Photo via kenyanview.com

Kenya: Leaked report reveals election body’s costly incompetence

Civic organizations here reacted with dismay to revelations that the Electoral Commission of Kenya bungled last year’s election, throwing the nation into its worst ever political crisis, reports CISA News.

A confidential ECK report made public Monday by a coalition of civil society organizations established serious irregularities in the conduct of the poll. There were problems in recruitment of staff, poor communication between presiding and returning officers, ineffective verification and announcement of results, poor quality of election materials and incapacity to monitor and address electoral violence.

The report was the outcome of an audit workshop held in Mombasa early last month, which was disrupted by reform activists.

But the report does not specifically deal with the contested presidential results, which led to the deaths of about 1,500 people, displacement of another 350,000 and massive loss of property. “The workshop report is astounding in its avoidance of the elephant in the living room,” Kenyans for Peace with Truth Justice said.

The civic coalition said its own assessment of the elections body painted “a shocking portrait of the cocktail of criminality and incompetence that attended the ECK’s conduct.”

The irregularities of the elections, the coalition said, were sufficient to alter the outcomes of the presidential election and it was impossible to tell who actually won the poll.

In January, the civic groups went to the police to seek arrest and prosecution of the ECK commissioners. But no action has been taken. They vowed to institute individual private prosecutions against the commissioners and staff of the election body.

The national power-sharing accord signed on February 28 by President Mwai Kibaki and Raila Odinga also provided for an independent inquiry into the conduct of the elections. The review, headed by a retired South African judge has already begun work.

The coalition of civic groups said it supported the review, but insists that all ECK commissioners and staff resign to enable an independent audit of the institution.

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[04/03/2008]

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