have fought so long.

Truth, justice and the faithful implementation of the constitution is our best guarantee to peace and security.

Ladies and gentlemen,
 
It is my hope that the incoming government will have fidelity to our constitution, and implement it to the letter for the betterment of our people. I wish president –elect Uhuru Kenyatta and deputy President elect William Ruto best of luck in this endeavour.

I also wish all the Senators, Members of Parliament, Women Representatives, Governors and others who were elected in the last election success in discharging the expectations of our people.

I want to thank Senior Counsel George Oraro and the members of his legal team for their hard work and devotion in the quest for justice. I would also like to pay special tribute to the Africog legal team led by Kethi Kilonzo for their immense contribution to the rule of law and democracy.

To the Kenyans who supported us and our petition, I want to assure you that I will continue to work for you and with you to build our county, Kenya, and to help you achieve your dreams.

My actions have always been guided by my desire to bring about a better life for all Kenyans, particularly those who are less privileged. The future of Kenya is bright. Let us not allow the elections to divide us. Let us re-unite as a Nation.

Finally, I call on all Kenyans– our supporters and opponents alike – to remember the sacred words of our National Anthem: Justice be our shield and defender;

Thank You and God Bless Kenya.

CORD Petition: Summary of the Substance of the CORD Response to Defence Teams of IEBC, Uhuru Kenyatta and William Ruto

Monday, March 25, 2013

MEDIA ADVISORY

SUMMARY OF THE SUBSTANCE OF THE CORD RESPONSE TO IEBC, UHURU KENYATTA & WILLIAM RUTO DEFENCE

ON Saturday, March 23, 2013, the Petitioner (Prime Minister Raila Odinga) filed a response to the replying affidavits by the respondents to the Cord petition in the Supreme Court registry.

The full hearing of the petition commences tomorrow at the Supreme Court.  Below is a summary of the reply to the affidavits of the four respondents  — Chairman Isaack Hassan, IEBC, Uhuru Kenyatta, and William Ruto (full documents attached).

The Cord response can be summarized into the following:

a)     Inaccurate transfer and inflating of votes from Form 34 to Form 36:

CORD provides numerous examples of how the number of votes entered in IEBC Form 34 was changed when entered into Form 36.  For example, in Mogongo Primary School polling station in North Mugirango Constituency the original Form 34 figure of 3 votes for Uhuru was entered as 236, an additional difference of 233 votes; Lemelepo Water Project polling station in Kajiado North Constituency shows that while Form 34 originally indicated 2740 for Mr Kenyatta, this figure increased by 264 votes to a total of 3004 in Form 36.

CORD also cites similar examples from Garsen, Igembe Central, Chuka Igambang’ombe, Manyatta, Ol Jorok, Mukurweini,  Kabete, Kapseret, Tinderet, Tiaty, Kajiado North, Chepalungu, Konoin, Luanda, Funyula among others.

b)   Inflating of votes for Uhuru Kenyatta in form 36 in the Final Tally:

An affidavit sworn by ODM executive officer Janet Ongera also presents cases where the Form 36 entries were further altered to inflate Uhuru Kenyatta’s votes in the final national tally announced by IEBC at Bomas of Kenya.

Quoting examples from Kisauni, Tigania East, South Imenti, Runyenjes, Mavoko, Othaya Nyeri Town, Kiharu, Lari, Kajiado West, Lurambi, Hamisi, Mr Elgon

Webuye West, Seme, North Mugirango among others, CORD exposes a “scheme of inflation” of Uhuru’s votes in the figures announced in Bomas.

Among quoted examples is Lari Constituency where results entered at the Constituency tallying centre and the ones announced in Bomas show an increase of 1,367 for Uhuru Kenyatta. South Imenti is shown to have announced 62,481 at the Constituency’s Form 36 and 63,271 at Bomas National tally giving Uhuru Kenyatta 790 additional votes.

In Kisauni, Uhuru Kenyatta gained an additional 528 votes. While Form 36 indicates 10,366, IEBC’s final tally at Bomas indicates 10,894. In Mt Elgon, Uhuru gained an extra 500 votes (Form 36 shows 28,786 while the Final Tally shows 29,286).

c)    Reduction of Raila Odinga’s Votes

 

 Raila Odinga’s votes were also reduced in Form 36 logs (Constituency results) in spite of Form 34 (Polling Station Results) indicating he had a higher number of Votes. Examples are attached from 38 constituencies where Raila Odinga’s results at the polling stations (Form 34) were tampered with and reduced when the final constituency results were lodged into Form 36.

