Sunday, 19 November 2017

Dr. S. Wambua on Kenyan crisis

Dr. S. Wambua of South Eastern Kenya University (SEKU) writes... (and I concur)
The Kenyan problem is Kikuyu supremacism which under UK has acquired an apartheid and fascist angle. The Supremacists feel that it's only a Kikuyu who is ordained and qualified to rule.
In their narrative, if a Kikuyu is not in power, then Kikuyus will be targeted and annihilated by any other president. It's only the Luo elite who have actively rejected that narrative successfully and debunked it. Jaramogi knew the cynical scheme from day one. That is why Kikuyus loath them, for refusing to submit to Kikuyu supremacy. The mafia has rented Bishops, elders, media, opinion polls, banks, professional associations, professors, foreign envoys, and the brute force of guns, politicians from other communities, even prophets and judges with our stolen taxes to ensure Kikuyu supremacy is called God ordained.
The others after all have yielded to this narrative. The Kalenjin have shown that they are ready to play second fiddle as anointed by association next to the Kikuyu. Moi entrenched this narrative by targeting only the Kikuyu intellectuals who gave the struggle a class and not an ethnic angle detaining them, and exiling a good number. He was always at home with the Kikuyu capitalists, Kibaki was VP, then Karanja, then Saitoti and over to Uhuru.
The Kikuyu elite are the only ones anointed for ruling over Kenya. That is their role in the division of labour.
The rest of the ethnic groups including the Kikuyu masses have five roles in the division of labor;
1. To pay taxes to KRA, CBK etc all controlled by men from the right tribes.
2. To vote for them to rule. Voting for a president from another community is unacceptable. Hence the reason IEBC has failed to deliverance a credible election.
3. To provide cheap labour in industries of the foreigners, Kikuyu, Asian and other local capitalists. Including labor as police officers, teachers etc.
4. To be consumers of products and services they produce and offer to continue with the increase in the wealth and power in the hands of the self same Kikuyu capitalist supremacists.
5. To sire more children who will perform these four functions above.
Is the problem Raila? Has never been. Wrong diagnosis has always led to poor even dangerous prescription.. There can never be free and fair election which may upset this arrangement.
A lie has been created to divert attention... That Kikuyus have tyranny of numbers? This is a white and empty lie, no numbers. Do you know of a Kikuyu friend born after 1970 with more than three children? Luyhas are right now more than Kikuyus... But who controls the census? Kikuyus. Kakamega County has 2.1m people but only 750k voters, yet Kiambu has 1.8m people but 1.18m voters. Is that possible? No of course that was a register cooked to legitimize tyranny of numbers and audited by Mwaura of KPMG.
Another census is coming up in 2019... That is why all this do or die to retain power... Uhuru must be in charge of the census like Moi and Kibaki before to favour a narrative that the Kikuyu and now the Kalenjin have tyranny of numbers and it's only Kikuyu elite who must control the state system and economic power for Kenya to survive as a going concern. Luyhas, Kambas, Luos, no no!! Did they fight for independence?? Do they know how to manage the state or the economy?
Prof. Larry Gumbe says that this despotic, predatory state is on its death bed and must be buried.
But you see the Ababu Namwambas, the Lusakas, Chris Obures, Musilas, Nyenzes, Tujus, Alfred Mutuas, Hassan Omars, Mung'aros, Duales of Kenya going round and round saying they are ready to die for Uhuru and Ruto and that those like Kalonzo Musyoka and Raila challenging this despotic system don't want development for their people. Sad but understandable because these are house Negros. Let's have this Kenyan conversation once and for all.

