RAILA ACKNOWLEDGES THE COURT DECISION

"I WISH YOU WELL," SAYS RAILA

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. 

PRESIDENT MWAI KIBAKI

HIS EXCELLENCY HON. MWAI KIBAKI
 

Emilio Mwai Kibaki a.k.a Baba Jimmy, born on 15^th November 1931, at Gatuyaini village in Othaya division of Nyeri district to a peasant father, Mr. Kibaki Githinji and Mrs. Teresia Wanjiku has been the third president and the commander in chief of the armed forces of Kenya since December 2002. Previously, he has also held several posts and here is a take at a look of his early life.

Academic life

Mwai Kibaki was an exemplary pupil at Gatuyaini School where he started his schooling for two years and completed the Sub “A” and Sub “B” (known as standard one and two). He later joined Karuma Mission School for the three more classes of primary school. He then moved to Mathari school (currently Nyeri High School) between 1944 and 1946 for standard four to six where in addition, he learnt carpentry and masonry as the students were expected to repair furniture and even grew crops as all students were expected to do and over the holidays, earned an extra money as a conductor on buses operated by the defunct Othaya African Bus Union.

After Karima primary school and Nyeri boarding primary schools, he joined Mangu High School between 1947 and 1950 and passed with a maximum of six points in his "O" level examinations.

Having been influenced by the veterans of the First and Second world wars in his native village, he considered becoming a soldier in his final year at Mang’u High School.

He then proceeded to Makerere University in Kampala, Uganda as the recruitment of the Kikuyu, Meru and Aembu into the army flopped. He studied Economics, History and Political Science and graduated best in his class in 1955 with a First Class Honours Degree (BA) in Economics. After his graduation, he took up an appointment as an assistant sales manager Shell company of East Africa, Uganda Division.

During the same year, he earned a scholarship entitling him to a postgraduate studies in any British university. He then took it up and enrolled at the prestigious London School of Economics for a B.Sc. in Public Finance, graduating with a distinction.

He then went back to Makerere University in 1958 and taught as an assistant lecturer in the Economics department until 1960.

In 1962,   he married Lucy Muthoni, the daughter to a Church Minister, who was then a secondary school teacher.

Political career

In 1960, he left academics for politics, when he gave up his job at Makerere and made a comeback to Kenya and became the Executive Officer of Kenya African National Union(KANU), at the request of Jaramogi Oginga Odinga(who went to become Kenya’s first Vice President).Kibaki then helped to draft the Kenya’s independence constitution.

In 1963, he was elected the Member of Parliament for Donholm Constituency (subsequently known as Bahati and now Makadara Constituency) in Nairobi. His election as the MP was the onset of a long political career. In the same year, 1963, he was appointed to be the Permanent Secretary for the treasury, appointed assistant minister of Finance and chairman of the Economic and Planning Commission. He was then promoted to be the minister for Commerce and industry in 1966. In 1969, he became Minister for Finance and Economic Planning till 1982.

In 1974, Kibaki facing serious competition for the Donholm Parliamentary seat from Mrs, Jael Mbogo, whom he had defeated narrowly and controversially in 1969, he changed his political base to his home village in Othaya, where he was elected the same year, 1974, and rated in the top 100 by the Time Magazine as those who could be able to lead in the world. He was then elected MP for Othaya in the subsequent 1979, 1983, 1988,1992,1997,2002 and in 2007.

When Daniel Moi, succeeded President Jomo Kenyatta as the president in 1978, Kibaki was elevated to be the Vice President and kept the finance portfolio until President Moi changed his ministerial portfolio from finance to Home Affairs in 1982.at that time when he was the Finance Minister, Kenya enjoyed a relative prosperity fuelled by a commodities boom, especially Coffee  but however, at the same time he was the Finance Minister, the Nation saw the collapse of the industries like the Kisumu Molasses that was just revived recently by the Prime Minister, Rail Odinga.

However, in 1988, he fell out of favour with President Moi and was dropped as a Vice President and moved to Ministry of Health.

