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Post by b6k on Aug 1, 2012 9:08:35 GMT 3
Kenya falls back to manual electoral register  Kenya's electoral commission has decided to drop a controversy-ridden tender for a biometric voter register and resorted to a manual option. The Independent Electoral and Boundaries Commission (IEBC) announced the decision on Tuesday night and said it will commence the manual voter registration immediately after the September 17 by-elections in Ndhiwa, Kangema and Kajiado North constituencies. More details soon. www.nation.co.ke/News/Kenya+falls+back+to+manual+electoral+register/-/1056/1468216/-/1qtl8sz/-/index.html |
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Post by phil on Aug 1, 2012 10:30:35 GMT 3
Kenya falls back to manual electoral register Kenya's electoral commission has decided to drop a controversy-ridden tender for a biometric voter register and resorted to a manual option. The Independent Electoral and Boundaries Commission (IEBC) announced the decision on Tuesday night and said it will commence the manual voter registration immediately after the September 17 by-elections in Ndhiwa, Kangema and Kajiado North constituencies. More details soon. www.nation.co.ke/News/Kenya+falls+back+to+manual+electoral+register/-/1056/1468216/-/1qtl8sz/-/index.htmlMr. Ahmed Isaak Hassan must take full responsibility for this failure. He personally must be held accountable for this failure arising out of blatant mismanagement of a basic procurement process and wasting millions of tax payers money and electoral preparation time. One hopes the relevant parliamentary committee will demand full disclosure of the entire process and the individuals behind this cock-up. The IEBC headed by Hassan now faces serious credibility questions that calls into question its ability to manage the upcoming crucial transitional general elections fairly and freely. Trying to sugarcoat this failure with the 2010 referendum hardly inspires any confidence. It takes a lot of effort to win public confidence but just one simple blunder to destroy it. And this blunder has cost millions in cash. And when all is said and done, reverting to the old register gives undue advantage to CODE Inc of Canada (a firm associated with Kamlesh Pattni and Davis Chirchir) and that which supplied equipment and software used for a pilot electronic voter registration in 18 constituencies during the 2010 referendum. CODE's conflict of interest arises from the fact they were an unsuccessful bidder for the just aborted BVR tender and the IEBC will be forced to single source additional equipment and expertise from them to manage the whole general elections. IEBC must know the 2013 is not child's play and we will continue to track all it's activities including the staff recruitment that is also another blunder in the making. |
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Post by job on Aug 1, 2012 22:52:26 GMT 3
Ahmed Isaak Hassan
Mr. Ahmed Isaak Hassan may soon learn it just takes ceding of independence – even momentarily – to turn into a pariah like Samuel Kivuitu. Unless he takes time to reflect deeply, his credibility (and that of the IEBC he leads) may tumble south very fast. Every Tom, Dick and Harry by now suspects that Hassan (through surreptitious seduction by some fellow Commissioners-cum-sleeper-agents) may have inadvertently allowed some degree of State (NSIS) and political meddling into affairs of IEBC. What is not in doubt is that IEBC’s neutrality and credibility has automatically been brought into question. Is it due to State and political meddling? When partisan political interests start influencing internal IEBC procurement processes, Hassan ends up looking like a feeble hireling of the old establishment! The failure of this tender process has cost taxpayers millions of shillings and lots of time. That's an obvious dent on his leadership credentials. It appears some higher-ups were trying to justify Hassan’s appointment by forcing through a questionable tender involving billions of taxpayer money. It has backfired spectacularly and is now slowly stirring public uprising. Hassan must know other pitfalls await the good 'ol manual voter registration process. Is Hassan ready (and independent enough) for tough electoral reforms that inspire public confidence? Is he willing to walk out of the secretive boardrooms and start dealing with the public in a more open, transparent manner? Staying on the same page with the public is now very necessary. All eyes are on IEBC which is now an open-book being scrutinized by millions of eyes. Re: Manual Voter Registration and Prep for GE.
