Kenya: A No Win Do Over

KENYA

A No-win Do-over

Kenya is going ahead with its presidential election Thursday.

That’s the case even though an election official fled the country in fear for her safety – and despite the fact that the incumbent’s main challenger has dropped out in protest, and all the losers in the last vote are in the race only to make sure the president has someone to run against.

The Supreme Court could have stepped in and delayed the vote.

But the judges didn’t show up to court on Wednesday, underscoring everything that’s wrong with this vote in East Africa’s powerhouse, say analysts. Voters know it all too well.

“I won’t vote again,” said George Nyongesa, who vowed not to participate in the do-over. “No reforms, no elections.”

The Supreme Court ordered a do-over after the tumultuous election Aug. 8 that handed victory to incumbent President Uhuru Kenyatta, which was fraught with irregularities and deemed unfair.

Now the country is making a “historic mistake” holding the vote at all, Bloomberg reported. Taking place without any credible reforms, the election undermines the “landmark” court ruling that in a first in Africa, reversed an incumbent’s hold on power and affirmed the importance of transparent, free and fair elections.

Many fear that Thursday’s vote will kindle the kind of ethnic violence – Kenyans usually vote along tribal lines – that occurred over the 2007 elections in which as many as 1,500 people died. But Kenya also missed an opportunity, say analysts.

The main economic power of East Africa, Kenya might have served as an example for other countries in the region. The court rulingcaused heads to turn across the continent and served as a warning bell for all those aging leaders who will do anything to stay in power (think Robert Mugabe in Zimbabwe, to name just one).

But instead of implementing reforms and restoring faith in the electoral system, Kenyatta’s Jubilee Party created legislation to make it harder in the future for the Supreme Court to step in.

And intimidation and fear continued: The Supreme Court judges were threatened to ensure the elections proceed and the deputy chief justice was shot at Tuesday to drive that point home. Meanwhile, Roselyn Akombe, in charge of election operations, fledthe country, and the head of Kenya’s electoral commission said he doubted it was possible to hold “free, fair and credible elections.”

So it was no surprise that Raila Odinga, the challenger to Kenyatta, stepped down.

All this chaos is a big distraction for a country struggling with security issues and a drought that has caused food prices to skyrocket and put off a resurgence in its dynamic economic growth, Bloomberg reported.

It’s also put off hopes that the country can move beyond tribalism for the sake of growth and prosperity.

There is one sentiment that unites Kenyans. Monica Wanjiru, a shop owner in Nairobi and a Kenyatta supporter, echoes voters from the other side when she says, “We are tired of politics and we need to move on as a country.”