Recent from talks
2013 Kenyan general election
Knowledge base stats:
Talk channels stats:
Members stats:
2013 Kenyan general election
General elections were held in Kenya on 4 March 2013. Voters elected the President, members of the National Assembly and newly formed Senate. Also elected include governors, county women representatives and members of county assembly, (MCAs). They were the first elections held under the new constitution, which was approved in a 2010 referendum, and were also the first run by the new Independent Electoral and Boundaries Commission (IEBC). They coincided with the 2013 Kenyan local elections.
The presidential election saw Uhuru Kenyatta of the National Alliance (TNA) defeat Raila Odinga of the Orange Democratic Movement (ODM). Incumbent President Mwai Kibaki was ineligible to pursue a third term due to the two-term limit established in Clause 142 of the Constitution of Kenya. This was the first Kenyan presidential election to include a joint-ticket system for deputy president, which was introduced in the 2010 Constitution. Kenyatta was joined on his ticket by William Ruto, while Odinga's running mate was Kalonzo Musyoka. Kenyatta was backed by the Jubilee Alliance, while Odinga was supported by the Coalition for Reforms and Democracy (CORD). Kenyatta was declared the winner with 50.5% of the vote, meaning a second round of voting was not needed. Odinga unsuccessfully contested the results in the Supreme Court.
The elections were originally scheduled for 14 August 2012 or December 2012 were planned for the election, depending on a court ruling to be issued. The court ruled that presidential and parliamentary elections should be held in March 2013. This resulted in the resignation of several civil servants who wished to enter politics, as required by the Elections Act. On 28 December 2012, the Independent Electoral and Boundaries Commission announced the Notice of General Elections which confirmed polling day as 4 March. The nomination deadlines were set over a period between 29 January and 1 February, with presidential candidates submitting their nomination papers on 29 and 30 January.
On 13 January, the Judiciary indicated it would hear and determine within two weeks disputes on presidential election results. The Judiciary Working Committee on Election Preparations (JWCEP) announced that election petitions would be certified urgent. These rules were developed in pursuance of Article 163(8) of the constitution which mandates the Supreme Court to make rules for the exercise of its exclusive jurisdiction of hearing presidential election petition.
Voter registration ran from 19 November 2012 for 30 days. Problems were reported during the first few days of the registration exercise included availability of electricity, military operations in some areas and logistical challenges caused by rains. Another subsequent challenge was the inability to register prospective voters who were still awaiting issuance of their formal identity documents by the government. On 27 November, the government announced that, due to time and logistics constraints, there would be no attempts to register Kenyan voters in the diaspora. The IEBC later announced a decision to register Kenyan diaspora voters living within the East African Community Countries. The ten-day exercise concluded on 25 December 2012 with low turnout attributed to "logistical challenges". The IEBC estimate was that about 1,700 people registered.
Voter registration was carried out using Biometric Voter Registration (BVR) Kits which would reduce certain incidents of fraud. The purchase of the BVR Kits was financed through a loan from Standard Chartered Kenya in a government-to-government deal involving Kenya and Canada made cheaper by a guarantee from the Canadian government. The Canadian government arranged to have its fully owned parastatal, Canadian Commercial Corporation (CCC), sign a contract with the Independent Electoral and Boundaries Commission (IEBC).
A case was filed in court seeking to extend the voter registration period arguing that Section 5(1) of the Elections Act was in conflict with the Constitution to the extent that it limited continuous registration of voters. The courts however declined request to extend the deadline.
After the 18 December deadline, the IEBC released the provisional voter numbers showing a registered base of 14.3 million voters. The IEBC indicated that they had missed their target of 18 million voters, citing voter apathy as one of reasons for this. The IEBC begun an exercise to clean up the voters' roll with a target of opening it for verification early January 2013. On 13 January 2013 the IEBC opened its voter register for inspection; voters were to verify their details before 26 January to enable the commission clean the register ahead of the poll. The options include visiting respective registration centers, the IEBC website or the use of mobile phone numbers via an SMS service (using National Identity Card or Passport numbers used during registration).