The 38 constituencies include Kisauni, Bura, Matayos, Tigania West, South Imenti, Manyatta, Runyenjes, Kitui, Makueni, Mathira, Juja, Nyeri Town, Turkana Central, Samburu, Aldai, Tiati, Baringo Central, Laikipia West, Laikipia East, Kajiado North, Chepalungu, Mumias East, Shinyalu, Luanda, Emuhaya, Sirisia, Webuye West, Tongaren, North Mugirango, Othaya, Roysambu among others.

d)   Use of Electronic Voting

In his reply, Odinga also states that

        i.            the use of technology in the elections was intended to act as a check and control system and its failure affected the results fundamentally.

      ii.            that the explanations given by the IEBC downplaying the failure of the system and its effect on the elections “takes the common intellect of the people of Kenya for granted”

     iii.            that the IEBC explanations about the failure of the system are not factual

Mr Odinga also has attached a sworn affidavit from an ICT expert whose testimony shows that the Kencall Relationship with IEBC and TNA compromised data management.

a)     Kencall EPZ used a single IP address 196.1.26.40 for both the IEBC and Uhuru’s Kenyatta’s TNA. In its evidence CORD says Nicholas Alexander Nissbit (A Kencall Director) does not deny the fact that both the IEBC and TNA were hosted and operated on a single IP address as has been claimed by CORD. They also will provide proof that Kencall EPZ Limited, in reality was a call centre that was used as a gateway that linked the First Respondent’s database titled African Focus and accessed through the following web address or URL https://www.intranet.kencall/apps/iebc and The National Alliance (TNA) database known as Market Race CRM and accessed through the web address or URL https://www.intranet.kencall/apps/tna.

b)     The IEBC by agreeing to this arrangement compromised the elections on the basis of requirements for a an impartial, neutral, transparent, efficient, accurate, accountable and verifiable manner.

e. IEBC System Failure Explanation – NOT FACTUAL

a)     Claims made by the IEBC have no basis whatsoever as regards to alleged failure of the technology according to CORD’s expert witness affidavits. One expert describes the IEBC claim that the server failed as “entirely preposterous”.

b)     CORD’s Spanish expert’s affidavit describes as either “pure fiction” or “entirely inconceivable” IEBC’s claim that the batteries of the hand held devises used at the polling stations for bio metric identification of voters either failed or were not charged or could not hold charge for a sufficient period of time

c)      The CORD experts’ affidavits will also present evidence to show that IEBC claims that the transmission system failed due to data overload has no basis in technology terms in this day and age.

d)     CORD also questions IEBC claims that their officers has forgotten passwords does not make sense as there exist mechanism in place for password reminder which standard technology industry practice as seen worldwide on social network websites like Facebook.

e)     CORD will also present a sworn affidavit by an International Technology expert who states “This system in my personal knowledge, has the capability to deliver up the election result within a period of around 4 hours with very negligible error”. 

f. Voter Registrar:

The Petitioner also contends that:

        i.            IEBC has failed to present a closed register for the March 4^th Elections.

      ii.            IEBC resolve that “a special register is to be generated and will be used to allow the voters to vote” but never presented any proof or minutes of a meeting where this special register was finally approved and when it was gazette.

    iii.            A questionable voters register cannot be a foundation of a free and fair election conducted in accordance with the law.

    iv.            IEBC own staff and figures show incidents where IEBC allowed votes that exceeded the number of registered. This latter category of incidents include; Lomerimeri polling station in Tiaty Constituency where the form 36 itself shows 68 registered voters against 163 valid votes cast; King’atua Primary School in Lari Constituency where the form 36 itself shows 319 registered voters against 762 valid votes cast; Boroon Primary School in Marakwet West Constituency where the form 36 itself shows 218 registered voters against 228 valid votes cast.

