President Uhuru Kenyatta has sent a message of condolence and encouragement to the family, relatives and friends of Mr. Thayu Kamau Kabugi, a prominent Murang’a businessman who passed on last night.
In his message, the President said the late Kabugi was a strong-willed person who believed in hard work and growing the economy for the benefit of all Kenyans.
He described the late Kabugi as a true patriot and a nationalist who created job opportunities for many Kenyans through his businesses.
“Indeed, he was a nationalist who believed in hard work and building strong bonds of friendship,” said the President.
The President said Mzee Kabugi, who died aged 94, has left an enduring legacy to all those who were fortunate to interact with him both socially and in business.
“He was exceptional in his commitment to both business and community development as demonstrated by his contribution to several community projects,” said the President.
The Head of State said through his real estate ventures, Mzee Kabugi built several houses giving opportunities to several Kenyans to own homes.
President Uhuru Kenyatta today said he will continue working with opposition leader Raila Odinga in ensuring that the country achieves sustainable national reconciliation, unity and peace.
He said there is no greater legacy for him than to leave a peaceful, healed and united nation where all Kenyans feel included in matters of socio-economic development.
“I will continue working with Raila Odinga. We need to be inclusive on how we manage our affairs. We must be inclusive to foster peace, development and prosperity,” said President Kenyatta at Kisii High School where he met leaders from Kisii and Nyamira counties.
“We must move together as a nation where no Kenyan feels being left out,” he added.
President Kenyatta who was accompanied by DP William Ruto and Raila Odinga said only inclusivity that encompasses equality and equitable sharing of resources will take the nation to the next level of development.
He said the Building Bridges Initiative which was crafted after the historic 9th March 2018 handshake with Raila aims at bringing all Kenyans together by working on the inclusivity agenda.
Through the handshake, said the President,“ We agreed to bring Kenyans together by rejecting politics of division.”
At the meeting, Kisii and Nyamira leaders led by Governor James Ongwae engaged the Head of State on various development issues before he proceeded to the upgraded Kisii Teaching and Referral hospital where he unveiled several new facilities.
Despite prodding by local leaders to declare his position on the ongoing debate on a referendum to amend the constitution, President Kenyatta refused to be dragged into the matter saying his agenda for Kenya was development, completing ongoing programs, improving national security and winning the war on corruption.
“I will continue fighting corruption until we win the war. We shall not be moved or shaken by forces against this war,” he said as he commended Chief Justice David Maraga (who was present) for leading a judiciary which has now become bolder in fighting the vice.
The President expressed his appreciation that the judiciary is now showing a strong will to fight graft and the courts are demonstrating a strong commitment to punish those engaging in corruption.
President Kenyatta said resources being lost through corruption can be used to improve the salaries of public servants who he told to be patient in the push for better remuneration until the economy improves and the anti-graft war is won.
“Once we win this war, we can afford higher salaries. When the economy improves, we can talk of better salaries,” he said as he warned that corrupt individuals should stop dragging their communities into their problems once nabbed engaging in corruption deals.
The Deputy President agreed with the President that Kenyans were no longer interested in divisive politics.
“We have agreed we do not need politics of hate, division and fighting among leaders,” DP Ruto said.
Raila Odinga said the Building Bridges Initiative will benefit all Kenyans saying the handshake was on the realization that continued street protests, hatred and divisions between politicians was likely to drag the country into more conflict.
He said the Building Bridges Initiative is informed by a 9-point agenda that includes sustained war against corruption.
At the upgraded Kisii Teaching and Referral Hospital, the President opened a new 250-bed capacity male ward, unveiled a 100-body capacity mortuary with histology and anatomy labs and, a chapel. The previous mortuary could only accommodate 24 bodies.
The President also commissioned a 64 slide computerized Tomograpgy (CT-Scan), launched a 50-unit doctors’ hostel to be used by interns and visiting doctors on exchange programmes.
The Head of State also performed a ground-breaking ceremony for an ultra-modren cancer diagnostic and treatment centre.
He said the Shs 2 billion Kisii cancer centre will be the first such facility among three other centres of excellence that the government plans to put up across the county.
