The story is told of a boy who was known in his village to always look for ways to trick people, especially the elderly. Many times, he would lie to benefit from what he had not worked for.
Over time, the villagers saw through his lies and stopped paying attention to him. One day, the boy ran across the village to his mother’s kitchen after failing in his trickery.
Accidentally, he hit a lamp and his mother’s kitchen caught fire, so he ran out calling for help. Due to his mischief, the villagers did not take him seriously until the fire had consumed more than half of the kitchen.
There is one political outfit that always surprises many in this country with plans that smell of mischief. The political outfit led by former Prime Minister Raila Odinga, popularly referred to his followers as Baba. As with many fathers, his word is followed with both fear and reverence by his supporters.
A week ago, Baba announced that he wants the opposition to set up a tallying center to rival that which will be set up, within the law, by the Independent Electoral and Boundaries Commission. He said they will get their own tallies and give them to the media to announce — which is the clear constitutional mandate of the IEBC.
This was not the only thing that we saw coming from Baba. A day after telling us about the parallel tally centre, he went to Bomas and handed direct nomination certificates to some ODM loyalists, including seven governors.
According to Baba’s party, these individuals are unopposed in ODM and, therefore, deserve a direct ticket to run for office. In addition, he awarded the governors with the role of running his presidential campaign, specifically resource mobilisation and logistics.
Without casting aspersions on the more than 400 individuals who got direct nomination from ODM, we cannot rule out that this was through an auction to the highest bidders. It is quite unbelievable that there were no other 400 individuals in ODM who would have loved to contest for those seats.
ODM has a history of causing chaos, whether internally or externally. We all witnessed the chaos that rocked its own meeting last week in Migori, where several people were injured — at least two by gunshots.
It would, therefore, be irresponsible for the country to allow such a party to announce its own set of election results. From Baba’s supporters’ utterances over the last week, ODM is prepared to take to the streets if the results are not in its favour.
One thing that we must all agree on is that we cannot be our own referee. We all wanted an independent electoral commission, so all political parties and observers must allow the IEBC to tally and report the results independently.
The Jubilee Party will hold its nominations on April 21. The process is driven by a National Elections Board and 47 county elections boards, with returning officers recruited for each county and presiding officers for each constituency and ward.
We will also have printed ballot papers and obtained transparent ballot boxes so any disputes can be resolved within 30 days and a recount taken if necessary. JP has a dispute resolution board comprised of eminent lawyers who shall hear disputes arising during nominations.
Why is this being done? JP believes that parties must have a clear nomination process that arrives at the will of the people. If we can’t respect our own election processes, how, then, can respect those of the IEBC?
In the same manner, the opposition must not be allowed to drive this country into chaos by announcing its own results. The law is clear on who has this mandate and we must all respect this. Those aggrieved must seek reprieve from the courts.