Attn: Isaak Hassan1) Is IEBC going to fall yet again into procurement meddling intrigues over the OMR scanning equipment and materials? Are they able to see (in advance) the shady characters (like Kamlesh Pattni, Anglo-Fleecers, Davis Chirchir etc) behind toxic firms angling for the OMR tenders – including some who bid for the failed BVR tender? Are they able to wade off influences from the NSIS and State House? 2) Is IEBC going to roll out skewed staffing for OMR document management clerks in this post-Katiba (reformed) era; where regional and gender equity in public appointments are mandatory? The nation is all eyes. The public is still awaiting redress of the uninspiring staffing practices of the preceding electoral body - characterized by tribalism, nepotism and cronyism. The best way to imprint a reformed start is during the (imminent) recruitment for OMR document management clerks. Let this be done professionally and devoid of political, tribal, or nepotism-driven favours. Otherwise the resultant public outcry might further dent IEBC’s credibility. To insure against the 2007 fiasco of ‘missing’ returning officers, while filling positions for new Constituency Election Coordinators (CECs), it would be prudent to vet the current Regional Election Coordinators (RECs) and Constituency Managers. The previously noted ethnic interchanging of CECs (if applied) must be approached uniformly across the country - without exception. All recruitment for RECs, CECs and managers must be done in a fair, transparent and participatory process. Hushed, below-radar, and backdoor recruitment that bring in questionable characters does absolutely no good. Some terribly corrupt folks quietly brought in could soon be unearthed. This is a very important election to treat casually - the first after PEV!3) Is IEBC going to continue its discomforting closeness with the provincial administration – an entity with vested interest in the next elections? Is the Kenya Institute of Administration (KIA) going to remain the national center of choice for compiling the voter’s register (national, counties, constituencies, wards)? Wouldn't it be suspicious for IEBC to rush the scanned OMR forms for compilation at a training ground for (provincial) administrators in this post-Katiba era? That is so Kenyatta-Nyayo-Kibaki era-ish! I hope Hassan can truly think outside the status-quo box and be more creative.
The IEBC should keep the provincial administration (including KIA) as far away as possible from its internal processes. IEBC should seek neutral but well secured locations for conducting their internal registration logistics – far away from compounds associated with the provincial administration ( KIA, GSU training school, Administration Police Hqs. etc). Anything to the contrary will likely invite unnecessary uproar - take this to the bank! 4) Is IEBC going to provide ample time for the OMR registration - given that many constituencies will be registering voters for the very first time? For this manual process, there must be a prolonged voter registration period preferably running through the school vacation in December. Registration must not be restricted to registration centers – outreach should essentially go into churches, mosques, temples, and even door-to-door in select but equitably chosen (mostly marginalized) areas. There must also be ample time provided for scanning the OMR forms by the data clerks. Each vote carries more weight this time – influencing the election of a President, Senator(s), Governor, MP, County Assembly Reps. Accurate entry and verification of voters into the register must be given enough time too. 5) Is IEBC going to allow ample time for voters to scrutinize the voter registers upon completion of registration – to ensure their biographic data are accurately portrayed in readiness for voting? Are some folks going to be disenfranchised for IEBC clerical errors? Are we going to witness many situations where voter’s names mysteriously disappear from OMR generated registers? Time will tell. 6) Is IEBC going to use old, politically-skewed electoral regions instigated in the past or freshly delineated (reformed) regions? Armed with fresh 2010 census data,IEBC must adjust their outdated and moribund regional delineations of the past. Unless they want to risk a costly court challenge, there is absolutely no justification for sticking with the 17 skewed regions of the past. The nation doesn't need 17 RECs - equity demands we get 16 RECs. In particular, IEBC needs to drop one superfluous region (from its original 17 regions) to end up with only 16 regions carved as follows (based on population and geographic considerations): NEP: (1)Wajir/Mandera and (2) Garissa/Ijara
EASTERN: (3) Upper Eastern and (4) Lower Eastern
COAST: (5) South West Coast (Lower) and (6) Upper Coast
WESTERN: (7) Kakamega (Lower) and (8) Bungoma (Upper)
NYANZA: (9) Nyanza Central (Upper) and (10) Nyanza South (Lower)
CENTRAL: (11) Central (Upper) Nyeri and (12) Central (Lower) Thika
RIFT VALLEY: (13) North Rift (14) Central Rift (15) South Rift
NAIROBI: (16) Nairobi
There is absolutely no reason why IEBC should continue maintaining ONE extra region in the former Central province as currently exists – giving the former province 3 electoral regions yet it has a lower population than the former provinces of Eastern and Nyanza provinces respectively.
Rather than wait for a likely court challenge (on constitutional grounds) IEBC must craft regions fairly – setting the stage for the fairest elections ever seen in the eyes of all Kenyans – both in perception and deed.
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Post by raiswakesho on Aug 2, 2012 2:58:40 GMT 3
Hon. Hassan should address Kenyans and explain clearly how his team got into this mess and whether Kenyans can still trust him and his team to deliver. He must tell Kenyans whether there was any political interference and if so by whom.
I still believe he can pull this off successfully but he must own up to his mistakes if any and be more open and honest with the people. Something is definately going on and the people deserve answers.
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Post by kamalet on Aug 2, 2012 9:15:57 GMT 3
Just why do people think that BV was going to be perfect or better than the devil we know?
