Kenyan security forces fired teargas to control crowds trying to force their way into a stadium for President Uhuru Kenyatta’s inauguration on Tuesday, as riot police sealed off an area where the opposition planned to hold a rival rally.
<img loading="lazy" decoding="async" class="aligncenter wp-image-292572 size-full" src="http://cnbc.africa/wp-content/uploads/2017/11/Uhuru-Kenyatta_New_Flickr.jpg" alt="" width="1024" height="683" />
Kenyatta won a second five-year term on Oct. 26 in a repeat presidential election boycotted by opposition leader Raila Odinga, who said it would not be free and fair.
The Supreme Court nullified the first presidential election, in August, over irregularities.
The extended election season has divided Kenya, a Western ally in a volatile region, and blunted growth in East Africa’s richest economy.
Supporters of Kenyatta &#8211; who won with 98 percent of the vote after Odinga’s boycott &#8211; are urging the opposition to engage in talks and move on.
“Our responsibility after the political competition is to come together and work to build the nation,” Kenyatta told a church service on Sunday.
Hours before the inauguration was due to start, 60,000 Kenyatta supporters, many clad in the red and yellow Jubilee party colours and carrying Kenyan flags, filled the stadium where the ceremony will take place.
Others, chafing at being kept outside, overwhelmed police and streamed in. Officers then fired teargas in a bid to control them.
“I’m sure Uhuru will be able to bring people together and unite them so we can all work for the country,” said Eunice Jerobon, a trader who travelled overnight from the Rift Valley town of Kapsabet for the inauguration, before the disturbance.
But Odinga supporters say such talk of unity is tantamount to surrender. They accuse the ruling party of stealing the election, rampant corruption, directing abuse by the security forces and neglecting vast swathes of the country, including Odinga’s heartland in the west.
“A return to the political backwardness of our past is more than unacceptable. It is intolerable &#8230; This divide cannot be bridged by dialogue and compromise,” Odinga’s National Super Alliance opposition alliance said in a statement.
The opposition planned to hold a prayer meeting in the capital on Tuesday, saying it wanted to commemorate the lives of Odinga supporters killed during confrontations with the security forces over the election period.
More than 70 people have been killed in political violence this election season, mostly by the police.
But a Reuters team at the scene of the planned rally said it had been sealed off by seven truck loads of police. Two water cannons were standing by.
Police began firing teargas in nearby residential areas two hours before the rally was due to start, apparently attempting to prevent opposition supporters from gathering.
<div class="Attribution_attribution_o4ojT" data-reactid="60">
Additional reporting by Katharine Houreld; writing by Katharine Houreld; Editing by Angus MacSwan, Robert Birsel
</div>

Kenyan president to be sworn-in as opposition prepares to hold rival rally

Kenya’s national election board must give access to election returns to parties challenging President Uhuru Kenyatta’s victory in last month’s presidential election, the Supreme Court ruled on Wednesday.
<img loading="lazy" decoding="async" class="aligncenter wp-image-286682 size-full" src="http://cnbc.africa/wp-content/uploads/2017/10/Kenya-Flag_Grune_Flickr.jpg" alt="" width="1024" height="695" />
The court said the election board must grant access immediately to the original vote tally forms and a copy of the voter register to the petitioners, a former lawmaker and two human rights activists.
Chief Justice David Maraga told the petitioners they must file a report on their findings from the returns by Thursday afternoon.
Lawyers for Kenyatta and the election board had opposed the application for access to the returns, arguing it was a waste of time.
The unanimous ruling, on the second day of the court’s review of the petitions, comes after it rejected the participation of opposition leader Raila Odinga’s NASA coalition in the petitions [nL8N1NK2Y5].
The court has until Nov. 20 to rule on the two petitions, the latest chapter in a protracted political crisis that has stirred fears for the stability of the east African nation, a regional hub for trade, diplomacy and security.
If the election result is upheld, Kenyatta will be sworn in on Nov. 28.
<div class="Attribution_attribution_o4ojT" data-reactid="46">
Reporting by Humphrey Malalo and John Ndiso; Writing by Maggie Fick; Editing by Larry King
</div>

Kenya court grants access to poll returns in case seeking to void election

Kenya’s government denied a request by Supreme Court judges for extra security after one of their bodyguards was shot, preventing them from holding a hearing that could have delayed last week’s presidential election, a senior judicial source said on Tuesday.
<div class="PrimaryAsset_container_2pnvl" data-reactid="36"> <img loading="lazy" decoding="async" class="aligncenter wp-image-287429 size-full" src="http://cnbc.africa/wp-content/uploads/2017/10/Kenya_flag_Wikemedia.jpg" alt="" width="800" height="600" /></div>
<div data-reactid="36">
The court has been centre stage since it annulled an Aug. 8 vote won by President Uhuru Kenyatta, citing procedural irregularities and ordering a repeat vote within 60 days.
The decision was the first of its kind in Africa, where governments often hold sway over judges. It angered some of Kenyatta’s supporters, who said the judges had thwarted the will of the people.
Kenyatta won 98 percent of the vote in the Oct. 26 re-run after opposition leader Raila Odinga boycotted it on the grounds it would not be fair because the election board had failed to implement reforms he sought after the court decision.
The Supreme Court had been due to meet on Oct. 25 to deliberate on an eleventh-hour request to delay the re-run. But the day before, the bodyguard of its deputy chief justice was shot as he bought pot plants beside a highway.
Only Chief Justice David Maraga turned up for the Oct. 25 hearing. Without a minimum quorum of five judges, Maraga said the court could not make a ruling on the petition, paving the way for the election re-run to go ahead.
Asked about the request by the judges, Interior ministry spokesman Mwenda Njoka said security for all judges was enhanced in the wake of the shooting. “If anybody is telling you to the contrary, they are not telling the truth,” he told Reuters.
The government said the bodyguard’s shooting was a robbery rather than an attempt to intimidate the judges, whom Kenyatta had branded as “crooks” after they voided the August election.
Treating the shooting as a regular crime angered the judges, who demanded they get extra security, the judicial source said.
“In Kenya, ordinary criminals don’t attack government vehicles driven by armed government agents who know how to shoot,” the source said.
The justices demanded that their security should be publicly guaranteed given the tensions over the election or else they would refuse to attend hearings, the source said. At least 55 people have died in political violence since the August vote.
The European Union monitoring mission raised the issue of intimidation after the Supreme Court hearing failed to go ahead on Oct. 25, saying it was vital that judges be allowed to work “in freedom and safety”.
“The lack of a quorum is highly unusual for a Supreme Court hearing and has raised serious questions among Kenyan stakeholders, including about possible political interference,” it said in a statement that day.
<div class="Attribution_attribution_o4ojT" data-reactid="55">
Editing by Matthew Mpoke Bigg
</div>
</div>

