Now Kivuitu disowns election results

Now Kivuitu disowns election results
By DAVID MUGONYI Nation (10 Jan 2007)
Last updated: 35 minutes ago

A new storm broke out over the presidential elections Thursday after polls boss Samuel Kivuitu disowned results published in the media by his office, saying he had not approved them.

And he blamed "outside forces" for making public the controversial presidential tallies, which appeared in three pages of paid-for advertising in Daily Nation and The Standard Thursday. "I did not submit this report or authorise my name to be used for its publication. The use of my name is a falsification," the besieged Electoral Commission chairman said in statement.

His complaint will once again raise questions over who really is in charge of the commission, which has been accused of doctoring presidential results in President Kibaki's favour and announcing figures different from those read out at the constituencies, plunging Kenya into a political crisis.

Mr Kivuitu has previously complained that individuals at ECK were still altering presidential tallies at the commission's Kenyatta International Conference Centre headquarters even after President Kibaki had been declared winner and sworn-in.

Thursday's protest was prompted by the publication in the dailies of presidential result tables purported to be the official ones from the ECK. They showed President Kibaki had received 4,584,721 against ODM's Raila Odinga 4,352,993, restating the figures read out on December 30 on the Kenya Broadcasting Corporation, which led to violent protests that have claimed more than 486 lives and displaced thousands.

The notice was booked and paid for by the commission secretary Joel Tsola, who also presented a CD of the results to newspaper advertising agents.

The division within the commission was highlighted by the fact Mr Tsola reports to Mr Kivuitu.

Mr Kivuitu's frustration at the goings-on in the commission first emerged two weeks ago when he complained to the media that fresh versions of Form 16 (A) documents, which he had previously seen with alteration marks had popped up. They looked suspiciously new and had the disputed inflated presidential result figures from Kieni and Juja.

On Thursday, he publicly asked why the "complete" presidential results from 209 constituencies had been rushed to the media yet he had asked for clarification on "a few areas" and was awaiting a reply.

"I do not know why the ECK should rush to publish this data at time when serious discussion involving eminent world leaders are ongoing as a result of the ECK's announcement of the election results based on the data, " he said.

Their release could be viewed as a "defensive tactic by a guilty party to the dispute", he added. He did not name the "guilty party" but similar copies of the purported results had been sent to the media the day before by a Government official.

Yet again, Mr Kivuitu called for an inquiry by an "independent and competent team into the commission he heads so that "the respectable persons" could "come out with the truth".

Mr Kivuitu's remarks will add to the confusion caused by his admission in a television interview that he did not know whether Mr Kibaki had won the presidential election, and that this could only be established by scrutinising the commission's records
Results released by the commission at KICC on December 30 are at the centre of the national crisis which has attracted mediation from Ghana's President John Kufuor and keen attention from the UK and US government and the EU.

It started when the ECK declared Mr Kibaki winner of the presidential election, but admitted flaws in the tallying of the results.

ODM and election observers have complained of differences in some of the final results announced by commissioners and those read out at the constituencies.

Before he announced on television, Mr Kivuitu complained that some of the returning officers who had handed in their results had switched off their mobile phones or simply disappeared.
On Thursday he said that although he had seen the data on the results published in the newspapers when it was being verified, he had sought some clarification on a few areas but had not received a reply.

"It seems like some outside force has pushed for its publication otherwise whoever published it would have sought my consent for the use of my name," he said and described the action as "imprudent".