Guys, in 2010 more than 12.4 million people were registered by the IIEC and voted for the new constitution. Their registration was via the manual process and the exercise was hailed a complete success by many - winners and losers! Now why do we think the IEBC will behave differently this time round?
The cancellation of the tender was perhaps the much better alternative rather than have the commission waste time explaining away the tender process whilst it should be paying attention to the most complicated election in the history of Kenya. Kudos Hassan!
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Post by podp on Aug 2, 2012 10:06:00 GMT 3
'got post in my facebook '
To revert to manual (or even semi-manual) systems is to take Kenya back to stone-age days. The manual system will doubtlessly consume more time to bring to near-perfection than would take to do a credible re-tendering. There are more than sufficient world-class Kenyan ICT Specialists ('Informaticians') - both at home and in the Diaspora to help wade and fast-track a transparent, fair and watertight electronic registration/BMR system. The Kenya Diaspora Alliance (KDA) an umbrella body of 20 of the largest Diaspora organizations world-wide representing a nominal membership of about 250,000 Kenyans residing outside the country has a ready 'Technical Committee' willing to help, if called upon to do so. We have even prototyped cheaper secure SMS-based and on-line based systems similar to mPesa/Tangaza and online systems used in Estonia, Venezuela and Holland, among others.
Besides, why must IEBC listen to politicians; when they demand manual voting which they can manipulate, IEBC Chair rushes to give them the same. Is IEBC truly independent? Electronic systems will be faster, cheaper and less amenable to manipulation.
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Post by podp on Aug 2, 2012 10:12:13 GMT 3
The Diaspora File Court Petition Seeking Inclusion & Participation in Upcoming Elections
Concerned with their apparent marginalization and exclusion from matters of national strategic importance (despite their numeric strength and contribution to the economy), Kenyans residing outside the country yesterday filed in the High Court Nairobi a Petition seeking for their inclusion and participation in the upcoming general elections.
Through their Umbrella Organization, Kenya Diaspora Alliance (KDA), which brings together about 20 main Diaspora organizations from across the world, the Petition was filed on their behalf by Kounah & Company Advocates. Senior Counsel, Paul Muite will lead the Petition Team, which shall also include Hon. Gitobu Imanyara, Senior Counsels Aurelio Rebelo, Ochieng' Nyamogo, James Kounah, among others.
The Petition is filed against the Attorney General, as the Government's Chief Legal Advisor and Representative, the IEBC, the Minister for Foreign Affairs and the Minister for Immigration.
There are 4 main prayers in the Petition:-
a) Timely and optimal registration of Diaspora and adequate arrangements for them to vote;
b) Use of secure electronic voting (mobile phone-based and/or online) for Diaspora voters
c) Provision for Diaspora to vote not only in presidential but also parliamentary, senatorial, etc positions as provided for in the constitution
d) Removal of obstacles for 'dual citizens' to have their citizenships reinstated and be able to vote in the upcoming elections.
The Petition is signed on behalf of KDA and its member organizations by its Co-Convenors, Dr Shem Ochuodho, a Former Member of Parliament currently working in South Sudan, and Gichane Muraguri, Kenya Representative and Former President of Kenya Community Abroad (KCA), one of the member organizations of the Diaspora umbrella body. Among the other member organizations of KDA, believed together to represent over 250,000 Kenyan Diaspora are Kenyans for Change (K4C), Diaspora Movement of Kenya (DMK), New Vision Kenya (NVK-Mageuzi - one of the Petitioners), Kenyans in UAE, Kenyans in Nigeria (KINs), Kenya Movement for Democracy & Justice (KMDJ), Kenya Pro-democracy Diaspora Movement (KPDM), Diaspora Community Projects (UK), Kenyans in Zimbabwe, etc.
The case filed under certificate of urgency has been fixed for hearing in September, since the court proceeds today on August recess.
