The Star 10/28/2017

Election observer groups on Friday said the IEBC was better prepared for Thursday’s repeat presidential election. The Election Observation Group said in 99.6 per cent of the polling stations, ballot papers were stamped with the IEBC official stamps before being issued to voters. The electronic voter identification devices failed to function properly in 4.8 per cent of the polling stations. But in at least 28.8 per cent of the polling stations observed, more than 25 people were turned away from the centres. The observer group says in 57.7 per cent of polling stations at least one person was identified manually, and not biometrically using the Kenya Integrated Electoral Management Systems. The secrecy of ballot was observed in 86 per cent of the polling stations. There were queues in poll centres…

WAFULA CHEBUKATI Nyanza polls called off again IEBC postpones Saturday presidential reruns in Nyanza due to fears of violence. The repeat election failed to take off Thursday in Homa Bay, Kisumu, Migori and Siaya. NASA had called for a poll boycott and promised to do so again on Saturday. Security officials, elected leaders, religious leaders, civil society pressed for delay or cancellation. See pages 4-5. NSE LOGO Securities Exchange bullish The Nairobi Securities Exchange responded positively to the relative calm experienced in Kenya after the Thursday presidential election. At 2pm Friday, the Nairobi All Share Index had gone up by 1.28 points to reach 159.39 compared to 158.11 points recorded earlier in the week before the bourse was closed for the elections. See page 12. SHISHA PENS Drugs sold to…

Meeting Agenda 2063 and the 17 Sustainable Development Goals still remain a tall order for many countries in Africa, such as Kenya, a new report has indicated. The 2017 regional report on Agenda 2063 and the Sustainable Development Goals says there are still many bottleneck watering down gains. Slow progress has been made in reducing poverty and inequality, the report says. It attributed the state of affairs to limited decent employment opportunities and weak social insurance mechanisms. “The rate of decline in extreme poverty ($1.90 per day) has been slow in Africa, declining a mere 15 per cent during the period 1990-2013. Women and young people bear the brunt of poverty,” the 109-page report says. The World Bank says 22 per cent of Kenyan youth aged between 15 and 24…

NATIONAL Resistance Movement leader Raila Odinga (pictured) seems to have landed a bull from his turncoat ODM vice chairman Paul Otuoma, without breaking a sweat! An indignant Otuoma swore by his gods to give Raila a bull if President Uhuru Kenyatta would not garner over 50 per cent votes in Busia county in the October 26 repeat presidential polls. Otuoma, who lost the Busia governorship seat as an independent, turned against his erstwhile ODM boss, blaming him for the unanticipated loss after jumping ship to join Jubilee Party in backing Uhuru’s reelection. Results from Busia county, however, are the opposite of Otuoma’s 50-plus target for his new master and Raila, without any hesitation, should signal his entrusted point-men or foot soldiers to go collect the bull and feast. WHAT is…

NEVERTHELESS, KENYATTA WILL BE SWORN IN UNLESS ANOTHER PETITION CHALLENGING THE RERUN IS SUCCESSFUL. RAILA HAS RULED OUT FILING A PETITION. HE SAYS THIS WOULD LEGITIMISE THE PROCESS HE CALLS RIGGED AND A SHAM Citing fears of violence, the IEBC on Friday cancelled Saturday’s rerun of aborted presidential reruns in four Nyanza counties. They are NASA strongholds of Homa Bay, Kisumu, Migori and Siaya. Security was the issue as opposition supporters had pledged to prevent another election. Religious leaders, elected leaders, civil society and the opposition had appealed to the electoral agency to call off the new polls after they were boycotted on Thursday. Reruns will take place in other areas The Supreme Court on Friday was handed yet another contentious election case, this one seeking to nullify the presidential…

Kenyans have once again had their voice expressed in two different ways; there were people who heeded the call by the IEBC to vote, and we wish to congratulate them for that. However, there was another category of voters who chose not to vote out of their own conscience. We have to congratulate them as well for standing firm on their principles. The order by Independent Electoral and Boundaries Commission chairman Wafula Chebukati is not acceptable whatsoever. It borders on subjecting the region to a further state of chaos and police brutality to a level that is not commensurate with the primary objective of the entire electoral process. For Chebukati to say that he has requested Boinnet for assistance to ensure voting takes place specifically in Siaya, Kisumu, Homa Bay…