Friday, 10 November 2017

German killer nurse's suspected victims pass 100; Nov. 10.2017

German nurse kills patients
German former nurse Niels Hoegel hiding his face behind a folder as he waits next to his lawyer Ulrike Baumann (right) for the opening of another session of his trial at court in Oldenburg on February 26, 2015. He confessed to some of the killings. FILE PHOTO | CARMEN JASPERSEN | AFP 
By AFP
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BERLIN
A German nurse who used lethal drugs on patients out of 'boredom' is responsible for the deaths of 106 people, investigators said Thursday, noting the toll could rise further as more bodies are studied.
Niels Hoegel, 41, was convicted in 2015 of two murders and four counts of attempted murder or causing bodily harm on intensive-care patients at the Delmenhorst hospital near the northern city of Bremen.
But exhumations and analyses since have uncovered evidence of scores of other victims, with police saying in August that Hoegel had murdered more than 90 other patients.
On Thursday, police and prosecutors confirmed an additional 16 deaths, attributed to the nurse who worked at two hospitals between 1999 and 2005.
DEATH TOLL
More deaths may still be uncovered with toxicology studies under way for five other cases, and exhumations of three former patients planned in Turkey.
Prosecutors said they expect to bring the new charges against Hoegel early next year.
He has admitted to injecting patients with drugs that can cause heart failure or circulatory collapse so he could then try to revive them and, when successful, shine as a saviour before his medical peers.
He earlier testified that at times he acted out of "boredom", feeling euphoric when he managed to bring a patient back to life and also claimed to be devastated when he failed.
The death toll "is unique in the history of the German republic," the chief police investigator in the case, Arne Schmidt, said in August, adding that Hoegel killed "without a discernible pattern" and preyed especially on those in critical condition.
"The insights we were able to gain are terrifying, they surpass what we could have imagined," said Johann Kuehme, police chief in the city of Oldenburg, where the other hospital is located.
"He cannot remember every case, but in more than 30 he concretely remembered the patients and his behaviour," said prosecutor Daniela Schiereck-Bohlemann.
NUMBERS MAY NEVER BE KNOWN
The revelations date back to June 2005, when a female nurse witnessed Hoegel trying to inject a patient at the Delmenhorst hospital.
The patient survived and Hoegel was arrested and, in June 2008, sentenced to seven and a half years in jail for several cases of attempted murder.
Amid the media publicity, a woman then contacted police, voicing suspicion that her deceased mother had also fallen victim to the killer nurse.
The authorities exhumed several patients' bodies and detected traces of the drug in five of them, declaring it either the definitive or possible contributing cause.
Hoegel was jailed for life in 2015, but at the time it was clear he had murdered many more patients, with investigators admitting they may never know the true number as some remains had been cremated.


Several senior medical staff at Delmenhorst also face separate trials for having failed to act speedily over the high number of suspicious deaths when Hoegel was on duty.

Sunday, 5 November 2017

Police killed 214 people as of October, database shows

Police killed 214 people as of October, database shows

Just under a third of all the deaths were related to elections, including those of nine children.


