Securing the evidence at Kariokor Social Hall in Nairobi

RxAxLxF served as Election Observer in the Kenyan elections in the year 2013. He found in the vicinity of the former polling station at Kariokor Social Hall in the Kariokor area of Nairobi materials that pointed to election fraud. As per Kenyan electoral law, he wanted to submit the materials as evidence to the Kenyan Supreme Court.

Soon after he found the materials, he received threats and was put under pressure to hand over the materials to people not related to the Supreme Court. As due to the election irregularities the materials could not be immediately received by the Court, he was asked ‘to defend the materials with his life’, for the betterment of Kenya and our world in general. So he did.
A manhunt started for him & the materials. He had to go into hiding with the materials for several days, before he managed to get the materials to the Kenyan Supreme Court.

He was not the only one who had found some evidence. From all over Kenya cases were reported, coming to an evidence file of 1000 pages.
Due to Constitutional time constraints caused by this huge amount of materials, the Court decided to look at only 5 pages out of the massive 1000 page evidence file. The 5 pages were chosen at the Court’s own peril.
Judging on those 5 pages, the Court decided that the elections were valid and the election of Uhuru Kenyatta as President of Kenya was upheld.

RxAxLxF’s material was part of the other 995 pages.
RxAxLxF was told that in the massive 1000 page evidence file, his evidence covered 5 pages. This was one of the largest single evidences (as the number of evidence cases were also coming close to 1000). As his 5 pages were not considered by the Kenyan Supreme Court due to the mentioned time constraints, most of his evidence material was returned to him.

Soon after the closure of the case, many ‘things’ happened to RxAxLxF. ‘Things’ that fall in the categories of retribution & intimidation for his work done. He was not the only one who these things were done too.

Securing the evidence at Kariokor Social Hall in Nairobi

In fact, the ruling of the Supreme Court can be seen as guided by intimidation from the Kenyan President Uhuru Kenyatta to the judges. President Kenyatta made many intimidating remarks towards the status of the judges personally and the entire Kenyan judiciary. The conclusive ruling of the Supreme Court under Chief Justice Mutunga turned out to be legally arbitrary and even contradictory in parts.
Interesting feature to this is, that the western foreign powers like the US and EU were at any stage quick to declare the elections free & fair (though as usual, with recommendations for improvement).

In comparison, let’s look at the Kenyan elections of 2017, which were also again full of irregularities. Again, the US & EU were quick to declare the elections free & fair (with recommendations for improvement). While massive evidence reached the Kenyan Supreme Court again and triggered another election case, the new & spirited Chief Justice Maraga nullified the elections and ordered new elections. Many Kenyans lauded this decision as a step towards decolonisation, seen the (usual) US & EU election declarations and subsequent support for president Kenyatta.
The Kenya Supreme Court under Chief Justice Maraga made in fact the facade of ‘objective’ western election observation collapse with it’s ruling.

Though, as much as the elections were repeated, president Kenyatta stepped up the game won the new elections with 98%. This fantastic figure was also contributed to the fact that the other contestant, Raila Odinga withdrew from the new election and called upon his followers not to vote, due to well funded reasons that the new elections would also be riddled with ‘irregularities’.

IEBC 0003261 Ballot Box Seal

The US & EU lauded also the new elections as free & fair (with recommendations for improvement).

Some year later, Raila Odinga did a ‘handshake’ with president Kenyatta and was awarded a high position at the African Union on behalf of the Kenyatta government.

Kenyans (and Africans at large) had not envisioned that the hard fought independence from the apartheid system of the British empire would turn out into a mimicry democracy like the current Kenya is. A mimicry democracy though supported by US, EU and Kenya’s former colonizer Great-Britain.

The Broken Ballot Box Seals are therefore not just broken Ballot Box Seals, but The Broken Dreams of Decolonisation.

For Kenya, not yet Uhuru.

(And RxAxLxF realized at last that it was not just Kenyatta’s men hunting for him & his evidence.)