CORD petition through various documents finally seeks to show that President Elect Uhuru Kenyatta did not meet the 50 + 1 threshold, and the declaration by IEBC was the result of inaccurate tallying and unwarranted additional votes

PETITION COMMUNICATION TEAM LIAISON

NB: For further updates on the petition visit the official cord sites

Petition Site: http://kenyademocracyontrial.com/

Twitter: @Kenya_Democracy (https://twitter.com/Kenya_Democracy)

You Tube Downloads: KDemocracyOnTrial (https://www.youtube.com/user/KDemocracyOnTrial)

Facebook:  (http://www.facebook.com/pages/Kenya-Democracy-On-Trial/349964425122713)

Summary of the CORD Presidential Election Petition

What the Petitioner (PM RailaOdinga) is asking the court to do:

1. Set aside the results of the Presidential election as announced by IEBC on 9March 2013, and the declaration of Uhuru Kenyatta as President-elect and William Ruto as Deputy President-elect respectively, and declare asnull and void the whole electoral process leading to that declaration.

What the petition says:
·      There was no free or fair presidential elections. Consequently no government could lawfully be formed by or from the purported declaration on 9th March 2013, of Uhuru Kenyatta and William Ruto as President-elect and Deputy President-elect respectively, by the IEBC and its chairman to the dishonor of the Kenyan people.

·      The voter register was severally altered as to make it difficult to tell which one was used finally.  For the purposes of the 4th March elections the registration of voters was carried out between 19November 2012 to 18th December, 2012, at the end of which the IEBC announced that 14,337,399 persons had registered as voters.

·      In breach of the mandatory legal requirement, the IEBC has falsely, unlawfully and illegally in flagrant disregard of the law and its declaration of the result of the presidential election held on the 4th March, 2013 reflected the total number of registered voters as 14,352,533 well above the total number of registered voters as the date of closing of registration on 18th December, 2013. Indeed, during February 2013, the IEBC announced that they had discovered approximately 20,000 persons who had double registered in the December registration, and accordingly reduced the register tally to 14,267,572 voters as displayed on its website. The illegally inflated March 2013 register exceeded this corrected figure by some 85,000 voterS

·      The Petitioner avers that increasing the number of registered voters was intended to permit the IEBC to manipulate the  presidential election held on 4th March, 2013 and their purported results and declaration, on 9th March, 2013 was null and void. That by abandoning the process of electronic identification at the polling stations and releasing results based not on the safeguarded, agreed, determined and credible electoral process it had promised and committed to, and by which legitimate expectations accrued, but a process that failed so significantly, substantially and endemically, IEBC effectively failed to reflect the will of the Kenyan people at the election.

·      Arising from the acts and omissions of the IEBC, Hon. RailaOdinga and indeed the people of Kenya, were deprived of a free and fair election devoid of manipulation, an expectation which was denied, thereby irreparably undermining the entire process and result as declared on 9th March, 2013.

·      Because of the IEBC and its chairman’s acts and omissions, the electoral process and the outcome thereof is so flawed in so fundamental and grave a sense, taken together or viewed separately, that it is difficult to tell whether the results were the true, lawful and proper expression of the Kenyan people's will.

·      The EVID and BVR system and the electronic results transmission systems adopted by the First Respondent were so poorly selected, designed and implemented that they were destined to fail from inception, to the knowledge of the IEBC; the failure and collapse, on a catastrophic scale on the polling day, so fundamentally changed the system of polling and the number of votes cast, owing to inordinate and inexplicable delays at the polling stations thereby reverting Kenya to the discredited manual system, with all the attendant risks and opportunities for abuse and manipulation which in fact took place.

·      The IEBC and its chairman’s purported official tally of registered voters inexplicably and mysteriously grew overnight by a large proportion on the eve of the election, notwithstanding that registration had closed some thirty days and was by law not permitted to be opened or changed.

·      The results as declared and recorded by IEBC contained wide spread instances of manipulation of the returns through manipulation of Form 36 and in some instances the votes cast exceeding the numbers of registered voters, in flagrant breach of the fundamental Constitutional principles (see examples below).