Police killed more than 200 Kenyans by October 31, this year, numbers from the Nation NewsplexDeadly Force databaseshow.
Nearly one in three of the 214, or 65 shootings, are related to election politics, while more than half, or 110 shootings, involved people suspected of crime, including shootouts.
Other deaths include officers killing their colleagues, and civilians after arguments or love disagreements. Two people have also been killed by non-police armed services, one by a Kenya Wildlife Service ranger, and another by a soldier in the Kenya Defence Forces.
Five police officers have been killed by their colleagues so far. That is a significant decrease from 2016 when Deadly Force reported 23 police officers had been killed by colleagues over a similar time period.
The current shootings are a 52 per cent increase over the 141 shot in 2015 and a five per cent increase over the 204 people killed by the police last year. Of the 34 months Nation Newsplex has been tracking police killings, August 2017, the General Election month, had the highest number at 68.
The Deadly Force database compiled incidents from media reports in three daily newspapers, and reports from human rights organisations. The organisations have accused the police of using excessive force in dispersing protests.
Newsplex also sought to know from the National Police Service how many people had been killed in 2017. Police spokesman George Kinoti told Newsplex this information would be in the 2016/2017 crime statistics scheduled to be released at the end of the year.
Outside political protests, police have also been faulted for killing people they suspect of crime, instead of arresting them and presenting them in court. Inclusion in the Deadly Force database does not necessarily mean a killing is unlawful.
In a joint report, Human Rights Watch and Amnesty International state that police killed at least 33 people in Nairobi after the General Election. More recently, Kenya National Commission on Human Rights (KNCHR ) says 54 people were killed in the election period between August and October. The Independent Medico-Legal Unit (IMLU) has also come forward, stating that 23 people died after the elections.
The National Police Service maintains only 19 people lost their lives around the two elections, and condemned the IMLU report as “sensational reporting that is based on falsified figures”. While the police does not name the people in its list, Human Rights Watch names the 33 people it claims were killed by officers in its report.
The police have also cited certain incidents where, they say, the use of force was necessary. For example, they have cited cases at Kit Mikayi Tallying Centre, Kisumu County, where a group of people had attempted to stop voting and Mavoko, Machakos County, where election officials were attacked, as well as in Homa Bay, where police used live bullets to stop a mob that tried to storm a patrol base.
However, the police in many instances were captured on video brutally beating unarmed civilians and destroying equipment such as motorcycles of boda boda operators. In one instance, police were captured firing low instead of high into the air exposing civilians to the risk of being struck by stray bullets.
Youth are particularly adversely affected by police shootings. Of the 56 people whose ages are known, 37 were aged between 18 and 35. Children have also not been spared as nine of those killed were under 18, and eight of whom were killed during election protests.
One was a six-month-old baby, Samantha Pendo, who died after being hit by police in Kisumu. Two children, Stephanie Moraa,10, and a boy aged seven, were killed while playing in Mathare as police dispersed protesters on August 8.
The following day a girl,15, was killed in Chesoi, Marakwet East, as police dispersed a crowd that was unhappy at delays in releasing the election results.
On August 11, Raphael Ayieko,17, was shot dead in Nairobi’s Baba Dogo as police dispersed protesters who were displeased with the election results.
On October 26, the day of the repeat presidential election, a 13-year-old boy was shot dead in Mavoko, while Titus Ngudi,14, was killed by stray bullet as police dispersed protesters.
Away from election protests, one boy aged 14 died after he was shot by a KDF soldier in Laikipia County on August 29. Still in the county, a 14-year-old boy was tortured to death by an Administration Police officer from Makutano Police Post on October, 31.
Of the 214 people killed by police, 110 (51 per cent) were armed and 68 (32 per cent) were unarmed while it was not clear from reports whether 32 (15 per cent) were armed or not. However, there have been instances where police have been accused of planting guns on their victims.
In 95 per cent of the cases, (204 of 214) the victim died from gunshot wounds. Batons and tear gas are less lethal weapons used to disperse riots, but a number of deaths have been attributed to their use this year. In five cases, all of which happened during protests after August 8 elections, those who died had been beaten severely with batons.
FORCE THEIR WAY
In two deaths, which took place in Mathare, Nairobi, the report by the KNCHR says police forced their way into the victims’ homes and beat them, leading to their deaths.
Also, on August 11, 2017, Henry Matete, 43, was coming home from hospital after having a wound dressed, when he met police officers at Bombolulu, Kibra, who beat him. According to the KNCHR, he died while receiving treatment in hospital.
Tear gas canisters have caused the deaths of another four people. Eric Kwama, who was suffering from a respiratory condition, died after inhaling the gas in Kawangware on August 10.
But three others died after tear gas canisters struck them in the chest area, exploding in some instances. All the deaths caused by tear gas canisters happened in Nairobi and were connected to protests after the presidential election of August 8.
Protests related to political events led to higher proportion of killings in certain counties, including Siaya, Kisumu and Nairobi.
Eight of the nine killings in Siaya County were related to politics. In addition to the police shooting in Yala, one shooting happened in February, during protests against the Independent Electoral and Boundaries Commission (IEBC).
Four killings took place in protests in the days after the August elections, while another three were killed on October 13 in protests around Bondo Police Station.
In Kisumu, six people have been killed. Four people were killed during election protests (three between August 11 and 12 and the fourth on October 16). Another two, who were suspected gangsters, were killed in Obunga area on June 17.
A total of 135 deaths – including five females – just over three in five deaths in 2017 so far, happened in Nairobi. Nineteen people were killed in Mathare, 15 in Kayole, 13 in Dandora, eight each in Kawangware and Karen, six each in Kibra and Pangani, four each in Baba Dogo and Kangundo Road, three each in Shauri Moyo, Parklands and Tena, and two each in Dagoretti, Eastleigh and Huruma.
Newsplex counted 48 people killed in the capital from protests after the elections, more than a third of all the people killed in the city. Another 82 were suspected of either planning or taking part in crime. Slightly more than half of all those shot in Nairobi (69) were reported to have been armed.
GAZA GANG
While the names of crime suspects killed were rarely carried in media reports, the names of those killed in political disturbances tended to be available. Sixty-six crime suspects were male, and with the exception of three young men aged 18, 23 and 25, their ages were not reported.
The ages of 41 of the 135 people killed in Nairobi are known. Of those, 16 were aged between 20 and 29, nine between 30 and 34, and five between 40 and 45. Two men were older, one killed at 50 and the other 60.
In Machakos County, four people have been killed so far this year. Two were suspected criminals killed during robberies while two were killed during election protests in Mavoko.
All the nine people recorded killed in Kirinyaga County were suspected of crime. Seven of them were killed on September 5. Police said they had tracked them from Nairobi and that they were members of the notorious Gaza gang. Witnesses said they had defied police commands to surrender and opened fire before being killed. Another two suspects were killed at Kibwirigi Market during a robbery on September 20.
Six of seven people killed in Kiambu County were suspected criminals. The seventh was shot outside a bar in Limuru Town by a police officer. Five of the suspects were shot in Ruiru and the other in Karuri.
In Mombasa, six of the seven people reportedly killed were suspected robbers while one was suspected of taking part in a terrorist attack in Mpeketoni that killed more than 60 people in June 2014.
For more on Deadly Force Database visit: http://www.nation.co.ke/deadlyforce/

