NATION Insight Report
Monday, February 4, 2002

By MACHARIA GAITHO

The atmosphere was tense as members of the Electoral Commission of Kenya arrived for a routine meeting at their Anniversary Towers boardroom on January 24.

Just days before the final round of voter registration – a process widely considered to mark the beginning of a countdown to the elections – some commissioners had got wind that some of their Kanu-sponsored colleagues had paid a "secret" visit to President Moi at State House.

Chairman Samuel Kivuitu, who led the delegation, had barely sorted out the preliminaries when Mr Jack Tumwa rose to demand an explanation of the visit two days before. Tempers rose when Mr Kivuitu dismissed the matter as trivial and tried to head off further discussion.

Other Opposition appointees – Mr Abuya Abuya, Mr Habel Nyamu, Mr William Mbaya and Ms Rachel Mzera – joined forces with Mr Tumwa to demand that the visit be part of the day's agenda.

They were particularly incensed by what they saw as the surreptitious nature of the visit and the selective and partisan composition of the group and demanded to be told what had transpired at the meeting.

Succumbing to the pressure, Mr Kivuitu said the President had merely wanted "to meet and congratulate the new commissioners" appointed and sworn-in last September.

The summons came via the telephone, he added, and he had to hurriedly assemble commissioners who could be reached at short notice.

Those who met the President were Mr Kivuitu, Mr Henry Jura, Mr Eliphelet M'Thambu, Mr Edward Lopokoiyit, Mr Nathaniel Chebelyon, Ms Wangui Karanja, Mr Silas Tunu, Mr Frank Kwinga and Mr Bashir Sheikh Ali.

Matters quickly degenerated into a shouting match between the commissioners and Mr Kivuitu, who at one time challenged those who wanted his job to declare their interest.

A few days later, Mr Kivuitu announced that the commissioners had resolved their differences. But the Opposition, civil society and churches were not about to let the matter rest and continued to express grave suspicions about the developments.

Some of the commissioners excluded from the trip have dismissed the notion that the visit was purely a courtesy call and are quick to suggest that it had something to do with the forthcoming elections.

Indeed, they believe they have sufficient anecdotal evidence that Kanu wants a parliamentary boundary review to create up to 70 new constituencies.

Constituency boundaries, by law reviewed every decade, were last revised prior to the 1997 elections – when the maximum number of constituencies rose from 188 to 210.

According to Ford Kenya chairman Kijana Wamalwa, one of the first to raise the alarm, Attorney-General Amos Wako is under instructions to take a Bill to Parliament seeking to amend the law so that boundary reviews can be carried out at random.

Mr Wamalwa described the State House visit as "advance rigging" of this year's General Election.

One of the theories put out lately is that selected members of the Electoral Commission are privy to plans for a snap election designed to catch the Opposition unawares.

Speculation is rife that President Moi will be ready to dissolve Parliament and call elections between June and August – when Kanu expects to have completed its merger with the National Development Party and held its National Delegates Conference. The presidential succession line-up is expected to be unveiled at the conference, slated for April.

Indeed, the evidence points to the fact that the Electoral Commission is working on a self-imposed June deadline, by which all the machinery for holding elections will be in place.

The Democratic Party, through secretary-general Joseph Munyao, said Kenyans had every reason to lose faith in the electoral body and termed the visit "sinister and a betrayal".

Said Mr Munyao: "This is an election year and voter registration exercise is expected soon. Why did the commissioners choose to meet with the party leader at this crucial stage and what was discussed and why?"

Several MPs have since suggested that the Electoral Commission be disbanded. MPs Martha Karua, James Magara, Joe Donde, Shem Ochuodho, Moses Muihia, Maina Kamanda and Maoka Maore accused the commissioners of conspiring with President Moi to rig the elections – thereby breaking the oath binding them to independence, fairness and impartiality.

Ms Karua, the MP for Gichugu, demanded that a new commission be in place by June.

"All the current members of the Electoral Commission ought to go and be replaced with an independent team," she said, calling on MPs and other stakeholders to agree on a draft that would amend the Constitution to create an independent body to select and appoint commissioners.

According to Rangwe MP Shem Ochuodho, the developments were hardly surprising because Mr Kivuitu was "appointed to the post with instructions to serve the ruling party's interests". South Mugirango MP James Magara called on the commission boss to resign. What most of these commentators had conveniently forgotten, however, was that nearly half the electoral team comprises nominees of Opposition parties. Mr Kamanda of Starehe, one of the few to acknowledge this, asked Opposition parties to withdraw their representatives from the commission.

Neither was the Opposition fully in accord in condemning the visit. MPs Njeru Kathangu of Runyenjes and David Murathe of Gatanga dismissed the Kivuitu-bashing as hypocritical.

Mr Kathangu reminded his fellow MPs the commission comprised individuals appointed independently by political parties and argued that the commissioners and their nominating parties had the right to consult.

He explained: "The only thing that may be irregular is for any political party to try to promote conspiracies and divide the commission into caucuses for the party's benefit. The onus should be on the commission chairman and individual commissioners to see to it that the principles on which the body is founded are not abused."

About the only notable reaction in Kanu came from Minister of State Shariff Nassir, who criticised those calling for the commission to be disbanded.

Like other Kenyans, he said, the commissioners had the right to visit their President. Be that as it may, visits by members of a body as sensitively-placed as the Electoral Commission must be seen to be above board.

The furore was reminiscent of another row last year when it emerged that some members of the Constitution of Kenya Review Commission considered to be pro-Kanu had paid a similarly "secret" visit to the President. Review Commissioners deemed not trustworthy, including Chairman Yash Pal Ghai, only came to learn about it long after the fact.

After a furious slanging match, during which review commissioners publicly went at each other's throat, the differences were papered over. But, as subsequent events have shown, there is still a great deal of suspicion amongst the constitutional review commissioners.

The Electoral Commission might well find itself in the same position.