Besides the four ultra-modern cancer centres, the government is also planning to establish chemotherapy centres in various parts of the country to manage the rising cases of cancer.
The President also witnessed the presentation of an accrediation certificate to the hospital, giving it the green light to become a medical training for Kisii University.
The certificate was presented to the Kisii University Vice Chancellor by the Chairman of Kenya Medical Practitioners and Dentists Board, Prof. George Magoha.
The President said the new facilities at the upgraded hospital was a clear testimony of the close working relations between the two levels of government.
Earlier, the President received an 11-point memorandum from Governor Ongwae listing key projects that the local leaders sought the engagement of the President.
Responding to some of the issues at the leaders meeting, President Kenyatta said there are no plans to change the original route of the Standard Gauge Railway (SGR) line from the Narok- Kisii-Kisumu route as feared.
The President also promised that the upgrading of Suneka airstrip will be completed by end of the year as Government explores the possibility of establishing an airport at Nyamaiya.
On coffee debts owed by farmers from Kisii, the President said a waiver will be considered once an audit is complete. The KTDA will also be supported to construct two new tea factories in Nyamira and Kisii.
The Head of State said JICA will construct a factory for value addition on Soapstone, one of the most lucrative resources from Kisii.
The Head of State underscored the need to complete all roads currently under construction before new one’s can be started adding that the government has allocate a Shs 14 billion budget for road projects in Kisii and Nyamira counties.
President Kenyatta said the country needs to rethink its land use and tenure systems adding that continued subdivision of farmlands into small units was making the country food insecure.
Prof. He, reportedly working with former Rice University supervisor Michael Deem, capitalized on work in 2012 by Jennifer Doudna and Emmanuel Charpentier, who introduced a new and easier way of altering the DNA of human and non-human organisms using CRISPR-Cas9 technology. He also built upon the work of molecluar biologist Feng Zhang, who optimized this genome editing system for use in human cells.
He’s claim moves human germline genome editing from the lab to the delivery room — something other scientists might have been thinking about despite ethical concerns.
Jainkui He explains why his lab edited the genome of twin baby girls, Nana and Lulu, when they were embryos.
The scientific community has expressed widespread condemnation of He’s decision to initiate a pregnancy using genetically modified embryos — as “dangerous, “irresponsible” and “crazy.” What if mistakes are made? How can we be sure this powerful technology will benefit humankind? Are we ready for the consequences of genetically engineering our own evolution?
We argue that we cannot allow individual scientists to decide the fate of the human genome. Heritable human genome editing poses a significant existential threat because changes may persist throughout the human population for generations, with unknown risks.
He announced to the world that he edited the genome of human embryos for seven couples using CRISPR-Cas9 technology. According to He, two of these embryos resulted in a pregnancy, and twin girls (Lulu and Nana, which are pseudonyms) were born.
The goal of the editing was to confer resistance to HIV by modifying the CCR5 gene (the protein doorway by which HIV enters human cells). He claims that these edits have been verified in both twins and this data has been looked over and called “probably accurate” by George Church, a world-renowned Harvard geneticist.
Evidence suggests, however, the procedure was unnecessary, is unlikely to provide benefit and could even cause harm. Although the father of Lulu and Nana was HIV positive, it is unlikely that he would have passed this disease to his children using standard IVF procedures.
The children born of genome editing are genetic mosaics with uncertain resistance to HIV and perhaps decreased resistance to viral diseases like influenza and West Nile. This is because the CCR5 gene that He disabled plays an important role in resistance to these diseases.
As well, there is the possibility of unintended mutations caused by the CRISPR procedure. These health risks cannot be overstated, as the repercussions for these twin girls, in terms of their susceptibility to infectious diseases or cancer will likely be a cause for concern throughout their lives.
Another uncertain consequence for the twins concerns their reproductive health and freedom. As they approach reproductive age will they face the possibility of “forced” sterilization to prevent their edited genes being passed on to future generations?
Multiple investigations
The Southern University of Science and Technology in Shenzhen, China, where He is employed (currently on leave from February 2018 to January 2021), has distanced itself from the researcher and will form an independent international committee to investigate the widely publicized, controversial research.