Saturday, 4 November 2017

Cover story: Hands Tied: Why Uhuru is soft on Raila Nov. 04, 2017

President Uhuru Kenyatta arrives in Parliament for his state of the nation address on March 31, 2016. Photo/ Jack OwuorThe declaration of Uhuru Kenyatta as President-elect in the October 26 repeat election has truly divided Kenyans even further.
All eyes are now on Uhuru, and everyone wants to see what he will do next. Raila Odinga, as expected, has rubbished his win and has now created what seems like an alternative government with a new raft of demands, including a fresh election in 90 days. He has now called a new round of street protests in what is likely to push the country to the edge yet again. We have barely recovered from the last round of protests, in which conservative estimates put the economic losses at close to Sh700 billion, which is enough to run for a quarter year. How Uhuru will deal with this new round of protests will test his leadership skills going forward.

BEING SOFT ON RAILA
There is, however, exasperation in certain circles within Jubilee feeling that Uhuru is not firm enough against his arch-nemesis. They think he is not taking the current political situation seriously enough to do something drastic about it. There are many clips on social media showing how Jomo Kenyatta effectively contained Oginga Odinga, just about this time in 1969, including banning the KPU and also detaining all of its MPs. Each of them was released at different times every time, with Wasonga Sijeyo coming out last in 1978, having spent nearly a decade behind bars. But times have changed. We got a new Constitution and gave sweeping freedoms to whoever will use them. There seems to be little or no way of controlling anyone these days.