Kenyan Supreme Court judges denied extra security after shooting – source

Kenya’s repeat presidential poll was free and fair, the election commission said on Monday, despite opposition complaints over the vote that led to it boycotting the process.
<img loading="lazy" decoding="async" class="aligncenter wp-image-286672 size-full" src="http://cnbc.africa/wp-content/uploads/2017/10/Kenya-Elections_Uhuru-Posters_Flickr-730x480.jpg" alt="" width="730" height="480" />
“I’m satisfied that we were able to meet these conditions that have enabled the commission to deliver &#8230; a free, fair and credible election,” Wafula Chebukati, chairman of the commission, said.
<div class="Attribution_attribution_o4ojT" data-reactid="41">
Reporting by Katharine Houreld; Writing by David Lewis; Editing by Robin Pomeroy
</div>

Kenya’s repeat presidential poll was free, fair – commission

Riot police fired teargas at opposition supporters in a slum in Kenya’s capital on Monday, as the country awaited official confirmation of a landslide win for incumbent President Uhuru Kenyatta in re-run elections.
<div id="attachment_85186" style="width: 810px" class="wp-caption aligncenter"><img loading="lazy" decoding="async" aria-describedby="caption-attachment-85186" class="wp-image-85186 size-full" src="http://cnbc.africa/wp-content/uploads/2017/02/kenya4_shutterstock_422422654.jpg" alt="What Kenya needs to do to extinguish hate speech ahead of elections" width="800" height="600" />Kenyans anxiously await results of presidential vote.</div>
Supporters of the main opposition candidate, Raila Odinga, have already branded the election a farce &#8211; he boycotted last week’s vote which was held after the Supreme Court annulled the original August poll citing procedural irregularities.
Protesters gathered in Nairobi’s Kawangware slum, trying to block a visit from Interior Minister Fred Matiang‘i, witnesses said, hours before the expected announcement of the results at 3.30 pm (1230 GMT).
“Now people are fighting with the police and they (the police) are using teargas,” resident Vitalis Aloyi said by phone.
In the slum of Mathare, the scene of deadly clashes between police and protesters immediately after the August poll, social worker Ann Mbuthia, 58, said women were hurrying home before the results.
“We are afraid because here in Mathare youth are ready to fight if Uhuru is announced (the winner),” she said. “Women are afraid to come out the houses.”
Some Kenyans fear that the political violence, which has mostly been protesters clashing with police, is beginning to take on ethnic overtones after two deaths in clashes between rival groups at the weekend.
On Monday, the U.S. ambassador said Washington was “profoundly concerned” by the outbreaks of violence since the Oct. 26 vote.
Results from 266 out of 291 constituencies displayed at the national tallying center showed Kenyatta winning 98 percent of the vote.
The electoral commission said 7,616,217 valid votes were cast, representing a turnout of 42.36 percent in areas where polls opened.
But protests by Odinga’s supporters prevented polling stations from opening in 25 constituencies. If those constituencies are included, turnout dropped to 38.84 percent of 19,611,423 registered voters.
The election commission said that poor security prevented them from holding the vote in those areas, but that since it would not “materially affect” the result, the final announcement could go ahead.
Odinga pulled out of the vote, saying the election commission had failed to institute reforms to prevent the kind of “illegalities and irregularities” that scuppered Kenyatta’s win in the August vote.
Kura Yangu Sauti Yangu, a coalition of civil society organizations with 2,000 election observers, said in a report there were “multiple” cases where results from polling stations differed from results on the forms posted on the election portal after last week’s vote.
They supplied a photo taken by their observers of the tally sheet for Bashaal market center in Garissa. It showed 133 votes for Kenyatta while the form displayed online showed 433 votes.
<div class="Attribution_attribution_o4ojT" data-reactid="72">
Additional reporting by John Ndiso, George Obulutsa, and Judith Kanaya; Writing by Katharine Houreld; Editing by Andrew Heavens
</div>