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Post by tnk on Aug 2, 2012 10:35:07 GMT 3
'got post in my facebook ' To revert to manual (or even semi-manual) systems is to take Kenya back to stone-age days. The manual system will doubtlessly consume more time to bring to near-perfection than would take to do a credible re-tendering. There are more than sufficient world-class Kenyan ICT Specialists ('Informaticians') - both at home and in the Diaspora to help wade and fast-track a transparent, fair and watertight electronic registration/BMR system. The Kenya Diaspora Alliance (KDA) an umbrella body of 20 of the largest Diaspora organizations world-wide representing a nominal membership of about 250,000 Kenyans residing outside the country has a ready 'Technical Committee' willing to help, if called upon to do so. We have even prototyped cheaper secure SMS-based and on-line based systems similar to mPesa/Tangaza and online systems used in Estonia, Venezuela and Holland, among others. Besides, why must IEBC listen to politicians; when they demand manual voting which they can manipulate, IEBC Chair rushes to give them the same. Is IEBC truly independent? Electronic systems will be faster, cheaper and less amenable to manipulation. the first question i have is whether these guys understand what systems IEBC was planning on purchasing and their purpose the 2nd is whether these guys have asked the ICT experts on their opinion on how to implement such systems to ensure success |
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Post by podp on Aug 2, 2012 11:17:21 GMT 3
tnk the first question i have is whether these guys understand what systems IEBC was planning on purchasing and their purpose the 2nd is whether these guys have asked the ICT experts on their opinion on how to implement such systems to ensure success 1. yes 2. just curious me! What Kenya do you know? If you are not Kenyan ignore the question but if you are Kenyan do you really know why we have a weak public procurement legislation and that the lack of citizen oversight in procurement procedures have resulted in enormous waste of taxpayers' money? If you can answer yourself then you do not need to ask me or anyone else the 2nd question. |
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Post by tnk on Aug 2, 2012 11:28:02 GMT 3
tnk the first question i have is whether these guys understand what systems IEBC was planning on purchasing and their purpose the 2nd is whether these guys have asked the ICT experts on their opinion on how to implement such systems to ensure success 1. yes 2. just curious me! What Kenya do you know? If you are not Kenyan ignore the question but if you are Kenyan do you really know why we have a weak public procurement legislation and that the lack of citizen oversight in procurement procedures have resulted in enormous waste of taxpayers' money? If you can answer yourself then you do not need to ask me or anyone else the 2nd question. very good so lets talk about no.1 what problem or problems were to be solved, we all have the tender doc/specs so its ok to delve into specifics we will soon move to no.2 |
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Post by kamalet on Aug 2, 2012 11:30:12 GMT 3
The Diaspora File Court Petition Seeking Inclusion & Participation in Upcoming ElectionsConcerned with their apparent marginalization and exclusion from matters of national strategic importance (despite their numeric strength and contribution to the economy), Kenyans residing outside the country yesterday filed in the High Court Nairobi a Petition seeking for their inclusion and participation in the upcoming general elections. Through their Umbrella Organization, Kenya Diaspora Alliance (KDA), which brings together about 20 main Diaspora organizations from across the world, the Petition was filed on their behalf by Kounah & Company Advocates. Senior Counsel, Paul Muite will lead the Petition Team, which shall also include Hon. Gitobu Imanyara, Senior Counsels Aurelio Rebelo, Ochieng' Nyamogo, James Kounah, among others. The Petition is filed against the Attorney General, as the Government's Chief Legal Advisor and Representative, the IEBC, the Minister for Foreign Affairs and the Minister for Immigration. There are 4 main prayers in the Petition:- a) Timely and optimal registration of Diaspora and adequate arrangements for them to vote; b) Use of secure electronic voting (mobile phone-based and/or online) for Diaspora voters c) Provision for Diaspora to vote not only in presidential but also parliamentary, senatorial, etc positions as provided for in the constitution d) Removal of obstacles for 'dual citizens' to have their citizenships reinstated and be able to vote in the upcoming elections. The Petition is signed on behalf of KDA and its member organizations by its Co-Convenors, Dr Shem Ochuodho, a Former Member of Parliament currently working in South Sudan, and Gichane Muraguri, Kenya Representative and Former President of Kenya Community Abroad (KCA), one of the member organizations of the Diaspora umbrella body. Among the other member organizations of KDA, believed together to represent over 250,000 Kenyan Diaspora are Kenyans for Change (K4C), Diaspora Movement of Kenya (DMK), New Vision Kenya (NVK-Mageuzi - one of the Petitioners), Kenyans in UAE, Kenyans in Nigeria (KINs), Kenya Movement for Democracy & Justice (KMDJ), Kenya Pro-democracy Diaspora Movement (KPDM), Diaspora Community Projects (UK), Kenyans in Zimbabwe, etc. The case filed under certificate of urgency has been fixed for hearing in September, since the court proceeds today on August recess. Pointless noisemaking. The law is very clear and provides for all these things that the petitioners are asking the courts. Unless they can show that the IBEC has clearly failed to follow the law - especially with regard to voter registration - then they would have recourse to the courts. I wish Kenyans allowed the courts to deal with more important matters! |
