Following the 2007 post-election violence, Kibaki's government commissioned the Kriegler Commission, formally known as the Independent Review Commission on the General Elections held in Kenya on 27 December 2007, chaired by retired Justice Johann Kriegler. The commission was tasked with investigating the disputed election results and the factors that had contributed to the violence, including the conduct of the electoral process, the Kenya Electoral Commission's handling of vote tallying, and the political dynamics that had led to the disputed results.
The Kriegler Commission's investigation focused particularly on the integrity of the electoral process and the mechanisms through which the disputed election results had been announced. The commission found serious irregularities in the election management, including inadequate ballot security, poor vote tallying procedures, and the absence of effective mechanisms to verify vote counts at the constituency level. These findings implied that the true election results could not be known with certainty, though the commission did not definitively determine who had won the election.
The commission's findings created a difficult political situation for Kibaki, as they suggested that the electoral process itself had been deeply flawed and that the announced election results could not be fully trusted. The implications were potentially destabilising to Kibaki's government's legitimacy, as they suggested that the government itself had been formed on the basis of disputed and potentially fraudulent election results.
Kibaki's government's response to the Kriegler Commission's findings was cautious. Rather than fully implementing the commission's recommendations for electoral reform immediately, the government focused on the subsequent constitutional reform process, which established new electoral systems and institutions intended to prevent future disputed elections. The focus on future reforms rather than on accountability for the 2007 disputed election meant that questions about the 2007 election results remained unresolved.
See Also
2007 Kenya Elections Disputed Results Kriegler Commission Electoral Reform Kenya Post-Election Violence Election Management and Integrity Kenya
Sources
- Kriegler Commission. Independent Review Commission Report. Government Press, 2008.
- Branch, Daniel. Kenya: Between Hope and Despair, 1945-2010. Yale University Press, 2011.
- Kenya Electoral Commission. Election Management Reforms 2008-2013. Government Press, 2013.