Kenyans anxiously await results of presidential vote

Kenyan opposition leader Raila Odinga called for calm on Sunday as he visited a slum in the capital that was hit by violence when a political stand-off over a repeat presidential election fed into rising ethnic tensions.
<div class="PrimaryAsset_container_2pnvl" data-reactid="39">
<div id="attachment_282846" style="width: 1034px" class="wp-caption aligncenter"><img loading="lazy" decoding="async" aria-describedby="caption-attachment-282846" class="wp-image-282846 size-full" src="http://cnbc.africa/wp-content/uploads/2017/09/1571595826001_5560783766001_5560776180001-vs.jpeg" alt="" width="1024" height="576" />Odinga speaks out as Kenya court nullifies president&#8217;s election win</div>
Clashes in Kawangware and in a village in western Kenya following Thursday’s vote were the first signs that face-offs between Odinga supporters and the police might eventually morph into neighbours turning against each other.
“A country cannot be ruled by the gun. Standing here in this church we want to condemn the militarisation of politics in this country,” Odinga told residents in the Nairobi slum.
The veteran opposition leader had boycotted the re-run of an August presidential election that was nullified by Kenya’s Supreme Court on procedural grounds, leaving President Uhuru Kenyatta with an almost free run against six minor candidates.
On Friday, a day after the repeat vote was held in most of the country, ethnic violence in Kawangware saw dozens of homes and shops torched and one man killed. Most of buildings torched belonged to residents from the Kenyatta’s Kikuyu tribe.
One man from Odinga’s Luo group was killed overnight near Koguta village in the west of the country, after residents from two ethnic groups backing different candidates armed themselves.
If such isolated incidents become a trend, it could ignite large swathes of Kenya, as happened after a 2007 presidential election when weeks of violence left 1,200 dead. That sent ripples throughout East Africa, which relies on Kenya as a trade and diplomatic hub.
In his speech, Odinga condemned violence generally and did not single out any particular attack.
“We have come here to give consolation to those who were beaten and killed. We as NASA condemn what happened,” he told worshippers at a church in Kawangware, referring to his National Super Alliance, an opposition coalition.
Odinga boycotted Thursday’s vote because he said the contest would not be fair. Instead, he wanted the Oct. 26 contest dismissed and fresh elections held within 90 days.
His withdrawal means Kenyans are watching the turnout, rather than the result, for an indication of Kenyatta’s popularity for a second, five-year term.
Results published on Sunday by the election commission showed that Kenyatta had won slightly more than 98 percent of the vote with results in from 244 out of 291 constituencies.
Turnout for the constituencies counted so far was 43 percent. That figure is likely to decrease when it includes returns of 0 from least 23 constituencies where authorities were unable to open even a single polling station because of protests by Odinga’s supporters.
The election board planned to try to hold elections there on Saturday, but postponed the plan amid fears of further violence.
<div class="Attribution_attribution_o4ojT" data-reactid="59">
Writing by Katharine Houreld; Editing by Catherine Evans
</div>
</div>

Kenya opposition leader calls for calm in slum hit by deadly violence

Kenya’s shilling weakened on Thursday due to concerns about a repeat presidential election on Oct. 26, which has been plagued with uncertainty.
<img loading="lazy" decoding="async" class="aligncenter wp-image-287611 size-full" src="http://cnbc.africa/wp-content/uploads/2017/10/kenya_shilling_flickr.jpg" alt="" width="600" height="350" />
At 0811 GMT, commercial banks quoted the shilling at 103.50/60 to the dollar, compared with Wednesday’s close of 103.45/55. The central bank pumped in dollars on Wednesday after the shilling came under heavy pressure.
<div class="Attribution_attribution_o4ojT" data-reactid="41">
Reporting by George Obulutsa; Editing by Duncan Miriri
</div>

Kenya’s shilling under pressure due to election jitters

Kenya lurched deeper into political confusion on Wednesday as a court ruling and a parliamentary vote appeared to ease Uhuru Kenyatta’s path to a second term as president, a day after his chief rival quit an election they were to contest.
<div class="PrimaryAsset_container_2pnvl" data-reactid="39">
Kenyatta and Raila Odinga were due to face off in a repeat election on Oct. 26, after the Supreme Court annulled their August ballot &#8211; in which the president was declared the winner.
But Odinga pulled out of the re-run on Tuesday, fuelling doubts about whether it would be contested at all. Wednesday’s interventions by the judiciary and legislature added to the uncertainty.
<div class="DPSlot_container_2dHIN DPSlot_inline_1oeo6"></div>
As police used teargas to disperse opposition protesters demanding electoral reform, the High Court approved a petition by Ekuru Aukot, who polled less than 1 percent in the August vote, to contest the second ballot.
The election board later issued a statement saying that all eight candidates who competed in August would be on the ballot. It also said although Odinga had notified them of his withdrawal by letter, he had not yet submitted the official form to do so.
The developments suggested that the second election would go ahead, with Kenyatta the likely winner against a plethora of weaker candidates. No challenger except Odinga polled more than 1 percent.
Further muddying the political waters, parliament passed an election law amendment stating that if one candidate withdrew from the re-run vote, the remaining one would automatically win. The vote was boycotted by opposition lawmakers.
The law aimed to ensure Kenyatta could be declared president if he faced no challengers.
The events stoked confusion among voters and fears that politically-driven violence might escalate. Months of political uncertainty have already blunted growth in East Africa’s richest nation, a long-time ally of the West.
“There’s a real atmosphere of confusion and uncertainty. There seems to be dozens of opinions of what should come next,” said Murithi Mutiga, a senior Horn of Africa analyst for the global thinktank International Crisis Group.
<h3>UNEASE</h3>
Justifying his pullout on Tuesday, Odinga said the election would not be free and fair and renewed calls for the electoral board (IEBC), which he blamed for the procedural irregularities identified in the first ballot, to be replaced.
Opposition supporters on Wednesday renewed their protests for electoral reform.
Demonstrators lit bonfires in Kisumu, an Odinga stronghold in the country’s west, while more than a thousand supporters marched through the central business district in the capital Nairobi. Police used teargas to disperse them in both cities, witnesses said.
Juliana Otieno, the chief executive of the Oginga Odinga Hospital in the city, said 17 people had been admitted with injuries suffered during the protests. A Reuters witness counted at least five of them with bullet wounds.
Kisumu’s police commander, Titus Yoma, said he had no information on the bullet wounds and his officers were still quelling the protests, which were centred around two slums in the lakeside city.
At least 37 people were killed in protests immediately following the August vote, almost all of them by police, a Kenyan rights group said on Monday. Ethnic clashes killed 1,200 people following a disputed presidential poll in 2007.
“We want a reformed IEBC,” said Elisha Odhiambo, an opposition legislator, referring to the electoral board, which has frequently relied on riot police dispersing protests outside its offices in recent weeks.
Mombasa Governor Ali Hassan Joho, a key opposition player, told protesters in Uhuru Park: “Our voices must be heard. We have no war with anyone but we will not allow anyone to stifle us.”
After the High Court ruling in his favour, Aukot told reporters that he still had concerns about the board and would issue a statement in a day or two giving clarity about his plans.
It was unclear if other candidates from the first ballot with little support would also seek to be included, but the election board said it still had time to print ballot papers.
The Sept. 1 Supreme Court judgement that nullified Kenyatta’s 1.4 million vote win also stipulated elections had to be held within 60 days.
If that schedule is not met, the constitution provides for the speaker of parliament, a member of Kenyatta’s party, to take power.
With two weeks to go until the elections, it is still unclear who will stand.
“I would expect one of the parties will try to seek an authoritative announcement from the Supreme Court,” International Crisis Group’s Mutiga said.
Amid the political uncertainty, the government has trimmed this year’s GDP growth forecast from 5.9 percent to 5.5 percent last month.
The country’s equity markets slid further on Wednesday. Kenya’s all share index closed down 0.67 percent while the blue chip index fell 1.41 percent. [nL8N1MM3L8]
<div class="Attribution_attribution_o4ojT" data-reactid="72">
Additional reporting by Humphrey Malalo and George Obulutsa; editing by John Stonestreet and Toby Chopra<img loading="lazy" decoding="async" class="alignnone size-medium wp-image-286672" src="http://cnbc.africa/wp-content/uploads/2017/10/Kenya-Elections_Uhuru-Posters_Flickr-730x480-300x197.jpg" alt="" width="300" height="197" />
</div>
</div>

