Issack Hassan: Uhuru, Raila agents drama at Bomas nearly scuttled poll results

Melodrama at Bomas of Kenya was never in short supply during the days that followed the 2013 election. The officials of the two main political parties decided to come up with their own rules as the commission sought to complete the verification of results.

To ensure there was transparency, the commission had invited the chief agents of the presidential candidates, and agents of political parties by 6th March 2013, to assess the copies of the verified results. They were to countercheck them against their own before the commission made the final announcement.

The chief agents already had, or ought to have had, their tallies from the day of election as announced by the returning officers. Counterchecking the totals, they had against those the commission gave them was thus supposed to be a simple exercise. We gave them 30 minutes to go through the copies, but they intentionally dragged their feet to sabotage our work.

I recall one of the days when we announced results of the presidential election from only a few constituencies after waiting for a whole day for the confirmation to be done by the agents. On checking what the problem was, we found that not only were the chief agents on a retaliatory go-slow, but they were now becoming a law unto themselves. They had given themselves the power to approve and object to the results.

One of the agents included a hand-drawn, additional column in the form we had issued for verification. Davis Chirchir wrote the words “I object to these results because of the 50 per cent plus one rule misinterpretation by the commission” before signing against it. It was this form that they now wanted to give the commissioners to announce.

The rest of the party agents gained confidence and quickly followed suit. They believed Chirchir was right in making the adjustments to the form as he was a former IIEC commissioner. We took the forms back and informed them that the commission would not condone such behaviour, as what they were doing was not guided by any laws or regulations. Chirchir took a backseat after this and toned down as his counterpart Winnie, the Executive Director of TNA, took his place among the agents.

However, CORD members now rose up as if in protest, fully intent on taking the go-slow to a whole new level. They now began rejecting multiple verified results, and would say, for instance, that we could not make any further announcements because they were objecting to the results of certain constituencies. This further complicated the work of the commission. It was clear they wanted to sabotage our progress. Before long, Ruto called me again, this time with a new revelation.

“Chairman, you know we actually have the results with us,” he said. “We know that we are leading by a million votes.”

“Oh! Is that so?” I asked.

“Yes, of course,” he responded confidently. “We know our tallies, and even Chirchir has the records on his computer.”

“So you are saying that Jubilee is leading by a million votes?” I asked. “If you are very certain of what you are saying, then just tell Chirchir to be quiet and let the commission do its job. If what you are claiming is true, you should not be worried because it will not change.”

I was getting agitated as the days wore on. Ideally, commissioners should have been continuously receiving results and announcing them once they were verified. However, they were relegated to mostly sitting in the lounge and waiting for extended periods of time, even though we were running out of time.

My personal assistant, George Gathuka, had already informed me that they were barely able to work at the tallying centre. Agents from political parties were interfering with the process, bullying the staff, and shouting at each other over their heads. There was further disorder when members of political parties who did not have agent badges managed to gain access to the tallying centre.

Some ministers who had served in the coalition government, along with a few who had lost in the election, came and crowded the centre. They had no reason or permission to be there, and their presence only fuelled the tension. (IEBC CEO James) Oswago did not do much about the chaotic environment and sat talking to CORD political leaders as the staff got agitated and sank further into confusion.

It occurred to me that the CORD team was up to no good with the delays and interferences. Jubilee was showing an early lead in the results by that time. CORD was thus either pushing for a run-off or hoping to delay the announcement of the results beyond the seven days stipulated in the law, in order to create a crisis.

They were hell-bent on doing anything they could, simply to prevent Jubilee from winning in the first round. Earlier that morning, they had turned from their praise for the commission and went back to speaking negatively once more. They filled the media with propaganda, insisting that they did not trust IEBC to conduct the election if we went for a run-off.

I was even more agitated when I went to the tallying centre and saw the chaos reigning there. I walked out and went to the commissioners’ lounge where I shared my frustration and annoyance at the unfolding bedlam. The commissioners tried to calm me down, asking me to relax and not do anything in a hurry.

They advised that we should patiently wait for the results, which, unfortunately, did not seem to be forthcoming. I could not sit and watch things go wrong. However, I was still constrained and needed to work within the law, and not act in a rush as I had done earlier.

I asked one of the legal advisers of the commission, Paul Nyamodi, to confirm what the role of an agent was. He explained to us that the commission was free to allow agents the courtesy of being at the tallying centre, and that it was an invitation that could be revoked in case it was abused.

Their main role was to verify the results the commission provided them with before the final announcement. Their presence in the tallying centre was now proving to be intrusive, unwelcome, and disruptive.

Later that afternoon, (IEBC Commissioner Thomas) Letangule found that things had gotten worse at the tallying centre. The confusion and disorder nearly ground the verification exercise to a halt. Oswago hardly did anything about it, even after Letangule asked for an explanation. Letangule left in a huff. He came for (IEBC Commissioner Mohamed) Alawi from the lounge, and the two went back to the tallying centre.

Letangule wanted a witness to confirm what he had observed, with a view to taking urgent action, seeing how the situation had degenerated. Both commissioners decided that they would not allow the chaos to go on any longer. They came for me at the lounge, and we went back to the tallying centre.

The mayhem was unbelievable. Winnie Guchu from Jubilee (TNA), James Orengo, Dalmas Otieno, and a few former ministers from ODM’s side of the coalition government who had no business being there in the first place stalled the verification process and distracted the staff from working. I was surprised that Oswago seemed okay with the disorganisation.

