08-13-2017, 10:47 PM
*** 14-Aug-17 World View -- Kenya fears violence as opposition refuses to accept presidential election results
This morning's key headlines from GenerationalDynamics.com
****
**** Kenya's election commission announces that Uhuru Kenyatta is reelected president
****
![[Image: g170813b.jpg]](http://Media.GenerationalDynamics.com/ww2010/g170813b.jpg)
President Uhuru Kenyatta giving election victory speech on Saturday
Tensions continue to boil in Kenya as the opposition leader, an ethnic
Luo, continues to claim that Tuesday's presidential election was
rigged by the government in favor of the incumbent, Uhuru Kenyatta, an
ethnic Kikuyu.
There is widespread fear of a repeat of the inter-tribal violence that
followed the 2007 election, killing more than 1,200 people, and
punctuated by numerous atrocities, when Odinga lost the presidential
election to another Kikuyu, Mwai Kibaki.
For decades, Kenya's elections have been suspected of riggings, but
challenges have always been summarily rejected by Kenya's Supreme
Court. This time, it had been hoped that careful preparation by the
country's Independent Electoral and Boundaries Commission (IEBC) would
produce an election result that was so carefully computed that no one
would challenge it. The key was a sophisticated IT system managed by
the IEBC. But then on July 31, the man in charge of the IT systems,
Chris Msando, was found brutally murdered,
with broken fingers and other evidence of torture,
including strangulation.
After the election on Tuesday, the IEBC announced preliminary results
showing a 54% victory for Kenyatta, with 44% to Odinga. Odinga
claimed that his people had collected election results from each of
the districts in the country, and that his figures show that he had
won, not Kenyatta. He said that the IEBC's IT systems had been
hacked, which the IEBC denied.
By Friday, the IEBC had received all the paper ballots from all the
districts, and had counted all of them individually. The result was
the same -- 54% for Kenyatta to 44% for Odinga.
Diplomats from numerous countries are saying that Kenyatta won the
election fairly, and that Odinga should now concede defeat, which he
is refusing to do. 24 people have been killed in post-election
violence, and further violence is feared. Reuters and The Nation (Kenya) and CNN
Related Articles
****
**** Kenya's opposition leader Raila Odinga promises to 'remove' the Uhuru Kenyatta government
****
![[Image: g170813c.jpg]](http://Media.GenerationalDynamics.com/ww2010/g170813c.jpg)
Opposition leader Raila Odinga with thousands of supporters in Nairobi on Sunday
Despite enormous international pressure to concede defeat, the major
opposition candidate Raila Odinga is refusing to do so, and continues
to claim that the election was rigged, although he has provided no
evidence so far.
On Sunday, Odinga addressed a crowd of 4,000 cheering supporters in
Kibera, an enormous slum in Nairobi, Kenya's capital city. With the
crowd chanting "Uhuru must go," he blamed Jubilee, Kenyatta's
political party, for the post-election violence that killed at least
24 people:
> [indent]<QUOTE>"I am telling Jubilee that they have spilled innocent
> people's blood, they will pay for it. Because Jubilee has deployed
> troops with guns to kill innocent people, tomorrow (Monday) you
> should not leave your house, there is no work tomorrow . Then on
> Tuesday (August 15) I will give out the direction as to what we
> need to do."<END QUOTE>[/indent]
After the 2007 elections, Odinga's claims of rigging were thought to
be the trigger for the massive inter-tribal violence and atrocities
that followed. In the 2013 election, Odinga challenged the election
results in the courts, but the court rejected his claims.
This time, Odinga has announced that he will overturn the election
results, not through the courts but through the people. It's not
known what known what action Odinga will announce on Tuesday, but it's
feared that it could trigger more violence.
Whether violence is likely is discounted by some analysts, who point
out that people remember the 2007 violence, and have no desire to
repeat it.
However, in one way violence has been increasing since 2007. Raila
Odinga is a member of the marginalized Luo tribe, which is an offshoot
of the Kalenjins, a nomadic herder people. Uhuru Kenyatta is from the
market-dominant Kikuyu tribe, which represents farmers and large
landowners. In the classic battles between herders and farmers, there
have repeated instances of violence between Kalenjins and Kikuyus this
year. In fact, there have been some Kalenjin politicians inciting
violence against large landowners. The result could be new rounds of
violence, with Odinga accused of inciting the violence. The Star (Kenya) and Reuters and Guardian (London)
Related Articles
KEYS: Generational Dynamics, Kenya, Kisumu, Kibera,
Luo, Kikuyu, Uhuru Kenyatta, Raila Odinga, Mau-Mau Rebellion,
Independent Electoral and Boundaries Commission, IEBC,
Mwai Kibaki, Jubilee
Permanent web link to this article
Receive daily World View columns by e-mail
Contribute to Generational Dynamics via PayPal
John J. Xenakis
100 Memorial Drive Apt 8-13A
Cambridge, MA 02142
Phone: 617-864-0010
E-mail: john@GenerationalDynamics.com
Web site: http://www.GenerationalDynamics.com
Forum: http://www.gdxforum.com/forum
Subscribe to World View: http://generationaldynamics.com/subscribe
This morning's key headlines from GenerationalDynamics.com
- Kenya's election commission announces that Uhuru Kenyatta is reelected president
- Kenya's opposition leader Raila Odinga promises to 'remove' the Uhuru Kenyatta government
****
**** Kenya's election commission announces that Uhuru Kenyatta is reelected president
****
President Uhuru Kenyatta giving election victory speech on Saturday
Tensions continue to boil in Kenya as the opposition leader, an ethnic
Luo, continues to claim that Tuesday's presidential election was
rigged by the government in favor of the incumbent, Uhuru Kenyatta, an
ethnic Kikuyu.