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Post by podp on Aug 2, 2012 12:01:23 GMT 3
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Post by podp on Aug 2, 2012 12:14:03 GMT 3
[b Pointless noisemaking. The law is very clear and provides for all these things that the petitioners are asking the courts. Unless they can show that the IBEC has clearly failed to follow the law - especially with regard to voter registration - then they would have recourse to the courts. I wish Kenyans allowed the courts to deal with more important matters! The President cited the provision for dual citizenship and the progressive realisation of voting rights as some of the direct benefits of the new Constitution to Kenyans in the Diaspora. |
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Post by Fahari on Aug 3, 2012 0:48:25 GMT 3
'got post in my facebook ' To revert to manual (or even semi-manual) systems is to take Kenya back to stone-age days. The manual system will doubtlessly consume more time to bring to near-perfection than would take to do a credible re-tendering. There are more than sufficient world-class Kenyan ICT Specialists ('Informaticians') - both at home and in the Diaspora to help wade and fast-track a transparent, fair and watertight electronic registration/BMR system. The Kenya Diaspora Alliance (KDA) an umbrella body of 20 of the largest Diaspora organizations world-wide representing a nominal membership of about 250,000 Kenyans residing outside the country has a ready 'Technical Committee' willing to help, if called upon to do so. We have even prototyped cheaper secure SMS-based and on-line based systems similar to mPesa/Tangaza and online systems used in Estonia, Venezuela and Holland, among others. Besides, why must IEBC listen to politicians; when they demand manual voting which they can manipulate, IEBC Chair rushes to give them the same. Is IEBC truly independent? Electronic systems will be faster, cheaper and less amenable to manipulation. Of course "Electronic systems will be faster, cheaper and less amenable to manipulation" but you ought to know by now that majority of our politicians are without principle and desperately want to influence the vote outcome The IEBC on the other hand realize that they may need jobs after the 2012 elections so they will bend over to please politicians or will appear to acquiesce to politicians demands that's Kenya for you. However, the million dollar question is, why not lease the biometric equipment? I suspect the need for ghost voters trumps all reason on this particular matter! |
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Post by podp on Aug 3, 2012 11:16:58 GMT 3
'got post in my facebook ' To revert to manual (or even semi-manual) systems is to take Kenya back to stone-age days. The manual system will doubtlessly consume more time to bring to near-perfection than would take to do a credible re-tendering. There are more than sufficient world-class Kenyan ICT Specialists ('Informaticians') - both at home and in the Diaspora to help wade and fast-track a transparent, fair and watertight electronic registration/BMR system. The Kenya Diaspora Alliance (KDA) an umbrella body of 20 of the largest Diaspora organizations world-wide representing a nominal membership of about 250,000 Kenyans residing outside the country has a ready 'Technical Committee' willing to help, if called upon to do so. We have even prototyped cheaper secure SMS-based and on-line based systems similar to mPesa/Tangaza and online systems used in Estonia, Venezuela and Holland, among others. Besides, why must IEBC listen to politicians; when they demand manual voting which they can manipulate, IEBC Chair rushes to give them the same. Is IEBC truly independent? Electronic systems will be faster, cheaper and less amenable to manipulation. Of course "Electronic systems will be faster, cheaper and less amenable to manipulation" but you ought to know by now that majority of our politicians are without principle and desperately want to influence the vote outcome The IEBC on the other hand realize that they may need jobs after the 2012 elections so they will bend over to please politicians or will appear to acquiesce to politicians demands that's Kenya for you. However, the million dollar question is, why not lease the biometric equipment? I suspect the need for ghost voters trumps all reason on this particular matter!Justice and Constitutional Affairs Minister Eugene Wamalwa suggested that the commission explores other avenues, including borrowing the kits from Ghana or South Africa. |
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Post by kamalet on Aug 3, 2012 12:08:28 GMT 3
The BVR saga needs to die now and we move forward with a process that we know works.
There is no guarantee that the Ghanaians or the S Africans will happily lend us their kit and neither do we know the process in which they use for registration and whether it will work for us here in Kenya. Sometimes it is not just about the equipment, but also the mentality of the people concerned. That is why I can walk into a Checkers supermarket with a Woolworths shopping bag without leaving it with the askari in SA whilst that is not possible here in Kenya.
If Kenyans were happy in 2010 I see no reason why they should not be happy in 2013 with the same registers. In any case with the registers being declared as valid for the 2013 elections it allows for a smaller number of people to be registered (change constituencies) and also time to verify those who died and need removing from the registers ensuring a clean election.