Feng Zhang, center, an institute member of Harvard and MIT’s Broad Institute, reacts to reporters on the issue of world’s first genetically edited babies after the Human Genome Editing Conference in Hong Kong on Nov. 27, 2018.(AP Photo/Vincent Yu)
Rice University, where Michael Deem is employed, has also said they will investigate.
The Shenzhen HarMoniCare Women’s and Children’s Hospital launched an inquiry into the validity of the ethics documents provided by He documenting research ethics approval.
Importantly, the ethics approval was only uploaded to the Chinese Clinical Trial Database on Nov. 8 as a retrospective registration — likely around the time that the twins were purportedly born.
Designer babies by powerful elites
With the Genetic Genie out of the bottle, we have to ask whether we need any more time to reflect on the ethics?
A just and fair society is one with less disparity and more justice. A predictable consequence of allowing (nay, encouraging) individuals to genetically modify their children will be greater disparity and greater injustice — and not only because of limited access to genome editing technology.
Of significant concern is the inevitable increase in discrimination, stigmatization and marginalization as powerful scientific and corporate elites decide which traits are desirable and which traits are not.
Although He disavows any interest in so-called “designer babies” whose parents have chosen their children’s eye-colour, hair-colour, IQ and so on, we are forced to contemplate such a “eugenic” dystopian future should we continue down this path.
The human genome belongs to all of us. As such, we need to commit to the hard work of making good on the 2015 admonition by the Organizing Committee for the International Summit on Human Gene Editing to work towards “broad societal consensus” on how we should proceed with, or not proceed with, editing it.
In this regard it is heartwarming to have Feng Zhang call for a moratorium on implantation of edited embryos and remind his scientific colleagues that “in 2015, the international research community said it would be irresponsible to proceed with any germline editing without ‘broad societal consensus about the appropriateness of the proposed application.’”
First Lady Margaret Kenyatta was today morning joined by journalists drawn from local and international media houses for a training session as she gears up for the 4th edition of the Beyond Zero Half Marathon slated for March 10.
The training session which started at 6.30 a.m with a warm up session was led by athletics trainer and former marathon world champion Douglas Wakiihuri and included an over 10km jog around State House Nairobi grounds.
Briefing the press after the training session, Wakiihuri said the First Lady has been training consistently for the last three weeks and, is fit and ready for the marathon.
While urging more people to sign up for the forthcoming run, Wakiihuri said that in order to run the half marathon with ease, one has to be disciplined and observe a strict training regime.
He said that First Lady Margaret Kenyatta has maintained as strict training regime over the years which she has accelerated in recent weeks ahead of the March 10 Beyond Zero marathon.
“You have to do endurance, speed, strength and at the same time take care of the wear and tear of your body,” Mr Wakiihuri said.
“All this, combined with proper nutrition, puts one in a good stead and fit enough to run the half marathon, ” he added.
Peter Gacheru, the CEO of IMG Kenya who are the event managers for the 2019 Beyond Zero Half Marathon, said that besides the traditional 21km, 10km, 5km categories, a special 2km walk for pregnant women has been included so as to raise awareness on maternal health.
The organisers have also incorporated paralympics to take care of athletes living with disabilities.
“We have also incorporated Paralympic games this year. We will have a wheelchair and tricycle 21km race. And for the first time in any of the road races in Kenya, we shall have three categories of the visually impaired – T11, T12 and T13 – participating in the 21km marathon,” Gacheru said.
In addition, Gacheru said there will be a 10km special run for the Beyond Zero sponsors and corporate teams.
He said 25,000 participants are expected to take part in this year’s Beyond Zero marathon.
Beyond Zero coordinator Angella Langat said that the Beyond Zero Half Marathon is the anchor fundraising and resource mobilization platform for the First Lady’s child and maternal health interventions.
She said that the resources raised through the marathon will be used to expand the coverage of Beyond Zero’s health interventions to cover more Kenyans in need especially those in hard to reach parts of the country.