There is widespread fear of a repeat of the inter-tribal violence that
followed the 2007 election, killing more than 1,200 people, and
punctuated by numerous atrocities, when Odinga lost the presidential
election to another Kikuyu, Mwai Kibaki.
For decades, Kenya's elections have been suspected of riggings, but
challenges have always been summarily rejected by Kenya's Supreme
Court. This time, it had been hoped that careful preparation by the
country's Independent Electoral and Boundaries Commission (IEBC) would
produce an election result that was so carefully computed that no one
would challenge it. The key was a sophisticated IT system managed by
the IEBC. But then on July 31, the man in charge of the IT systems,
Chris Msando, was found brutally murdered,
with broken fingers and other evidence of torture,
including strangulation.
After the election on Tuesday, the IEBC announced preliminary results
showing a 54% victory for Kenyatta, with 44% to Odinga. Odinga
claimed that his people had collected election results from each of
the districts in the country, and that his figures show that he had
won, not Kenyatta. He said that the IEBC's IT systems had been
hacked, which the IEBC denied.
By Friday, the IEBC had received all the paper ballots from all the
districts, and had counted all of them individually. The result was
the same -- 54% for Kenyatta to 44% for Odinga.
Diplomats from numerous countries are saying that Kenyatta won the
election fairly, and that Odinga should now concede defeat, which he
is refusing to do. 24 people have been killed in post-election
violence, and further violence is feared. Reuters and The Nation (Kenya) and CNN
Related Articles
- Torture and murder of election official raise fears of violence in Kenya (01-Aug-2017)
- Increasing violence in Kenya revives fears of tribal war (07-Jun-2016)
- Kenya protests take an increasingly dangerous turn (08-Jun-2016)
****
**** Kenya's opposition leader Raila Odinga promises to 'remove' the Uhuru Kenyatta government
****
Opposition leader Raila Odinga with thousands of supporters in Nairobi on Sunday
Despite enormous international pressure to concede defeat, the major
opposition candidate Raila Odinga is refusing to do so, and continues
to claim that the election was rigged, although he has provided no
evidence so far.
On Sunday, Odinga addressed a crowd of 4,000 cheering supporters in
Kibera, an enormous slum in Nairobi, Kenya's capital city. With the
crowd chanting "Uhuru must go," he blamed Jubilee, Kenyatta's
political party, for the post-election violence that killed at least
24 people:
> [indent]<QUOTE>"I am telling Jubilee that they have spilled innocent
> people's blood, they will pay for it. Because Jubilee has deployed
> troops with guns to kill innocent people, tomorrow (Monday) you
> should not leave your house, there is no work tomorrow . Then on
> Tuesday (August 15) I will give out the direction as to what we
> need to do."<END QUOTE>[/indent]
After the 2007 elections, Odinga's claims of rigging were thought to
be the trigger for the massive inter-tribal violence and atrocities
that followed. In the 2013 election, Odinga challenged the election
results in the courts, but the court rejected his claims.
This time, Odinga has announced that he will overturn the election
results, not through the courts but through the people. It's not
known what known what action Odinga will announce on Tuesday, but it's
feared that it could trigger more violence.
Whether violence is likely is discounted by some analysts, who point
out that people remember the 2007 violence, and have no desire to
repeat it.
However, in one way violence has been increasing since 2007. Raila
Odinga is a member of the marginalized Luo tribe, which is an offshoot
of the Kalenjins, a nomadic herder people. Uhuru Kenyatta is from the
market-dominant Kikuyu tribe, which represents farmers and large
landowners. In the classic battles between herders and farmers, there
have repeated instances of violence between Kalenjins and Kikuyus this
year. In fact, there have been some Kalenjin politicians inciting
violence against large landowners. The result could be new rounds of
violence, with Odinga accused of inciting the violence. The Star (Kenya) and Reuters and Guardian (London)
Related Articles
- Post-election massacre in Kenya raises concerns of tribal war (02-Jan-2008)
- Ethnic revenge massacre in Kenya kills 41 (22-Dec-2012)
- Kenya's herders attack well-known conservationist, stoking tribal tensions (24-Apr-2017)
- Herders invade ranches in Kenya, ambush and kill British ranch owner (07-Mar-2017)
KEYS: Generational Dynamics, Kenya, Kisumu, Kibera,
Luo, Kikuyu, Uhuru Kenyatta, Raila Odinga, Mau-Mau Rebellion,
Independent Electoral and Boundaries Commission, IEBC,
Mwai Kibaki, Jubilee
Permanent web link to this article
Receive daily World View columns by e-mail
Contribute to Generational Dynamics via PayPal
John J. Xenakis
100 Memorial Drive Apt 8-13A
Cambridge, MA 02142
Phone: 617-864-0010
E-mail: john@GenerationalDynamics.com
Web site: http://www.GenerationalDynamics.com
Forum: http://www.gdxforum.com/forum
Subscribe to World View: http://generationaldynamics.com/subscribe