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Post by phil on Aug 3, 2012 12:24:08 GMT 3
jobVery well put. Commissioner Hassan and his entire team must first accept their failure to manage the procurement process. Trying to blame vendors as having interefered with the procurement process which was solely their responsibility is the height of dishonesty and incompetence. We must ask the hard questions: What will IEBC say when there is inteference by presidential contenders in the general election - as it has already happened in the BVR tender? Why are IEBC not coming out openly and publishing the findings of the due deligence on their preferred suppliers? The IEBC must not generalise blame to interested suppliers. They must indentify the culprits and blacklist them from their supplier data base. Transparency helps in building public confidence. Helloo, this is the most important transitional general election we are talking about here! Voters will be expected to mark up to six ballots as opposed to the over glorified referendum where it is a simple yes/no question. After assuring voters and political parties that major electoral documents including the infamous Form 16A - used for filing Presidential and Parliamentary results - will be automated, the IEBC has made a complete turn-around! If I were Kibaki, I would summon a full cabinet meeting to meet and discuss the goings-on at IEBC. Misuse of the unsecured form 16As by agents of forgery led to the cocking up of the 2007 presidential elections. The dreaded Form 16A was never in the 2010 referendum that Hassan keeps on using as defence. This 16A loophole is that which was most exploited during the 2007 presidential vote tallying. It is believed that Kibaki gained up to 1.5 million votes using forged FORM16As from his strongholds. What guarantees are we getting from the IEBC that it is ready to fool-proof FORM 16A in the proposed OMR voting system, bearing in mind the 2007 election was 3 ballots only, and the 2013 election will be 6 ballots per voter? Given that the IEBC has proposed using the Optical Mark Readers, where and how then do they propose to obtain reliable OMR readers? Lease? Direct Procurement? Single sourcing? How about management, approval, certification and transmission of FORM16A to the main tallying center?? How exactly will this be done? These are the hard questions we need the IEBC to answer so we can remain at ease. From where I sit, I see an IEBC that is riding on past glory and has become totally complacent. It does not take a rocket scientist to figure that the IEBC has been infiltrated by NSIS agents who are keen on influencing the results of the general elections. Unless IEBC overhauls its commissioners, secretariat and management while overseeing fair staff recruitment to county offices; we are definitely looking at IEBC becoming more than the disaster that was the ECK in 2007.
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Post by kamalet on Aug 3, 2012 12:54:49 GMT 3
jobVery well put. Commissioner Hassan and his entire team must first accept their failure to manage the procurement process. Trying to blame vendors as having interefered with the procurement process which was solely their responsibility is the height of dishonesty and incompetence. We must ask the hard questions: What will IEBC say when there is inteference by presidential contenders in the general election - as it has already happened in the BVR tender? Why are IEBC not coming out openly and publishing the findings of the due deligence on their preferred suppliers? The IEBC must not generalise blame to interested suppliers. They must indentify the culprits and blacklist them from their supplier data base. Transparency helps in building public confidence. Helloo, this is the most important transitional general election we are talking about here! Voters will be expected to mark up to six ballots as opposed to the over glorified referendum where it is a simple yes/no question. After assuring voters and political parties that major electoral documents including the infamous Form 16A - used for filing Presidential and Parliamentary results - will be automated, the IEBC has made a complete turn-around! If I were Kibaki, I would summon a full cabinet meeting to meet and discuss the goings-on at IEBC. Misuse of the unsecured form 16As by agents of forgery led to the cocking up of the 2007 presidential elections. The dreaded Form 16A was never in the 2010 referendum that Hassan keeps on using as defence. This 16A loophole is that which was most exploited during the 2007 presidential vote tallying. It is believed that Kibaki gained up to 1.5 million votes using forged FORM16As from his strongholds. What guarantees are we getting from the IEBC that it is ready to fool-proof FORM 16A in the proposed OMR voting system, bearing in mind the 2007 election was 3 ballots only, and the 2013 election will be 6 ballots per voter? Given that the IEBC has proposed using the Optical Mark Readers, where and how then do they propose to obtain reliable OMR readers? Lease? Direct Procurement? Single sourcing? How about management, approval, certification and transmission of FORM16A to the main tallying center?? How exactly will this be done? These are the hard questions we need the IEBC to answer so we can remain at ease. From where I sit, I see an IEBC that is riding on past glory and has become totally complacent. It does not take a rocket scientist to figure that the IEBC has been infiltrated by NSIS agents who are keen on influencing the results of the general elections. Unless IEBC overhauls its commissioners, secretariat and management while overseeing fair staff recruitment to county offices; we are definitely looking at IEBC becoming more than the disaster that was the ECK in 2007. Phil Are you sure yours is no driven by the fear of an inevitable loss by ODM in the elections? Why else are you seeing the hand of NSIS apart from repeating the same mantra we heard prior to the 2007 elections? |