UHURU’S DIFFICULT POSITION
Unlike Uhuru, Mwai Kibaki somehow managed to rein in Raila’s unbridled ambitions and contained his expectations. Kibaki kept him imagining that if he was quiet enough, he should succeed him as President. This carrot-and-stick method worked and the donkey followed quietly until Kibaki completed his term. Then at the opportune time, Kibaki openly backed the ICC-indicted Uhuru and William Ruto for the presidency, when in the natural order of things;he should have gone for Raila. Today, Raila has no more hope of stepping into State House than he had under Kibaki, and for that, he is investing on bringing the house down. Uhuru is in a difficult position, knowing how difficult it is to undergo international justice systems at the ICC. What he went through there, he wouldn’t wish it on his worst enemy.


STRONG FATHERS AND WEAK SONS
It is said that strong fathers tend to produce weak sons and vice versa. Uhuru appears to be the weak son of a strong father, while Raila is the strong son of a weak father. This is one way of explaining the current political impasse. While indeed the Constitution guarantees sweeping freedoms to everyone, one wonders whether you have the document only to blame for the current situation. Granted, Raila has ring-fenced himself with people who will do anything for him. He has become virtually untouchable, a law unto himself. It is clear also that he has honed his bullying skills from years of schoolyard fights and possibly prison yard fights. He is now clenching his fist at the blue-eyed boy, Uhuru, who has been raised with velvet gloves.
Some have argued that Uhuru could not be any tougher on Raila than his father was on Odinga. While the country is watching the unfolding events closely, it remains to be seen how Uhuru will manoeuvre his way out of this.
If you compare Ruto’s political style to that of Uhuru, you begin to see that this impasse has a lot to do with Uhuru’s personality. The President is the artless son of Kenya’s founding father, shielded from the street-corner society that basically fed Raila’s political philosophy. Raila attended Maranda School, possibly going there barefooted like the many other kids in his class. He saw the struggle for Independence, before Uhuru was in diapers and operating from Government House. Ruto, on the other, grew on the street-corner diet and is more the political son of retired President Daniel Moi. He is much more Machiavellian than his boss, and would most likely have dealt with Raila with a heavy fist.

DASHED HOPES – CORRECTING MISDEEDS
Questions have been raised about how Raila, using the very same Constitution that Uhuru is using, is able to throw harmful punches at the President with little or no reply. Raila indeed took part in drafting this Constitution and knows each and every corner of it. It seems that even Uhuru’s best advisers are not doing him justice. They have allowed Raila to make a mockery of his presidency. He is putty in Raila’s hands. And unless things change drastically, Kenyans will be in for a rough ride in the coming days.

RAILA’S STRONG INCENTIVE
Raila is properly incentivised to give Uhuru a hard ride. In fact, his age now becomes his biggest asset. He has nothing much to fear as he has more days behind him than ahead of him. Uhuru needs to leave a good legacy and yet this will become increasingly difficult in the run-up to the next election. Uhuru is likely to continue suffering from the intensive bullying of Raila who is, it appears, trying to correct past mistakes. Independence brought in so much hope for Kenya. When given the chance to form government, a guileless Odinga basically mortgaged his political destiny by pegging it to the release of Jomo Kenyatta. Within five years of the release of Jomo, Odinga had swapped places with him as the quintessential prisoner of the state. Was Odinga quickly intimidated out of his position and political destiny? It seems that the son is trying to correct some of the weaknesses of the father. Kenyans might just have been caught up in an Oedipal battle of gargantuan proportions.