·      Although a common register was to be - and indeed was - compiled for all the six levels of elections in the general elections of 4th March, 2013, it turned out from the results declared by IEBC that the total number of registered voters and votes cast in respect of the presidential elections in some instances exceeded that of the registered voters and those cast for Parliamentary elections after taking due account of any spoilt or rejected or disputed votes to the detriment of RailaOdinga. The numerous instances of huge discrepancies in the total numbers of votes declared by the First and Second Respondent in the presidential election held on 4th March, 2013 is inexplicable upon any reasonable hypothesis other than the existence of actual ballot stuffing, multiple voting or gerrymandering or inflating of the numbers of votes in the tallying thereof by the IEBC or their officers or their condoning of or connivance in the same to the advantage of Uhuru and Ruto thereby rendering their alleged win invalid, illegal, null and void.

Anecdotal examples of widespread anomalies:

Glaring anomalies were observed in the process from voter registration, to transmission of results, to tallying.

 (a) the result were declared on the basis of unsigned Form 36,

(b) multiplicity of Form 36, and variants of entries in some constituencies

(c) alterations on files and

(d) brazen disregard by the IEBC of the entries on the files of constituencies which were eventually reflected in the final tally of Presidential election results and which were announced without signed verification Form 34s.

Votes cast exceeded the number of registered voters, including Tiaty, Laisamis, Igembe Central, Buri, Chuka, IburiIgambaNgombe, Lari, Kapenguria, Saboti, Turbo, Marakwet West, Kajiado West, Bomet East, Mt Elgon, Langata and Aldai.

Results in Form 36 disclosed by the First Respondent were materially different from the results that were posted in the final tally of the presidential results published by the First Respondent. This included in Webuye East, Webuye West and Igembe Constituencies.

Registered voter numbers in polling stations were inflated in Form 34 contrary to what was contained in Form 36. These included Kaproi Nursery School, Metipso Primary School, Maina Primary School, asaibul Primary School, Sewerwa Nursery School, Liter Secondary School, Chesongoch Catholic Church, Mungiwa Primary School, Chawich Primary School and Lemeuywo Primary School. In most of those circumstances, more votes were cast than the total number of registered voters.

More than two Form 36 reflecting different returns. These included Kikuyu Constituency, Juja Constituency, Chuka Constituency, Thika Constituency.

Alterations in Form 36 without acknowledgment including Kiambaa and Limuru Constituencies.

More valid votes cast in some constituencies reflected in Forms 36 than in Form 34 including in Chesumei, Emngwen and Ainamoi.

Different entries in two Forms 36 submitted in respect of the same constituency for example in Mathira Constituency.

Published results materially different from the results reflected in the County tallying, for example in Nakuru, not to mention the material variation between the verbal declaration made by the various Commissioners of IEBC at the national tallying centre allegedly after verification of results and the fiinal figures which are set out by the IEBC including those of South Imenti, Igembe South, Lagdera, North Imenti, Central Imenti, Boment East and Sigor.

***

Highlights/Quotes from the affidavit

" I believe that First and Second Respondents in breach of the Constitution, failed to establish systems which are accurate, secure, verifiable, accountable and/or transparent and indeed declared results which in many instances had no relation to votes cast at the polling station, developed methods which were opaque and intended to manipulate the results in the course of which the Petitioners’ representatives were altogether excluded from the process."

" In the final tally, the total number of votes cast in the Presidential Elections differed materially from those declared by the First and Second Respondents for purposes of the Gubernatorial and Parliamentary elections which took place on the same date clearly attesting to my belief that massive electoral fraud and malpractice occurred or permitted to occur by the First and Second Respondents in contravention of the requirements of the Constitution and the legislative framework in place as regards the 4th March, 2013 presidential election."

Highlights/quotes from the petition/re electronic system: 

"its failure and collapse, on a catastrophic scale on the polling day, so fundamentally changed the system of polling and the number of votes cast, owing to inordinate and inexplicable delays at the polling stations thereby reverting Kenya to the discredited manual system, with all the attendant risks and opportunities for abuse and manipulation which in fact took place;  "

"Respondents in breach of the Constitution, failed to establish systems which are accurate, secure, verifiable, accountable and/or transparent and indeed declared results which in many instances had no relation to votes cast at the polling station, developed methods which were opaque and intended to manipulate the results in the course of which the Petitioners’ representatives were altogether excluded from the process."