In one swift motion, I reached for the microphone nearest to me and addressed everyone.

“Listen up, everybody. The commission staff need to work,” I said. “We are unable to process the results, and I have to request all of you to vacate the tallying centre. I am ordering you to get out in my capacity as the returning officer of the presidential election, and as the chairman of the commission.”

I even had to call out some of them by name just to let them know I was specifically talking about them.

“Winnie and everyone else who is not a staff member of the commission, get out!”

The GSU and administration police officers manning the centre ensured my orders were followed by escorting them out…

The agents were allocated a separate room from where they would receive the verified results from the tallying centre. I was also categorical that only the listed agents who were registered with the commission would be allowed into this room. If any of them had an objection to the results, they were free to talk to me. The atmosphere changed instantly with the exit of the unruly crowd. There was visible relief on the faces of the staff.

After being herded out, Orengo and his counterparts called for a press conference. They protested that they had been locked out of the tallying centre, and that no one would know the results that the IEBC was now “cooking”. The insinuation alluded to a phrase (former Electoral Commissioner of Kenya Chairman Samuel) Kivuitu had used in 2007. For all intents and purposes, it was meant to arouse negative memories among Kenyans against IEBC.

I had learnt early on the importance of being transparent. I thus briefed the commissioners on what had transpired, and we all went to the podium as I made the announcement to the nation. I mentioned the changes the commission had introduced, and the reasons why I kicked everyone out of the tallying centre. I further explained that an additional room was provided for the certified agents, and that they would remain there to verify the results before we announced them. They were also free to contact me for inquiries…

A number of people who were not in agreement with what we had done started shouting at me from the Bomas arena. The plainclothes policemen swiftly led them outside.

Soon afterwards, I received a call from Dr. Gillian McCormack, the deputy head of the EU Election Observer Mission. .. Dr. McCormack had called me the previous day asking to see me, though we were not able to meet. What surprised me was the news that started spreading fast on social media soon after that call, urging Kenyans to pray for the IEBC chairperson as he was under a lot of pressure from the EU. I was perplexed at how details of this personal call had leaked to the media.

On this particular day, Dr. McCormack said that she was eager to meet me. The EU had received numerous complaints from CORD political leaders who claimed they had been kicked out of the tallying centre. She wanted to know what had transpired. I invited her to come to Bomas so I could explain the details.

The commissioners were present as I briefed her on the chaos that had been resolved when all the unauthorised people were removed from the tallying centre. I also took her to the room we had allocated for the authorised agents to handle the verification of the results.

She then produced a document she had carried and told us that it was the manual of the commission. It outlined the step-by-step procedure to be followed during the announcement of the election results.

I was aware that the commission operations team had a meeting in Bomas a week prior to the election, though I did not know that they had developed a manual. Strangely, none of the commissioners had seen the manual. The commissioners found it odd that none of us had received the document from the secretariat, yet an outsider was already in possession of it. She explained that, according to the manual, the media and observers had to be part of our procedures at this stage for transparency, which we were fully in agreement with.

“You asked all the unauthorised people to leave because they were interfering with the work of the commission,” she said. “But what did the observers do to deserve to be kicked out?”

It occurred to me that in the process of clearing the tallying centre, the police had sent out the observers along with the troublemakers. The media and their cameras were still there, however. We confirmed that it was an error, and immediately reinstated only the authorised observers listed with the commission.

Meanwhile, Orengo remained bitter about the whole matter and always referred to it afterwards, insisting that he had been mishandled by security officers. Dr. McCormack then had lunch with us before leaving. In later conversations, she disclosed to me that the EU had been under intense pressure from CORD to paint the commission in a bad light over the incident. Kofi Annan had even called to inquire about the situation.

It was the second time he was calling within the span of a few days, although when he called on 4th March, it was to get a progress update on our preparations for the election. He also wished us well as we embarked on the process. I knew he was deeply invested in a successful outcome, and hoped for a peaceful process from this election, after he had walked the nation from its stalemate five years earlier.

I was still unable to eat a solid meal, in spite of the vast array of fresh food on the menu set out daily for the IEBC staff at Bomas. I survived on juices and soup. Occasionally, during these breaks for meals, I would take a walk in the serene gardens at the Bomas of Kenya grounds to get some air and to cool off from all the pressure. Alawi sometimes joined me, and often voiced his concern over how things were going, or how everything would eventually turn out for the commission and the country.

 I also had my own apprehensions, with all the challenges we were facing. The scene that replayed in my mind each time Alawi expressed these concerns was from the Holy Quran, where Prophet Muhammad (PBUH), was chased out of Mecca and sent away. He and his friend, Abubakar (RA), found a cave as they fled and took shelter in it to hide from their enemies. Abubakar (RA) would hear the sound of trotting hooves from the horses of the approaching armies sent to kill them, and would caution the Prophet (PBUH), telling him:

“I hear the hooves of the horses approaching, they are going to kill us!” “La tagaf walaa ta’azan, inna Laha maana (Don’t fear, don’t be scared, for God is with us)”, the Prophet (PBUH) said to calm his friend.

The same words became my response to Alawi. I was convinced that even though things seemed out of hand, it would all be okay in the end, somehow. I told him that as far as I was concerned, we were doing the right thing, to the best of our knowledge and ability, and that things would eventually work out.

Tomorrow: When Issack Hassan almost sacked then IEBC CEO James Oswago but Raila Odinga intervened