First Lady Margaret Kenyatta has encouraged young people to be agents of positive change and progress by adding their voice to addressing problems facing the society. The First Lady pointed out that the youth hold the key to the future and should pro actively contribute to the search for solutions to challenges such as maternal and child mortality, poverty alleviation, hunger, inadequate housing, environmental degradation as well as curbing the spread of HIV/AIDS. “These are critical issues of our time, and I firmly believe that as young women and men, you hold the keys to our future in your hands,” she said. The First Lady was speaking today when she officially opened the 37th annual East African Model United Nations (EAMUN) Conference at the United Nations Complex at Gigiri in Nairobi.
The EAMUN, whose vision and mission is “Building leadership for tomorrow, is a conference that is designed for high school students aged 15 to 18 years where participants dialogue and interact to formulate solutions to real world problems. This year’s conference, whose theme is “Tujenge Pamoja”, has drawn participants from 72 schools across nine countries including Kenya, Uganda, Tanzania, Rwanda, Malawi, South Africa, Congo, Nigeria and Sweden. The First Lady observed that the Model UN has become an increasingly effective and popular means of educating students about the important work of the United Nations, and the global issues it resolves as part of its institutional mandate. “This conference has continued to attract thousands of young people from all over the world, eager to immerse themselves in debate, learn the intricacies of diplomacy, lobbying and negotiation,” the First Lady said. She added that the conference also provides an opportunity for young people to cultivate responsible leadership and gain first-hand appreciation of the dynamics of individuals and cultures. “You will become more confident, more empathetic. It will make you more aware and attuned to your obligations – to care about each other, to care about other less fortunate citizens,” she told the delegates. The First Lady welcomed the theme of this year’s conference “Tujenge Pamoja”, saying it promotes collaboration and encourages the young people to overcome their differences, celebrate common opportunities and guard against shared threats. “Some of you may wonder how this process will make a difference in the real world, or question the impact of all the work you will be doing here over the next few days. I assure you that this experience will not be in vain,” the First Lady advised. She commended the EAMUN for developing a charity wing which has helped women in Langata Women’s prison, self-help groups in Laikipia as well as sponsoring two schools from Kibra in Nairobi to participate as delegates in the junior model UN programme. “This reflects a true spirit of inclusivity that we want the model UN to embrace, where more children from less fortunate backgrounds can experience the exceptional opportunity provided by the Model UN,” she said. Other speakers included Education Cabinet Secretary Amina Mohamed, EAMUN Secretary General Elizabeth Kuguru and the programme’s Coordinator Erick Huma.
Kenya National Highways Authority( KeNHA) has closed sections of Saba Saba to Makande road to facilitate ongoing road works. The road forms part of the A8 trunk road and is being repaired in a bid to further de congest the tourist town of Mombasa.
KeNHA Director General Engineer Peter Mundinia says the road works will go on for 6 months. He urged road users to cooperate with traffic police and county officials during the period.
“We urge the road users to bear with the inconvenience as we undertake these works”, he said.
The Government will soon roll out a Shs 33 billion social inclusion programme that will boost ongoing efforts to transform the socioeconomic wellbeing of Kenyans and restore the dignity of the most vulnerable in society, President Uhuru Kenyatta has said.
President Kenyatta pointed out that the funds for the Kenya Social and Economic Inclusion Programme are already been budgeted for and that the programme will be rolled out in coming months.
“The target of the programme is to streamline our delivery systems so that every Kenyan who needs help can get it. Importantly, the Ministry of Labour, the National Drought Management Authority, the Ministry of Health, and the Council of Governors will all be involved in its administration,” President Kenyatta said.
The Kenya Social and Economic Inclusion Programme builds on the success of the Government’s cash transfer programme dubbed “Inua Jamii” which has, in the last six years since 2013, grown from slightly over 200,000 beneficiaries to 1.3 million currently and a jump in funding from Shs 6.5 billion to Shs 26 billion in the same period.
President Kenyatta said that in the same period, an additional 100,000 households have been supported under the Hunger Safety Net Programme in Wajir, Mandera, Marsabit, and Turkana at a total cost of over Shs 25.2 billion.
“Dignity has been restored; livelihoods have been saved; and we have shown that this family called Kenya takes care of its own,” the President said.
The Head of State was speaking today at State House, Nairobi, when he flagged off fleet of new vehicles and motorcycles to be used by government officers to improve service delivery to the beneficiaries of the “Inua Jamii” programme.
