Kenyan Politicians Want Kofi Annan back to Kenya again ?

Nairobi, Kenya: Yes, indeed, Kenya is greater than any one individual and all voters should be prepared to accept the outcome of the polls and respect the decision of the ballot box. And as they all enthusiastically chanted, “God bless Kenya!”, we urge them to make Kenya the real winner of these polls. The Independent Electoral and Boundaries Commission ( IEBC) disputed claims of division among its members as well as allegations that they were under pressure to declare a certain presidential candidate the winner. Owing to the delay in relaying presidential results rumors had been rife that the management of the process had caused a rift among the nine Commissioners. There was drama at the National Tallying Centre at Bomas of Kenya as members of CORD and Jubilee threatened to take over the podium the Independent Electoral and Boundaries Commission ( IEBC) commissioners were using to announce the presidential results. Trouble started when some politicians started shouting at the IEBC commissioners as they announced results from various constituencies on the grounds that some of the results being announced had not been verified. The unfolding drama forced IEBC officials to order that members of both coalitions leave the auditorium. It was after the move by the IEBC to throw them out that the two camps regrouped outside the Bomas of Kenya Cafeteria where they initially agreed to storm into the auditorium but on walking in, they found commissioners relaying some of the results with tight security around the podium. Sections of politicians argued that the results being announced had not been verified by agents at the national tallying centre. The IEBC officials however met representatives of both camps in what was an apparent attempt by the electoral body to understand what the grievances of the politicians were. By the time of going to press, it was agreed that two representatives representing each presidential candidate be allowed into the tallying room. Speaking to The Standard, former Sumba MP elect John Mbadi said the leaders were disgruntled because beside IEBC allegedly not allowing agents into the tallying room, agents were receiving forms of the presidential results after announcement of the results. “This is a national tallying centre like the one at the county and constituency level. You must allow in agents now we do not know what is going in there because IEBC has chased out all agents. As we speak, no coalition is represented in that room,” he said “Giving us forms after announcing the results will not help because there is no law that allows retraction of results once announced,” he added. Some of the leaders involved in this protests included Johnstone Muthama, James Orengo, William Kabogo, Dalmas Otieno , John Mbadi and Tirus Ngahu among others.