Hey Steemians,
Hope y'all are doing great, just wanted to share an update of the Kenyan Election carried out yesterday. After the Supreme Court called for a rerun of the irregular / fraudulent presidential elections which were held on August 8th 2017, the opposition was happy that atleast this time around some justice had been done. The opposition leader Raila Odinga and his party called for a total reform of the Internal Electoral and Boundaries Commission (IEBC), the body that overs sees all elections held in Kenya.
Incumbent President Uhuru Kenyatta (L) and Opposition Leader Raila Odinga (R)
Since the previous election was marred by irregularities which was apparent to most Kenyans, Raila Odinga and other opposition leaders priority was the reforming of the electoral commission immediately before the election of October 26th 2017 were to be held. Unfortunately it didn't happen and Raila Odinga removed himself and said he will not participate or vote on the 26th October presidential election and asked his supporters not to participate in elections which have always shown that the IEBC has been in favor of the sitting government past 3 previous elections. Majority of Kenyans do think that the Electoral commission is fraudulent in the way that it conducts election. Every previous election you'll find that voters start queuing at polling stations and by 5-6am the lines are already long just as seen in the August 8th elections that had a 78% turn out.
Yesterday by 8-9am in the morning most of the polling stations around the country were almost empty, I have never witnessed something like that my whole adult life in Kenya. Other stronghold areas of the opposition there were already demonstration and riots. As the day progressed most cities in kenya were like ghost towns and it was apparent that a huge number of Kenyans had boycotted the elections and others didn't want to risk it to go and vote only to be caught in the middle of a riot or demonstration.
The incumbent president had said earlier when he was casting his vote that people who wanted to vote should go and vote and those that didn't want shouldn't. Well it's clear now he's wishing he didn't sound so authoritarian in his previous speeches. Al jazeera and other news networks said today that voter turnout was at 35% compared to 78% in August, that is a clear sign majority of Kenya didn't nor does it trust the Electoral commission or the current sitting government.
I have been following the election news from different news outlets and reports we get from whoever is near someone polling stations and the IEBC headquarters where all tallying is being announced. In the morning I was on you tube watching an audio video implicating 2 IEBC officers on phone conversation which both seem pro government and saying to the other that 2-3 million rigged votes had already been added to the system and now they are just waiting for the announcement where the incumbent president will be declared the victor.
Imagine hearing such things and seeing how dangerous it has become because you know that the country can head towards violence with one wrong move. On top of all this the boss of the Electoral commission postponed election of 4 western provinces till tomorrow because of zero turnout yesterday in which the area is 99% opposition leader Raila Odingas stronghold.
John Kerry who called the previous election of 8th August free and fair then congratulated President Uhuru for the win only for the Supreme Court to have scrapped the results a week later. Go figure! Kenyas new found oil and gas reserves has definitely got US bending and Trumpeting 😁
The Electoral commission boss is stupid and pathetic because you cannot force anyone to vote, everyone has the right to vote or not vote and he cannot do anything about it. He's even implied that if they don't vote tomorrow he'll announce that the incumbent President Uhuru as the victor, this is very dangerous for all kenyans because such a move will definitely mean violence. As you see it's a difficult and trying times for kenya, yesterday election in my opinion was not carried out free and fair and the opposition will not accept as they said before IEBC needed a total reform and new people who are not pro ruling party/government to be put in place and fresh elections called after 3months.
The Government refused and now kenya is at a very dangerous point, everyone is tired of people from the government looting and living luxurious lives while the majority continue to suffer and get cheated subdued when expressing their democratic rights, the standard of living for the poor is at a bad state meanwhile the taxes they and the rest of us pay is being stolen and misused by the ones in power
The opposition during one of their rallies.
Well friends thanks for reading and hoping some of you will keep us in your prayers, we need it now more than ever and I hope these politicians nitwits do what is best for the Kenyan people and the country.
Enjoy your Friday and your weekend, don't forget to KEEP ON STEEMIN. PEACE OUT✌
We need to work to take governance back from those unaccountable systems of governance.
Well said @teamsteem and thank you very much for the upvote. The corrupt elites and governments are really making majority of peoples lives hell. We do need to work together in a decentralized way in order to stop these unaccountable systems from ruining more lives. Thanks for the comment friend and have a great week ahead.