Kenya vote in balance as crisis deepens after Odinga quits

Observers found some technical problems but no evidence of vote-rigging in Kenya’s presidential election last month, the European Union said on Thursday, based on random checks of tallies from polling stations.
The finding was announced as Kenya gears up for a re-run of the contest between President Uhuru Kenyatta and challenger Raila Odinga on Oct. 17, after the Supreme Court nullified Kenyatta’s victory citing irregularities in the tallying process.
Credible elections would boost Kenya’s role as East Africa’s richest economy and a stable Western ally in a region roiled by conflict. But problems with the vote could spark unrest: 1,200 people died in violence after a disputed 2007 election.
Bolstering the Supreme Court’s findings of technical irregularities, the EU said in a statement it had examined 1,558 randomly selected scanned polling station results forms from 82 constituencies. A small percentage were unreadable, others had mathematical mistakes, and others were missing data or signatures.
The country had nearly 41,000 polling stations and 290 constituencies.
<h3 data-reactid="47">BOYCOTT THREAT</h3>
Odinga alleged that the original vote was marred by fraud and is threatening to boycott the re-run unless some demands are met, including the resignation of key election board officials.
But the EU said it did not find anything indicating deliberate manipulation of the vote in the forms it examined. “There was little variation in the patterns of anomalies &#8230; and no obvious advantage to one camp or another.”
However, the observers noted that more than a quarter of polling stations were severely late in posting their manually completed tallying sheets online. In some cases they only did so after the legal deadline for the opposition to mount court challenges to the results had passed, they noted.
The EU urged the election commission to use standardised forms with security features like serial numbers to reduce the opportunities for confusion in the upcoming polls.
It said the electoral board must do a better job of publicly explaining the processes it would follow in tallying the vote.
In a separate development on Thursday, ruling party lawmaker Ngunjiri Wambugu filed a court petition seeking to have Chief Justice David Maraga removed for gross misconduct in connection with the annulment of the election.
“Chief Justice Maraga needs to be censured, I believe he has participated in gross misconduct, which is unprofessional. I believe that gross misconduct is trying to influence a presidential election,” Wambugu told reporters.
<div class="Attribution_attribution_o4ojT" data-reactid="55">
Additional reporting by George Obulutsa; Editing by Mark Trevelyan
</div>

EU: spot checks show confusion, not conspiracy in Kenyan election

The chairman of Kenya’s election board said on Friday it would make personnel changes and prosecute any staff involved in deliberate tampering with last month’s vote, after the Supreme Court declared it invalid.
“To protect the integrity of (the) sovereign will of the people the commission intends to make internal changes to personnel,” said Wafula Chebukati, who said he was not resigning.
<div data-reactid="36"></div>
<div class="Attribution_attribution_o4ojT" data-reactid="37">
reporting by Maggie Fick; writing by Katharine Houreld; editing by John Stonestreet
</div>

Kenya election board: we’ll change personnel to ensure election integrity

Kenya’s president Uhuru Kenyatta said on Friday he disagreed with a Supreme Court ruling that nullified his win in last month’s presidential election, but that he would respect the decision and urged citizens to do the same.
“The court has made its decision. We respect it. We don’t agree with it. And again, I say peace &#8230; peace, peace, peace,” he said in a televised address. “That is the nature of democracy”.
<div data-reactid="34"></div>
<div class="Attribution_attribution_o4ojT" data-reactid="35">
reporting by Katharine Houreld; editing by John Stonestreet
</div>

Kenyan president says respects court decision to invalidate election

Kenya’s Supreme Court on Friday said the electoral board committed “irregularities and illegalities” during last month’s presidential vote, harming the integrity of the election that handed President Uhuru Kenyatta a second five-year term.
Four out of six judges said that the vote had been harmed by irregularities. Judges then allowed the two dissenting justices to read their opinions before giving their verdict on whether the irregularities were serious enough to nullify the election results.
<div data-reactid="36"></div>
<div class="Attribution_attribution_o4ojT" data-reactid="37">
reporting by Maggie Fick; writing by Katharine Houreld; Editing by Hugh Lawson
</div>