However, in a few months before the introduction of the multi-party politics in 1992, he infamously declared that agitating for multi-party democracy and trying to dislodge KANU from power was like, “trying to cut down a fig tree with a razor blade.”

It was a great surprise that the nation when the country received the resignation news of Kibaki from the Government and that of leaving KANU on a Christmas day in December 1991, only days after repeal of the section 2A of the constitution, which retained multi-party system. Soon after his resignation, he formed the Democratic Party (DP) and entered the presidential race in the multiparty elections of 1992.he was criticised as an “opportunist’ who unlikely his two main presidential opposition opponents, Kenneth Matiba and Jaramogi Oginga, was taking advantage of multi-partism despite not having fought for it.he came third and made an attempt in 1997 and came second again when Moi beat a divided opposition to retain presidency.

In 1988, he became leader of official opposition with the Democratic Party becoming the official opposition party in parliament.

2002 politics

In readiness to the 2002 elections, his party affiliated with several other opposition parties to form National Alliance Party of Kenya (NAK). A group of disappointed KANU presidential aspirants led by Raila Odinga, walked out of KANU in protest after being overlooked by outgoing president Moi when Moi had founding father Jomo Kenyatta’s son, Uhuru Kenyatta nominated as the party’s presidential candidate, and hurriedly formed Liberal Democratic Party (LDP). NAK later joined with LDP to form National Rainbow Coalition (NARC). On 14^th October 2002, at a large rally in Uhuru Park, Kibaki was nominated as the coalition flagbearer’s after Raila Odinga made a famous and historic declaration, “KIBAKI TOSHA”

On December 3^rd, Kibaki was injured in a road accident on his way back to Nairobi from a campaign meeting in Machakos junction just forty kilometres from Nairobi. He was hospitalised in Nairobi and then subsequently in London after sustaining fractures. He still walks rather awkwardly as a result of these injuries.

On 27 December, Kibaki and the NARC coalition, won the elections with a landslide over KANU, getting 66% of the votes against 31% that of Uhuru Kenyatta.

THE ELECTION PETITION

THE ELECTION PETITION

 

The announcement made by the chairman of the Independent, elections and Boundaries Commission (IEBC), Mr. Isaack Hassan on 4^th March, 2013 has sparked yet another issue in the country, that of the credibility of the commission and of the commissioners. The announcement that saw Uhuru Kenyatta be the president-elect in a round one win as the IEBC puts it, has led to some of the parties and civil society, challenge the outcome in the top most Kenyan court; that is the supreme court that is chaired by the chief justice hon. Willy Mutunga.

The supreme court that has a total bench of six judges including the chief justice, is set to give their result on the hearing of the petition on Saturday 30^th March just barely a fortnight after the cases had been filed in the court, that is on 16^th March,2013.

The CORD Principles, led by the Prime Minister Raila Amollo Odinga and the Vice President Kalonzo Musyoka, and several civil society groups have expressed their concerns about the just concluded election and have stated that the IEBC never conducted a free and fair elections. In this case that is in the court ,the premier and the civil society are the petitioners while Deputy Prime Minister Uhuru Kenyatta, Eldoret North MP William Ruto and IEBC chairman Isaack Hassan are the respondents.

The petition that were filed by the Civil Society lawyers led by Kethi Kilonzo and CORD’S ALLIANCE lawyers led by senior counsel George Oraro, Mutula Kilonzo, James Orengo and Amos Wako, seek to challenge the credibility of the IEBC and the election of Uhuru Kenyatta as the President Elect in the just concluded elections.

However, the IEBC led by their lawyers have refuted these claims and have stated that Uhuru Kenyatta was eligibly elected by the citizens and achieved the 50%+1 vote in the firs round. The JUBILLE COALITION through their lawyers, have also agreed that they won the elections and are ready for the court contest that has been presented by the CORD and the CIVIL SOCIETY to challenge the results.

The CORD’S  lawyers have also expressed concern to support their case and have stated that they have several evidences to present before the court. They have stated that they are ready to meet the other learned friends at the corridors of justice and have confidence that the court will rule on their favour and that justice will prevail.