TAMING RAILA
Raila’s actions and vituperative response to Uhuru’s victory invites the angriest reactions from Jubilee supporters. Virtually all those who voted for Uhuru in the last election have not been spared by Raila’s invective, which has served to raise tension yet again. These are people who look up to Uhuru and all eyes really are on him right now. He must move fast to contain him. But can Uhuru really do it? He comes out as a soft, well-meaning fellow who is nothing like his father who had killer instincts. He lacks the direct resolve to get down and get dirty with his arch-nemesis Raila. And Raila knows it. In 1997, Uhuru’s victory in the Gatundu South parliamentary race was snatched from him by Moses Mwihia’s famous ruse. Mwihia faked his own kidnap and played on the mind of the electorate to imagine that Kanu’s President Daniel Moi and Uhuru had conspired to destroy the peasant boy so that the son of the First President could be MP. The angry people of Gatundu South, edgy and angry at Moi’s repressive regime, swallowed Mwihia’s ruse and by the time they realised it, Mwihia was the MP. There was nothing they could do about it. From then on, they had a soft spot. After being outfoxed by Mwihia, he retreated to the family business and opted to lead the quiet life of a business magnate and forget about politics.
He literally retreated to tend his father’s goats and sheep, so to speak. However, the gods were not done with the little shepherd boy. As fate would have it, before that electoral term was over, he was seated in the same Parliament with Mwihia and even got the better of him by being appointed to the Cabinet. Things moved fast for him and Moi would eventually put him in the front row as a presidential candidate to succeed him. However, Raila marshalled forces against Uhuru and stole from him what was obviously his victory. Raila then gave Uhuru’s presidency to Kibaki, who in turn frustrated Raila. What if Raila had cut a deal with Moi to support Uhuru and then get the vice presidency and eventually the presidency? Perhaps we would now be seeing the second term of a Raila presidency. Trust Raila to have all the wrong advisers and also he himself being a poor strategist, he eventually became the Prime Minister after 2007, despite being warned not to enter government. With hindsight, all his friends agree that it was a bad move. If you want to know who did not vote for Raila, there are seven former commissioners led by Issack Hassan who did not vote for him. You can start from there.

WHY APPEASING RAILA WILL NOT WORK
Jubilee’s hawks are dead set against any (appeasement) deal with Raila. They simply do not want to work with him or give him a portion of government to run. These are a group spoiling for a fight with Uhuru about this. In fact, the Kalenjins generally consider the failure at the polls by Raila as fitting punishment for what he did to them when he was Prime Minister. They are likely to oppose any deal with Raila, which they may construe as threatening the chances of DP Ruto in 2022. They have, therefore, been voting against Raila – not so much because they love Uhuru but because they hate the former PM more. This is also true for the many enemies Raila has picked up along the way.
Besides, Raila has also benefited from similar appeasement deals from 2007 through to last year, when the nation conducted yet another appeasement clearing the deck at the IEBC and replacing the entire commission. We, the taxpayers, paid hefty sums to commissioners who were retired in ‘Raila’s interest’ — an act of appeasement that never achieved much for all of us.

AN UNATTAINABLE PIE IN THE SKY
Only a year ago, in August, Siaya Senator James Orengo exuded confidence that the departure of the Hassan-led IEBC would guarantee a ‘free and fair’ election. Pushing for their departure had been the culmination of the demands by the opposition, who had help massive street demonstrations against them, much like we are going through now. So happy was Orengo that he in fact promised to dedicate an entire chapter in an upcoming memoir about the way the deal was struck. Praising the commissioners for agreeing to quit, Orengo said, “Kenya is a great nation. It is by acts like these that Kenya has refused to go down out of conflicts. Kenya has always found a way to rise up and, given their patriotism, many Kenyans will remember this day.”
Well, Kenyans remember it all right, but not for what it now represents. I am not sure he still wants to bestow such substantial space and prominence to the deal now that, with hindsight, it appears to have been a monumental mistake. There really was nothing wrong with Hassan and his commissioners, who included such eminent personalities as Yusuf Nzibo, Abdulahi Sharawe, Muthoni Wangari, Albert Bwire, Mohammed Alawi, Kule Godana, Mahiri Zaja and Thomas Letangule. We replaced them with the faltering Wafula Chebukati, who has turned out to be a master in poor communication. Hassan was a confident communicator and was clearly in charge of the commission.

