Parallel tallying centre will trigger contestation of final election results

It is the August 15th; the election results are being announced. There is a collective sigh of relief. Finally, the havoc of campaigns are over. Life can now continue.

The country is waiting to hear IEBC’s announcement. And when they are finally released, it is Uhuru Kenyatta who has been declared winner. But announcements do not end there.

Raila Odinga is holding a press conference to present the results of his parallel tallying system. “We are pleased to announce,” he says “ that the IEBC results match the outcome of our tallying exactly. Right to the last voter. We congratulate President Uhuru Kenyatta, etcetera etcetera”.

OK. Let’s snap back to reality. But if you are interested in these and other kinds of political delusions and fantasies, stay tuned to Raila’s channel; The Raila Broadcasting Network (RBN). This station has been on air since the day a presidential dream was planted in Raila’s heart, many years ago.

All the shows broadcasted are produced and directed by Raila - and played out by a cast of rowdy actors. Be warned that the predictive programme line-up does not make for pleasurable viewing. In fact, it will either bore you stiff, because it has no variety. Or it will scare you to death, because of its consistent ominous message.

Themes discussed

Bear in mind that the channel’s busiest season is when it is ‘time for Raila to become president’, which is every five years since 1997. Also note that in 2002 - the Network suspended their broadcasting activities for a brief ‘Kibaki Tosha’ intermission. It thereafter resumed with a bang, which culminated in the 2007 fracas.

The special purpose channel is meant to serve two ends. The first one is to continuously stream a wavelength of subliminal messaging meant to set the stage for chaos. Because of this, the themes discussed and acted out in every episode are all the same: prophesied rigging, calls to mass action, and the very latest production; alternative poll result declarations. End result? Disruption and chaos.

This continuous messaging serves as a guarantee. But not for democracy, or the people of Kenya, or even for the fervent actors in Raila’s elaborate schemes. They serve as a guarantee for Raila. If he is not elected president, then a coalition under duress is formed to quell the stoning, street battles, tear gas, looting, and ethnic based attacks. It is the quintessential ‘presidency by hook or crook’ method.

Realistically, what other purpose will the announcement of alternative results achieve? The point of a parallel tally should ideally be to inform a court petition- but in this case, it will serve as fuel for pandemonium. In exchange for fear and unrest- a half a loaf government will be demanded.

Already, the messaging is that the parallel results are the ones that will be the most ‘truthful’ and therefore authentic. In this parallel universe, the results announced by Raila’s electoral brigade are being collated and tallied by a host of ODM angels and priests, clear of any political bias. But in truth, they are unconstitutionally attempting to be a counterfeit IEBC, an ‘un-independent’ electoral commission.

Fragile history

Constituting a parallel tallying centre is not about rigging; it is about two things. The first thing is a conditioning of the national psyche to look out for the ‘true’ elections results, not from IEBC but from Raila. And this will be the trigger for contestation between the official results announced by IEBC and unofficial results announced by the Raila’s parallel tallying centre.

The second thing is preparing the ground for unrest by constantly repeating that the presidential elections will not be free and fair. The problem is, our fragile history does not help the situation. While 2007 stands out as the country’s worst electoral year, the truth is that we have not had a peaceful election in this country since the advent of multiparty-ism in 1992.

Like clockwork, in 1992 and 1997, there was violence. In 2002, 350 deaths were reported within two months. 2007 went down in history as the worst yet. Pockets of violence and death were reported even in the largely peaceful 2013 elections.

I would urge all viewers to switch off the chaos, or change the channel. Even better, the Communications Authority should launch an investigation into this destructive platform, and disband it.

  

- The writer is a Ph.D candidate in Political Economy at SMC University, Switzerland and a Research Fellow at the Fort Hall School of Government.

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