However just a week later after the cases were filed, the CORD Coalition has received a setback after their 900 paged affidavit, that was to show massive rigging in several counties, was rejected by the judges citing that it was late. The Coalition for Reforms and Democracy has however stated that this doesn’t affect their petition in any manner besides offering more details. They said that the evidence they have presented is already enough to knock off the 8000 votes that give Honorable Uhuru Kenyatta the 50%+ 1 threshold.

His Lordship the Chief Justice                                                      Lawyer Kethi Kilonzo

The Green snake visit

                                                      The green snake visit

According to a source that doesnt want to be named due to security matters, while attending a church service on his tour to the coast on 17th March, a green snake is said to have fallen on Uhuru Kenyatta's shoulders and the security persons dealt with it and killed it. those who accompanied him being Najib Balala and Sonko are said to have been engulfed by fear but however the service still continued even after the commotion as the congregation were left talking among themselves.

THE 2013 GENERAL ELECTION PETITIONS.

THE 2013 GENERAL ELECTIONS    

      Just after the concluded general elections, the CORD coalition has decided to seek the supreme court's intervention as they were not satisfied with the election process citing that it was not free and fair and thus the IEBC should not have declared Hon. Uhuru Kenyatta as the Elect-President. the coalition's flagbearer, the Rt. Hon. Prime Minister Raila Amollo Odinga has stated clearly that they will not be intimidated and neither will they go to streets but will instead seek the courts intervention and will accept whatevet the outcome of the ruling will be.

      The CORD alliance has presented its petition to the supreme court and is to be heard by six judges including the chief justice Willy Mutunga. they have also presented a petition in the High Court seeking to acquire the documents used by the IEBC in the election process and also from the Safaricom and the High court had made a rulling in their favour and they now have the documents from the IEBC and from the Safaricom service provider.

     As this goes on, Uhuru Kenyatta and William Ruto has received praise from other citizens as well as from other nations and from other presidential candidates who contested in the elections. However, Uhuru Kenyatta has received a message from the President of the republic of Botswana, His Excellency Hon Ian Khama, this morning through the Botswana foreign affairs minister that he is not welcomed in Botswana if he refuses to coperate with the ICC.The two have however told the Prime Minister to concede defeat and work together but the CORD alliance has stated clearly that they are not suing the JUBILEE Coalition in court but they are suing the IEBC led by their cahirman Isack Hassan and James Oswago as the C.E.O.

     The Alliance appointed a ten-legal man team comprising senior lawyers in the nation to present a petition on behalf of the Prime Minister chalenging the election of JUBILEE presidential candidate  Uhuru Kenyatta as Kenya' fourth president at the supreme court. The team is led by George Oraro who represented Henry Kosgey at the Hague,senior counsels Mutula Kilonzo and James Orengo, Ababu Namwamba, Amos Wako, Gitobu Imanyara, Pheroze Norwojee, Ambrose Rachier, Chacha Odera and Paul Mwangi.

  

A SIGH OF RELIEF

ICC DROPS MUTHAURA'S CASE

Former Head of Public Service Francis Muthaura now has a relief after the ICC Chief Prosecutor Fatou Bensouda, withdrew a case concerning him in relation to the 2007-2008 Post Election Skirmishes that had been filed by the former ICC prosecutor Louis Moreno Ocampo who preferred charges of criminal responsibility as an indirect co-perpetrator of murder, deportation or forcible transfer, rape, persecution, and other inhumane acts.

The prosecutor, on Monday 11^th March 2013 showed intention to withdraw the charges against the former Permanent Secretary in the Office of the President, citing bribery, intimidation, assassination of witnesses as well as lack of government cooperation to avail relevant evidence. 

The former Permanent Secretary in the Office of the President who was among the OCAMPO SIX alongside Uhuru Kenyatta, William Ruto, Henry Kosgey, Joshua Arap Sang and Mohammed Ali had been charged with rape, murder, persecution and forceful transfer of population at the height of post-poll upheavals in 2007/2008, where approximately 1,133 people lost their lives and over 500,000 displaced from their homes. 

                         ICC PROSECUTOR FATOU BENSOUDA TAKES OATH OF OFFICE