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Post by phil on Aug 3, 2012 13:32:24 GMT 3
Phil Are you sure yours is no driven by the fear of an inevitable loss by ODM in the elections? Why else are you seeing the hand of NSIS apart from repeating the same mantra we heard prior to the 2007 elections? Can you please answer the questions we are demanding from IEBC instead of bringing unncessary sideshows? I personally do not mind if the party I support loses the election fairly and proceeds to opposition benches. What I am against is the IEBC subverting democracy after trashing the recommendations of the Kriegler commission. It is happening right before our eyes. |
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Post by kamalet on Aug 3, 2012 14:00:58 GMT 3
Phil Are you sure yours is no driven by the fear of an inevitable loss by ODM in the elections? Why else are you seeing the hand of NSIS apart from repeating the same mantra we heard prior to the 2007 elections? Can you please answer the questions we are demanding from IEBC instead of bringing unncessary sideshows? I personally do not mind if the party I support loses the election fairly and proceeds to opposition benches. What I am against is the IEBC subverting democracy after trashing the recommendations of the Kriegler commission. It is happening right before our eyes. Phil I wish I could respond on behalf of IBEC - but seriously I would like to imagine that based on their success in 2010, they surely can manage it this time without a hitch. Considering the hullabaloo on the BVR tender, I would like to imagine that even this would not have been enough to satisfy you guys if they had been awarded! Just what happened to the faith you guys had in the team?? |
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Post by phil on Aug 3, 2012 15:04:03 GMT 3
Can you please answer the questions we are demanding from IEBC instead of bringing unncessary sideshows? I personally do not mind if the party I support loses the election fairly and proceeds to opposition benches. What I am against is the IEBC subverting democracy after trashing the recommendations of the Kriegler commission. It is happening right before our eyes. Phil I wish I could respond on behalf of IBEC - but seriously I would like to imagine that based on their success in 2010, they surely can manage it this time without a hitch. Considering the hullabaloo on the BVR tender, I would like to imagine that even this would not have been enough to satisfy you guys if they had been awarded! Just what happened to the faith you guys had in the team?? @kamale This is not the time for imaginations. There is no room to gamble. This is a very serious matter. Let's face the facts. You betray ignorance when you try to equate a referendum and a 6 ballot general election. This is Hassan trying to hoodwink Kenyans that OMR success in 2010 referendum automatically means success in the forthcoming general elections. It is akin to comparing apples and oranges then confessing they one and the same fruit. Hassan's analogy is false and misleading. I have told you to check just one thing. FORM 16A. When and how was it used at (a) the 2007 elections, and (b) the referendum? Therein lies one of the biggest problems in the manual voting. The next General Elections was to be automated, at least on voter registration and tallying of results so as to avoid the repeat of forgeries that were evident in 2007. These processes would also help the Courts of Election petition to review evidence speedily and make judgements promptly on all election petitions for president all the way down. These are now likely to be issues of contestation and delayed justice simply because the incompetence of IEBC led by Hassan and Co allowed monkey business to infiltrate the IEBC. The IEBC has failed on one crucial undertaking. Hassan and Co betrayed the people of Kenya. The exercise cost money and also wasted critical election preparation time. It is a failure which Hassan and Co do not want to accept. And it is also a failure which has exposed weakness and partisanship on IEBC's part. So what happens if the failure happens again? We start forming useless coalition governments to share power, after subverting the will of the people through incompetence and partisanship. Secondly, you keep defending all the actions of the IEBC and now when I ask you to answer the questions we want the IEBC to address you talk about imaginations. Seriously, Kamale!? Thirdly, do you understand what the IEBC was aiming to achieve in adopting the BVR? What prevents us from assuming that the whistle we blew over their irregular tendering actually cut short plans to get a "user friendly system in place" for the next phase of rigging? Remember we started this thread way before the Kenyan media even knew about it. You were defending the tendering then, and with time we have been vindicated, what say you now? Fourthly, we lost our faith in the IEBC when Hassan started exhibiting double standards when ODM wanted to expel errant members. Remember he shamelessly put a road-block for ODM on a straight forward internal matter of the party. Not to mention that we see the same members serving as ODM members in parliament but openly campaigning for other parties outside parliament, in full violation of the political parties act. If Hassan can approve this, what makes you think he will not approve forged FORM16As in 2013? Please stop this pettiness and the sideshows. Address the issues and then perhaps we can help ourselves and help this country. Unless of course you have different intentions!!! |
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Post by kamalet on Aug 3, 2012 15:25:55 GMT 3