Kenyan presidential election nullified

George Ogola | University of Central Lancashire
The recent Kenyan elections firmly demonstrated the incursion and perhaps even gradual institutionalisation of fake news as an actor in modern politics, particularly during elections. Although the term fake news is now so liberally used to the extent it eludes precise definition, many agree it’s the deliberate dissemination of false informationexpressly intended to misinform.
The presidential election, which pitted the incumbent Uhuru Kenyatta against his political nemesis, opposition leader Raila Odinga, was fiercely fought on many fronts. One of these fronts, arguably the most significant, was the unprecedented investment in political messaging.
Kenyatta’s Jubilee Party and Odinga’s National Super Alliance (NASA) invested heavily in media and public relations consultants, communication experts and political advertising. The Jubilee Party even enlisted the services of  Cambridge Analytica, the data mining and analysis company credited with playing an influential role in the election of US President Donald Trump. The company also had a hand in the UK’s Brexit campaign.
Added to this heady mix was clandestine messaging through fake newson social media sites such as Twitter, Facebook, Instagram and WhatsApp. Numerous fake news stories were widely circulated on social media as unsubstantiated allegations were posted against both parties, some even through paid adverts on Google.
This was a step up from previous elections where politicians would pay backstreet newspaper publishers to tarnish the names of their opponents. Kenya has always had publishers for hire, a particularly thriving industry at election time. These publishers quite often have no known addresses, are defined by their impermanence and therefore impossible to sue even when one is legitimately aggrieved by their publications.
In 2017 the mudslinging migrated online and become much more nuanced and sophisticated. Stories that featured fake opinion polls and others that directly attacked the characters of both Kenyatta and Odinga were widely circulated online and in print. Some of these were slickly produced videos that were passed off as originating from CNN and the BBC.
In one fake CNN video Kenyatta’s popularity rating was shown to be well ahead of Odinga’s. Another fake video, this time purportedly an outtake from the BBC’s Focus on Africa  programme, also featured an opinion poll showing Kenyatta beating Odinga.
And fake newspapers bearing the plagiarised mastheads of widely circulating dailies including the Daily Nation and The Star were sold to unsuspecting readers.
This proliferation of fake news in Kenya can be explained on two grounds. The first relates to the history of the country’s media, and the second to the increasing importance of online platforms in shaping the African news agenda.
<h2>The Kenyan media</h2>
The Kenyan media has become a prisoner of its history. It remains shackled to the consequences of its role in the country’s 2007 disputed presidential elections. A section of the press were accused of actively promoting the violence that engulfed the country in the aftermath of the polls. At least 1,000 people died and more than 500,000 thousand were displaced.
This legacy has turned the media into a bystander in the political process, especially at election time. In 2013 it hardly raised any objections to electoral malpractices that led to the disputed presidential election. Instead, media houses promoted “peace” to preempt a repeat of the 2007-2008 post-election violence.
It was a decision that was supported financially by a number of local and international agencies who spent months training the local press in “peace journalism”. This peace narrative has now became normalised in election coverage in the country. The consequence has been the creation of an information vacuum which has now been filled by fake news.
<h2>Rise of social media</h2>
The circulation of fake news also seems to have benefited from the changing profile of the Kenyan voter. Nearly half of about 20 million registered voters in Kenya are aged between 18 and 35. A significant number source their news from social media where fake news circulates the most.
According to a recent consumer survey only 28% of young Kenyans read newspapers regularly. Social media is slowly but surely becoming their platform of choice for news.
And the audience for fake news is growing given that two out of three young Kenyans now either own a mobile device or have access to one, and Internet connectivity costs go down annually.
This election revealed the fact that fake news has not only become commonplace, it’s become mainstream and is evolving into a distinct news genre.
Fake news thrives on the modern news consumer’s insatiable appetite for speedy information. We are living in a news ecosystem where urgency trumps the core values of journalism such as accuracy, fact checking and objectivity.
Traditional news media, with brands built on the back of their ability to fact check or investigate stories before publication, are struggling to do so when they are simultaneously expected to publish with speed. While gate keeping is key to ensure that news outlets remain trustworthy, the speed at which audiences now expect information has seen media houses haemorrhage audiences.
That lag in providing speedy information has created a vacuum which fake news producers are exploiting. They don’t have brands or reputations to protect. Fake news is positively sustained by an online economy which prioritises sensationalism over quality. Sensational ‘news’ very quickly goes viral and this is its most effective weapon.
Fake news is slowly intruding on virtually every aspect of life. We must first understand its appeal and then make every effort to counter it. This is especially the case because it is now a genre sustained by a much larger social, economic and political infrastructure that the news media alone is incapable of dealing with.
&nbsp;
This article was first published on The Conversation.