The 42 vehicles and 48 motorcycles were procured with the help of the World Bank from Toyota Kenya, Isuzu East Africa and Simba Corp.
“The fleet of vehicles we launch today will support programmes implemented under the National Safety Net Programme (NSNP) which comprises four cash transfer Programmes: the Orphans and Vulnerable Children Cash Transfer; the Older Persons over 70 Cash Transfer; the Persons With Severe Disabilities Cash Transfer Programme; and the Hunger Safety Net Programme,” the Head of State said.
President Kenyatta said the success of the Inua Jamii programmes has proved wrong those who doubted Kenya’s ability to implement a robust and transformative social inclusion intervention.
“Well, I can only say that we have proved the critics wrong — and quite dramatically. The programme, run by the State Department for Social Protection under the Ministry of Labour, makes sure that cash transfers do get to hundreds of thousands of Kenyans, right across the country,” the President said.
He commended the Ministry of Labour, the Kenya Commercial Bank, Equity Bank, the Cooperative Bank of Kenya and Post Bank and Kenya’s development partners for working together in ensuring that the life changing cash transfer initiatives are a success.
President Kenyatta said the Inua Jamii programme, whose deeper anchor is a family’s love, ensures that the country’s senior citizens have some level of financial empowerment in their sunset years while the younger beneficiaries have the very best start in life.
“Kenya, ladies and gentlemen, is a family, and we take care of each other,” the President said.
Labour and Social Protection Cabinet Secretary Ukur Yatani said the success of Kenya’s Inua Jamii programme is demonstrated by the growing number of countries among them Bangladesh, Indonesia, India, Lesotho, Ethiopia, Uganda, Malawi and Tanzania which have visited the country in on benchmarking visits.
World Bank Programme Leader for Africa Paolo Belli assured President Kenyatta that Kenya’s development partners will continue to support the government’s social and economic transformation agenda.
“The recent approval of the Kenya Social and Economic Inclusion project, with US $ 250 million IDA credit and $ 70 million DFID grant support, from all development partners is a testimony of this strong commitment” Mr Belli said.
Mr Belli thanked President Kenyatta for his leadership and commitment to furthering social protection for vulnerable Kenyans, saying development partners highly value their collaboration with the Kenya Government, especially in welfare and human capital development.
THE political rift pitting Wiper leader Kalonzo Musyoka and the three Ukambani Governors took a new twist yesterday with Kamba clergy announcing a major meeting in Machakos.
The Bishops; under the auspices of United Clergy Alliance(UCA) will convene at the Machakos Showground.
The Bishops will include all the clergy from mainstream Evangelical and Pentecostals.
The meeting is convened by the Chairman Bishop Francis Mulinge and the Secretary General Bishop Dr. Joel Nzomo.
Speaking to the media at an Upper Hill Hotel, Dr. Nzomo said the time had come to unite the Kamba community.
After the prayer meeting, the Church will summon all political leaders at Malili on 12th April 2019 to give further directions on the Unity.
Among those expected to attend are elected leaders, party leaders and specifically the three Governors from the Kamba community.
“We will send invites to Governor Mutua, Governor Kibwana and Governor Charity Kaluki Ngilu” he said.
Wiper Leader Kalonzo Musyoka will be invited as an elder of the community.
“This time round, we are dead serious on uniting this community” he said.
Uganda’s President Yoweri Museveni has ordered that no new licenses can be issued for established sports betting, gaming, and gambling companies. In addition, permits issued to existing firms will not be renewed when they expire.
The country’s sports betting industry has burgeoned in recent years. This has created concerns that it’s leading to severe addiction problems, especially among young people.
Museveni, his minister of finance, and other government officials assert that online sports gambling is
diverting the attention of young people from hard work.
The latest move isn’t the first time the country has taken steps to curb gambling. Two years ago Uganda’s National Lotteries and Gaming Regulatory Board introduced a 35% revenue tax on gambling activities.
Uganda is in good company. A host of countries around the world have banned gambling. In sub-Saharan Africa several countries have been grappling with similar regulatory challenges. For example, Kenya, which is the third largest gambling market in Africa after Nigeria and South Africa, introduced a 35% profit tax on gambling operators in early 2018. The tax was subsequently reduced to 15% following a strong lobbying effort by the gambling industry.