DIGGING UHURU’S GRAVE
US political activist and writer George Jackson wrote, “Men who read Lenin, Fanon, and Che don’t riot, ‘they mass,’ ‘they rage,’ they dig graves.’
I am afraid Raila is digging Uhuru’s grave. And it is getting deeper.”
CLICK

Raila condemns govt over killing of cattle in Laikipia

Nasa leader Raila OdingaNasa leader Raila Odinga addresses a press conference at Okoa Kenya office in Nairobi on October 31, 2017. He has said pastoralists should not be criminalised. PHOTO | DENNIS ONSONGO | NATION MEDIA GROUP  
By PHILIP MOMANYI MAOSA
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By COLLINS OMULO
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Nasa leader Raila Odinga has said the government should compensate the pastoralists whose livestock were killed during a police operation in Laikipia County on Wednesday.
Speaking during a press conference on Saturday, Mr Odinga accused the National Police Service of the crime and said it threatens the livelihood of the pastoralists.
More than 300 livestock belonging to pastoralists who had allegedly invaded private ranches in Ratia were killed.
POLICY
To protect the Maasai and other pastoralists communities' interests, Mr Odinga proposed that the government should develop "clear policy for coexistence between ranchers and pastoralists".
He added: "Pastoralists should have controlled access to ranches during moments of drought. Criminalization of pastoralists should stop since they contribute to the nation’s economy."
INVESTIGATE
Additionally, a section of Maasai leaders have condemned the shooting and asked the government to launch investigations.
Led by Samburu Governor Moses Lenolkulal and his Kajiado counterpart Joseph ole Lenku, they demanded that the police officers who were involved in the incident be prosecuted.
They also refuted claims that the herders ambushed the officers.


"We as the leaders from the Maa community, we demand that the government through the relevant security agencies starts investigations into the shooting of cows in Laikipia in order to bring the culprits to book," Governor Lenolkulal said in a press conference in Nairobi on Saturday.

Friday, 3 November 2017

Government gazettes controversial election laws

Election laws
Members of select committee of both Senate and National Assembly on amendments of election laws speaking to journalist on October 12, 2017. The controversial amendment Bill has now become law after gazettement. PHOTO | JEFF ANGOTE | NATION MEDIA GROUP 

Summary

  • It makes it difficult for the Supreme Court to annul the election of the President based on minor inconsistencies.
  • The Bill also sought to protect the result from being annulled on the basis of inconsistencies in the result forms.
  • A majority of the rest of the amendments were already implemented by IEBC.
By JOHN NGIRACHU 
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The controversial Bill on election laws is now law.
The bill was published in a special issue of the Kenya Gazette that was published Thursday and has the date of assent indicated as October 28, two days after the repeat presidential election.
It states: “This Act may be cited as the Election Laws (Amendment) Act, 2017 and shall come into force upon publication in the Gazette.”
Among the significant provisions of the bill is a clause that would make it difficult for the Supreme Court to annul the election of the President based on minor inconsistencies.
It states that: “A Court shall not declare an election void for non-compliance with any written law relating to that election if it appears that (a) the election was conducted in accordance with the principles laid down in the Constitution and in that written law; and (b) the non-compliance did not substantially affect the result of the election.”
PROTECT RESULT
The Bill also sought to protect the result from being annulled on the basis of inconsistencies in the result forms as long as they are not meant to mislead.
It states: “A form prescribed by this Act or the regulations made thereunder shall not be void by reason of a deviation from the requirements of that form, as long as the deviation is not calculated to mislead.”
A majority of the rest of the amendments were already implemented by the Independent Electoral and Boundaries Commission via the regulations it published before the repeat election on Thursday last week.
They would however apply in future elections.
NOT SIGNED
President Uhuru Kenyatta said on Monday that he had not signed the Bill on the basis that some people had argued that the new law amounted to changing the rules of the game midway and that it would give him an advantage over his competitors.
“And because law must be founded on reasoned national consensus, I listened to these voices. I did not sign the new Bill into Law,” he added.
The new law provides for the IEBC to announce the date of a new election once it is annulled, publish the names and political parties of the candidates to participate in the fresh poll and is specific that there would not be fresh nominations.


The new Act was published the same day a former MP challenged its constitutionality.