How social media and fake news are battering traditional media in Kenya

Faith Kiboro | SMC University
After Kenya’s contested election result, opposition leader Raila Odinga announced he wouldn’t be seeking legal redress for what he termed “a sham of an election”. Three days later he’d changed his mind and said he would be contesting the election in the country’s Supreme Court.
This means that Uhuru Kenyatta’s victory is on hold pending a decision by Kenya’s highest court. Its decision is expected in early September. The Supreme Court bench will be constituted by seven justices. These are the Chief Justice David Maraga, his Deputy Lady Justice Philomena Mwilu, Lady Justice Njoki Ndung&#8217;u, and justices Smokin Wanjala, Mohamed Khadhar Ibrahim, Jackton Boma Ojwang and Isaac Lenaola.
The petition is effectively an audit of the electoral process. This is a good thing. To build resilience against election-related disputes, Kenyans must stay open to legal arbitration as a way of vetting the democratic process, and standing up for stronger democratic values.
<h2>Odinga’s case</h2>
The main grounds of Odinga’s petition are that some of the presidential results were derived from nonexistent polling stations by ungazetted presiding and returning officers.
Odinga is also claiming that the results that declared Kenyatta the winner were not submitted procedurally. This claim has been a source of controversy and is likely to form a large part of the petition.
Odinga is also likely to argue that the election commission chairperson acted contrary to the law because he didn’t have all the requisite tallying documents when he declared the result.
He will have to prove that:
<ul>
<li>Some of the requisite tallying documents were not presented and verified at the national tallying centre before the results were declared. He would then have to prove that the failure to present and verify the documents significantly altered the outcome.</li>
<li>The tallying documents did not present a truthful account of the vote – in other words that some were fabricated or falsified. If he can prove this then the integrity of the election will be called into question.</li>
</ul>
<h2>Possible outcomes</h2>
If the court finds that the presidential election was invalid a fresh electionwill have to be called. This would involve the presidential candidates who participated on August 8. If any abandon the electoral contest or die before the scheduled date a fresh nomination exercise would have to be held.
After Odinga’s 2013 presidential petition, the Supreme Court ordered a partial recount of votes before upholding Kenyatta’s win.
But this time around the court is likely to ask for closer scrutiny of the entire poll process.
Odinga has filed a 25,000-page petition, compared to the 800-page document he filed in 2013. This places a huge responsibility on the court to sift through all the allegations.
A number of potential factors could affect its decision.
Firstly , the Supreme Court is likely to be swayed by the opinions of 400 election observers who deemed the election credible.
Secondly, the current chief justice is known to be a moderate. His conservatism may mean that he will uphold the electoral commission’s position and maintain that the election was carried out in a free, fair and transparent manner.
Invalidating the general election would be unprecedented in Kenya. But it could happen because the chief justice is keen to demonstrate judicial independence. The judiciary has recently come under attack from political leaders for deciding in favour of the opposition in its determination of a series of high profile pre-election cases.
<h2>Letter versus spirit of the law</h2>
Ultimately, the judges could go one of two ways.
They could make a decision based purely on the letter of the law. Or they could opt for a judgement that adheres to the spirit of the law – in other words the intention of the law as opposed to its literal meaning.
A judgement based on the spirit of the law is likely to serve the greater good – that is a return to normalcy as quickly as possible.
In the 2013 presidential election, the Supreme Court set a standard of proof which it phrased in a question.
<blockquote>Did the petitioner clearly and decisively show the conduct of the election to have been so devoid of merits, and so distorted, as not to reflect the expression of the people’s electoral intent?</blockquote>
There’s no doubt it will ask the same question this time round.
&nbsp;
This article was first published in The Conversation.

Op-Ed: Kenya’s election: Supreme Court judges hold the key to the outcome

Kenyan opposition leader Raila Odinga on Sunday called for a strike to support his claim to the presidency and accused the ruling party of &#8220;spilling the blood of innocent people&#8221;, despite growing pressure on him to concede election defeat.
The election commission on Friday declared incumbent Uhuru Kenyatta winner of the presidential poll by 1.4 million votes. International observers said Tuesday&#8217;s election was largely fair but Odinga disputes the results, saying it was rigged. He has not provided documentary evidence.
&#8220;Jubilee have spilt the blood of innocent people. Tomorrow there is no work,&#8221; Odinga told a crowd of around 4,000 cheering supporters, referring to the ruling party. He promised to announce a new strategy on Tuesday.
Senator James Orengo, one of Odinga&#8217;s chief supporters, said the opposition would call for demonstrations.
&#8220;When we people call you to action, peaceful action, don&#8217;t stay behind,&#8221; Orengo told the crowd in Kibera, Nairobi&#8217;s largest slum. He also called for a boycott of Nation television and newspapers, Kenya&#8217;s largest independent media group, over their coverage of the disputed elections.
The rally, Odinga&#8217;s first public speech since Thursday, was a unequivocal message that he has no intention of renouncing his claim to be the winner of Tuesday&#8217;s vote despite calls from the international community for him to concede.
There have been deadly clashes between police and civilians in his stronghold areas. Presidential spokesman Manoah Esipisu blamed the bloodshed on protesters.
&#8220;The violent protests are unlawful,&#8221; he said in a statement on Sunday.
&#8220;The Police will not tolerate breaches of the peace; instead, they will protect the lives and property of Kenyans; and they will restore law and order.&#8221;
Reuters reporters have seen police repeatedly fire tear gas and bullets to disperse crowds of people in slums. Police have also detained and physically attacked journalists.
<h3 data-reactid="50">DEATHS</h3>
There have been at least 24 deaths in election-related unrest so far, a rights group said on Saturday, including that of a nine-year-old girl. The Kenya Red Cross said on Saturday it had treated 93 injured people.
By Sunday the violence had largely abated, to the relief of Kenyans who feared a repeat of the carnage that followed 2007&#8217;s disputed election.
Around 1,200 people were killed then and 600,000 displaced after Odinga called for political protests that sparked ethnic violence. Regional trade was paralysed and Kenya&#8217;s economy &#8211; the region&#8217;s biggest &#8211; took years to recover.
Some Odinga supporters are convinced that victory was stolen from them in the 2007 and 2013 polls, both marred by irregularities and problems. Odinga contested both, and lost, and his supporters say they will not back down this time.
&#8220;We are sick and tired of these people stealing the country from us. We need to split this country in two,&#8221; said David Orwa, 44, his words hinting at the ethnic divide that underlies Kenyan politics.
Odinga is a Luo, an ethnic group from the west that has long felt neglected by central government and excluded from power. Kenyatta is a Kikuyu, a tribe that has provided three out of Kenya&#8217;s four presidents since independence from Britain in 1963.
Diplomats and regional leaders are urging Odinga, a former political prisoner, to concede. Their united stance leaves the 72-year-old opposition leader isolated if he chooses to maintain the allegations of election fraud and proclaim himself president.
&#8220;I want to congratulate Uhuru Kenyatta,&#8221; said a Sunday statement by Federica Mogherini, foreign minister for the European Union, which did over $3 billion worth of trade with Kenya last year.
&#8220;In line with the African Union, the EU expects the opposition to respect the results and to use legal means available for appeals and complaints.&#8221;
<h3 data-reactid="60">NO POWER-SHARING DEALS</h3>
A Western diplomat said allies were not interested in revisiting the type of power-sharing deals that ended the post-election violence a decade ago. That avenue was &#8220;not an option&#8221;, he said.
&#8220;If you have evidence that the election was rigged, produce it &#8230; NASA has been changing its position in quite significant ways in the past week,&#8221; he said, referring to Odinga&#8217;s opposition coalition, the National Super Alliance.
&#8220;Most of the stuff they are alleging is not accurate.&#8221;
Initially, the coalition alleged the electoral server had been hacked, and produced 50 pages of computer logs that security experts said were inconclusive at best.
They later said a secret source within the electoral board had passed them the true election results. That two-page document was debunked by the election commission, who pointed out basic mathematical errors.
Later, Odinga said paper forms from each polling station scanned and uploaded to the election commission website to support its electronic tally were fake. He has not produced alternative forms.
Regional leaders have already congratulated Kenyatta, the 55-year-old son of the country&#8217;s first president, on winning a second term.
&#8220;Congratulations my brother @UKenyatta for a successful election and the trust Kenyans have placed in you!&#8221; tweeted Rwandan president Paul Kagame. Burundi, Tanzania, and Uganda have also sent congratulations.
<div class="Attribution_attribution_o4ojT" data-reactid="69">
Additional reporting by Maggie Fick in Kisumu and George Obulutsa in Nairobi; writing by Katharine Houreld; editing by Andrew Roche
</div>

