Protesters calling for the opening of Kenya's election servers.
A group of protesters gathered on the Green Monday to call on The Independent Electoral and Boundaries Commission, the company that was contracted to run Kenya’s presidential election this year, to open their servers amid public dispute over the election results, a dispute that some fear could lead to mass violence.
Read more about that controversy here. Read a statement from the organizers of the protest below.
Kenya has had history of two genocides in 1992 and in 2008. The first genocide took place in 1992 when many innocent infants, innocent small children and their mothers were among thousands killed. Another massacre took place in 2008. Before those massacres took place, there were signs which indicated that Kenya was headed to a volatile situation of killings. There were warnings in the form of leaflets ordering certain communities to leave Rift Valley. But none of the two institutions, the AU and UNO took the trouble to stop the genocides which they could.
A similar situation seems very close to taking place in Kenya. After the August 9, 2022, elections in Kenya, there arose disagreement over the outcome of the election results, and 4 electoral commissioners (IEBC) out of 7, distanced and/or disassociated themselves with final counts of the votes, siting irregularities during the tallying of the votes, allegedly perpetrated by the then chairman of the Independent Electoral and Boundaries Commission, (the IEBC).
Thereafter, a petition was filed by Raila Amolo Odinga. During the petition proceedings, the Kenya Chief Justice, Martha Koome, questioned the then Chairman of IEBC Mr. Wafula Chebukati, as to why votes from 27 constituencies (about 2 million votes) had not been tallied. The then chairman of the electoral body, the IEBC, said that some disturbances erupted during the tallying of the votes and the exercise had to be discontinued.
The Supreme Court also ordered for the opening of the servers used in the elections, to ascertain exactly who had won the elections. Smartmatics, the company that had been contracted to do the tallying of the votes, in collaboration with the election board (IEBC), refused to open the servers in protest of the privacy of the Smartmatics company. Despite the refusal by Smartmatics and the electoral body (IEBC) to open the servers, the Supreme Court of Kenya, went ahead to dismiss the petition as though the concerns about the 2 million votes from the 27 constituencies and the refusal to open the servers, were not of superior importance in the elections.
Hon Raila Amolo Odinga ‚who filled the petition against the declaration of William Ruto as President of Kenya following the 2022 elections, has mobilized Kenyans to seek justice in the opening of the servers. William Ruto, who was declared President, has objected to the opening of the servers. The servers contain the answer to the conflict between the two.
The stalemate between the two Kenyans might lead to another genocide in Kenya. The Muslim community in Kenya has supported the opening of the servers as the only means to peace in Kenya today. The National Christian Council of Churches in Kenya (NCCK) has supported the opening of the servers. The UNO, the AU and the East African Federation should stand up to their obligation and end the tension in Kenya, to avoid another genocide. An emergency meeting should be called immediately by the UNO, to charter the way forward and the means to end the stalemate in Kenya, for the sake of ending the current wrangles regarding the outcome of the 2022 elections in Kenya. There is no reason whatsoever for the United Nations Organization (UNO), African Unity (AU) and the East African Federation (EAF), to wait until there are flames of another genocide in Kenya in order to rush to help Kenyans. The UNO, AU and the East African Federation (EAF) should recommend, facilitate and officiate the opening of the servers in order to end the stalemate, so that a disaster can be avoided in Kenya. The servers which contain the information about the August 9, 2022 elections should be opened to avoid a catastrophe in Kenya as has happened before.
