Luc MICHEL EODE for Think Tank /
With EODE Africa Zone – AFP – Le Temps – La Libre Belgique – Liberation – RIA Novosti – Deutsche Welle / 2013 03 05 /
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Kenya chosed its new president on 4 March 2013.
In an atmosphere of extreme tension, several people, including policemen, were killed by gunfire at night in Mombasa.
A PRESIDENTIAL ELECTION UNDER EXTREME TENSION
Polling stations opened at 6:00 Monday (0300 GMT) in Kenya for general elections, including presidential one on which planes the shadow of the terrible violence that marked the previous vote in 2007, found the AFP journalists.
Long queues of voters were formed in front of many polling stations in Nairobi, Mombasa – the second largest city on the coast of the Indian Ocean – and Kisumu in the West, stronghold of Prime Minister Raila Odinga, a favorite of the presidential election. Polling stations were to close at 17.00.
Some polling stations have opened with several minutes delay. In front of the primary school in Kibera, sprawling slum in Nairobi, a long queue of voters arrived early and secured before the closed gate, loudly expressed its impatience, screaming and banging on the doors before the polling station opened its doors, says AFP.
The voting finally began nearly an hour after the official opening of the ballot. "I arrived at 3:45 (1:45 GMT). I came early because I wanted to avoid long queues," said Denis Kaene, an unemployed Kibera aged 34, who "wants peaceful elections."
Kibera was one of the main sources of violence in late 2007 and early 2008. At his side Murunga Joseph, 25, also unemployed, arrived around 4:00 and "there was already a lot of people." In Mombasa, before dawn, a long line stretched around the stadium and in the streets of the port city, people went to the polling stations already.
Several people, including policemen, were killed by gunfire at night in Mombasa, said the police chief, David Kimaiyo, without providing precise balance. A police source reported the killing of five policemen.
The lack of electricity has delayed for thirty minutes the beginning of the vote in a major polling station in Kisumu, installed in tents in the city center. Voters were already very numerous before dawn and the queue stretched for hundreds of meters. "We stayed here last night, because we want change," explained Susan Morell, 30, support of Raila Odinga, "we want change, but we want peace, we will accept the result, because we are sure to win.
This presidential election mobilized Kenyans, "Kenyan voters moved en masse for the first round of the presidential election," wrote the correspondent of LE TEMPS. "Rarely a Kenyan election has been the subject of so much attention and security precautions. In return, the 14 million voters in this major country of East Africa seem to have agreed to rush to the polls. At dawn, long queues stretched around polling stations in the capital, forcing people to several hours of waiting, confirmed us an observer present in Nairobi. In some polling stations in the capital, the electronic device, supposed to prevent cheating attempts, was never delivered, and voter registration had to be done by hand. Other polling stations have opened with delay and were allowed to close beyond 17 hours. "
SHADOW OF THE ICC AND INTERFERENCE OF WESTERN NGOs
Far to participate in the pacification of the country, the role of the ICC has contributed greatly to the tension. Here too, the ICC takes the Western camp. As in Côte d'Ivoire and Libya. One candidate, Uhuru Kenyatta, son of the former president and hostile to the West, is indeed pursued by the International Criminal Court for crimes related to the 2007 elections.
"And if Kenya chose in the person of Uhuru Kenyatta, a president accused by the International Criminal Court (ICC) for crimes against humanity?”, asked Swiss daily Le Temps (21 February 2013). "This is one of the likely scenarios of the election held on Monday and, paradoxically, may register one of the highest participation rates. Such a result would complete five years after bloody clashes that have concluded the previous election, to tarnish the image of this country so long cited as a model of democracy and development on the black continent. "
Kenyatta and Ruto are summoned on 10 and 11 April at the ICC, just after the possible second round of presidential elections, scheduled one month after the first.
To this is added the destabilizing role of some Western NGOs. Creating a climate of fear and tension. "Many yet feared a repetition of the 2007 elections, like the International Crisis Group," writes Le Temps. The ICG, which stated in a report in mid-January: "The Kenyan elections should turn the page of the bloodbath of five years ago, but the risk of political violence is, in an unacceptable way, always high."