"the numerous instances of huge discrepancies in the total numbers of votes declared by the First and Second Respondent in the presidential election held on 4th March, 2013 is inexplicable upon any reasonable hypothesis other than the existence of actual ballot stuffing, multiple voting or gerrymandering or inflating of the numbers of votes in the tallying"

"A curious and very concerning feature of the First Respondent's conduct was that it allowed Kencall to co-host both its server and that of the TNA, which of course may compromise the integrity of the electoral process but at very least gives the very real impression that the TNA has access to sort of information which is at the very least initially confidential to the First Respondent."

Download the full petition from the official presidential petition website: http://www.kenyademocracyontrial.com/

The March of Democracy Can No Longer Be Stopped in Kenya

A Statement by Raila Amolo Odinga on the Election Petition

My Dear fellow Kenyans,
 
I stand before you today as a very proud Kenyan. And all of you as well should stand tall at this great moment of our history.

Amid all the tensions generated by the stunning IEBC failures in the management of this most important election since independence, you have taken no actions which would imperil our peace.

These failures dwarf anything Kenyans have ever witnessed in any previous election.

But whether you were aggrieved or joyous, you have waited patiently to see the process to resolve this dispute played out as defined by our liberating new Constitution.

Your commitment to the rule of law and to peace has put to shame the prophets of doom who were convinced the supporters of the declared loser on 4th March would embark on a bloody course.

But those same prophets are now warning that violence looms around the corner at any of the Constitutional steps that lie ahead in resolving this election dispute. They are using these scare tactics to prevent Kenyans from supporting the Constitutional process now underway for the Supreme Court to legitimize the election of the next President.

But Kenyans know from the experience of the tainted election of five years ago that violence destroys the lives of the innocent, sets back their hopes for decent livelihoods, and deeply divides them.

I want to state once again that I am not challenging the IEBC election outcome because I am determined to be declared President.

There is no democratic goal higher than respecting the will of the people to decide whom they want to lead the nation. And barring mass violence, there is no crime higher than subverting the outcome of a Presidential election.

What we are seeing in this electoral battle is the hidden struggle between the forces of change and of the status quo.

Is that successful, historic process of greater freedom for which so many sacrificed so much going to be stopped dead in its tracks by the few who refuse to yield anything to the many.

When Kenya burned five years ago after an election so tainted that Judge Kriegler said no one could be sure who won it, I readily decided to make the sacrifice that was needed to keep Kenya whole.

But what I regret is that we did not put in place any mechanism to identify and punish who the perpetrators of that election crime were.

Had we done so, the IEBC would not have dared to conduct this election in the criminally negligent manner that it did.

Recognizing the damage the sham 2007 election did to the fabric of our nation, Kenyans had created the IEBC specifically to ensure that such an election trauma would never visit us again.

And to make sure that it would have state of the art mechanisms and instruments, we spent tens of billions of shillings. And yet every mechanism and every instrument the IEBC deployed failed miserably.

Its failure and collapse, on a catastrophic scale on the polling day, so fundamentally changed the system of polling and the number of votes cast, owing to inordinate and inexplicable delays at the polling stations thereby reverting Kenya to the discredited manual system, with all the attendant risks and opportunities for abuse and manipulation which in fact took place.

These grave errors constituted fundamental contraventions of the letter, spirit and objects of the Constitution of Kenya.

They failed to ensure or secure a free or fair election and no Government could lawfully be formed by or from the purported declaration of winner on 9th March, 2013, to the dishonor of the Kenyan people.

Between February and March, the IEBC tinkered with the final register severally, and it is not clear which register was in fact used in the final tallying of the votes.

On the polling day, officers of a company by the name Kencall EPZ Limited, a call centre, were reportedly receiving the results of the general elections and specifically the Presidential ones.

How did IEBC allow Kencall to co-host both its server and that of the TNA, which may have compromised the integrity of the electoral process or at very least indicates that the TNA had access to information that should have been confidential to IEBC alone.

This clandestine arrangement of co-hosting databases is not permissible by law and indeed was not disclosed to the public or to us in the CORD Coalition.

Despite my agents regularly updating and complaining to the IEBC about the incidences of electoral frauds, malpractices and irregularities they discovered during the elections, the IEBC neglected, refused or failed to act.

Electronic voter identification kits were not functioning, officials and clerks had forgotten passwords, batteries were flat and kits were unable to charge among other impermissible reasons all of which could have been prevented by the IEBC.