But can a case really be made for a gambling-free society?
Assessing the impact of gambling in countries on the continent is hard because the industry remains under-researched and heavily polarised. And it’s also difficult for countries to come up with policies that aren’t backed up by evidence. On top of this there’s a strong lobby defending the industry. And gambling policy affects employment, business, tourism, entertainment, social service delivery, regulation, cultural heritage, and religion.
Nevertheless, I would argue that, based on recent research there’s a strong case to be made to ban gambling because it’s rapidly evolving as a public health concern in sub-Saharan Africa, especially among young people. In my view Uganda is right to have taken action because of the industry’s negative social impact to this developing country.
A global problem
Almost all Muslim majority countries ban gambling on religious grounds. The United Arab Emirates, Kuwait, Jordan, Lebanon, Brunei, Somalia, Sudan, Egypt, Indonesia, Qatar, and Lebanon all have an official ban except in casinos.
In addition to religious reasons, gambling prohibitions are driven by concerns about money laundering, gambling addiction, and in the case of sports betting, issues around the integrity of sports. Sports betting has been the focus of quite a number of illegal activities such as match fixing, point shaving and bad calls at key moments.
Online gambling is banned in Singapore and Cambodia. Under Singapore’s Remote Gambling Act, all forms of online betting are illegal unless exemptions are granted but these are rarely issued and come with high minimum requirements aimed at limiting the amount people can spend on betting.
Albania passed a similar law to Uganda in October 2018.
Given that gambling poses a social risk, Museveni’s ban should have received unqualified support. But it hasn’t. Major online gambling proponents such as the American Gaming Association, the Professional Golfers Association, and the National Basketball Association argue that banning sports betting, gaming, and gambling cuts off much-needed revenue. They say that gambling revenue stimulates economic growth, lowers taxes, pays down national debt, funds social programmes and provides entertainment options.
A second argument advanced against the ban is that it will simply push gambling underground. This, in turn, will contribute to an overall rise in crime, incidents of match-fixing, and significant loss of government revenue as has been documented in India and Singapore.
There’s some evidence to support this argument. In some countries people have been swindled in underground gambling markets. This has prompted Brazil, Cambodia, Russia, China, Slovakia, Sweden, Denmark, Romania and Greece, among others, to rethink their gambling bans. These countries have made efforts to re-regulate the gambling market after initially restricting or completely banning the industry.
Determining the benefits
Two approaches are most commonly adopted to measure the effect of gambling. The first is a cost-benefit analysis, the second an economic-impact analysis.
Both approaches seek to determine the net benefits of gambling activity but they do it in different ways. A cost-benefit analysis considers the economic efficiency of gambling activity by seeking to determine all the individual costs and monetary benefits of various aspects of the activity. This type of analysis compares the costs and benefits that result from gambling.
On the other hand, an economic-impact analysis uses “multiplier effects” to determine the compound impact of gambling on economic activity including on jobs, income, operating costs, productivity and competitiveness. This type of analysis attempts to measure the net positive economic effects of gambling including any ripple effect that gambling may have on the economy.
Unfortunately, both approaches are flawed.
A cost-benefit analysis is flawed because it attempts to consider economic efficiency by quantifying aspects like stress, mental anguish, and entertainment, which are immensely difficult to value.
And economic-impact analyses fail because they pay scant attention to the real private and social costs of gambling.
This leads to conclusions that often amplify the benefits of gambling while downplaying the costs.
Perhaps the best way to determine the benefits of a gambling-free society is through the public health approach. A public health perspective allows researchers to consider the economic and social consequences of the industry.
From this perspective it’s clear that there’s a need for action. Laws prohibiting underage gambling should be rigorously enforced. But laws aren’t enough. Strategies to increase education and public awareness about problem gambling are vital.
Collaboration is needed so that social policies and effective public health intervention options can be developed.
Newspaper headlines following the decision by Nigeria’s National Electoral Commission to delay the country’s poll.
