Cut Maraga some slack

Deep down, you know that the election couldn’t stand in a court of law. It was not just a matter of a few forms not signed, a few forms lacking watermarks… and so on. There were serious flaws. Deep down:

  • You know that rather than displaying results, what the IEBC was displaying were “statistics.” Just think of it. How much more reckless could it get. Displaying “Statistics” and passing them off for results. The IEBC admitted as much in open court.
  • You know that Chebukati declared the winner without entering the results for the entire Nyando constituency into form 34C. He was not projecting: he was making the final declaration. And if it were not for the petition, this issue would never have been revisited. Now the people of Nyando are not enough to change the winner. But their voice still had to be heard. It is about the majority having their way and the minority having their say. Now if you deny the minority even that right to have their say, what are you leaving them with?
  • You know that the returning officers for Nyali, Mvita and Kisauni didn’t sign the results, and no reason was provided for them failing to do so. That, right there, is half of Mombasa. It would be understandable if party agents failed to sign. It would be understandable if presiding officers at some polling stations failed to sign. But, surely, an entire constituency returning officer? And mark you, the constitution says that elections are to be held ‘in the constituencies’. So a constituency returning officer is so important, yet he fails to sign. Would we accept the final results from Chebukati if they were not signed? Why, then, should we accept the results from the returning officers unsigned?
  • You know that Chebukati ultimately declared “final” results without results from 594 polling stations.
  • You see, if we say that elections are just about ‘numbers’, it means that one can just imagine, conjure numbers and demand that the numbers “be respected” because the numbers represent the “will of the people”. So the numbers are important. They have to be respected. But that can only happen once we know that those are the true numbers. Hence the need for the process to be looked at. It is the chick and the egg question: what comes first. It is the process that gives rise to the numbers. So you first look at the process, and then at the numbers that come from the process.
    Surely, these were serious irregularities…
8 Likes

Is Maraga above scrutiny?

8 Likes

[ATTACH=full]125946[/ATTACH]

9 Likes

I think people are just naturally dumb or basically refuse to think. I heard this from that socialite Madowo and despite being informed that the transmitted results could not be referred to as provisional results because of a court decision that declared that you cannot have provisional results, therefore the only logical thing was to call the statistics. Because indeed they are statistics. But everybody knows that the results that were read were pulled from the forms not the electronic transmission.
If you can’t get that through your skull then you are irredeemably daft.

9 Likes

Elections were flawed and were bound to be dismissed.
That number of polling stations not tallied stinks to high heavens.
I demand justice for my people!!!

My dumbness aside, you know that the numbers were unverified. Suppose, upon verification, the numbers turned out to be different. what would you do, having given people the impression that they were winning? Do you know we got into the 2007/2008 situation because of giving people unverified numbers? In fact, in 2017, those were probably not true numbers. This is why forms 34A and 34B had to altered, in order to match the statistics.

Yet not a single party agent questioned the validity of a single form 34A. Watermarked or not (which is not a constitutional requirement) the forms reflected the express will of the majority…Ngoja 17th we will know who stole and who lied. Maraga is a hero today and will remain to be so if Raila wins. When Uhuru wins with a bigger margin than before, attitudes will change and Maraga’s decision will be questioned.

5 Likes

Polling stations not tallied mmmmmhhh? At the time of declaring a winner I presume? Then the declaration should have been cancelled not the whole process. Anywho 17th is a day to lay it all in the open. If JAP stole we will know. If the CJ made a mistake we will know. let me give a little prophecy…more of an educated guess based on the history of the two… Uhuru wins by a bigger margin, IIEBC covers all loopholes, and Raila will still find a ground for calling for demos after which he will remain silent and watch as rowdy ruffians loot, burn, and kill only to speak up when the police intervene!

2 Likes

Our constitution calls for credibility. The process was shambolic.

Maraga is not to blame he simply heard the petition that was brought to court and ruled based on evidence, arguments and submissions of the learned guys. One party tenaciously argued the case they brought to court without loosing focus, the other party failed to counter the case but introduced their own which was not before the court. The outcome was obvious, the blame lies squarely with the counsel for the Respondents who did a shoddy job.

The results at the polling station is final! Credibility is a must but who determines the credibility? The agents are the validators of the entire process at its most basic levels (the polling station). If the numbers add up, what is the problem? Eat and make merry for on the 17th the narrative changes!

2 Likes

I agree. But he is also not infallible. If, and I do mean if, it comes out he proceeded without restraint and cost the country billions of shillings unnecessarily, acha tu!

2 Likes

One important point that all this people attacking CJ Maraga are forgetting is that it was a 4-2 decision.

Any future IEBC will have its act together thanks to Raila. In fact utapata hizi mungiki ziki-cite hiyo kesi when they have run to court.

Did you take that evidence to the courts or you are just yapping here like a pregnant woman?

Acha kunukisha kijiji. In future the supreme court will be more thoughtful of the decision it makes thanks to the shame they will suffer on the 17th

:D:D:D:D:D:D:D

Sijui mbona watu hawaoni ati Maraga is popular because of the notion that maybe, just maybe, Raila will win. Immediately Raila flops, the one thing Baba does better than any other politician in Africa, the very lips that praise CJ will crucify him.

Hata mukisaidiwa hamuoni. So IEBC should just run a national election kama chama. What if it is a close election?

Ever heard of the phrase “the law is an ass”? What matters is that he followed the law, the rest are details.

Wapi link