US embassy cable - 05NAIROBI4835

UNCLAS NAIROBI 004835 
 
SIPDIS 
 
DEPARTMENT FOR OPS CENTER 
 
E.O. 12958:  N/A 
TAGS: KDEM, PREL, PGOV, KE, Referendum 
SUBJECT:  KENYA'S CONSTITUTIONAL REFERENDUM LARGELY 
PEACEFUL AND APPARENTLY WITHOUT WIDESPREAD PROBLEMS 
 
 
1. SUMMARY: In Kenya's first constitutional 
referendum the polls will close soon, after a mostly 
peaceful exercise.  There have been a number of minor 
irregularities credibly reported or seen by 
international observers, as well as allegations not 
yet proved or disproved.  There have been other 
problems that appear to be simple mistakes, resulting 
in long waits for some voters.  Overall there does 
not appear to be any particular pattern to the 
irregularities, which also do not appear to be 
widespread.  END SUMMARY. 
 
2. Kenya's voters are engaged in a historic exercise, 
the first constitutional referendum in the history of 
this relatively young country.  The electorate 
appears sharply divided, but both sides have called 
for a peaceful ballot, a call that appears to be 
almost fully realized at this time. 
 
3. There are 166 international observers around the 
country from 16 countries (including the U.S.).  That 
figure includes 63 U.S. Embassy observers.  There are 
some Kenyan observers as well, but not nearly enough 
to cover the over 19,000 polling stations. 
 
4. At 1700 local time, as the hours of voting 
officially end, the reports from observers indicate a 
number of irregularities, ranging from cardboard 
"screens" for voters that did not screen them from 
view to two observed instances of cash being handed 
to voters.  (Note: Polls are scheduled to close at 
1700 hours, but it was announced that people in line 
at polling stations at that time will be allowed to 
vote.  End note.)  There is a news report that two 
polling agents have been arrested in a Nairobi 
district after voters saw them distributing bribes. 
Several government officials have violated the 
official prohibition on campaign activity during and 
in the final 24 hours before the vote, one of whom 
was the President, who campaigned for a yes vote in a 
public speech Sunday.  There were isolated reports of 
more serious problems, but none have been verified at 
this time.  The "yes" side (symbol: banana), 
supported by the President, appears to be at least 
marginally more involved in electoral hanky-panky 
than the "no" side (symbol: orange). 
 
5. At two polling stations in Nairobi, Kibera and 
Runda, approximately 600 and 200 voters, 
respectively, are standing around saying they "will 
not leave until the results are announced."  At least 
one other Nairobi area, Kasarani, also has a crowd 
waiting for results.  Embassy personnel are 
monitoring the crowds, which until now have been 
almost entirely peaceful.  There was one exception at 
a Kibera polling station, in which a vehicle was 
apparently suspected of bringing ballots to be 
stuffed in the box at the end of the polling period. 
According to the report, the driver was pulled out of 
his vehicle and badly beaten, but no irregular 
ballots were found. 
 
6. In addition to irregularities, there have been a 
number of minor problems reported that do not appear 
aimed at unduly influencing or corrupting the vote. 
There were eight polling stations in Garissa 
(Northeast), for example, that did not open until 
around noon, instead of the stated 0700 hours.  One 
complaint from many polling stations is that voting 
registers are incomplete, forcing many would-be 
voters to be turned away. 
 
7. There are solid reports of quite low turnout (25 
percent in one case) in two constituencies.  Results 
could be announced tonight, or as late as Wednesday. 
There do not appear to be either significant patterns 
or a particularly wide range in the irregularities 
reported by observers. 
 
ROWE