Hub AI
2013 Kenyan general election AI simulator
(@2013 Kenyan general election_simulator)
2013 Kenyan general election
General elections were held in Kenya on 4 March 2013. Voters elected the President, members of the National Assembly and newly formed Senate. Also elected include governors, county women representatives and members of county assembly, (MCAs). They were the first elections held under the new constitution, which was approved in a 2010 referendum, and were also the first run by the new Independent Electoral and Boundaries Commission (IEBC). They coincided with the 2013 Kenyan local elections.
The presidential election saw Uhuru Kenyatta of the National Alliance (TNA) defeat Raila Odinga of the Orange Democratic Movement (ODM). Incumbent President Mwai Kibaki was ineligible to pursue a third term due to the two-term limit established in Clause 142 of the Constitution of Kenya. This was the first Kenyan presidential election to include a joint-ticket system for deputy president, which was introduced in the 2010 Constitution. Kenyatta was joined on his ticket by William Ruto, while Odinga's running mate was Kalonzo Musyoka. Kenyatta was backed by the Jubilee Alliance, while Odinga was supported by the Coalition for Reforms and Democracy (CORD). Kenyatta was declared the winner with 50.5% of the vote, meaning a second round of voting was not needed. Odinga unsuccessfully contested the results in the Supreme Court.
The elections were originally scheduled for 14 August 2012 or December 2012 were planned for the election, depending on a court ruling to be issued. The court ruled that presidential and parliamentary elections should be held in March 2013. This resulted in the resignation of several civil servants who wished to enter politics, as required by the Elections Act. On 28 December 2012, the Independent Electoral and Boundaries Commission announced the Notice of General Elections which confirmed polling day as 4 March. The nomination deadlines were set over a period between 29 January and 1 February, with presidential candidates submitting their nomination papers on 29 and 30 January.
On 13 January, the Judiciary indicated it would hear and determine within two weeks disputes on presidential election results. The Judiciary Working Committee on Election Preparations (JWCEP) announced that election petitions would be certified urgent. These rules were developed in pursuance of Article 163(8) of the constitution which mandates the Supreme Court to make rules for the exercise of its exclusive jurisdiction of hearing presidential election petition.
Voter registration ran from 19 November 2012 for 30 days. Problems were reported during the first few days of the registration exercise included availability of electricity, military operations in some areas and logistical challenges caused by rains. Another subsequent challenge was the inability to register prospective voters who were still awaiting issuance of their formal identity documents by the government. On 27 November, the government announced that, due to time and logistics constraints, there would be no attempts to register Kenyan voters in the diaspora. The IEBC later announced a decision to register Kenyan diaspora voters living within the East African Community Countries. The ten-day exercise concluded on 25 December 2012 with low turnout attributed to "logistical challenges". The IEBC estimate was that about 1,700 people registered.
Voter registration was carried out using Biometric Voter Registration (BVR) Kits which would reduce certain incidents of fraud. The purchase of the BVR Kits was financed through a loan from Standard Chartered Kenya in a government-to-government deal involving Kenya and Canada made cheaper by a guarantee from the Canadian government. The Canadian government arranged to have its fully owned parastatal, Canadian Commercial Corporation (CCC), sign a contract with the Independent Electoral and Boundaries Commission (IEBC).
A case was filed in court seeking to extend the voter registration period arguing that Section 5(1) of the Elections Act was in conflict with the Constitution to the extent that it limited continuous registration of voters. The courts however declined request to extend the deadline.
After the 18 December deadline, the IEBC released the provisional voter numbers showing a registered base of 14.3 million voters. The IEBC indicated that they had missed their target of 18 million voters, citing voter apathy as one of reasons for this. The IEBC begun an exercise to clean up the voters' roll with a target of opening it for verification early January 2013. On 13 January 2013 the IEBC opened its voter register for inspection; voters were to verify their details before 26 January to enable the commission clean the register ahead of the poll. The options include visiting respective registration centers, the IEBC website or the use of mobile phone numbers via an SMS service (using National Identity Card or Passport numbers used during registration).
Recent media