This fundamentally changed the system of polling and the number of votes cast, owing to inordinate and inexplicable delays at the polling stations affected, thereby reverting Kenya to the discredited manual system, with all the attendant risks and opportunities for abuse and manipulation which in fact took place.

Among the glaring anomalies which were observed in the process of manual tallying were:

(a) The result were declared on the basis of unsigned Form 36,

(b) Multiplicity of Form 36, and variants of entries in some constituencies

(c) Alterations on files and

(d) Brazen disregard by the IEBC of the entries on the files of constituencies which were eventually reflected in the final tally of Presidential election results and which were announced without signed verification Form 34s.

In many polling stations, the valid votes cast exceeded the number of registered voters.

In specific instances, the results in Form 36 disclosed by IEBC were materially different from the results that were posted in the final tally of the presidential results.

There were several instances where registered voter numbers in polling stations were inflated in Form 34 contrary to what was contained in Form 36.

In most of those circumstances, more votes were cast than the total number of registered voters.

In other cases, there were more than two Form 36 reflecting different returns. In yet others, there were alterations in Form 36 without acknowledgment.

In yet other stations, there were different entries in two Forms 36 submitted in respect of the same constituency.

I have no hesitation whatsoever in lawfully challenging the election outcome. To do otherwise would be a betrayal of the new Constitution and therefore of everything that Kenyans hold dear.

They would forever lose their faith in elections and in democracy. That would mean they would be condemned to the rule of the few.

The multiple failures of the IEBC in fact reflect failures of so many of our new institutions. But the one institution in which all Kenyans still have faith is our new Judiciary.

It’s a faith based on their achievements in the last two years. In the new Kenya, the Courts have been vested with enormous powers, including the power to curb the unlawful use of authority by the Executive and of course the IEBC.

Let me conclude by saying that the March of Democracy can no longer be stopped in Kenya.
 
Our people have struggled too long and made too many gains in the last 20 years to be cowed into submission again. We cannot begin what was supposed to be a new era, under a new constitution, in the same old ways.

Kenyans’ determination to uphold democracy is renowned around the world, and our African and international partners knew in 2007 that there would be prolonged instability if the last election outcome was let to stand.

But this time around, we have our own Supreme Court to resolve our election crisis. This is a historic case which is being watched all over Africa and the international community. Nothing like this has happened on our continent.

The new Constitution was not the beginning but the culmination of one great phase of the democratic struggle in Kenya. I am absolutely confident that the promise of that Constitution will be reinforced in the days to come by the Judges of the Supreme Court.

I have repeatedly indicated my commitment to respect and abide by the Supreme Court ruling. I invite my brother Uhuru to publicly do the same.

His joining me would strike a huge blow for the rule of law in Kenya and would also immediately reduce the tensions generated by this election outcome.

Thank you all. God bless Kenya.

Launch of the Democracy-On-Trial Campaign

The ‘Democracy-On-Trial’ campaign has been launched as a support network to the Presidential Petition that will be filed by the CORD Coalition tomorrow (Saturday 16th March 2013) morning.

This campaign is a peaceful campaign that will run for the duration of the petition. The color for the campaign is ‘white’. Kenyans are encouraged to produce tshirts with peace messages while those not able to wear white Tshirts can wear ‘White Arm Bands’ or ‘White Lapel-Pin Ribbons’.

The campaign is also multi-faceted and includes:

a. The ‘Democracy On Trial Peace Prayer Vigils’ that will run for 24 Hrs every day starting tomorrow morning, in various regions across the Country for the entire duration of the Supreme court case. These vigils will specifically pray that truth will stand out in the Supreme Court case; for wisdom and courage for our Judges; and for Peace across the entire country as justice is sought in Court.

b. The ‘White Ribbon Social Media Campaign’ that is calling for peace and unity across the ethnic and political divide on twitter, Facebook and social media blogs, even as we all wait for the Supreme Court decision. This initiative will specifically speak against the vitriol and hatred being spewed on social media based on ethnic and/or political differences, with a view to reconcile the country pre and post the Supreme Court decision. We want to remind Kenyans that we are one country despite our political differences.

We urge all Kenyans to support this petition as Democracy goes on trial over the next 14 days.


DEMOCRACY ON TRIAL CAMPAIGN TEAM LEADERS