Kenya opposition leader defies pressure to concede defeat

George Gathigi | University of Nairobi
The media has been a critical part of the Kenyan election process. But did they do a good job?
I spoke to a variety of sources including journalists, commentators and experts and a number of issues came out. Overall, the insights they gave me suggest that the mainstream media’s coverage of the 2017 general election can best be described as a mixed bag. While it played a very important role, it still has a way to go in terms of the factual, unbiased and objective coverage of elections.
During the election process the media remained at the forefront of presenting different opinions – leading newspapers, television and radio stations all presented different views, and carried opinions from political figures across the spectrum.
But one criticism that came through was that sections of radio, especially local language stations, were very often parochial. Some played extremely partisan politics that was more aligned to local audiences than to national interests.
Another criticism expressed by many of the people I spoke to was that they felt the mainstream media had been lazy in its coverage of competing candidates. The largest media outlets constantly amplified the political binary represented by the two main coalitions, the National Super Alliance (NASA) and the Jubilee Party (JP). There was limited coverage outside the two coalitions with other parties and candidates receiving little airtime.
<h2>Preaching the peace</h2>
The Kenyan media has struggled with the burden of being accused of fuelling post-election violence in 2007 and 2008. For example it was accused of failing to moderate hate messages and of passing on messages that incited violence. TV stations were accused of showing violent messages that led to retaliation between members of different communities.
Given these experiences, this time round the media was at pains to emphasise messages of peace throughout the electioneering period. It also showed restraint and self-censorship in terms of the information and images it presented.
This was evident if you compared coverage provided by the international media with the Kenyan media. While international media has alluded to imminent violence and showed images of isolated instances – before and after the polls closed – the Kenyan media has been more careful.
<h2>Assessing coverage</h2>
Journalists played a critical role in negotiating political and electoral discourse. But the people I spoke to called into question the professionalism of some of the members of the press.
Some people felt that adherence to the principles of truth and accuracy, independence, fairness and impartiality was wanting. There are examples of journalists perceived to be partisan for example Kameme FM broadcasters, some KTN and Citizen anchors and reporters. And that some journalists, including well known television anchors, revealed their political biases by seeming to favour specific candidates and parties.
Another issue that was raised was that some journalists blurred the lines between the personal and the professional. This was especially problematic on social media platforms. The impartiality expected of journalists was viewed as compromised when they openly expressed their political preferences.
The elections also come with a range of issues which demanded various levels of inquiry and analysis. The knowledge of many journalists didn’t always match these demands. At times coverage was shallow and not critically engaging.
In addition, while media houses called on dozens of “experts” and “analysts”, many couldn’t make contributions that justified their titles. Television stations paraded what they called “eminent” and “super” panels to little effect. Beyond being large in size, the panels were often thin when it came to substance.
One big gap was that mainstream media didn’t feature many women. ‘Manels’ (men-only panels) dominated television broadcasts and fewer women were used as news sources and on-air analysts. Women politicians also received significantly less coverage – and far more critical coverage – than their male counterparts.
<h2>The highs and lows</h2>
Compared with previous elections there was been an improvement in live coverage, immediacy, and updates on the campaigns, as well as the Independent Electoral and Boundaries Commission’s preparations. Media houses also followed the various legal challenges relating to the 2017 elections very closely.
There were also genuine attempts to encourage issue-based debating platforms and to give different contestants opportunities to argue their positions and engage with the electorate.
Media houses also deployed more resources than ever before to cover campaigns in various parts of the country. The rise of fact-checking was also a notable development.
Some of the low moments included the presidential debates that didn’t go as planned. This denied voters the opportunity to fully engage with the candidates. Nevertheless, the media must be commended for organising them.
There were also times when the mainstream media was seen to compete with bloggers to break news. The rush to publish meant that allegations and challenges weren’t verified and that assertions by politicians weren’t checked first.
There were also examples of journalists being sluggish in setting the agenda. For example, there was a general lack of inquiry into campaign financing, the use of state resources for campaigns and the conduct of party primaries.
<h2>Evolving role of social media</h2>
The role of traditional media in election coverage has come under pressure for two reasons.
The first is the emergence of digital platforms that allow political and election discourse, combined with the rise of citizen journalism. This means that the mainstream media is now just one of many news sources.
The second is that traditional media houses are under increasing financial pressure. Many have cut costs by letting experienced journalists go, in turn affecting the quality of media coverage.
But when all is said and done, the mainstream media continues to play a critical role in educating and informing the populace. The increased number of media outlets, especially local language radio and television stations, has ensured broader access to election information.
The mainstream media continues to provide a platform where the people can exchange ideas and engage with their leaders. The integration of multiple platforms including print, broadcast and digital has allowed broader interaction with audiences such that the media both speaks and listens.