EPA-EFE/Jayden JoshuaOlayinka Ajala, University of York
Nigeria abruptly postponed its presidential election hours before polling was due to begin. The presidential and parliamentary votes have been rescheduled for 23 February while the governorship, state assembly and federal area council elections have been rescheduled to 9 March. The electoral commission cited logistical challenges for the decision. Olayinka Ajala examines the shock announcement and its implications on the final outcome.
What is your reaction to the pushing back of Nigeria’s presidential vote?
The postponement isn’t a new phenomenon in Nigeria. The 2015 elections were also postponed for six weeks to allow the government to intensify the fight against Boko Haram and for the general security of the electoral commission’s staff in volatile areas. The postponement however, was eventually in favour of the opposition party which eventually won the 2015 polls.
But this postponement is different for three main reasons. First, just a day earlier the Independent National Electoral Commission had insisted it was ready to conduct free and fair elections. So the fact that it changed its mind so abruptly has raised questions about the real reason for the delay.
Second, even the two leading parties were not privy to the shock announcement before hand. Agents of both parties as well as local and foreign observers were all invited to a briefing on the eve of the elections where all the options available were discussed. Postponement wasn’t mentioned.
Lastly, the elections were postponed less than six hours before they were due to commence. In the 2015 elections the postponement was announced about a week to the commencement of the polls.
One of the strongest rumours doing the rounds in the hours following the announcement was that the electoral commission had identified serious security threats in the last 24 hours. This might be connected to the killing of 66 people in Kaduna on Friday and the four people caught with AK47s in Zamafara.
Not surprisingly, the announcement fuelled suspicions in a tight contest. The main opposition Peoples Democratic Party kicked off protests against the decision labelling it a “deliberate pre-determined agenda” by the ruling party to thwart the will of the people. President Muhammadu Buhari also expressed disappointment. He added that his administration remained committed to conducting free and fair elections.
To what extent is the postponement justified?
The electoral commission has cited a number of logistical challenges. Apart from issues related to the distribution of electoral materials, it also cited poor weather and the destruction of materials in fires. In the last two weeks, arson attacks have been reported at the electoral commission’s offices in three states (Anambra, Abia and Plateau) which led to the destruction of thousands of card readers, voters cards and other vital electoral materials.
On top of this, the Central Bank of Nigeria, which stores sensitive electoral equipment and material, is said to have been overwhelmed. In the run up to the poll, ballot papers and electoral registers are normally kept in the vaults of the central bank and distributed within days of the elections. With 15 million new voters since the 2015 elections it would seem that the electoral commission and the central bank underestimated the scale of the task. On the eve of the elections, vital materials hadn’t been delivered in some states.
All these issues could have affected the results. The electoral commission was therefore justified in postponing the elections. The question is why they delayed the postponement until the last minute.
What do you make of the allegations of rigging?
There have been allegations of rigging by both main parties since the campaign started. Any postponement was bound to lead to more speculation. Although the electoral commission maintained that the postponement was done in good faith, political parties could see the move as an effort to disenfranchise them. This is because every presidential election result in Nigeria since 1999 have been questioned by the losing side regardless of the approach of the electoral commission.
deliberate, pre-determined agenda of President Muhammadu Buhari to cling on to power even when it’s obvious to him that Nigerians want him out.
Tensions were running high in the run up to the poll after the governing All Progressive’s Congress showed signs of gaining momentum following mass defections from the main opposition party to the governing party.
But the All Progressive’s Congress party also feels aggrieved, questioning whether the electoral commission is colluding with the opposition People’s Democratic Party which they claim was not ready for the election.
What are the implications?
Regardless of how the elections are conducted on the new dates announced, the losing parties will blame the postponement for their defeat. This has happened on previous occasions when elections have been postponed.
A serious challenge facing the electoral commission is how it can safeguard election materials that have already been distributed from getting into the wrong hands. Since some of the sensitive materials have arrived in most states, all eyes will be on the electoral commission and security operatives until the new election dates.
Finally, it is not exactly clear how, within a week, the electoral commission will overcome the logistical challenges it cited. How, for example, will it be able to replace equipment and material destroyed in the fires. In addition, how will it guarantee that the decision was entirely based on logistics and not coercion? The postponement of the elections will definitely generate further criticisms which the electoral commission must manage in an unbiased way.
