Three days after voting in a hotly-contested general election, the vote counting process continues as Kenyans nurse anxiety about who will become the next president.
The Independent Electoral and Boundaries Commission (IEBC) has seven days to count the votes and announce the results, and it seems they’re not about to over-deliver.
Tension has gripped the country, with the two leading camps, United Democratic Alliance (UDA) and Azimio la Umoja, accusing each other of attempting to rig the vote in their favor.
Matters hit a crescendo when Azimio politicians cornered a man in possession of ballot papers and election materials. The video went viral on several WhatsApp groups creating an impression that nefarious activities were afoot.
“No one should declare themselves the winner or release their own results. That is the work of the commission and the Returning Officer.” – IEBC Chairman Wafula Chebukati
It all started on Wednesday when IEBC chairman Wafula Chebukati slyly mocked the media for being slow in tallying the presidential election votes.
“You should be at 97 percent. Maybe you were not prepared,” Chebukati said.
A few hours later, the Kenyan TV stations accepted the challenge, whose ripple effect challenged the patience of Kenyans and caused lots of confusion.
Various TV stations started tabulating their votes tally, resulting in different counts for the presidential candidates, particularly Raila Odinga and William Ruto, the two frontrunners.
Interestingly supporters claimed allegiance and authenticity to different TV stations, whose results put their preferred candidate ahead. But the results kept changing in the media houses from time to time, raising tension and fanning the spirit of speculation and online propaganda, which spread on WhatsApp groups and other social media.
When the media-induced confusion surged, Chebukati sought to calm the public in the subsequent media briefings. He said the original results were in the commission’s public portal, and thus anyone was free to tally them. However, IEBC was the only body that could declare a winner.
“No one should declare themselves the winner or release their own results. That is the work of the commission and the Returning Officer,” Chebukati said in a press briefing Thursday.
Sensing public unease, the Media Council of Kenya sought to intervene. Through a press statement released Wednesday, the council said it consulted with media owners and editors to find an urgent solution to ensure Kenyans receive synchronized results.
“The Media Council of Kenya has noted growing concerns on the different election results being transmitted by media houses,” the statement read in part.
“The Council appreciates this as a genuine uneasiness, given its implication on anxiety levels among the public,” the statement read further.
Perhaps to reassure the public and absolve the media houses from blame, the council’s communiqué said the results were all from the IEBC, albeit their sequencing varied from one media house to another.
Time went on, and apparently, the efforts of MCK to have media houses have uniform results on TV screens bore no fruit. Meanwhile, accusations and counter-accusations emerged on social media platforms, with one party accusing the other of hacking media houses to doctor the system of calculating the results.
Bloggers of Kenya Kwanza and Azimio churned out post after post to rekindle their supporters’ hopes and paint the other side as losers.
At some point, Twitter had to flag some posts on its timeline, especially those which implied that a presidential candidate had garnered a particular sum of results, even before IEBC could announce them.
Thursday night, UDA leader Kipchumba Murkomen took to Twitter to cool down Kenyans. “For all Kenyans who are anxious about the Presidential election results, my message is this; relax… Fear and anxiety won’t add anything.”
Thursday, the Azimio camp displayed photos and videos of a ready auditorium branded Azimio la Umoja One Kenya colors, thus insinuating Odinga was the winner and was prepared to lead the celebrations. Hours later, most local TV stations stagnated in the votes count.
Then Dennis Itumbi, the supposed UDA chief blogger, claimed members of Ruto’s inner circle had been kidnapped at Bomas, the national tallying center. The claims were proven untrue. And tension kept rising in supporters of both camps.
Kenyans who have had to grapple with the tension that the votes count has brought started making jokes about the whole situation, perhaps to buy time and assuage the torture of the unknown.
CRACKING JOKES TO COPE
They took to social media platforms to communicate their message and rally hope.
Serah Nyaboke wrote: “As of yesterday, IEBC knew the winner, huwezi niambia NIS haina ujumbe. Uweeh let’s wait.”
Another Facebook user called Adhiambo Akello wrote: “Kama hujatumiwa anxiety fees na mubabaz, a gal baby, you’re single, in fact, you are singular. I love you.”
May Jerono seemingly cunningly mocked the earlier Azimio preps at KICC.
She wrote: “Jana niliacha watu wakitandika carpet,kwani mlitoa very fast bila kiru. Mayie dunia.”
Journalist Ted Malanda, tired of waiting, used a biblical analogy, borrowing from the tribulations of Jesus’ time on earth before the crucifixion. He wrote: “Hata Yesu mwenyewe ilifika mahali akasema, “Gai, lama sabachthani.”
Mwalimu Andrew, a well-known humorist and columnist in a local daily, wrote: “Thanks Chebukati for the lesson. End of this term, we will mark the end-term exam scripts and upload them to a website. Parents and school children to download them and make their own report forms, and rank themselves.”
Verarita Wananyanga said: “Buana tangasya tusonge mbele, some of us have missed hearing, “Baby lie on my chest.” Ah.”
Kwamboka Mokeira, another Facebook user, was equally struggling to wait for the sign. She wrote: “Aki, I can’t hack. Tumbo yangu imeanza kuniuma. Nikama nitalog off Facebook for the sake of Kaira’s milk supply, nirudi wakishaannounce. Tumbo Inaguruma.”
There were also hilarious memes doing rounds. One made fun of the fact that Radio Jambo was still airing Patanisho, a popular mid-morning program that seeks to reconcile estranged lovers, in serious times as this when a nation was waiting to know the next president.
Wandera Joshua wrote on Facebook: “Canaan tutafika but mwili itakua imechoka weh! Tumehara sana.”
Meanwhile, the committee on the assumption of office of the president Friday issued its first press briefing, signaling plans to hand over power from President Kenyatta and the incoming president, who Kenyans are yet to know. The committee is mandated to ensure a smooth power transition.