VIOLENCE IN 2007
At the time, "ethnic clashes caused more than 1,000 dead and 600,000 displaced, after the candidate Raila Odinga had accused his opponent Mwai Kibaki of cheating. A peace agreement had finally put an end to violence, Mwai Kibaki took the presidency for a second term, and Raila Odinga the head of a government of national unity. "
"Many issues of the electoral battle of the day are related to the wave of violence five years ago, analyzed the correspondent of La Libre Belgique. At this time, the presidential election gave rise to fraud – on the contrary of the legislative election – and President Mwai Kibaki, an ethnic Kikuyu, the largest in the country with 22% of the population, was awarded the victory, in disagreement with a part of the Electoral Commission. The protests had quickly degenerated into ethnic clashes, particularly between Kikuyus and Luos, third largest ethnic group in the country with 14% of the population, which the main rival of the Head of State, Raila Odinga stemmed from. "
PACIFICATION AND THE ELECTION OF 2013
In 2010, a new constitution was adopted following a peaceful referendum: "This text is meant to strengthen democracy in a country where corruption is widespread and where ethnic divisions are often maintained. The new rules require, among other things, to be elected head of state, to get more than 50% of the vote. In addition, the power of the County Governors, 47 of them to be elected in this election, is strengthened. What feeds the fears of possible violence in the province, where power struggles are often exacerbated. "
After lengthy deliberations, the candidate Uhuru Kenyatta, son of Kenya's founding father Jomo Kenyatta and Vice-Deputy Prime Minister since 2008, was allowed to run despite accusations of "crimes against humanity" against him. His possible Prime Minister William Ruto is also among the four persons indicted by the ICC. Uhuru Kenyatta, who denies the charges of which he is subject, assured that his summons to The Hague next month would not prevent him to preside the country in case of victory.
The main opponent of the "ticket" Kenyatta-Ruto is the current Prime Minister, Raila Odinga.
"The issue of ethnic strife has mined since a long time the Kenyan political life, although one of the most developed countries of the continent." It was also the first topic addressed by journalists during a debate early February, in the presence of the eight candidates – seven men and a woman – and televised by the Kenyan television. "Uhuru Kenyatta and Raila Odinga both denounced ethnic divisions as a" disease "and a" cancer. " '
If no candidate had more than half of the votes cast, a second ballot will be held on 11 April between the two leading candidates. The final results should be officially announced at the latest one week after the vote but, according to most observers in Nairobi, the winner of the election could be released from this mid-week. Yesterday, a Kenyan newspaper headline was: "Let peace prevail!".
THE ISLAMIST THREAT OF AL-SHABAAB
Add to this the threat of Al-Shabaab Islamist militia.
"Kenya in effect unilaterally entered neighboring Somalia in October 2011, to combat Somali Al-Shabaab jihadists."
As the population of northern Kenya is usually ethnic Somali, the predictable contagion did not take long, "a campaign of attacks attributed to Al-Shabaab bloodied several cities in Kenya and anti-Somali pogroms took place in December in a neighborhood of Nairobi where live mainly Somalis and ethnic Somali Kenyans. The Kenyan government then ordered all refugees and asylum seekers to leave the Kenyan cities to return to refugee camps. "
Six days before the election, Al-Shabaab has "warned Kenyan voters that they would suffer" a long and terrible war "if the next government in Nairobi did not withdraw its forces from the neighboring country." As recalled by La Libre Belgique, "this is not included in the program of any of the eight presidential candidates." The campaign "took place in an atmosphere poisoned by bombings and grenade against bars, churches and law enforcement officials."
LM
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A more long French version on :
1ère Partie :
KENYA REPORT 2013 / LA PRESIDENTIELLE 2013 SOUS HAUTE TENSION
Sur https://www.eode.org/eode-think-tank-kenya-report-2013-la-presidentielle-2013-sous-haute-tension/
2e Partie :
KENYA REPORT 2013 – 2e Partie / LE KENYA EN ATTENTE DES RESULTATS DE LA PRESIDENTIELLE, KENYATTA EN TETE
3e Partie :
KENYA REPORT 2013 – 3e Partie / UN SCRUTIN CHAOTIQUE QUI OUVRE LA PORTE A TOUTES LES CONTESTATIONS