Op-Ed: How the media covered Kenya’s general election

Millions of people go to the polls in Kenya on Tuesday amid fears that the latest electoral clash between its foremost political dynasties could once again descend into violence.
President Uhuru Kenyatta, 55, the businessman son of Kenya&#8217;s first president, is running for the second time against arch rival Raila Odinga, a 72-year-old former political prisoner and son of the east African nation&#8217;s first vice-president.
After two months of campaigning marked by fiery rhetoric but public speeches largely free of the ethnic hate that has sullied previous contests, opinion polls have put the pair neck-and-neck. The winner needs one vote more than 50 percent.
First results are not expected before Wednesday, but a very close race might mean as long as three days before a winner emerges. Officially, election authorities have up to a week to declare the outcome.
The razor-thin margins forecast have increased the chances of glitches &#8211; innocent or otherwise &#8211; giving grounds for the loser to complain about the result, as Odinga did in 2007 and 2013.
A decade ago, vote tallying was abruptly stopped and the incumbent president declared the winner, triggering an outcry from Odinga&#8217;s camp followed by outbreaks of ethnic violence in which 1,200 people were killed and 600,000 displaced.
International Criminal Court cases against Kenyatta and his now-deputy, William Ruto, collapsed for lack of evidence.
In 2013, electronic voting equipment suffered widespread failures, although Odinga&#8217;s decision to limit his complaints to the courts prevented any unrest.
This time &#8211; probably Odinga&#8217;s last tilt at the top job in East Africa&#8217;s biggest economy &#8211; the opposition has repeatedly accused the government of trying to rig the polls.
<h3 data-reactid="49">ETHNIC STRONGHOLDS</h3>
The torture and murder of a top election official and the deportation of two foreign Odinga advisers have fuelled wild online conspiracy theories and &#8220;fake news&#8221; items consumed voraciously by Kenya&#8217;s tech-savvy populus.
Tens of thousands have returned to their ethnic strongholds ahead of the elections, fearful of a repeat of 2007 violence.
Odinga&#8217;s key support is in the west and along the coast, with Kenyatta&#8217;s strongholds in central Kenya and the Rift Valley. Urban centres are up for grabs.
The government has deployed more than 150,000 security personnel, including wildlife rangers, to protect 41,000 polling stations.
The electoral commission insists it has run all necessary tests to safeguard the tallying and transmission of results, although a partial test laid on last week for the media had some glitches.
There are more than 6,000 domestic observers and party agents at each tallying station will have to sign off on results that are then sent electronically to county offices and a national collation centre in the capital, Nairobi.
In addition to a new president, Kenyans are electing lawmakers and local representatives, the result of a post-2007 constitutional shake-up designed to devolve power and reduce the &#8220;winner takes all&#8221; nature of the presidential race.
As a result, local races have generated unprecedented interest.
&#8220;Devolution was brought in to deal with the all-or-nothing presidential contest that we had in the past. The president could reward his home of origin and completely ignore other places,&#8221; said Murithi Mutiga, a regional analyst with the think-tank International Crisis Group.
&#8220;Now political patronage has also devolved to the counties.&#8221;
<div class="Attribution_attribution_o4ojT" data-reactid="60">
Editing by Ed Cropley and Alison Williams
</div>

Kenya elections

Kenyan president to be sworn-in as opposition prepares to hold rival rally

Kenya court grants access to poll returns in case seeking to void election

Kenyan Supreme Court judges denied extra security after shooting – source

Kenya’s repeat presidential poll was free, fair – commission

Kenyans anxiously await results of presidential vote

Kenya opposition leader calls for calm in slum hit by deadly violence

Kenya’s shilling under pressure due to election jitters

Kenya vote in balance as crisis deepens after Odinga quits

EU: spot checks show confusion, not conspiracy in Kenyan election

Kenya election board: we’ll change personnel to ensure election integrity

Kenyan president says respects court decision to invalidate election

Kenyan presidential election nullified

How social media and fake news are battering traditional media in Kenya

Op-Ed: Kenya’s election: Supreme Court judges hold the key to the outcome

Kenya opposition leader defies pressure to concede defeat

Op-Ed: How the media covered Kenya’s general election

Kenyans vote in Odinga’s last bid for presidency

News Tips

Advertise With Us

Kenya elections

Kenyan president to be sworn-in as opposition prepares to hold rival rally

Kenya court grants access to poll returns in case seeking to void election

Kenyan Supreme Court judges denied extra security after shooting – source

Kenya’s repeat presidential poll was free, fair – commission

Kenyans anxiously await results of presidential vote

Kenya opposition leader calls for calm in slum hit by deadly violence

Kenya’s shilling under pressure due to election jitters

Kenya vote in balance as crisis deepens after Odinga quits

EU: spot checks show confusion, not conspiracy in Kenyan election

Kenya election board: we’ll change personnel to ensure election integrity

Kenyan president says respects court decision to invalidate election

Kenyan presidential election nullified

How social media and fake news are battering traditional media in Kenya

Op-Ed: Kenya’s election: Supreme Court judges hold the key to the outcome

Kenya opposition leader defies pressure to concede defeat

Op-Ed: How the media covered Kenya’s general election

Kenyans vote in Odinga’s last bid for presidency

News Tips

Advertise With Us

Newsletters