Phil I wish I could respond on behalf of IBEC - but seriously I would like to imagine that based on their success in 2010, they surely can manage it this time without a hitch. Considering the hullabaloo on the BVR tender, I would like to imagine that even this would not have been enough to satisfy you guys if they had been awarded! Just what happened to the faith you guys had in the team?? @kamale This is not the time for imaginations. There is no room to gamble. This is a very serious matter. Let's face the facts. The next General Elections was to be automated, at least on voter registration and tallying of results so as to avoid the repeat of forgeries that were evident in 2007. These processes would also help the Courts of Election petition to review evidence speedily and make judgements promptly on all election petitions for president all the way down. These are now likely to be issues of contestation and delayed justice simply because the incompetence of IEBC led by Hassan and Co allowed monkey business to infiltrate the IEBC. The IEBC has failed on one crucial undertaking. Hassan and Co betrayed the people of Kenya. The exercise cost money and also wasted critical election preparation time. It is a failure which Hassan and Co do not want to accept. And it is also a failure which has exposed weakness and partisanship on IEBC's part. So what happens if the failure happens again? We start forming useless coalition governments to share power, after subverting the will of the people through incompetence and partisanship. Secondly, you keep defending all the actions of the IEBC and now when I ask you to answer the questions we want the IEBC to address you talk about imaginations. Seriously, Kamale!? Thirdly, do you understand what the IEBC was aiming to achieve in adopting the BVR? What prevents us from assuming that the whistle we blew over their irregular tendering actually cut short plans to get a "user friendly system in place" for the next phase of rigging? Remember we started this thread way before the Kenyan media even knew about it. You were defending the tendering then, and with time we have been vindicated, what say you now? Fourthly, we lost our faith in the IEBC when Hassan started exhibiting double standards when ODM wanted to expel errant members. Remember he shamelessly put a road-block for ODM on a straight forward internal matter of the party. Not to mention that we see the same members serving as ODM members in parliament but openly campaigning for other parties outside parliament, in full violation of the political parties act. If Hassan can approve this, what makes you think he will not approve forged FORM16As in 2013? Please stop this pettiness and the sideshows. Address the issues and then perhaps we can help ourselves and help this country. Unless of course you have different intentions!!! Phil I was always wary of the BVR system so am perhaps happy it did not go through. I was concerned that we were going in two-feet into technology that may not have been proven apart from simple sales demos. The experiments of 2010 were totally different So even if they had resolved the procurement process, I would have preferred a verfiable pilot scheme where 25% of the voters are on BVR just to to ensure that even if we had a monumental fiasco a repeat in 25% of the vote would not hurt the credibility of the process. From where you sit, you know the problems of the procurement and the cause thereof, and why some people wanted it too much and why some are not really having an issue! |
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Post by phil on Aug 3, 2012 16:10:00 GMT 3
Phil I was always wary of the BVR system so am perhaps happy it did not go through. I was concerned that we were going in two-feet into technology that may not have been proven apart from simple sales demos. The experiments of 2010 were totally different So even if they had resolved the procurement process, I would have preferred a verfiable pilot scheme where 25% of the voters are on BVR just to to ensure that even if we had a monumental fiasco a repeat in 25% of the vote would not hurt the credibility of the process. From where you sit, you know the problems of the procurement and the cause thereof, and why some people wanted it too much and why some are not really having an issue! You seem to have shifted positions. Your sentiments at the beginning of this thread shows you vigorously defending irregular tendering. You are also woefully behind news because the IIEC actually conducted a pilot of the BVR... www.codeinc.com/voter-cds-in-action.htmAs someone who knows exactly what IEBC was trying to do, I know it is difficult for you to dismiss Hassan and Co on the basis of their BVR tendering fiasco. But thats life. |
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Post by phil on Aug 3, 2012 16:11:19 GMT 3
KIBAKI MUST HAVE HEARD WHAT I SAID!
News Just in: Cabinet directs IEBC to use the Biometric Voter Registration system in 2013 polls to ensure a free, fair and transparent General Election
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Post by phil on Aug 3, 2012 16:15:31 GMT 3
Here's part of the PPS Statement released this afternoon.
CABINET MEDIA BRIEF
Cabinet today resolved to support the biometric voter registration system as a policy guideline to help build public confidence in the electoral system ahead of the general elections.
At a meeting chaired by President Mwai Kibaki at State House Nairobi, the Cabinet advised the IEBC to pursue the matter of the biometric system that will give more credibility and contribute to ensuring a free, fair and transparent election.
To further boost the electoral process, Cabinet resolved to waive the Ksh300 fee required for those seeking to replace their national identity cards. This will ensure that no one is denied their voting right as outlined in the constitution. The Cabinet encouraged those who may have lost their ID’s to get a replacement as soon as possible.
The Cabinet also ordered the relevant government ministries and departments to fast-track the issuance of ID’s to Kenyan youth who are of age but warned that non-Kenyans must not be issued with the document.
[/i][/blockquote] |
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